Read Online The Mommy Mystery by Delores Fossen - Free Book Online

figured any man who would abuse an animal wasn’t someone he wanted within a hundred miles of his son.
    “Jay calls you often?” Houston asked.
    “Not really. Before I got pregnant, he hadn’t spoken to me in months, but since the birth, he’s called me nearly every day.”
    Houston didn’t like the man’s timing. “What does he want?”
    “To see me, and Lucas,” Gabrielle said, with a heavy sigh. “I told him I didn’t have time to visit.”
    That was a massive understatement. But it got Houston thinking. “Is it possible Jay might have had something to do with those men in the black car?”
    “No.” But then she lifted her shoulder. “I don’t think so, anyway.”
    It was yet something else that Houston needed to check out.
    He glanced at the notepad on the nightstand. The nanny had written a phone number with the message: “Call your brother immediately. He says it’s important.”
    Houston picked up the cell next to the note. “Why did Jay call you on this phone, rather than the one you had with you at the ranch?”
    “Because that’s the only number he has. It’s the phone I used for business. I’m on maternity leave, but I still needed a way for the legal staff to contact me if a problem arose with one of my clients.”
    Houston cursed. “This cell can be traced.”
    “No. Both the ones I use are prepaid.”
    That caused him to relax a little, but that was only a drop in the bucket when it came to the safety measures he wanted to take.
    Lily Rose picked up a purse from the dresser. “I think I’ll go to the diner across the street and have a cup of coffee. Either of you want me to bring you back anything?”
    “No,” they said, in unison.
    Lily Rose frowned at Gabrielle and headed for the door. “I’ll get you a sandwich. With the way that boy’s eating, you really need to get more food in you.”
    Houston welcomed the woman’s concern, and the privacy she was about to give them. It was obvious Gabrielle and he were going to have to have a serious discussion. A discussion she wouldn’t like.
    He followed the nanny to the door and locked it after she left.
    Gabrielle didn’t look at him while she continued to nurse. She stared down at the baby and gently ran her fingers through his wispy hair. It was such a simple gesture, but it was intimate, too.
    Houston wanted to be part of that.
    “Did the gunmen who took you hostage touch Lucas or you?” Houston asked.
    “No. They didn’t have to. I cooperated. I just kept thinking that I would do whatever it took to get Lucas out of there safely.”
    Her fingers were still caressing the baby’s hair, and she seemed almost serene sitting there; but Houston figured she was reliving the nightmare of that incident. He wished he’d been there to help.
    But he hadn’t even known his son existed at that time.
    Gabrielle shifted a little, fixed her nursing bra and eased down her top. She placed the baby against her chest and shoulder so she could burp him.
    Houston moved closer to get a better look…and soon realized he was smiling. It all became clear then. He understood why his friends got all sappy when they talked about their children.
    He eased down on the bed across from them, reached out and touched Lucas’s hair as Gabrielle had done. The baby stirred and turned his head, so that he was facing Houston.
    “He’s perfect,” Houston heard himself say.
    “Yes,” Gabrielle agreed. “I’ve wanted a child for as long as I can remember.”
    So had he. But unlike him, Gabrielle had done something to make that happen. “You said something earlier about being infertile. What happened?” he asked.
    She took a deep breath. “I had leukemia when I was thirteen, and the chemo left me unable to produce eggs of my own. I always knew I’d have children, and last year the time was right for a baby.”
    He was prying, but he wanted to know what had brought them to this point. “Why then?”
    Another deep breath, but she didn’t seem annoyed.