Always in Her Heart (3 page)

Annie knew she'd better finish changing her clothes and get back downstairs. She'd left Marcy with Link, and she wasn't sure how comfortable he was watching a lively toddler. Marcy's little hands could move at the speed of light when she wanted
something, and Annie was already discovering that she needed faster reflexes to keep up with her.

She pulled on khakis and a camel sweater, ran a brush through her hair and decided that would have to do. On to the next thing.

She and Link had already decided they'd both stay in the house tonight, since they didn't want to raise any awkward questions with the hearing tomorrow. Link could sleep on the couch in Davis's office. Being here together was difficult, but it was only for a night.

Once the custody case was settled, the need to look like a married couple would be finished. She'd take Marcy home, and that would be that.

In the meantime, she could certainly cope with the situation for a day or two. This was business, and she knew how to handle business.

The thought comforted her. She went quickly out of the room and down the stairs.

She found Link and Marcy in the family room, where he was trying to dissuade the baby from pulling all the videos out of the cabinet.

“How about playing with the nice blocks, instead?” He sounded harassed.

“She likes just about anything better than her toys, according to Becca.”

Link looked up at her from his prone position on the rug next to Marcy. A smile tilted his lips. “What do you suggest I do about it?”

She had to remind herself not to react to that smile.
Business.
She walked into the adjoining kitchen and
pulled out the drawer her sister had filled with plastic containers and utensils.

“Look, Marcy. Look what Nan has.” She tapped a wooden spoon invitingly on a plastic container.

Marcy dropped a video on Link's arm and trotted over to grab the spoon away from Annie. She plopped down in front of the drawer.

“Whatever anyone else has, that's what she wants. Becca called it the toddler's creed.” Her smile faltered when she seemed to hear her sister's voice.

Link closed the video cabinet quickly, snapping the safety lock. “Nan? How did you get to be Nan?”

“Aunt Annie is a mouthful. She hasn't managed it yet.”

He unfolded himself from the floor and walked toward her. Her mouth went suddenly dry. They were alone together. They were married.

He stopped, looking down at the baby. “Speaking of cooking utensils, have you given any thought to supper?”

She stared at him blankly. So much for the efficient, businesslike way she was going to handle things. “No, I guess I haven't.” She hated admitting to any error. “It never entered my mind.”

“Well, we have to eat. Why don't you grab a jacket, and I'll take the two of you out.”

That just seemed to multiply her inefficiency. “Marcy's going to be tired out soon. I doubt she'd last through a restaurant dinner without a meltdown.”

He looked at the baby with caution, as if antici
pating an explosion. “I could pick up some take-out.”

“The freezer's still full of the food people brought over for the funeral. I'll microwave something for tonight.”

By tomorrow, she wouldn't need to feel responsible for Link's dinner.

“Okay.” He sat down on the floor next to Marcy. “I'll keep an eye on her while you're doing that.”

Having Link, in jeans and a dark blue sweater, taking up half the kitchen floor didn't seem conducive to getting a meal together quickly. Still, it would be worse if she were trying to do it with Marcy underfoot.

She pulled foil-covered dishes from the freezer, setting things onto the pale birch table. For an instant her vision blurred.

Everyone in town must have loved Becca and Davis. Their grief had found expression in their bringing more food than she and Link could possibly eat. It was just as well that she hadn't thought of cooking anything else.

When the table was set with the floral pottery dishes and blue-and-white napkins, she scooped Marcy up. “Supper time, sweetpea. Let's see what you like.”

Marcy liked just about everything until halfway through the meal, when she suddenly decided she didn't like anything. She wailed, then began rubbing
her eyes, depositing a generous helping of macaroni and cheese in her hair in the process.

Annie glanced at Link, placidly eating a second helping of ham and scalloped potato casserole. “I'd better get her ready for bed.”

He nodded, then came around the table to plant a kiss on Marcy's cheek, adroitly avoiding the waving, sticky hands. “Do you want me to carry her upstairs?”

“I can handle her.” She mopped the baby's face and hands quickly. She'd better be able to handle Marcy. From now on, that would be her primary responsibility. For just an instant the thought frightened her, but she shook it off. She could do this. She had to. Nobody loved Marcy more than she did.

A wet half hour later she held a rosy-cheeked cherub, dressed for bed in pajamas dotted with yellow giraffes that matched the wallpaper. The elephant lamp cast a soft glow over the nursery.

Marcy looked adorable. She suspected that she hadn't fared so well. Her hair fell damply in her face and her sweater sported several wet patches. She looked up at a sound to find Link standing in the doorway, watching them.

“Come to help?”

He ambled toward them, looking entirely too dry and perfect. “Came to say good-night.”

He held out his hands to Marcy. She leaned coyly against Annie's shoulder for an instant, then lunged into his arms, chortling.

Link lifted her over his head, laughing up at her. The laughter transformed his face from its earlier bleakness. Annie's heart lurched.

“Let's see if we can get her into bed without a struggle,” she said.

This was the moment that had been difficult each night. Marcy, who normally went to bed without a peep, had been clingy and reluctant.

Link hugged the child, then swung her into the white crib, snuggling her down next to the soft, white, stuffed dog. Marcy lay still for an instant, then popped up again. She looked from one to the other of them, her blue eyes very round.

“Mama?” she asked tentatively. “Mama?”

Annie blinked back tears. “It's all right, sweetheart. Nan is here.”

Link leaned over the crib railing, patting her. “You go to sleep now, darling. Link and Nan are here. We're not going to leave.”

Marcy's eyes clouded up, as if tears weren't far off. He patted her again, humming in a soft bass. While Annie held her breath, Marcy lay down, pulling the dog close and slipping her thumb into her mouth. In a moment her eyes had closed.

Link straightened slowly. The movement brought him brushing against her as they stood side by side, looking down at the baby. The room was so silent she could hear Link's slow, steady breathing. She could almost imagine she heard the beating of his heart. Her own seemed to be fluttering erratically.

She took a breath, trying to steady herself. It was certainly a good thing this marriage was going to be a long-distance one. Because she didn't think she could cope with too much time spent in close quarters with her new husband.

G
ratitude mingled with her apprehension as Annie walked toward the courthouse the next day. She'd expected to be accompanied by only Link and the attorney. She'd thought she'd feel very much the outsider in the redbrick courthouse that was one of a row of similar buildings—town hall, public library, courthouse—that lined one side of the square.

Instead, Pastor Laing had turned up at the house early, saying he thought they might need moral support at such a difficult time. And Nora Evers, hat firmly in place on her white hair, had marched out of her house to join them.

The support helped, especially after the mostly sleepless night she'd endured. She'd been so aware of her responsibility for Marcy that even putting the baby monitor next to her pillow wouldn't relieve her concerns.

She shouldn't try to fool herself. Some of her sleeplessness had to be chalked up to Link's presence in the house as her husband.
Husband.
The word reverberated in her thoughts. That had to have been one of the strangest wedding nights in history.

She hadn't expected anything else. Of course not, she assured herself quickly. This was a business arrangement, not a marriage. That fact hadn't lessened her awareness of Link's presence. Even after his bedroom door had closed, her awareness had remained. Maybe soon, she'd get used to it. Maybe.

“Are you okay?” Link, carrying the baby, glanced at her as their little procession crossed the street.

Was she? “My stomach feels like I'm walking into an IRS audit without my notes.”

His smile flickered. “As bad as that?”

She nodded. “What if…”

Link took her hand in a reassuring grip. “Let's not venture into what-ifs, not until we have to. That's what we have an attorney for.”

“That's right.” Chet mounted the three steps to the courthouse's double doors and held one side open for them. He smiled, but Annie thought she detected tension in him, as well. Maybe Chet wasn't as confident of the outcome as he'd like them to believe.

She entered the tiled, echoing hallway. Ahead of her a cluster of people stepped into the elevator— Frank, Julia and a woman who was probably their attorney. Her heart jolted.

Please, Lord, be with us this morning. We are do
ing the right thing, aren't we? Don't let them take Marcy away.

Link's tension vibrated through the hand that clasped hers.

“Looks as if they're not giving up easily.” His grip tightened.

“We didn't expect them to, did we.” Now it was her turn to try and sound reassuring. She didn't feel assured. She felt panic-stricken.

“I guess not.” Link waited until the door had closed and the elevator was carrying the Lesters upward before pushing the button.

“Do you think the judge knows the Lesters?” That was probable, given how small the town was. Maybe this would be over before it began, a victim of the Lakeview old boys' network.

“Judge Carstairs knows everyone in town,” Chet said, answering the question before Link could say anything. “But that doesn't mean she won't be fair. After all, she's always dealing with people she knows.”

Somehow she hadn't been thinking of the judge as a woman. She didn't know whether to be reassured by that or not. Would it make any difference in the way Judge Carstairs viewed a custody case?

She worried at it all the way up in the elevator, into the courtroom with its lofty ceiling and murals of Revolutionary War scenes, right into her seat behind a polished table. The judge's bench rose intimidatingly, towering above them.

She'd pictured someone elderly and severe, but Judge Carstairs couldn't have been more than fifty. Her glossy dark hair swung around a face that was discreetly made up, and the hand that wielded the gavel sported polished nails.

The judge looked down at the papers in front of her, then questioningly from one attorney to the other. “I thought this was a routine custody hearing for a minor child.”

The Lesters' attorney stood. “Frank Lester and his wife contest awarding custody to the aunt, Your Honor. As you may be aware, Mr. Lester is the cousin of the child's father.”

Judge Carstairs frowned. “What I may be aware of isn't pertinent, Counselor.” She nodded toward the door at the side of the courtroom. “Let's move this into my chambers.”

Annie sent a startled glance at Chet, who shrugged.

“She does things her way,” he murmured. “All we can do is go along.”

They trooped out of the courtroom and into a book-lined room that looked like an elegant library in a private home. The judge took a seat behind the desk and waved them all to chairs. She glanced at Pastor Laing. “Garth, are you here to testify in this case?”

“I'm here as little Marcy's pastor,” he said, sitting down next to Link. “I'm concerned that we do what's best for her, that's all.”

The judge's dark gaze rested on him for a moment, then she nodded.

Annie tried to find something hopeful in that. The pastor's body language put him in their camp. She didn't know what they'd done to deserve that, but she was grateful.

“All of us want what's best for the child.” Judge Carstairs's face softened in a smile as she glanced at Marcy, sitting contentedly on Link's lap.

Annie moved the diaper bag a little closer to her side. She'd come prepared with crackers, a pacifier, a cup of milk, a book, toys. The last thing they needed was for Marcy to have a cranky spell in the middle of this hearing.

“So,” the judge continued, “we're going to have a nice, informal little conversation about the situation and try to figure out what that best is.”

“Your Honor…” the Lesters' attorney began.

Judge Carstairs frowned. “You have some objection to that, Ms. Marshall?”

“No, Your Honor. But I'd like to point out that my clients haven't had an opportunity to prepare their case. This has come up very suddenly. Naturally, as the deceased's closest living relatives, they expected the child would come to them. They're a married couple, they're lifelong members of the community and Mr. Lester has an interest in the deceased's company.”

Indignation flooded through Annie. The woman was talking as if only Davis's death had any significance.

Then she realized the judge was looking right at her.

“You have something to say, Ms.—” She glanced down at the file in front of her. “Ms. Gideon, is it?”

Annie felt the pressure of Link's hand clasping hers. “I'm Ann Gideon Morgan,” she said firmly. “My sister, Becca Conrad, was the baby's mother. I've been taking care of Marcy since the accident, and I believe my husband and I are the logical people to continue to do so.”

My husband and I.
It was the first time she'd used the phrase, and it sounded odd to her ears. She could only hope that feeling wasn't obvious to the others in the room.

The judge's gaze moved from her face to Link's with what seemed to be a sharpening of interest. Annie's nerves clenched. What was the woman going to ask her? If she asked about the circumstances of their wedding, what could she say?

“Your Honor, this marriage—”

The judge cut Frank's words short with a sharp gesture. “This proceeding is informal, as I said. But I still ask the questions.” She turned back to Annie. “Your marriage was rather sudden, wasn't it? Will you tell me how it came about?”

Please, let me say the right thing.

At some level she was ashamed to be clinging so tightly to Link's hand, but she couldn't seem to let go.

“I've known Link for over eight years.” She could
only be surprised that she sounded so calm. “We were both very close to my sister and her husband. After the—” Her voice caught suddenly and she had to pause before she could continue. “After the accident, we felt the best thing for the baby we both love was to be married. Pastor Laing conducted the ceremony yesterday.”

“I see.” Her gaze rested thoughtfully on them. “Mr. Morgan, do you have anything to add?”

Link's hand twitched, but she was the only one to know that.

“Only that no one could be a better mother to this little girl than Annie, Your Honor.”

He looked down at Marcy as he spoke, and she smiled up at him as if she understood. Then she turned to Annie, holding out her hands commandingly. “Nan,” she said.

Annie lifted Marcy onto her lap, feeling a wave of love. Surely the judge would see how much she cared, wouldn't she?

Judge Carstairs folded her hands on the desk in front of her. “I think I've heard as much as I need to hear at this time.”

At this time?
The words sounded an alarm in Annie's mind.

“Your Honor, we haven't had an opportunity to present our case,” Frank's attorney said.

“You've already pointed out that you haven't had time to prepare your case,” Judge Carstairs said.
“I'm not inclined to take the child out of an established relationship.”

A wave of relief swept Annie.

“However, I'm also not going to make a decision that affects the future of a child in a hurry.”

Annie looked at Chet, but if he knew what the judge had in mind, his face didn't show it.

“Therefore, in the matter of the infant child Marcy Amanda Conrad, I'm ordering that she remain in the custody of her aunt and uncle, Ann and Lincoln Morgan, until such time as a full custody hearing can be held.” She frowned at a calendar on her desk. “We'll set a hearing date in a month's time. That will allow both sides to prepare their arguments and also allow Children's Services to conduct an evaluation of the home Mr. and Mrs. Morgan are providing. The Lesters will have visitation, also observed by Children's Services. That's all.”

Annie sank back in her chair. She could vaguely hear Frank protesting, being hushed by his attorney. Link seemed to be saying something to Chet. All she could do was try and take it in.

There was no decision, either for or against them. She forced herself to look at Link. His set face probably hid feelings as appalled and shocked as hers.

She wouldn't be going back to Boston with Marcy today. She'd spend the next four weeks living in Lakeview with Link, trying to pretend to the world that they were just like any other newly married couple. And knowing that at any moment a social worker
could decide she wasn't doing a good enough job and take Marcy away from her.

 

Link stirred restlessly in the leather chair in the family room. It was a comfortable chair, but he couldn't seem to find comfort at the moment. What he wanted to do was throw on some shorts and go for a run, then go back to his quiet apartment.

He couldn't. Because of the judge's ruling, he was stuck here, trying to figure out how he and Annie were going to deal with this situation for the next month.

Chet had come over for a conference after they'd gotten Marcy to bed—a council of war was more like it. He'd been cautiously optimistic about the results of the hearing.

“…wouldn't have given you even temporary custody if she hadn't felt you were the right people to have Marcy,” he was saying reassuringly.

Impossible to tell if Annie felt reassured. She sat very erect in the bentwood rocking chair, still and collected. The Annie who had gripped his hand so tightly during the hearing was submerged beneath that composed exterior she wore so well.

For an instant he felt annoyed with her for not showing more distress at the way things had blown up in their faces. Talk about irrational. Would he be happier if she were having hysterics? It was just as well that Annie kept her feelings to herself, given the situation they were in.

Chet glanced at him. “As far as I can see, the best thing the two of you—well, the three of you—can do is stay right here in Davis and Becca's house. It comes to Marcy anyway, and I'm sure it was the judge's intention that she not be moved.”

Link gave a wistful thought to his small apartment, then dismissed it. He nodded toward the bright plastic slide and playhouse in the backyard, visible through the French doors of the family room. “We certainly couldn't fit that into my place. And I doubt Annie would like my decor.”

A sudden smile broke through the somber expression on Annie's face. “Becca said it was decorated in early motel.”

“Actually it's the furniture that was there when I moved in. I always thought someday I'd get around to having a house of my own.”

But not Davis's house. It didn't feel right to be sitting in this warm family room without Davis opposite him.

“That's settled, then,” Chet said. “You'll stay here, carry on like any normal family.”

“We need to talk about the company.” That probably sounded abrupt, but he had to know where they stood.

Chet glanced toward Annie, probably thinking he wouldn't want to discuss this in front of her. “I could meet you at the office tomorrow.”

“No. Annie's just as involved as I am in this situation. It's Marcy's future we're talking about, after
all.” Again he pictured Davis sitting in the chair opposite him. Protecting Marcy's future meant protecting the company.

Annie stirred. “I know you said that Frank had bought a share in the company. But I don't understand why anything would change now that Davis is gone.”

“Originally, Davis and I were equal partners.” He clenched the chair arms. “Actually, he put up most of the start-up money, but he insisted on a partnership.” Most of the Conrad fortune was gone by that time, but there was still enough for Davis to invest in their futures. “Then when we wanted to expand, we divided the pot. Davis and I each owned thirty percent of the company. The remaining forty percent was split among four investors—Frank, Delbert Conrad—Davis's great-uncle, and two friends of his father, Harvey Ward and old Doc Adams. Davis was company president, I was chairman.”