Page 34 of His Daughter

THUD—THUD—THUD!

I sprang up from the bed. Someone was knocking on my door. I checked the clock. It was 3:07 a.m. I frowned. Who was that at this hour?

I swung my legs out of bed. I pulled my robe from the hook on the door and wrapped it around myself. I rushed down the stairs wondering who that could be.

Caleb? But we signed the papers. It was done. What would he want at three in the morning?

I looked through the peephole and froze.

Declan Hale was on my porch. He was in a gray T-shirt and joggers, his hair pushed in every direction, dark circles under his eyes that I could see even through the distortion of the peephole lens.

He looked like he hadn't slept since the last time I saw him. He was holding the baby, and the baby was screaming.

I opened the door.

The loud cries hit me first. Lena's face was red and rigid, her mouth stretched open, her small body arched in his arms.

Declan's eyes met mine. He looked so confused that I almost felt pity for him.

"She hasn't stopped crying since I brought her home. No one can calm her down." He swallowed. "I tried everything money could buy, and none of it worked."

I didn’t say anything. I reached out and took her. "Does she have a name yet?"

"Lena."

My hands stopped moving. I stared at him. Did he know? Was that why? Was this some sort of sick game to him? Was he taunting me? Trying to see how far he could push? Or was it a genuine coincidence?

I decided it was best to focus on the baby.

She was rigid in my arms. Red-faced. Screaming with her whole body. I pulled her against my chest and shifted her so her cheek pressed against my collarbone. I just held her, close and still.

She screamed for ten more seconds. Then she whimpered, shuddered, let out a long, full-body exhale. She pressed her face against my neck and there was silence.

We looked up at the very same time, and our gazes locked.

"Here. You just need to be patient with her." I stepped toward him and transferred Lena into his arms. Carefully, gently, guiding his hands to the right position — one arm under her body, one cradling her head, closer to his chest, not at arm's length. "Hold her here. Against you. She wants to feel your heartbeat."

He adjusted. Lena stirred. Her face scrunched. Her mouth opened. Declan's face crumbled. “I don’t know what to do. What am I doing so wrong?”

I pitied him then. It must not be easy for him, trying to connect with a baby that didn’t seem to like you. I took her back, and like every other time, she stopped crying.

Declan ran a hand through his hair. Then both hands. He turned in a half-circle on my porch. Then he turned back to me. His eyes were red.

"I need your help."

TEN

DECLAN

I wasn’t thinking anymore. The singular thought in my head was the fact that I was in desperate need of Thea Calloway in my life. Otherwise, Lena and I wouldn’t survive each other.

"I want you to come live with me," I continued. I ignored the way she pursed her lips and the way she squinted her eyes. "Just for a while. Until Lena gets comfortable in my house."

Thea laughed. She looked from side to side as if she were expecting a camera crew to jump out. "You're joking."

"I'm not."

"Declan, I'm sure you can afford all the help you need as a billionaire — night nurses, nannies, a full staff. You don't need me."