Chapter Seventeen

Mike

Maple Street

IT TOOK EVERY ounce of Mike’s strength to climb the stairs in the apartment house. He felt as if he’d been beaten, physically and emotionally. A quick meeting before the end of the work day had shown that whatever had destroyed his experiments and wreaked havoc with the computer system had been widespread. Every lab and office in the building had been affected.

He paused between his door and Gabby’s. He should go into his apartment and crash. He should try to get a good night’s rest in hopes of finding the answer to what had happened at work. He couldn’t. He’d promised to tell her what Sam told him, and he hadn’t yet.

And... He walked toward the door as if it were a magnet and he was steel. Through the door, he could hear the muffled voices from her TV. He listened for her voice or the baby’s, but didn’t hear them. Just as it’d been before Carol’s arrival when Gabby had stayed on her side of the hall and he’d stayed on his.

He didn’t want to let that wall rise up between them again. He knocked on her door. It opened so quickly that he knew Gabby had been listening for his footsteps in the hall.

“Hi, Mike.” Her voice quivered on the words.

Something quivered in him, too. She looked so cute with her hair pulled behind her in a braid. Like she should be Carol’s big sister instead of her... He swore silently. He needed to get this over with. But he wasn’t going to be able to get it over with until Sam’s equipment was up and running.

“I figured you’d want to know about the test,” he said.

“So what did it say?” Her fingers clutched the door frame so tightly that her knuckles turned white.

“Nothing.”

“Nothing at all?”

“There have been some computer problems at work.” He glanced along the hallway toward the stairs. “Can I come in?”

“Come in,” she said copying his look down the stairs. She must have understood that he guessed Mr. Shepard would be eavesdropping. “Come in and sit down. You look like you’ve been hit by a truck.”

“I feel like it.” He took off his coat and hung it by the door before going into the living room. Seeing a plate on the coffee table, he said, “I’m sorry, Gabby. I interrupted your dinner.”

“Would you like a burger? I have extra.”

“Planning on company?”

“Hoping.” She gave him a smile that boosted his core body temperature and heart rate. “And after all the meals you’ve brought in for us, I figure I can cook one for you. Sit and relax while I cook it. Then we can talk.”

“I really appreciate that.” Almost as much as he appreciated the sight of her hips swaying while she walked into the kitchen. He glanced at the door of Carol’s room. It was closed. The baby must be asleep.

He realized, amazed, that it was the first time he and Gabby had been alone in her apartment without the baby since the night her car was stolen and he’d helped carry her bags upstairs. It was an intoxicating thought, but he warned himself that it was easy to get drunk when exhausted.

“Mrs. Armstrong at Swan View has designated herself as über-grandmother.” Gabby laughed. “She keeps a close eye on who holds Carol and for how long. She reminds me when it’s time for feedings if I’m a second late. She has decided that the residents must have a baby shower for me, even though I’ve got plenty of stuff for Ceebee.”

“CB? Like the radio?”

“No.” She put a burger into the fry pan. “Like ‘cute baby’. It’s what Mrs. Armstrong calls her, and now everyone else is picking up on it. I think it’s sweet, don’t you?”

“Sweet,” he echoed, knowing he had to say something.

He let Gabby talk on. Her voice was luscious and comforting and invigorating all at once. Reaching over, he turned off the TV. He didn’t want anything to deflect her attention from what he had to tell her.

“You’re quiet tonight, Mike.”

“It’s been a tough day.”

“So I gathered.” She flipped the burger into the air so it fell exactly in the center of a bun.

“Not bad,” he said with admiration.

“My first job was in a burger shop. I’m a professional. Don’t try this at home.” She carried the plate into the living room. “What do you want to drink?”

“Gabby, I didn’t intend to have you play waitress tonight.”

“It’s okay. I owe you for about a gazillion things you’ve done around here recently.” She smiled. “And besides, who’s keeping score?”

“A soda would be good.”

“Diet okay?”

He nodded and watched again as she went back into the kitchen. That was one thing that hadn’t changed since Carol’s arrival. He’d always liked watching Gabby walk.

Taking a big bite of the burger kept him from having to do more than mumble his thanks when she returned with a can of soda and a glass filled with ice. He was tempted to ask if she had something stronger to pour over those cubes.

Gabby sat next to her own plate and picked up some chips. “Are you going to wait until you’re done eating, or are you going to tell me now what’s wrong?”

“I don’t want to spoil your meal.”

She smiled. “It doesn’t look as if it’s spoiling yours.”

“Comfort food.” He was amazed that he’d gobbled down more than half of the burger already. Then he remembered that he hadn’t had any lunch. No wonder his head had felt as if he’d just stepped off a roller coaster and his stomach ached like he’d been punched. Setting the burger on his plate, he said, “There was some kind of glitch at work. We’re not sure what it was, but it wiped out the computer systems and several experiments that were underway last night.”

“Including yours?”

“Yes.”

She reached across their plates to put her hand on his. “Oh, Mike, I’m so sorry. Is your experiment ruined?”

“No, not completely. I’ve got my logs and notes as well as several versions of the genes I was testing. What I don’t have are the current samples that I was testing. They’ve simply vanished. Poof.”

“Vanished?”

“Like the wrath of God swept down and wiped the vials clean.”

“Do you think someone switched them?”

“Not likely.”

“Or stole them?”

He shook his head. “That’s impossible. There are so many security cameras and motion detectors in the labs that a fly buzzing around puts the place on red alert. Nobody came in. Not even aliens as more than a couple of people have suggested in desperation. Something just went wrong with my experiment and with the experiments belonging to everyone else in the building.”

“All of them?” Her eyes got wide.

“All of them.”

“At the same time as the computers went kaput?”

“Maybe not at the exact minute, but sometime during the night, several systems failed.” He picked up his burger and took another bite. He sighed and slanted back against the sofa. “Thanks for letting me whine, Gabby.”

“It’s the least I could do after all the times you’ve listened to me recently.”

“You haven’t asked me the big question.”

“When will we hear on the DNA tests?” She shrugged, but he knew she wasn’t as serene as she was trying to appear. “I figure we’ll hear as soon as possible. Do you know when that might be?”

“I’m not sure. It could be a few days or a few weeks.”

“Weeks?”

He hated to douse the light in her eyes. Putting down what was left of the burger, he took her hands in his. “Gabby, you need to get in touch with children’s services again. It was one thing to keep the baby for a short time, but where’s the social worker they promised to send over? I don’t want you to get into hot water you can’t get out of.”

“But I’m doing what they told me to do at children’s services.”

“You need to call them back and talk to someone other than Mr. Jackett.”

“I tried that. I actually called yesterday, and I got the same answer from another man I talked with.”

“Who was that?”

“An Ernie something. I don’t remember his last name. I wrote it down, but didn’t pay a lot of attention once he gave me the same information that Mr. Jackett did. What do you expect me to do now? Tell them that I’m tired of waiting for the social worker to show up? That they need to find her biological parents now or else? Or should I tell them that there’s been some kind of mistake and a baby that the hospital insists is mine really is mine? They’d lock me up in the loony bin.”

He gave a low whistle. “I hadn’t considered that.”

“I’ve considered it from every angle and every possibility. I know what I should do, Mike. I’ve known it all along which is why I was glad when you called children’s services first thing, but I just can’t figure out how to do it without people thinking I’m insane or doing something criminal.”

“I’d come and visit you on alternate Wednesdays or whenever visiting days are.”

She smiled and slapped his arm. “Thanks. That’s just what I needed to hear to help me decide what to do.”

“So what are you going to do?”

“I don’t see any choice but to continue on as I am. Children’s services approves of this setup, and I’m glad to have her here. If they decide Ceebee needs a DNA test right away, then they can arrange it. For now, I’m not willing to rock the boat more.”

“Because they might take her away?”

“Yes, not that I’d let her go easily at this point.” Again she smiled, only her expression now was tainted with sadness. “So we’re right back where we were Christmas week.”

“Not quite.” He ran his thumbs beneath her cheekbones before his fingers sifted into the hair that had fallen from her braid. Its silky caress through his fingers threatened the remnants of his self-control. With a moan deep in his throat, he claimed her lips as he’d imagined doing while he drove home from the lab, climbed the stairs, and sought a haven here with her. He hadn’t really wanted to go into his own apartment and shut out the world as he’d done before when things didn’t work out as he’d hoped at the lab. Instead, he couldn’t wait to be with Gabby, to hear her sympathize with his loss, and to know that she understood how much his work meant to him.

But now he didn’t want to think about any of that. He ached to touch her, to kiss her, to hear her breath uneven and inviting against his ear. Her own ear was a curving delight beneath his tongue, and she shivered against him. His body reacted, hardening, as she softly moaned.

As he recaptured her lips, she slanted across his chest. His arms cradled her, holding her to him. The pliant pressure of her breasts against his chest was so enthralling that his head spun. Every breath was filled with hers along with a luscious scent that was all her own. His fingers slipped into her braid, undoing it, so her hair fell around them.

He drew back while he could, knowing how fragile his self-restraint was. When she gazed at him, he knew how easily he could lose himself in her dark brown eyes as he leaned her back on the sofa and made love with her. Then he could forget the craziness and enigmas around them.

“Do you think we’re being stupid?” she whispered as if she could read his thoughts.

He couldn’t read hers, so he wasn’t sure if she meant about the baby or about being alone together. And he didn’t get a chance to answer anyhow because the baby started wailing in the other room.

Gabby jumped to her feet, smoothing her hair back from her face. “Mike... I...”

“Go and take care of her.”

“Walking her seems to soothe her. If you’ll give me a few minutes...”

“I should go. I need to think about what I’m going to do now with my research experiments. I should—” He didn’t bother to finish because Gabby ran around the end of the sofa to go and tend to the now shrieking baby.

Picking up the rest of his burger, he carried it with him as he collected his coat and let himself out. He was opening his own door when his phone rang. He flipped it open to discover he’d missed a call while in Gabby’s apartment. It was a follow-up from that headhunter, asking if he could send his resume ASAP.

He shoved his door open and went inside. Maybe it wouldn’t be such a bad idea to learn more about the other job. He’d heard about some openings at the bio lab on the other side of the research park. He was going to have to start nearly from scratch anyhow, and his grant was almost gone. He didn’t know how he could catch up enough now with this setback to have anything to show to the committee that would have approved renewing his grant. Without his grant, he was out of a job, so he’d better hedge his bets. But, first he had to figure out what had gone wrong at the lab.

And he was going to have to figure out how to balance the extra work he had ahead of him with his so-very-new relationship with Gabby. At least, that hadn’t gone wrong. He refused to let his mind form the word “yet.”

What was wrong with him? He usually was an optimist, something that Sam teased him about. He was worn out. He needed to go to bed and get a good night’s sleep. No, he needed to go to bed and... His hand was reaching for the door, but he pulled it back. With a curse, he walked into his own bedroom and shut the door. It was going to be, he knew, a very long, sleepless night.