Finding a Hart Read online

  “Great,” Kara said as she tapped a screen next to another baby. “He is eating a little better than he was but still not as well as we’d like.”

  The tiny baby let out a small, angry squeak and I looked back down as he scrunched up his eyes. His little face relaxed before he got angry again and I couldn’t help but smile.

  I didn’t waste any time scooping him to my arms like I had in the days before. I was careful of his wires and I covered him with a blanket even though the NICU felt like it was ninety degrees already.

  His little cheek pressed to the skin above my shirt and he immediately settled down. I bounced on my feet a little and pressed my nose to the top of his hair.

  “This child is intoxicating.”

  “Why don’t you try feeding him again?” Kara asked as she handed me a small bottle of formula. “The doctor really wants him to drink at least twenty milliliters in one sitting. Even if he doesn’t, the practice is good for his suck reflex.”

  I took the bottle from her and settled into the rocking chair. Chris’s deep blue eyes stayed on me as I brought the bottle to his mouth and we rocked together while he attempted to eat. After about twenty minutes, he was completely asleep and I held up the bottle to look at it.

  “He drank almost an ounce. What is that in milliliters?”

  Kara took the bottle and looked at it herself. “An ounce is thirty milliliters so I’d say he drank about twenty-five. Good job, Steph.”

  We kept chatting off and on as she helped parents who came and went. I undid my blouse, knowing damn well I’d picked button-up ones all week because of the baby, and cuddled him up to my chest. His little cheek pressed against my skin and he looked comfortable where he was.

  When Kara had a particularly fussy baby, I let her work while I sat in my bubble with Chris. He slept with his little lips parted and I couldn’t help but run my fingers through his fuzzy, blonde hair.

  I stared at him for so long, and it was so warm in the NICU, that my eyes began to feel heavy and I blinked several times to wake myself up. Suddenly, someone shook my shoulder gently and I opened my eyes. I blinked again, trying to figure out where the hell I was. I felt something move against my chest and looked down to see Chris shift in his sleep. My grip tightened on him and I looked up to see Kara staring down at me with a smile.

  “I fell asleep holding him? I’m sorry. That’s so dangerous.”

  She shook her head. “We’ve been here the whole time watching. You were fine. I didn’t want to wake you up but the detectives are here and they wanted to talk to you.” She carefully took Chris from me and I stood up, stretching my stiff muscles as I did.

  “How long did I sleep?” I asked as I re-buttoned my blouse, my chest now sweaty from where the baby had been sleeping. Kara let out a small laugh and looked at the clock.

  “Over an hour. You must be tired.”

  “I’m always tired,” I replied with a yawn while slipping my feet back into my heels. “I’ll be right back.”

  I walked through the door of the NICU and spotted Kevin and Valerie sitting in the waiting room. Valerie smiled when she saw me and they both stood to greet me.

  “What’s going on?” I asked, rubbing my still-kinked neck as I sat in a chair across from them.

  “We’ve received several hundred calls but ten of the tips seem legit,” Kevin said as he handed me a cup of coffee and an unopened bottle of water. I took of drink of the warm, caffeinated liquid and savored it as he continued. “We’re going to run them down tomorrow. We were told to let DCS know that as soon as we have a name, you can begin proceedings to have phantom parental rights terminated.”

  I swallowed another mouthful of coffee and nodded again. “Good. I put in the request to have his birth certificate created today, but it’ll be easier if we know who the parents are. We named him Christopher Banner for now.”

  Valerie started to say something but someone interrupted us before she could.

  “Excuse me. Are you the people working the Baby Boy Doe case?”

  The fine hairs on the back of my neck stood on end and when I turned my head, along with Val and Kevin, my eyes widened in surprise.

  Standing there, with his blonde hair completely disheveled and in a suit that looked amazing on him, was the man from the coffee shop.

  His light green eyes were full of surprise when they locked with mine. “Vanilla Latte?”

  “City Roast.” I smiled but it fell quickly and I furrowed my brows. “What are you doing here?”

  “I, uh, I needed to…” he stammered, looking completely unsure of himself for a second, and it was Valerie who finally put together a coherent thought.

  She stood and extended her hand to the newcomer. “We are the ones working on the Baby Boy Doe case. I’m Detective Valerie Spector and this is my partner, Kevin Pick. How can we help you?”

  He shoved his hands into the pockets of his suit pants nervously and looked at me before glancing back to Valerie. “My name is Jared Hart. I, uh, think I may have some information about the baby’s parents.”

  A gasp fell from my lips automatically and Jared’s eyes snapped back to meet mine. Kevin must have sensed the tension between us because he gestured for Jared to sit in the chair across from mine. “Please sit. I see you know Stephanie Gibson. She’s the social worker assigned to the case and also the one who found Chris.”

  “You found him?” he asked, his voice quiet. I nodded my head but didn’t say anything. My whole body warmed just being in his presence and it was all I could do to keep my hands from reaching out to him. When Valerie cleared her throat, he finally spoke again. “You’re calling the baby Chris?”

  I nodded a second time, a nervous feeling in my stomach as our gazes stayed connected. “We wanted to call him something other than ‘Baby Boy Doe’.”

  “Chris,” he repeated almost so softly that I didn’t hear him. The stare down between us finally broke when he ran his hand down his face. He looked over at Kevin “I just got back into town and one of my friends sent me the pictures you released. That woman is Angela Roberts.”

  Kevin scribbled the name in notebook before looking back up at the man. “Are you sure, Mr. Hart?”

  “Positive.” Jared nodded. “She’s my ex-girlfriend.”

  “Ex-girlfriend?” Valerie repeated with a raise of her eyebrow. “How recent?”

  His face went completely white at the question. “We separated about eight months ago. I think the baby may be mine.”

  My heart thudded in my chest as I absorbed his words. Chris, our little Chris who came to us with no family, no name, no love… There was a real chance that he had family out there.

  And that family could be the man I had spent the last month flirting with every morning.

  “And you didn’t know she was pregnant?” Valerie asked while Kevin stood and pulled his phone out his pocket. Everyone seemed oblivious to my own inner turmoil.

  “I had no idea. If I’d known…” Jared looked like he might be sick so I offered him the unopened bottle of water. He accepted it gratefully and took a few small sips before replacing the lid. He didn’t look up as he focused on the plastic in his hands. “He would have died if he’d been out there much longer, wouldn’t he?”

  Valerie ducked her head and stared at him until he finally looked up to meet her gaze. “Don’t focus on that. He was found in time and that little guy is thriving.”

  “He really is,” I said quietly. Jared turned to look at me again, his eyebrows furrowed in disbelief. I offered him a small smile. “He’s a sweetheart, too. Charmed everyone in the NICU already.”

  “Definitely,” Valerie agreed with a laugh. “I don’t think Steph has left his side for very long since she found him. He has her wrapped around his pinky.”

  Kevin walked back to us as he tucked his phone back into his pocket. “The driver’s license photo matches the surveillance image. Patrols are heading to pick up Angela Roberts now. We’
ll rush a DNA sample from her to compare it against the labs we had done for Chris. Mr. Hart, we’d like to take a sample from you as well to verify paternity. If you are the father, we will work with Ms. Gibson to figure out how to get you and your son together.”

  “My son. Jesus.” Jared ran his hand over the top of his head. “I don’t even know where to start. I don’t have anything I’d need for a baby. Where will he sleep? What does he eat? Who’s going to watch him while I’m at work? I just-”

  “You’re getting ahead of yourself,” I interrupted, trying to keep my tone as soft and reassuring as possible. “First things first. Let’s do the DNA test and then we can make a plan from there.”

  Jared nodded at me and we stared at each other until Kevin mentioned heading to the lab. As we all stood, I offered my hand to him to shake.

  When he took it in his own, I had to fight against closing my eyes. Everything about the simple touch felt perfect and I never wanted to let go. I had so much I wanted to ask him, so much I needed to say, but I felt frozen with shock. He opened his mouth to say something but Kevin asked if he was ready to go.

  Our hands dropped and I mourned the loss of him immediately but forced a quick smile before quickly hugging the detectives. Kevin promised to call me with the results but warned it wouldn’t be for a couple of days.

  I watched the three of them walk towards the elevator and right before he stepped in, Jared looked over his shoulder. He stared at me for a second and I offered him a small wave. He held his hand up to return it and then disappeared from my sight.

  I went back into the NICU and said goodbye to Kara and Chris before heading home. It was late, already after ten, and there was no sign of my best friend when I closed myself off in my bedroom. Once I was in bed, my mind began to run wild.

  Phoenix was a big city. How was it that the man from the coffee shop could possibly be the father of the baby I had found? The universe had a weird sense of humor.

  The thing was, I really wanted him to be the father. I wanted Chris to have a family. I saw so many tough cases in my job and I really just needed a win. I also wondered what that meant for me and City Roast.

  Chapter Six

  Jared

  I felt like I was going to be sick. The whole room was off-kilter, like I’d had too much to drink, but it was information that I was drunk on.

  When I stepped off of the jet bridge at the Phoenix airport that evening, I immediately powered on my phone and wasn’t surprised at the notifications that came rolling in. It felt like my department couldn’t survive ten minutes without me.

  What had surprised me was when my best friend and co-worker, Dave, had text me a picture of my ex with an accompanying message that said, “Isn’t this Angela?”

  The second I text him back that it was, my phone vibrated and he told me about a press conference he’d seen earlier. Minutes later, realization and information had flooded my brain and I felt like I couldn’t breathe. I ended the call and brought up my web browser, immediately finding the article I was looking for.

  A baby had been abandoned. The woman who’d left him there was my ex-girlfriend. The baby had survived. According to the math, that baby could possibly be mine.

  I could be a father.

  Information overload.

  I had driven right to the police station, who directed me to the hospital, and now I was giving up a DNA sample. Jesus.

  “Mr. Hart?” The male detective, Detective Pick, gave me a concerned look. “Are you okay? You’re really pale.”

  I ran my hand through my hair and shook my head. “It’s just a lot, you know?”

  “I know. You’ll feel better once you really process it.” The two detectives had taken me down to the ground floor of the hospital, into a lab, and someone had immediately taken us back to a private room.

  The female detective, Detective Spector, placed a hand on my shoulder. “Have a seat. The technician is going to do a buccal swab, which is just a quick sample of the saliva in your cheek.”

  “How long until we get the results?” I asked, watching as a woman in scrubs entered the room with a tray in her hands. She offered me a small smile and began opening different things.

  “Anywhere from forty-eight to seventy-two hours and the weekend doesn’t necessarily count,” Detective Pick answered and I looked up at him with my brows raised.

  “Why so long?”

  “Well, this is us rushing it, too,” he explained. “The baby isn’t in any immediate danger so this is as fast as it can be.”

  I nodded my head slightly. That made sense. “How is he? He’s healthy, right? Can I see a picture?”

  Before either of them could answer, the technician told me to open my mouth and she stuck a cotton swab into my cheek. She repeated her actions with a different cotton swab and tested both sides of my mouth before turning to place them in little containers.

  “Until we can prove he’s your son, we can’t answer that, Mr. Hart.” Detective Spector gave me an apologetic look.

  Frustration rolled through me. My son, the son I didn’t know I had, could be sitting just four floors above my head and I couldn’t even know if he was okay. Detective Pick must have sensed my frustration because he leaned forward and spoke quietly.

  “He’s healthy. He’s thriving. He’s going to be okay. Stephanie is watching over him like he was her own and there isn’t anyone better you could have on your side.”

  Stephanie. Or as I liked to call her, Vanilla Latte.

  It had been almost two months since she first caught my eye at the coffee shop. I had been standing in line while she was placing her coffee order and she laughed at something the barista said. Her laugh was so damn sexy that I couldn’t ignore it. And then when I laid eyes on her, I realized that her laugh wasn’t the only sexy thing about her.

  After four weeks of just catching glimpses of her, I finally worked up the courage to talk to her and every weekday morning since had been perfect. I had spent the whole week missing the fifteen minutes a day I got with her. When I saw her in the hospital, I had almost forgotten why I was there.

  She was in a tight, deep red colored blouse and it was tucked into the even tighter, hip-hugging grey skirt. Every perfect curve of her body, from her chest to her waist had been on display, even more so than it normally was in the mornings. Even though she had been obviously thrown off by my appearance, she had spoken to me with confidence and knowledge.

  That was what had hooked me in the first place, not her gorgeous appearance. The friendliness when she spoke to people. The passion in her eyes when the conversation hit something she cared about. The way she smiled secretively when she ate her completely unhealthy breakfast pastries. I had felt a connection to her almost instantly and it had only grown since I’d known her.

  I had no idea where we went from that point but that was put on the backburner because I had to wait to know the answer I was so desperately seeking.

  Was the baby mine? Did I want him to be mine? Why the fuck hadn’t Angela told me? What was I going to do?

  “Okay, then,” Detective Spector said, jarring me out of my thoughts again. “You’re good to go. You have our cards so you can call if you have any questions, but one of us will call you the second the results are in.”

  “Okay. Thank you.” I shook both of their hands and basically stumbled out of the hospital until I was at my car. I slipped behind the steering wheel, started the engine, and then didn’t move.

  Finally, I pulled out my phone and pressed Dave’s name on the screen. He answered after just two rings.

  “Well?”

  “They have to do a DNA test,” I replied, staring at the roof of my car. “We won’t know for two or three days.”

  My closest friend was quiet for a long moment. “And you really think it might be yours?”

  I had called him after leaving the police station, letting him know everything I’d found out since the moment my plane had land
ed.

  “The timeline fits, Dave.”

  “Yeah, but she could have been sleeping with someone else.”

  I released a long breath and let my eyes close. “I know but it’s hard to explain. My gut is telling me that the baby is mine.”

  “Okay.” Another long pause. “And if he is your kid, what’s your plan?”

  I knew why he was asking. My life was about my job and I already had very little free time as it was. Adding a baby to the mix? I had no idea how it would work but I would make it work.

  “Then I’m going to be his father and I’ll be the best damn father I can be.”

  “Good.” I could tell he was smiling. “I’ll help anyway I can. I’ll dig through the boys’ old things to see what you can use, too.”

  “That’d be awesome.” Dave was the closest thing I had to family. He and I had gone to college together in Michigan. When he had received a job offer in Phoenix, Arizona right after graduation, I’d been happy for him but it sucked seeing him go. When an amazing opportunity came up for me to join his company just three years ago, I couldn’t say no.

  We talked for a few more minutes before ending the call with plans to get lunch together the next day. I finally put my car into reverse to leave the hospital.

  Instead of going home like I should have, I ended up at the nearest Babies R Us. The second I walked through the door, I was overwhelmed. I’d never even held a baby, much less thought about all of the crap they needed.

  I mean, I wanted children. In fact, I always thought I’d have a wife and a kid or two by the time I hit thirty but it hadn’t been in the cards. Angela was the only woman I had dated since moving to Phoenix and we were only together for less than a year.

  I walked down an aisle that started out with bottles, those I at least recognized, but it quickly turned into different types of cups and cutlery. Pacifiers, bibs, shampoos, soaps, creams, food, formula, and other random items swirled around me with every step I took. The diaper aisle was huge and there were so many types and sizes. Hell, there were multiple types of wipes.