The Baby Barter. Patty Smith Hall

“Yes.”

      “I didn’t worry much about it. I like to think some of the families of the children who were left with me might try to get a glimpse of them, just to make sure they’re all right. But this one...” The viselike grip she had on his arm put all Mack’s instincts on alert. “She’s been watching the house for the last two days, and now, she’s here.”

      “Point her out to me.”

      Ms. Aurora gave him an annoyed look. “I can’t do that. That’s just plain rude.”

      “Then how am I—”

      “She’s toward the back, underneath that big old oak tree one of the children got stuck in last July. Remember?”

      Yes, he remembered. Took him two hours to get that little firecracker Ellie off that high-hanging branch. “There’s a crowd over there, Ms. Aurora. Which lady are you talking about?”

      “The girl in the plain tan skirt with a white blouse and a brown felt hat. Doesn’t look like she knew there was going to be a wedding today.”

      Knots began to form in the pit of Mack’s stomach. He’d known the woman was trouble but just who was she? Mack shifted sideways to get a good long look at her. The brim of her hat still flopped over most of her face, but now he caught a glimpse of golden-brown curls clinging to the nape of her neck. She tilted her head back, casting a nervous glance at the crowd before her gaze fell on him. A dull ache settled in Mack’s left jaw, and he reached for the jagged scar once again.

      Thea Miller had come home.

      * * *

      Thea’s palms grew moist inside her bleached cotton gloves, her gaze fixed on the impossibly handsome man glaring back at her. She immediately recognized Mack Worthington, football team captain, all-around good guy. And the only boy in high school she would have given a second glance. Or a third. Her heart hammered against her ribs just thinking about the crush she’d nursed for him her junior and senior years.

      She didn’t have time to reminisce about the good old days, not with the trouble she’d found when she’d returned home from England three days ago. Thea drew in a slow breath, then released it, her heart settling back into a normal rhythm. That silly girl with a shameful family and a hopeless crush had made something of herself, serving her country as a nurse on the front lines in Europe. If she could face those dangers, then facing down a boy she used to like should be the least of her worries.

      But maybe he could help her. Someone in town had mentioned Mack had taken Sheriff Clay’s place after the older man had enlisted. The news had shocked Thea at first. Knowing how protective Mack could be, she’d thought he’d enlist the day after Pearl Harbor was bombed. What had kept him in Marietta rather than serving his country overseas?

      Thea shook her head. What did it matter? Mack was the town’s sheriff. Maybe it was time to get the police involved if Momma’s allegations were true.

      Aurora Adair stole your sister’s baby.

      Momma’s words twisted the knots in her stomach as tight as a tourniquet. The scenario sounded eerily familiar—her kid sister, Eileen, pregnant and unmarried, the child missing soon after birth, the frantic search that turned up nothing, a promise from Thea to find the baby and return it home. Her chest tightened. A promise she’d never been able to keep. Of course, she’d been little more than a child herself, barely seventeen. Eight unbearable years she’d waited to come home, thwarting the promise she’d made to her sister and had been unable to keep.

      Not this time.

      Besides, this was a completely different situation. Eight years ago, it had been their mother who had made the decision to give away Eileen’s baby, her pride unable to handle the prospect of the town discovering that her unwed, teenage daughter had become a mother. But this time, her mother said that she’d wanted the baby—that she’d helped Eileen prepare. And Thea herself had seen the evidence: tiny sweaters and booties recently knitted, a cupboard full of washed and sterilized baby bottles and all the makings for homemade formula.

      This time, they could have made things work, truly pulled together as a family in a way they hadn’t done in years. But Eileen had died not long after, in a car accident. The baby had been taken from them. And Thea had returned home to find nothing left of her family but her mother—and even she was sadly changed.

      All Thea could hope for now was to find her sister’s baby, take her home and raise the child herself. Have a real family again.

      Which might be more difficult than she’d first thought. Aurora Adair hadn’t left her house once in the two days since Thea had started monitoring her movements, hoping for a chance to meet her on the street. She refused to knock on the woman’s front door to deliver her accusation. It had been an answer to prayer when she’d learned Ms. Adair would be at the Daniels’s place today. A public venue might give Thea her only opportunity to get this mess straightened out. She wanted badly to believe that this had all been some kind of misunderstanding, and that Ms. Aurora would be happy to return the baby to her loving family. Hopefully a quick conversation would be all it would take.

      But crashing a wedding had never been part of the plan.

      Thea stole back into the cool shadows of the tree and waited until the wedding guests made their way toward the house. The festive atmosphere didn’t really agree with her. Not when she was still caught up in mourning for Eileen. It had been weeks since the fatal car accident, but Thea had only learned about it a few days before.

      A fresh wave of sadness caught her by surprise, punching her in the midsection like a fist. It still didn’t seem real, her baby sister gone. Guilt warred with grief inside Thea’s heart. Maybe if she’d returned home, instead of staying away out of guilt over her broken promise, she could have kept an eye on Eileen. Maybe then she wouldn’t have jumped into that car with Eddie Huffman, wouldn’t have been killed when Eddie lost control.

      An ache settled in the pit of Thea’s stomach. She might have let Eileen down but she’d make up for it, raise her sister’s baby as her own. Which meant getting the baby back.

      Thea pushed away from the tree and scanned the Daniels’s front yard as people lingered along the makeshift aisle, following the path the newly remarried couple had taken just moments ago. She wobbled forward and instantly yearned for the sturdy comfort of her army boots, the new heels she’d bought this morning shifting on the unlevel ground. Omaha Beach hadn’t given her as much trouble as these silly shoes.

      “Thea Miller?”

      Thea felt her shoulders stiffen. Any hope of getting through the day unnoticed vanished. It had been a foolish hope, anyway. Nothing ever stayed hidden in Marietta. Her mother and sister had taught her that. Thea turned, her skirts whispering softly around her legs, making her long for the confidence she’d always felt in her army greens or nursing whites. An auburn-haired woman waddled toward her, the loose pleats of her dress floating over her swollen belly as she slowly moved down the row.

      Thea’s mouth turned up in an unexpected smile. “Maggie Daniels?”

      “I thought that was you! How are you?” Maggie smiled as if she was truly happy to see her. “It’s Maggie Hicks now.” She caressed a loving hand against the swell of her stomach. “This here’s Peanut.”

      “Family name?”

      Maggie’s smile widened. “On my husband’s side.”

      The soft chuckles that rasped against her throat startled Thea. How long had it been since she’d truly laughed? Not since before the war, maybe even longer. “Congratulations, Maggie.”

      “Thank you, but what about you? Last time I talked to your mother, you were in nursing school in Memphis.”

      Thea nodded. So her mother hadn’t told anyone in town she’d joined the Army Nurse Corps. At least she’d read Thea’s letters and knew where her daughter had gone. She’d never written back, so Thea had wondered if the letters had been thrown away, her mother still holding a grudge about the way Thea had