“Who was that?”
“Nobody,” she replies as she stuffs her phone back into the pocket of her dress. “Nothing. Nothing for you to worry about—”
“Was it about Polly?”
I haven’t said my daughter’s name out loud much since I found out about her existence. It’s been easier to think of her in abstract terms, not someone I will get attached to. Seeing the look on Katie’s face, I can tell she’s not entirely taken with it.
“Yes, as a matter of fact,” she replies, her voice sharp. “Not that it’s got anything to do with you. You made that very clear.”
She’s right, of course, but I can’t help but worry. Especially with what Emil said to me about the matter just a few weeks ago. What if someone decides that they can use my daughter to get to me? Just because her mom doesn’t want me to be part of her life doesn’t mean that people will ease up on her, just like that. They might still see her as my problem—and if anything happens to her, then I’m going to take it upon myself to fix it.
I grab Katie’s shoulder again, drawing her back around to face me.
“Tell me,” I insist. And I guess she must see the seriousness in my expression, because finally, she lets out a sigh and shrugs.
“There was an issue at the apartment block I live in,” she replies dismissively. “Flooding. I need to go down there and—”
“She’s alright, though?”
“She’s fine. I just don’t know where we’re going to be staying tonight. I need to go—”
“Let me come with you.”
She stares at me for a long moment, as though unable to believe what she’s hearing.
“You really think I’m going to—”
“I can help get you into a new place,” I offer. “Or drive you down there. Let me help.”
She scans my expression, clearly searching for some kind of explanation as to why I’m suddenly acting so invested. She’s got a right to be confused, but if she could see this from my perspective, she would get it. What if one of the Magliones has flooded out the building to try and drive her out of her home? I doubt they would have made a move so quickly, but it’s not out of the realm of possibility, and I’m not willing to stand by and take the chance.
“Fine,” she mutters, clearly sensing that I’m not going to let this go anytime soon. “You can drive me to my place. But that’s it. Okay?”
“Sure,” I lie, as I grab my keys from my pocket and head for the door. As we head down to my car, I can feel a few eyes on me, and I’m certain that some of the other doctors and nurses here are going to have questions to pepper me with as soon as they get me alone next, but that’s not my issue right now. No, what matters is getting down there and making sure Polly is okay.
I pull open my car door for her, and she slips inside, looking around.
“This is a really nice car,” she remarks as I join her. “Guess being a doctor pays well, huh?”
I nod. Truth is, I got this car when I arrived here with my family money—another detail that we had to cover up to make sure I wouldn’t be easily tracked down to the city. I miss my beautiful red convertible back home, but it’ll still be there waiting for me when I get back.
If I get back.
“Guess so,” I agree, pulling out of the parking lot. “Now, where are we headed…?”
She directs me the short distance to her apartment building, and sure enough, when we get there, a cluster of irritated neighbors are huddled outside as workmen trail in and out of the house. The girl who was with Katie at the birth is there too, cradling a sleeping Polly in her arms, and she waves Katie over at once. I follow her.
Her eyes dart up to meet mine for a moment, but she clearly thinks better of asking anything about my presence here. Instead, she hands Polly to a worried Katie, and shakes her head.
“It all happened so fast,” she murmurs. “I got Polly down for a nap, and then there was this big crack, and the building was being evacuated…”
“Are you okay?” Katie asks with concern as she tugs the blanket up to cover Polly a little better. The baby seems wiped out—probably exhausted after all the excitement, especially if it manifested in the middle of her nap time.
“Yeah, I’m good,” she replies. “They said they were going to send someone down here to get you settled into a new home while they’re doing repairs, but…”
“Shit,” Katie mutters, sighing. “I hoped it wouldn’t come to that. You think they’ll have everything Polly needs…?”
“If they don’t,” I cut in. “I’ll make sure she does. You have my word on that.”
Katie’s head darts around to look up at me. I can tell she’s surprised by my presence here—not least because I told her to stay away from me, only to insist on coming with her when things went wrong. Anyone would be baffled by that.
And now that I’m here, I can see that there’s nothing crazy going down here. It seems like an honest-to-God fault in the line, and I guess that should be enough to soothe me and send me on my way. But I can’t help but feel as though someone is still watching us, and I will not be comfortable walking away from her until I’m sure she is safely ensconced at this new place.
“I should get out of here before they try to re-home me too,” Cara remarks, her eyes sliding in my direction once again. “You sure you’re going to be alright, Katie…?”
“I’m sure,” Katie replies. “Thank you, Cara. You’re a lifesaver.”
Her friend leaves without demanding to know too much more about my presence here—much to my relief. I don’t want to have that conversation if I can avoid it. I’m sure she’s going to demand an explanation from Katie as soon as she gets the chance, but that’s not my problem—not right now, anyway.
Cara leaves, and Katie tends to Polly, fussing over her and checking that she’s fed and changed. I stand off to the side, my eyes pinned to my daughter—it’s the first time I’ve seen her since I discovered she exists, and it seems like she’s growing well. Her eyes are a little bleary as she blinks and looks around, taking in the fact that she’s not in her room, and she begins to cry.
“Oh, sweetheart, it’s okay,” Katie tries to soothe her. “Don’t cry, we’ll be somewhere else soon…”
“Let me hold her,” I ask, my demand catching even me off guard. There’s a certainty to my voice that surprises her, but as she turns to face me and I reach out my arms for Polly, she doesn’t try to resist.
The girl slides into my arms with ease, and I marvel for a moment at how well she seems to fit there. It’s not like I don’t come across a lot of babies in my line of work, but it’s gotten to the point where I’m inoculated against them now—I see them as a collection of problems that need to be solved, not a little human being in their own right. But Polly? As the corners of her mouth uncurl from the frown they were in and she looks up at me, I can see her taking me in, judging me, as though she’s making sure that I really exist.
“She’s beautiful,” I breathe before I can stop myself, gently rocking her in my arms. I can see Katie smiling out of the corner of my eye, even though my own gaze is stuck on the little girl before me.
“Yeah,” she agrees. “Yeah, she is…”
Before I can say another word, a woman comes striding over to us, letting out an annoyed sigh as though she wishes she could be anywhere else in the world right now.
“Apart 4-B?” she barks at Katie, and Katie nods—the woman holds out a set of keys to her and presses them into her hand.
“What’s this…?”
“The keys to your new place,” the woman replies, as though she can barely believe she’s being questioned on this. “Weren’t you listening—”
“Hey, don’t speak to her like that,” I cut in, and I take a step forward, handing Polly back to her mother. “Where’s the new apartment?”
The woman stares at me for a moment—it’s clear she’s not used to being spoken to like this.
“Uh, Franklin Street,” she burbles. “The address is printed on the keys. You’ll be staying there until—”
“Come on, Katie,” I tell her, glancing over my shoulder. “I’ll drive you there now.”
“Does it have baby stuff?” Katie asks, and the woman nods.
“Everything you’ll need—”
“Then let’s go,” she says, and she turns to face me, heading over to the car with Polly in her arms.
I don’t have a child seat in the car, so we ride slowly, Polly cradled in Katie’s arms—the rumble of the car beneath her seems to soothe the baby somewhat, and I can’t help but steal glances at her out of the corner of my eye.
“You don’t have to do all this, you know,” Katie murmurs to me, keeping her eyes on the road ahead.
“I know I don’t.”
“I thought you said you—”
She starts to say something, but then thinks better of it. Whatever has happened between us, it’s too complicated to think about taking on now, and she knows it. I can almost hear Emil’s voice in my head, telling me I’d be an idiot to get involved with something like this, that I should know better, that he’s going to kick my ass the next time he gets his hands on me, but I’ll deal with that when the time comes. For now, all I care about is getting them to their new apartment.
And praying to God that nobody who knows who I am is watching me right now. Because if they are…then I might be leading them straight to the home of my baby daughter.
I push that thought aside as we pull up outside the new place—Katie grins when she looks up at it, letting out a chuckle.
“God, if I knew they were going to be moving us into somewhere this nice, I would have flooded the place myself,” she jokes. I reach into the back seat to grab the bag of stuff that Cara put together, and we step out on to the street.
It takes Katie a few minutes to figure out how to work the elevator, but as she steps inside, I go to do the same—and she shakes her head.
“I…I don’t think you should come up with us,” she tells me, her voice cracking slightly, like she’s not sure how I’m going to react to his. I swallow back a snap of irritation—I know she’s got a right to lay down the law about who she does and doesn’t want in this new place, but the thought of missing out on more time with Polly stings.
“I can give you a hand with—”
“We’re fine,” she replies, cutting me off before I can come up with some other reason to follow her up there. I bristle slightly, but push it aside. Things have been crazy enough today as it is, what with her turning up at my office, us having sex again, and then the flood. And I’ve been giving out some seriously mixed signals, given that I told her she didn’t want to know the truth about me, only to try and invite myself into her place.
“If you need anything,” I tell her, as I pull out my card and press it into her hand, “tell me. Okay?”
“Okay,” she replies, as she slips the card into the bag on top of all the baby stuff. As I step back, the doors slide shut before me, and I catch one last glimpse of her staring back at me before she and Polly vanish entirely.
And the look on her face? I have no idea what she’s thinking right now, what she’s feeling. But I know it won’t be long till I hear from her again.
I know she’ll be making use of that card sooner rather than later.
Grinning, I turn to head back to the car, all of Emil’s warnings forgotten. Because I just got to see my daughter. No matter what happens next, I know I’ll do whatever it takes to see her again.
