The Unclaimed Baby by Sherryl Woods Read Free Book Online Page A

Sunday. It had been surprisingly easy to fall into the baby’s rhythm, frightening to realize how easily her heart could be stolen.
    In a few short hours, it began to seem totally natural to have a child tucked into the crook of her arm as she went about her other chores. Old lullabies she hadn’t thought of in years came back to her as she held the baby and rocked her to sleep.
    As the time flew by, she began to dread the ringingof the phone. Each time she answered, she expected it to be Justin with word on the baby’s family, with an announcement that someone was coming to claim the child. She couldn’t help wondering how she would cope with that inevitable end.
    On Friday night, the baby had needed Sharon Lynn to survive. By Sunday, she worried that maybe it was turning the other way around. Finding the baby on her doorstep was giving her, at long last, a reason to live.
    But such a tenuous reason, she warned herself, one that could be snatched from her at any moment. Yet how could any woman defend herself against loving a beautiful, helpless child?
    There were limits, though. Even she could see that. It was one reason she resisted the temptation to name the baby. Surely the child already had a name. She had to. It wasn’t Sharon Lynn’s place to choose another, even if it meant calling her nothing more than sweetie or little one. It was awkward and frustrating at times, but it was the way it had to be.
    When the phone rang at nine o’clock on Sunday night, she jumped. At the sound of Justin’s voice, her heart slowed to a dull thud.
    â€œEverything okay over there?” he asked.
    â€œOf course. Have you found out anything?”
    â€œNothing. Still no reports of a missing baby. It’s as if she appeared out of nowhere.”
    â€œMaybe she’s just a gift from heaven,” Sharon Lynn said quietly, unable to hide the wistfulness. “Maybe this was meant to be.”
    â€œDon’t go there,” Justin warned. “Please don’t go there. Not yet. We’re just in the early stages of the investigation. Anything could happen.”
    She sighed. “I know.”
    â€œWhat do you intend to do about work tomorrow?”
    â€œI’m taking her with me, of course.”
    It was Justin’s turn to sigh heavily. “I figured as much. Lizzy called. She says she has a portable crib and a carrier out at her place that you can use. I’ll pick them up first thing in the morning and drop them off at Dolan’s.”
    â€œThanks, Justin. You’re an angel.”
    â€œI hope you still feel that way when this is all over.”
    â€œNo matter what happens, I won’t blame you. I promise.”
    â€œI’ll see you in the morning.”
    After she’d hung up, Sharon Lynn went in to check on the baby and stood for a long time just watching her sleep. She was so innocent and trusting and yet already in her young life, she had been betrayed in the cruelest way of all. Was she aware of that on some level? Would it affect her for the rest of her life? Or did she only know that there was someone now keeping her warm and fed and safe? She certainly seemed to be sleeping peacefully enough.
    As the night wore on, Sharon Lynn envied her that. She tossed and turned, knowing that the day ahead would be chaotic, that it would be filled withunanswerable questions and maybe with heart-wrenching loss. The weather had saved her from the visitors and the questions all weekend, but she wouldn’t be so lucky come morning. It wasn’t in the Adams genes to let something like this pass unnoticed.
    Sure enough, not only was Justin on the doorstep when she arrived at Dolan’s, but her mother and grandmother were there right on his heels. Her aunts and her cousins followed at a head-spinning clip.
    Thanks to Lizzy’s contributions, the baby was settled into a portable crib behind the lunch counter where every single Adams could ooh and aah over