I couldnt.
Nialls hand remained beneath her arm, making sure of her hold on the infant. His chest pressed against Lucys shoulder, and for a split second she was overcome by the normalcy of the family shed never known and would never have. A mother, a father, a child they shared together. The yearning inside her was almost painful.
Blinking rapidly to dispel the impossible image of the brainy doctor cop and her creating a perfect little baby together, Lucy scooted away to break the contact between her and Niall Watson, although she could still feel that crazily addictive warmth he radiated. Whats his name? she asked, craving the information as much as she needed to put space between her and her errant fantasies.
He didnt come with an ID, Niall answered. He didnt come with anything. Not even a fresh diaper. If you could answer at least some of my questions
Son. The older Watson chided the tone in Nialls voice and offered her a smile. I nicknamed him Tommy. But thats just a family name I was using so we could call him something besides little munchkin. We were hoping youd be able to fill in the blanks for us. But I take it youre not the mother.
His green eyes were kind, but Lucy still felt the sting of truth. No. I... I cant have children of my own.
Im sorry. You seem like a natural with Tommy, too.
His kind words enabled her to smile back. Thank you. But a glance up to the man seated beside her indicated that answers were the only thing that was going to soften that empirical focus zeroed in on her. He was this babys champion, and nothing short of the entire truth was going to satisfy him. I think... Tommy... She stroked her fingertip over his tiny lips, and they instinctively moved to latch on, even though he was asleep. I have no idea who the father is. But I think he belongs to my foster daughter, Diana Kozlow.
Nialls posture relaxed a fraction, although that stern focus remained. The woman whose name you kept calling out.
Lucy nodded. Technically, shes my former foster daughter. Diana was with me for six years until she aged out of the system. Shes twenty now. We kept in touch for a year or so. But I lost contact with her after that. She changed her number, changed her job. I had no idea shed gotten pregnant. She nodded toward the screwdriver on the coffee table. I gave that to her in a tool set one Christmas. I guess she broke into my apartment to leave the baby with me. Probably took the twenty I had stashed in my knitting basket. She called me out of the blue yesterdaysaid she had something she wanted to show me. I invited her for lunch today, but she never came. I tried calling the number she used, but the phone went straight to voice mail.
She rocked back and forth, ever so subtly, soothing the infant as he began to stir. I went to my office to look up her most recent address and phone number to make sure I had it rightand discovered shed left me a pretty disturbing message on my answering machine there. Ive been out looking for her ever since. One of the neighbors at the last address where I knew her to live said Diana had a boyfriend move in with her about six months ago. She never knew his name, so that was a dead end. Shortly after that they moved to Carmody Street, she thought
Carmody? The elder Watson muttered a curse under his breath. Thats not a good part of town. You didnt go there to look for her by yourself, did you? At the police department, we call that part of town no-mans-land.
I can believe it. The two men exchanged a grim look. No one there recognized Diana, and they couldnt tell me the boyfriends name, either. I wasnt sure where to look after that. How does a young woman just...disappear? Lucys thoughts drifted to all the morbid possibilities that had driven her to search for Diana. Why wouldnt she keep Tommy with her? Why wouldnt she stay at my place with him if she was in trouble?
If shes the mother, Niall cautioned. Wed have to blood-type him and run DNA on both mother and son to be certain.
A DNA test couldnt tell Lucy what she already knew in her heart. He looks like herthe shape of his face, the thick dark hair. What color are his eyes?
Thomas shrugged. You know, I dont remem
Brown, Niall answered.
Lucy glanced up when he reached around her to tuck in the tiny fist that had pushed free of the blanket. She didnt mind Nialls unvarnished tone quite so much this time. Hed put his clinical eye for detail to work on doing whatever was best for this baby. Diana has brown eyes.
Nialls startling blue gaze shifted to hers for a moment before he blinked and rose from the couch. He paced to the kitchen archway before turning to ask, Did you save that message?
Lucy nodded.
The two men exchanged a suspicious sort of glance before Thomas picked up a notepad and pen from the table beside the recliner. Niall adjusted his glasses on the bridge of his nose before splaying his fingers at his waist and facing her. Maybe youd better tell me more about your friend Diana. And why you thought she might be dead.