Davenport Harbor (Six Degrees Book 3) Read Free Page B

every strand out before the night was over. I closed my eyes in an effort to find some kind of patience, but I had never been a patient man.
    “ Hey, you okay? ” Mike asked as he walked into my study, his eyes looking me over.
    “ I'm fine. They shouldn't have called you, ” I growled.
    “ John, if something's the matter you should tell us, we’re your family! ” Sabrina said to me, her pretty face scowling. When she called me family it did something to me. I just wasn ’ t sure what. Taking a deep breath, I put my arm around her and she held on tight.
    “ You should fix that road. It's creepy driving up, ” she huffed against my chest and I nodded.
    “ Thanks, honey. I ’ ll make sure I do that. ”
    “ John, ” Sabrina said, breaking my hug, and I looked at her. Her soft eyes opened wide in surprise, her pretty face was slightly tilted, “ Why is there a baby in your office? ”
    I looked over to where the pretty little baby girl was sitting in her car seat staring at us as if she was watching a sitcom. Jerry smirked and Mike looked surprised as hell. So I did the only thing I could do. I explained to them what had happened and Sabrina immediately picked up the baby girl who hadn’t fussed once through this whole ordeal. She held her close as she was walking towards me.
    “ She needs food and a new diaper, ” Sabrina told us like a true momma bear.
    Jerry offered to head down to the car. Sabrina handed the little girl over to me so she could head to the room Anne was in to check on her.
    The little girl appeared to be about six months old. She stared at me with big blue eyes filled with an innocence and fearlessness too big for her face. Her tiny chubby hand came up to my face as she grabbed my nose and gave me a toothless grin and something tugged at me again. I looked away and noticed Mike staring at me.
    “ You could take her to a hospital, ” he told me, his voice calm and quiet, and I knew exactly what he was doing.
    “ She begged me. I couldn't turn her away, ” I told him, not breaking my stare, then my eyes went back to the sweet little princess in front of me.
    “ Someone might be looking for her. Or worse still, what if that isn ’ t her baby? ” Mike brought up.
    “ It ’ s hers. When you see her, you ’ ll know. This little princess looks just like her momma, ” I cooed at her and she giggled.
    “ John …”
    “ I know. I’m asking for trouble. That ’ s obvious. ” I took a deep breath. “ If you had seen her. If you had talked to her . . . Shit, Mike. Don ’ t get on me about this. I made up my mind. When she wakes up, I ’ ll talk to her and go from there. ”
    I looked up at him. His eyes worried, he sighed as he extended his arms out to hold the baby. He held her like a natural, but she didn’t look away from me. Not once did her big eyes stop staring at me with wonder, almost tracking me, not wanting to lose sight of me. Her little smile was bright and pretty.
    Somehow I looked away and glanced towards Mike. Mike was like a brother to me. And like any brother would do, even when worried, he smiled at me.
    “ What do you need from me? ” He asked, letting me know that no matter what, he had my back like he knew I had his.
    Anne
    Waking up slowly was something I hadn't done in a long time, yet I couldn't seem to fully open my eyes. I was trying to remember where I was, what had happened, but my mind was groggy. Trying to swallow even though my mouth felt like it had been stuffed with cotton balls, I tried to sit up, but my body felt so heavy and suddenly pain started to come in. My back was killing me. Why did my back hurt?
    That ’ s when everything came crashing down on me. His friend had come into the diner. I had thought he hadn ’ t recognized me. He had always made me get my hair done. It had always been blond, and now I made sure to keep it its natural color. His friend hadn ’ t acted like he knew who I was, so I hadn't worried. I'd stupidly let my guard