Amanda Stevens: Somebody's Baby

What would you do to get your baby back?

Separated from her newborn son after a hospital fire, single mother Nina Fairchild will do anything to get her baby back—even request help from wealthy, sensual Grant Chambers. For Grant’s nephew is the spitting image of Nina’s missing son…

Grant will do whatever it takes to protect his family, including helping the woman who claims his sister stole her baby, if only to prove her wrong. Working so closely with Nina, Grant can’t help but be drawn to the beautiful widow. But with the records of her pregnancy having mysteriously disappeared, either Nina is truly crazy, or someone is trying to make her seem to be…

Previously published.

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Prologue

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Epilogue

Nina Fairchild cradled her newborn son in her arms as she gazed down at him. He was so tiny and so perfect. So incredibly beautiful. Already she felt an extraordinary bond with this baby. He was the only family she had left.

If only you could be here to see our son, Garrett. If only you could hold Dustin in your arms.

Would it have made a difference? she wondered. Would this precious child have been able to save their marriage?

Nina had been haunted by that question ever since Garrett had died two weeks before she’d learned she was pregnant.

Pain twisted inside her as she stared down at her son. Because of her, Dustin would never know his father. Would he grow up to resent her for that? Would he hate her when he learned how his father had lost his life?

It’s all your fault, Nina. Her brother-in-law’s furious words rang in her ears. Garrett is dead because of you, and somehow, some way, you’re going to pay. I’ll see to that.

Nina shivered, remembering the darkness in Trent Fairchild’s eyes. The warning in his voice.

The nurse leaned over Nina’s bed to take the baby from her. Nina’s arms tightened protectively around him. “Do you have to take him back so soon? I hate to let him out of my sight.”

“You won’t feel that way once you’ve gotten a few of those 2:00 a.m. feedings under your belt.” The nurse lifted Dustin into her arms and smiled down at him. “He is a little beauty, isn’t he? Look at that dark hair, and you so fair. But your sister has dark hair, doesn’t she?”

Nina frowned. “My sister?”

“She was here earlier while you were in labor. She seemed real anxious about the delivery.”

A tingle of alarm stole down Nina’s backbone. “I don’t have a sister.”

The nurse, settling the baby in the cart to wheel him back to the nursery, glanced up, a cloud flitting across her features. “Then I must be wrong. I thought she said she was your sister, but we have two other mothers in labor and delivery tonight. The place is a madhouse, what with Dr. Bernard being detained and all.”

“What did this woman look like?” Nina asked.

The nurse shrugged. “Late twenties. Petite. Dark hair. She wore glasses, I think.”

Instantly an image of Karen Smith, a young woman who had befriended Nina in a Houston park several months ago, leaped to mind. But Karen had recently reconciled with her husband and moved away. What would she be doing here?

Nina hadn’t told anyone she planned to have her baby at a small branch hospital in Galveston rather than at the huge medical complex in Houston. There was no way Karen could have found her. No way Trent Fairchild could have tracked her down here, either.

The nurse had to be mistaken, but the prickle of uneasiness wouldn’t go away. Why would someone pretend to be Nina’s sister? She didn’t have a sister. Except for Dustin, she had no one.

“Is the woman still here?” she asked anxiously.

“I can check, but I don’t think so. Visiting hours ended a long time ago. Speaking of which…” The nurse arched a stern brow. “It’s time for this little guy to get his rest, and so should you.” As if she sensed Nina’s distress, her features softened. “Look, I wouldn’t worry about it if I were you. I must have gotten the name wrong, that’s all. Wouldn’t be the first time, and like I said, it’s been crazy around here all night.”

The nurse’s soothing tone helped calm Nina’s fears. She was right, of course. It had to be a mistake. The months of worrying about Trent’s threats had made her paranoid.

Nina got out of bed and leaned over the cart. Her long straight hair curtained her face, and she tucked it behind her ears as she stared down at her son. “I’ll see you in a little while,” she whispered.

“It’ll come sooner than you think,” the nurse told her. “So you’d better crawl back into that bed and get some sleep.”

Nina smothered a yawn. “I am a little tired.”

“Well, they don’t call it labor for nothing, you know.” She patted Nina’s hand. “Now don’t you worry. I’ll bring him back in a few hours for his feeding.”

“I can hardly wait,” Nina murmured as she bent to kiss her baby’s satiny cheek one last time.

* * *

Nina awakened sometime later, her heart pounding in fear. At first she thought the wails and screams she heard were echoes from the nightmare she’d been having about the car crash that had taken Garrett’s life. But then, coming more fully awake, she realized the cacophony of terror was all too real. Panicked voices sounded from the hallway outside her door, and from the street three stories below her window, the scream of sirens rose to an almost unbearable crescendo.

An acrid scent stung her mouth and throat, and Nina’s panic mushroomed as she recognized the smell. Smoke!

Was the hospital on fire?

Dear God, Dustin! She had to get to her baby…make sure he was okay…get him to safety….

Her frantic thoughts spiraling out of control, Nina struggled out of bed and slipped on her robe as she crossed the room slowly, her muscles still weak from her labor. As she opened the door, the pandemonium of a full-scale evacuation erupted down the corridor.

Nina started down the hallway, trailing the exodus. She grabbed a passing nurse’s arm, and the woman whirled, her face a tightly controlled mask of fear. “Where did you come from?” she demanded.

Nina pointed down the hallway. “Room 317. What’s happening?”

“This floor is being evacuated. There’s a fire.”

Nina’s hand tightened on the woman’s arm. “The nursery is on this floor!”

The woman hesitated, then said, “Don’t worry. The babies would have been the first to be moved. You should have already been out of here, too.”

“No one came to my room,” Nina said. “I was asleep.”

The nurse’s eyes widened in alarm, but she shrugged helplessly and shook off Nina’s hand. “Just go. Head for the stairs. Do you need assistance?”