“You came,” she said, stating the obvious. But she wasn’t looking at me. Her eyes were on the little girl snoozing peacefully on the floor. Jamie knelt down and spoke softly to her.

“Hello, honey.” She gently stroked her downy head. “It’s so nice to meet you.”

Maggie didn’t stir, even as Jamie touched her cheeks, her hands, her feet. I could see the emotion in Jamie’s eyes, hear it in her voice as she murmured sweet words to the sleeping child. It was getting to be a bit sappy, so I broke in.

“I brought the swab.” I reached into the diaper bag and extracting the sample.

Jamie stood. “Thank you. You’ll never know what this means to me.”

“Don’t tell Freya I did this,” I said. “Ever.”

“I won’t. If you promise not to tell Brian.”

“Brian?”

“He wants to do everything by the book. He wants to get a lawyer, and go to court, and have a judge demand a paternity test. But I can’t wait that long.”

“But how will you get his DNA if he’s not in on this?”

Jamie gave a sheepish smile. “Deep sleeper. Mouth breather.”

She was that determined. That desperate.

“Once Freya sees these results, once she knows for sure that Maggie is Brian’s child . . . I think she’ll be reasonable. All we want is access. We’re not trying to steal her away from her mother.”

“I hope you’re right,” I said, hoisting the car seat. “I’d better get Maggie home before she gets hungry.”

Jamie walked us to the door. “Thank you for coming. I know you took a big risk.”

“Not that big. Freya and Max are out of town.”

Her pretty face darkened. “Where are they?”

“Freya’s gone to Sonoma for a bachelorette party.”

“Are you all right alone with Maggie? Can I help?”

“I’m fine. Max will be back tonight.”

I allowed Jamie one last stroke of her husband’s baby’s soft cheek, and then I left.

Mission accomplished. Now all we had to do was wait.

Chapter 59

59

My cell phone rang at 4:45 p.m., as I was picking up burp cloths and rattles and black-and-white infant toys in preparation for Max’s return. But his name appeared on my phone screen, sending an ominous wave through me. My intuition told me this was not good news.

“I missed the last ferry,” he said. “Traffic was a nightmare.”