Page 29 of Holiday Haven

Unless of course she was involved in some sort of illegal activity such as drug abuse.

He dialed his brother's number and held his breath waiting for him to answer. When the ringing stopped and his brother's voicemail message came on, he spoke, keeping his voice low. “Alec? Call me. I have information on our project.”

Slipping his phone into his pocket, he watched the scarf woman. She didn't interact with anyone but held her purse in her lap and stared straight ahead, not encouraging any conversation. Unlike many of the bus patrons, she didn't wear headphones to listen to music or carry a book to read.

They rode for at least thirty minutes before she stood to get off at the upcoming bus stop. Adam peered through the window. Did she live nearby? He made him note of the street names on the corner, committing them to memory. The scarf woman disembarked from the bus. She was alone so he didn't immediately follow.

He waited for the next step to get off. The wind was cold but at least it wasn't snowing as he turned and briskly walked back toward the corner where he’d last seen her.

The neighborhood was lower class, but it wasn't a slum either. Quite honestly, he expected something worse. She must have been desperate to have given up her baby. Did she have other children? Did she live alone? Or was she living in some sort of abusive relationship?

He was letting his imagination run amok, but he couldn't seem to stop filtering through the various possibilities. Trying to convince himself that talking to the woman wouldn't do any harm, he hunched his shoulders and crossed the street. Once Alec had a name to go with the face, they'd know more about her background. If something was wrong, they'd likely find out from her police record, if she had one. He didn't want to do anything that might cause her more trouble in the long run.

There was no sign of the woman anywhere around the bus stop where she'd gotten off. He scanned the apartment building, wondering if she lived there or in one of the other small and rather run-down houses nearby. There was no way to know for sure.

It was too far to walk back to the clinic, so he waited for the next bus in order to return to the spot where he'd left his car.

He'd send the pictures and the street names to Alec. Maybe with this additional information they'd be one step closer to finding the identity of the mystery woman and hopefully reuniting Joy with her mother.

* * *

On Friday night,he drove to Krista's apartment. He'd sent the pictures of scarf woman to Alec and his brother had several street cops asking around the area to see if anyone recognized her. There was nothing else he could do for the moment.

Of course, there was the slim possibility his mystery woman wasn't really Joy's mother, but his instincts told him otherwise.

Unfortunately, he hadn't followed his instincts in keeping Krista at a distance. He still couldn't believe he'd asked her to the Christmas ball. After he'd entered Joy's room, to find her staring at the baby with the IV catheter in her fingers, he'd known she hadn't been able to do the procedure even before her stricken gaze had met his. He'd warned her about getting too attached to Joy. He understood though, the baby's innocence had a way of wiggling into a person's heart.

It was less than a week before Christmas and the baby would be medically cleared for discharge soon. Joy coming down with the flu had been a blessing in disguise—it meant she could legitimately stay in the hospital another few days.

And if they didn't have her mother's identity by then, he'd have no choice but to allow the state to place her in a foster home. Joy wouldn't suffer because of a few days in a stranger's care. After all, she was in the hospital now with various caregivers attending to her. He hoped Alec would find Joy's mother. If she didn’t have any substance abuse issues and if she was still able to take care of a baby, he’d help her get the resources she needed. The fact that the woman had come to his clinic as if hoping to see the baby, showed how much she still cared.

He pushed the doubts from his mind, straightened his shoulders and went up to Krista’s apartment building. He entered the lobby area and pressed the buzzer for her apartment. Instead of releasing the lock and inviting him up, she informed him she'd be right down.

She didn't keep him waiting. He glanced up as she descended the stairs. He sucked in a quick breath at the sight of her wearing a fire-engine red strapless dress that hugged every generous curve. His mouth went dry as she met his gaze.

Boy-oh-boy he was in trouble. She stopped at the landing. Belatedly he noticed she held her long wool coat over her arm. “Let me help.” He took the code from her and held it out managing to find his voice. “You are absolutely beautiful, Krista.”

“Thank you.” She pulled the edges of her coat together and preceded him to the car. He swallowed hard, struggling to find his usual self-control.

He kept the conversation light, despite the way every nerve in his body was attuned to her presence. Her Christmassy scent, pine trees and cranberries, was driving him crazy. “How was your day?”

“Good. Joy is doing better.” She smiled. “I checked on her this morning.”

He sent her a questioning glance. “On your day off?”

She flushed and nodded. “Yes. I went in to sit with her for a little while. It's hard knowing there isn't anyone in the world who seems to care about her. I hate thinking she might be lonely. She deserves to have a family.”

“I know.” He reached over, snaring her hand in his. “You care, and so do many others at the hospital. Remember Joy isn't ever completely alone. We are all working together to take care of her.”

She nodded and he was glad she didn't pull her hand from his. Krista was going to take it hard when Joy was finally discharged.

He pulled up to the front of the conference center located in downtown Milwaukee, close to the lakefront and handed the keys to the parking attendant. Cupping Krista's elbow and his hand, he escorted her inside.

Many of the faculty physicians from Children's Memorial were there, and he greeted several of them, introducing Krista along the way. Many of the men sent her admiring glances and he found himself wishing she hadn't worn such a stunningly provocative dress.

He frowned. Did she already have the dress or had she bought it recently? A stab of guilt hit hard. He hadn't even considered the cost of a dress when he'd asked her to go with him. Krista made it sound as if she didn’t have extra money to spare. Amber was close enough to her size that she could have lent Krista a dress if necessary.

Too late now. Several of the physicians greeted Krista by name. He kept his hand tucked in the small of her back knowing he was acting possessively but unable to help himself. He stayed close, even as they went up to help themselves to the appetizers. There was enough food to feed an army, so they ate and sipped hot apple cider until the band began to play.

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