The Switched Baby Scandal (A Scandals of San Sebastian Novel) (Entangled Bliss) (18 page)

She glanced at it. There was something in there that was folded fairly flat and small. She forced her eyes away. Certainly she could be adult enough not to peek. The paper crinkled in the breeze attracting her attention again.

Taylor glared at it, as though if she concentrated hard enough she could see through the paper. She glanced up to confirm that the two of them were far enough away not to see her succumb to temptation. She inched her hand over to the bag and lifted it open with a finger to peek inside. Frustrated that she couldn’t see anything, she slid her hand in a little farther and fingers connected with silky smoothness. It wasn’t fabric, but something lighter, more stiff. Unable to resist she leaned down to open the bag and look.

“Ha! I knew you couldn’t take it.”

Taylor jumped out of her skin and slapped the bag shut at the sound of Reece’s gibe.

“I just wanted to see if I’d guessed correctly.”

“What is it, Mommy?” Emily’s eyes were wide with excitement.

“It’s a gift for you.” He held out his hand for the bag and Taylor handed it to him.

“Close your eyes”— he looked pointedly at Taylor— “both of you.”

She gave a dramatic sigh and leaned forward, covering her eyes with her hands.

“Ready?”

“Ready!” Emily chirped.

“You can open your eyes now.”

She glanced at Emily who was turning in circles trying to see what had been attached to her back.

Taylor kept her silence, wanting their little girl to discover the wonderful gift for herself.

Emily finally stopped circling and reached back with her hands to feel. “They’re wings! Angel wings!”

Reece smiled. “Alyssa told me exactly where to find them for you.”

“I’m going to fly!” she sang out and ran down the narrow beach into the wind, her arms outstretched, her wings and hair flowing in the breeze behind her.

Taylor cupped her hands over her mouth as the burning tears hit her eyes. “That was so sweet,” she said, her voice a choked whisper.

He bent down and sat beside her on the blanket. “I didn’t want her to think that Alyssa hadn’t heard her. She’s asked about the wings so often.”

Taylor turned and threw her arms around his neck and sobbed. “She looks just like a little angel.”

He rubbed her back with his hand to comfort her. “What I see is pure joy.”

She smiled up at him, taking in his strong features, the softness of his brown eyes that made her melt like chocolate. Reece brushed away the last of her tears with the pad of this thumb, then let it linger with a salty tang on her lips.

“It’s hard, isn’t it?” he said softly. “They change and grow so fast that missing any of it seems like you’ve missed a huge chunk of their life.”

She shivered at his words. The thought of the baby made her ache with discomfort. She should tell him. Now, before things went any further.

“Reece, I—”

The moment was broken as Emily sprinted up, scattering sand over the blanket with her bare feet. Her cheeks flamed from running in the sea breeze. “Mommy, can you help me take off my wings?”

Reece settled back beside her and Taylor shifted to help Emily. “Are you tired of flying already?”

“It’s very hard work.”

Reece rummaged deeper into the toyshop bag. “Are you thirsty?”

Emily nodded.

Out of the bag came three chocolate milk cartons and straws.

“Emergency provisions,” he said with a grin, opening a carton and handing it to Emily.

“Thank you, Daddy!” She sucked greedily at the milk, her eyes bright.

He looked at Taylor, his eyes intense. “What did you want to say?”

She wished now was the right time to tell him, but she could never say something like that without being able to explain it to Emily, too, and that was a completely different conversation that might involve a discussion of how the baby got there in the first place. She pushed away the uncomfortable feeling that settled in her stomach and shook her head.

“I’ll tell you later.”

“Promise?”

She smiled and crossed her heart with her finger. She’d tell him. She just wasn’t sure when.

They’re lives, while far from perfect, seemed to fall into a comfortable place with the routines of just being together like a family. For two weeks, Reece wasn’t allowed in his own kitchen. Taylor had sealed off the doorways with black plastic so he couldn’t see what she was up to. She was too busy to even eat with them and instead served him and Emily meals stored in the small bar refrigerator in the rec room upstairs, which was fine with Reece, who wasn’t into cooking anyway. He and Emily would sit down and watch Disney movies together while Mommy clanked and banged downstairs.

Finally, one Saturday afternoon, Taylor appeared in the rec room, smears of red paint on her face and work shirt. “I’m finished,” she announced with obvious pride. “Anyone want to see the new kitchen?”

Reece narrowed his eyes. “What exactly have you been up to?”

“You said you didn’t want to know.”

“Um, humm. So what exactly have you been up to?”

“Why don’t you come and see for yourself.” She grasped his hand and they all trooped downstairs, Emily in the lead.

Reece gasped when he saw it. Taylor had worked a miracle. Rich red covered the walls, and the small horizontal tiles in shades of gray, black, and white forming the backsplash rimmed the edge of new, black granite countertops. The deep reddish-brown of the cherrywood cabinets accented the stainless-steel appliances. A set of cherrywood blinds covered the window and was topped by a broad-striped red-and-black valance. On one wall were a series of black-and-white beach scenes he recognized as the coastline around San Sebastian, with thick black mats, rimmed with red-and-black pinstripe frames. It was elegant and warm, just like Taylor. She had transformed the kitchen into a work of art.

“Well, what do you think?”

“I’m speechless.”

She punched him in the arm. “I’m serious. What do you think?”

“I love it. This is amazing, Taylor. I didn’t know it could look this good.”

Taylor beamed.

Out of the corner of his eye Reece caught sight of a crystal vase filled with red roses. The color exactly matched the walls and accents Taylor had added throughout the kitchen.

“I’ve got one question for you.”

“Fire away.”

He quirked one brow. “Is that a pun?”

She grinned and shook her head.

“Why red?”

“It was the roses.” Taylor walked over and picked a single rose out of the arrangement in the crystal vase that usually sat out in the hall and inhaled the fragrance that scented the entire room.

“Don’t ask me why, I just knew these were perfect and I went with it.”

Reece felt his heart stop.

The sign.

That flaming toaster had been no accident. Instinctively he knew it was Becca giving Taylor a chance to make her mark in their home. To take over the kitchen that had been hers.

“Thank you,” he whispered.

“Well, you could say it a little louder,” Taylor teased.

He grasped her around the waist and pulled her close before capturing her mouth in a soul-searing kiss.

Taylor pulled back. “That’s more like it,” she panted.

She looked into his eyes, and he could feel the tension in her body changing as she became instinctively aware of the change in him. Her eyes narrowed slightly. “What’s going on?”

He grinned. “I’m going to take Emily out tomorrow on a daddy-daughter date at Jungle Jane’s while you get yourself pampered at the day spa.”

Taylor gave a small laugh. “I can’t just take a day off.”

“That’s too bad. I’ll have to call Jane and have her reschedule all your afternoon appointments again.”

Her mouth dropped. “You didn’t.”

He had the temerity to grin even larger.

“I’m not taking it in lieu of payment for this job,” she teased.

Reece wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her back up against him. “Good. I was hoping we could take it out in trade.” He gave her a look that told her exactly how he intended to pay her back, then winked at her.

Chapter Sixteen

Reece was just waiting for the perfect time to ask her to marry him. He’d thought about a ring. He’d thought a million times about how to propose so that Taylor knew she was special to him. But this morning as he drove to work and the misty fog off the ocean drifted through the streets of San Sebastian, his thoughts were interrupted by the shrill ring of his cell phone.

“This is Ree—”

“It’s Jay. Where are you?”

“On my way to the office.”

“Anywhere near the freeway?”

A tingling sensation of dread crept over his skin. “What is it?”

“Emily and Taylor were in a bad car accident. They’re at Clemens County Hospital emergency room right now.”

Blood swept past his ears in a deafening rush as his chest began to ache with a pounding beat. Reece jerked the steering wheel and abruptly stopped the car at the side of the road.

Jay’s voice echoed from the phone. “You there?”

“Yeah, yeah I’m here. What the hell happened?”

“Somebody said they saw a van chasing her into an intersection. She ran a red light and got T-boned. I think the car is totaled and—”

Reece hung up the phone without even saying good-bye and whipped the car around in a U-turn. All the way to the hospital the nausea grew and sweat beaded his brow. In his mind’s eye he could see the stream of blood running from the car and picture Becca’s mangled body with infinite detail. The screaming face morphed, becoming Taylor’s, and the limp body in the backseat was Emily.

Let them be safe.

Please, let them be safe.

He swerved into the hospital emergency-room parking lot and ran to the double doors. They swished open. He grabbed the nearest person in scrubs.

“My daughter, her mother were brought in from a car accident, where are they?”

“If you’ll just go over there to the admittance desk, they’ll be able to help you.”

He pushed blindly up to the desk. “I’m looking for Taylor and Emily Lawrence.”

The nurse typed in the name on the keyboard and checked her monitor. “Ms. Lawrence is in bed six and Emily is in bed five. But you can’t go in there unless you’re family.”

“I’m family.”

He entered the double doors and stalked past the curtained beds until he got to numbers five and six. He pushed back the curtain. Emily lay sleeping, her dark hair spread like ink over her pillow. A small bandage covered her head, but she looked otherwise unharmed.

He turned to look at Taylor in the next bed. For a moment all he could see was the nurse’s back as she bent over to insert another tube into the IV. As she moved from view, his heart fell to his feet. Taylor lay there, her eyes closed, but breathing, her head wrapped in a bandage and her arm in a sling. He fell to his knees with gratitude and relief and placed his hand over Taylor’s feet.

Her eyes fluttered and opened. “Reece,” she croaked. A frail smile lifted her lips and his heart had wings. She was alive. She was going to be fine.

He stood and gingerly cupped her jaw with his hand. “Hi. I was out of my mind worried about you.”

“I knew you would be. Emily is all right. I heard the nurses talking. The car seat kept her well protected.”

He reached over and took her good hand in his. “What about you?”

“Just a few bumps and bruises mostly. They think I cracked a bone in my arm, but it just might be bruised. They still haven’t taken me for X-rays yet.”

He leaned down and kissed her forehead. “I’m just thankful you’re in one piece.”

“How did you know we were here?”

“Jay called. The hospital must have called my business phone. He said someone in a van was chasing you.”

Taylor’s eyes teared up. “The stupidest thing. A news crew ambushed me at the condo as I was getting ready to take Emily to preschool. Nurse Terrate admitted to abducting more than ten children and they wanted to get a reaction. I was trying to get away and ran a red light. It was all my fault.”

His mood veered quickly to anger. His shoulders tightened and his blood heated. “It wasn’t your fault. They never should have been there. I’m putting a stop to this here and now.”

“Where are you going?”

“Upstairs to see Fairmont. I’ll be back.”

…

Taylor watched him walk away. Her head ached and the stabbing pains in her stomach hadn’t let up. She needed to know if the baby was okay. The emergency room doctor came back to her bedside, checking her chart.

“How are you feeling?”

“Lousy.”

He scribbled a notation on the chart and flipped it back onto the hook by her bed. “We’d like to give you some medication for the pain. Do you know when your last cycle was?”

“Why do you want to know?”

“We need to give you a different pain medication if there’s a chance you could be pregnant.”

“Then don’t. I’m already worried I’ve hurt the baby as it is with this accident.”

“How far along are you?”

“Six weeks.”

“Have you had any bleeding?”

Taylor shook her head.

He gave her a reassuring smile. “The baby’s so small right now it should be fine. Are you still having abdominal pains?”

“Yes.”

He felt along her ribs and stomach.

Taylor yelped.

“I think it might be a cracked rib and some bruised organs. You probably hit the steering wheel pretty hard despite the airbag. We’re going to take you over to X-ray. I’ll make a note to have them look at the rib at the same time they do the arm.”

Taylor gave him a weak smile. “Doctor? Is anyone else going to see that chart?”

“No one else besides the staff.”

“Can you put on there to keep the pregnancy confidential. I haven’t exactly told the father yet.”

He lifted an eyebrow and picked up the chart. “Are you sure you don’t just want to tell him?”

“It’s a little more complicated than that.”

He shrugged. “Have it your way.”

Taylor felt weighed down by her choice. She couldn’t tell him right now. He was too close to the situation and the worry and anxiety she’d seen etched on his face was bad enough. She wouldn’t compound his misery. Their accident had obviously affected him and made him vulnerable. If she told him now, there was always the chance that he’d look back on it and feel like he’d been obligated again by circumstance.

Taylor groaned and looked up at the ceiling tiles and tubes. He was going to feel guilty about the accident, instinctively she knew it. Chances are he’d do something dumb, like ask her to marry him. She couldn’t say yes, not with a clear conscience.

Not until he knew about the baby.

…

Reece marched along the hall toward the main entrance elevators and rode up to the fourth floor.

He stalked into the PR office, his stride evidence he was in no mood to be messed with, and demanded to see Ms. Fairmont.

She appeared in the reception area in under two minutes. She smiled and extended her hand. “Mr. Wallace, it’s a pleasure to see you.”

Reece took it, but didn’t return the smile.

“What can I do for you?”

“I need a press conference. Today.”

She smiled prettily. “I’m sorry but that isn’t just something we normally throw together. It needs extensive planning and we’re targeting one for—”

“Taylor and Emily are down in the emergency room right now because they tried to evade a news crew. Now, either you can help me set up this news conference, Ms. Fairmont, and be part of it, or I’ll do it myself at my law office. Either way, I want these people off my back and out of our lives.”

She blinked, her smile fading. “I see. Perhaps we should go back to my office.”

Thirty minutes later they had made arrangements for a press conference at the hospital for that afternoon. She handed him a news conference schedule, explaining the people involved and his role.

“You’ve got a spot here for Taylor to speak. That’s impossible. She’s not out of the emergency room yet.”

Ms. Fairmont scribbled a notation. “Can you make a joint statement then, for both of you?”

He nodded.

“Great. Are there any other questions?”

“Yes. Is this going to do it?”

She narrowed her eyes. “Do you mean will they leave you alone after this?”

“Exactly.”

“The truthful answer is, I don’t know.”

He looked down for a moment, then glanced back at her, extending his hand. “I appreciate your efforts, Ms. Fairmont. I apologize if I’ve seemed brusque, but I need to protect my family and this has gotten out of hand.”

“I can understand, Mr. Wallace. It’s a very fine line to walk.”

“Should I report back here at three?”

She took his hand and gave it a firm shake, then flicked her gaze at her watch. “You have about an hour. If you’d like to get something to eat, you can come back and wait here or go to the main lobby where we’ll be holding the conference.”

“I’ll meet you down there.”

In the elevator he pondered what he should say to the news crews that had hounded his family. He wanted to be a family—no, correction, he, Taylor, and Emily
were
a family. He knew that Emily’s birth circumstances were unusual, but with so many blended families these days, what was the difference? Most importantly, he wanted the media to leave his family alone. They needed to go find something else to report on.

Reece threaded his fingers through his hair. What would Taylor want him to say?

He took a detour into the men’s room, washed his face, straightened his tie, and combed his hair, all the while worrying about Emily and Taylor in the emergency room nearby.

When he got to the main lobby shortly before 3:00
pm,
he entered through a side door as Fairmont had instructed and slid into a space near the platform and podium that had been erected for the conference.

Patricia Fairmont walked up to him and grabbed him by the arm, excusing herself as she pushed past people to take him up the steps of the platform where they joined the chairman of the hospital board and two other hospital administrators.

Immediately following their speeches on improvements to hospital security measures and employee screening, he felt a push from behind prompt him to follow Ms. Fairmont to the microphone. She introduced him. The room fell silent, making his empty stomach tighten into an even thicker knot. Reece reminded himself that this was no different than a trial, but the trials he’d been involved with hadn’t impacted his family the way this moment could. Right now, upstairs, Taylor was watching the press conference from her hospital bed. Ms. Fairmont had made sure it was all set up for her.

He cleared his throat. “Ladies and gentlemen, I’ve come here today to see if we can put this story to rest. Five years ago my wife Rebecca gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. One I never have gotten to see until recently. As some of you may know, the culprit of this confusion was not interested in our families, only in taking our children.

“Today I am thankful that the switch in children is the only damage that occurred from this situation that could have been so much worse. But as Ms. Lawrence and I struggle to right this past wrong, we ask for your compassion and consideration.” Until this moment, Reece worked on keeping his focus just above the heads of the audience as he spoke. But with the burden of what he was about to say weighing on him with a mixture of fear and hope, he turned his eyes to the television camera closest to him and stared directly into it, as if he were speaking to Taylor, just Taylor. “The fact is, I love Taylor Lawrence, and I want to create a family with her.” A buzz of voices rippled through the crowd. Reece turned away from the camera and looked out at the audience. “You’ve gotten everything you can about this story from us. So for the sake of our surviving daughter, Emily, I’d ask that you leave us in peace. Let us have our chance to heal and start over. Seek out the bigger story if you must, but for now, we are done giving any further comment.”

Now stay away from my family
, he wanted to add. He felt like he had swallowed a brick. Ms. Fairmont placed a hand on his back and Reece moved away from the podium, leaving her to handle the flood of questions that rose from the crowd. He eased out of the conference circle as quickly as he could, making his way toward the emergency room.

Both Emily and Taylor were waiting for him to return. But while Emily was dressed and ready to go, Taylor wasn’t.

“Daddy!” Emily squealed as she jogged up to him. She held up her toy zebra, who was sporting a brightly colored neon pink bandage. “Jessie has a boo-boo, just like Mommy.”

“I see that.” He kissed Emily on the head and headed for the edge of Taylor’s hospital bed. “How are you feeling?”

“Not so hot.” She held up the slinged arm. “They said it’s just a bad sprain and to baby it for a week or so. They want to keep me overnight for observation.” She blinked a few times, too quickly. “That was quite a press conference.”

Reece grasped her hand lightly and held it, giving it a small squeeze. “I just said what I thought had to be said. And I meant it. All of it.”

Taylor squeezed his hand back. “I know. But there are some things we still need to work out, and I’m not in any shape to talk right now. I’m really tired.” She tried to adjust her position and winced.

A tightness stole over his chest. What if she wasn’t all right? What if she’d been hurt worse than they realized?

Emily tugged on his sleeve. “The doctor said I did really good and he gave me this.” She held out a red lollipop for an instant, then sucked it back into her mouth.

He picked her up and held her close, her sticky hand against his cheek.

“Can we go home now, Daddy?”

He looked at Taylor. There was sadness in her eyes, but acceptance lingered there, too. “That’s up to your mommy, sunshine.”

Taylor bit her lip and nodded. “I think that would be best for now.”

“You just get some rest, and we’ll be back in the morning.”

He carried Emily on his hip as he left the room and thought he heard the soft, muffled sounds of crying. Down in the parking garage, the familiar gnawing of guilt ate at him. How was any of this fair to Taylor? Why hadn’t he been able to protect them?