Page 13 of Summer Longing
And now this.
The baby squirmed in her arms. Elise stood up and paced the room, rocking her gently. She did not want Fern to walk in to a crying baby. She wanted Fern to experience the baby as she had—like walking into a dream. Like something that had fallen from heaven.
“I need you to work with me here,” Elise said, kissing her forehead. “Shhh.”
The tiny eyelids fluttered and then closed. Elise considered trying to place her back in the car seat but she didn’t dare disturb the moment of calm.
“Hello?” Fern called from the kitchen.
Elise took a deep breath as she walked briskly from the living room to meet her. Fern had a navy-blue and white Tea by the Sea canvas bag over her shoulder—they’d ordered a few dozen of them to give away and sell at the shop—and a plastic cup filled with iced tea in one hand. It dripped with condensation, and Fern put it down and started wiping the floor as Elise walked into the room.
“Hey,” Elise said.
Fern glanced up, tossed the paper towel in the garbage, and said, “Is Ruth here?”
“No,” Elise said. “She’s out.”
Fern was looking at her but not really seeing her. It took a few moments before the baby registered. Elise knew the second it happened, because Fern’s lips formed a silent O.
“Whose baby is that?” she said, standing up.
“I don’t know.”
Fern crossed her arms. “Elise, I’m in no mood for games. Does Ruth Cooperman have family in town?”
“This is not Ruth Cooperman’s baby. Ruth called the shop to tell me someone had left this baby on the porch. I ran over here to see what was going on.”
Fern stepped closer, peered down at the baby. “It’s a newborn.”
“A few weeks old, yeah.”
“Someone left this baby on the porch? Hours ago?”
“That’s right,” said Elise.
“Did you call the police?”
Elise swallowed hard. “No.”
Fern opened her bag and pulled out her phone.
“Please—don’t,” Elise said. “Someone could get in trouble. Someone we know.”
Fern put down the phone. “What are you talking about?”
“Think about it,” Elise said. “It’s a small town. Chances are, whoever left the baby here knows us and left her here for a reason. We need to at least consider that. It was maybe an impulsive act. The mother might come back for her. We should wait—at least for one night.”
Fern seemed to consider this. “We don’t know anyone who was about to have a baby. It doesn’t make sense.”
Elise’s mouth felt dry. Of course it didn’t make sense. All she knew was that she didn’t want to hand over the baby. Not yet. “Well, you’ve spent the past week interviewing a dozen young women, some barely out of their teens. One of them might have just had a baby, thought you seemed kind…”
Fern shook her head. “I don’t know. Even if that’s the case, we need to let the authorities know.”
“The authorities? What kind of talk is that? This isn’t an ‘authorities’ type of place. We need to honor that. People in this town take care of one another.”
“But you just said yourself it’s probably not even someone from this town.”
“Well, that person is here now.”
