Page 15 of Not the Bodyguard's Baby
The nurse followed her down the hall to the visitors’ room. Through the window, she saw Melanie sitting, ankles crossed, relaxed as always. The relaxedpose. A sham, experience had taught her. Like all the Hastings, she was always on alert. Adam stood near one corner, like a tiger ready to spring. The nurse used her card to open the door, September entered, and the door shut behind her.
Melanie stood immediately. “How are you, sweetheart, and how is my little elf girl?” Melanie hugged them both.
September transferred Harmony to the arms of her stand-in grandmother. “She’s been a perfect baby today. Eat, sleep, poop, repeat.”
Melanie laughed. Adam smiled and relaxed at the joke.
“We need to talk. Don’t worry. They don’t record in here without permission. They only recorded our first meeting to evaluate.” September sat on the edge of the chair, using all the words she’d planned. “Adam, please sit. I am sure your mother didn’t tell you much since I officially hired her last July. I also know I am not yet quite thinking straight. I worry they will take Harmony away or that I won’t be a good mother. The dark cloud in my life is something I can’t see through. What I am trying to say is I doubt my judgment, so, Melanie, I give you permission to tell Adam anything you need to about the last six months. Though, Adam, it won’t be everything you want to know because I am not ready to discuss the six months between the time I used Hastings Security and when I hired Melanie. If there is something he needs to know to protect Harmony, tell him.” September looked at her hands. If any silent communication passed between the other people in the room, she didn’t want to know.
Adam took the seat nearest her on the couch. “What I want to know is why choose me?”
Three little words for such an enormous question. Melanie continued to bounce Harmony in her arms as she walked to the farthest corner of the tiny room. Not that it gave them any real privacy. The question had multiple answers, and like a college midterm, more than one answer could be right, and most fit under certain circumstances. “I needed Harmony to be safe. After I met with my ob-gyn, she told me she was concerned and gave me the number for the hospital. I looked it up. At the time, I thought from the description,This isn’t me. I am not that depressed.” September waved her hand in front of her face, trying to clear away the unimportant detail. “I read they did family therapy, and I thought about family, and you came to mind. Later that night, when I started to cross—” She couldn’t talk about those moments she’d come close to ending everything. “I asked myself ‘What would Melanie do?’ and I thought of you. You acting as Harmony’s dad seemed so right. Then it sounded crazy, especially when I left her at the office door, but I did wait to make sure your secretary found her. She isn’t trained as a bodyguard, is she?”
“What makes you say that?” asked Adam.
“There is no way I would have stayed hidden from any of you. She didn’t look around— just unlocked the door and took Harmony into the office.”
“Elle is new and still learning. However, unexpected babies aren’t in the handbook. I am glad you waited to make sure Harmony was safe.”
The secretary was young, single, and pretty but not overdone. September had watched the Hasting brothers long enough to know their type. “Which one of you is dating her?”
“What?” Melanie turned from the corner. She must be listening closer than she appeared to be.
Adam shook his head. “No one is dating her. She is a former client, now an employee.”
“Sorry, I don’t know where my head went. I’m totally out of line.”
Melanie came closer. “Oh, you are talking about Elle. I told you about her. She is the woman Alan guarded in the big name mix-up mess last fall.”
The one Alan has a crush on but won’t act on it because he rescued her.September had understood the unspoken message in one of Melanie’s rants about her sons being dense when it came to women. September nodded and moved her focus back to Adam. “Dr. Brooks asked if you were the real father and if you would take part in family therapy.”
“What did you tell her?”
“I gave an evasive answer on the first question and said I didn’t know if you would participate. It isn’t like we are, or were, or even could be—” She felt the heat rise in her face. She hated to be flustered in front of him.
Adam didn’t speak. September stilled her hands in her lap and waited.What a stupid question.
“Can I give you an answer in the morning?” He angled his head so he could look her in the eye. “I want to talk to Mom and Dad and get their opinion. I don’t want to make things more difficult for you in the long term.”
The answer wasn’t what she wanted but better than expected. “Tomorrow would be fine. Melanie, Dr. Brooks also asked if you would participate. You have been the closest thing I have had to a mother for years.”
Melanie adjusted the sleeping baby in her arms. “I would be happy to take part. Although I feel it would be better to turn your security over to Hastings. Perhaps under the direction of one of the nonfamily members. That way we are not mixing business and family. Or if you are more comfortable, maybe Dermot Security. If I can trust Abbie to them, I can trust you to them.”
Another set of eyes watching her every move. “I would like my head of security to be female. And I trust you will share what you need to with whom you need to.”Please understand what I am saying.September wasn’t ready for Adam to learn everything. She wanted to share most of the story with him in private, later. Yet for everyone’s safety some of her secrets needed to be disclosed before then.
“I’ll talk to Jethro. There are a couple of excellent female guards I can recommend.”
A tap came on the door, and a nurse appeared at the window, pointing to her watch.
Everyone stood without speaking. September touched Harmony’s arm, her tears pooling. If Adam would hold Harmony, Melanie could give her a much-needed hug. But if September opened her mouth to orchestrate it, she wouldn’t be able to keep her sobs at bay, so she stepped back and turned to Adam, hoping a half smile would do.
She was surprised when Adam opened his arms, the invitation clear. September stepped into them and let the tears fall. It was the hug she’d been wanting for more than a year.
9
As the traffic inched along,Adam wondered if there was a basketball game tonight. A Bulls game could impact driving in the area. He stopped at another light.
His mother spoke for the first time since they’d left the hospital fifteen minutes ago. “I’ll have Alan send over the file you wanted to read. Sven acted as the head of September’s security for a few months. Without going into detail, that man is not the type of bodyguard Hastings would hire.”
