His Son. Her Secret.

Chapter 5

The small internet café smelled like dust, burnt coffee, overheated wires, and a concoction of perfumes and body lotions. While many would have grimaced at the combination, Beth actually found the smell soothing and familiar, which her brain translated to mean safety.

It was early, but not quiet. A few regulars already sat hunched over old desktops, fingers tapping lazily on keyboards, the low hum of machines blending with the soft whir of ceiling fans that did absolutely nothing to fight the building heat. Morning sunlight promising another scorching day filtered in through the large front windows, catching on floating dust particles.

Beth shifted in her seat behind the counter, her leg bouncing under the desk. Manning the counter wasn’t her favorite responsibility in their little jointly owned business, but it beat balancing the books or repairing damaged computer parts.

Although her agitation today had nothing to do with the boredom of watching people type like their fingers were frozen, and requiring assistance because the mouse cursor had vanished. No. It was something else entirely. Just then, her eyes flicked to the small storage room door for what felt like the hundredth time in the last ten minutes.

Then a soft sound came from behind it. She froze, fighting the urge to jump out of her seat and go check. When only silence followed, Beth’s shoulders sagged. Letting out a slow breath, she dragged a hand down her face.

This was insane. Completely insane. She didn’t know how she was supposed to act normally after last night, and the fact that a baby was sleeping in the storage room wasn’t helping.

“Relax.” Mal’s sudden voice had Beth jumping, nearly toppling off the high chair. Gripping the edge of the counter, she turned and found her friend standing on the other side, brows arched up to her hairline.

“Are you trying to look guilty?” Mal asked, tone disapproving. Then, contrary to her words, she glanced over her shoulder to the patrons, who were not paying them any mind, before she added, You need to stop glaring at the door. You will draw attention to it.”

Beth pursed her lips. “I wasn’t glaring. Just checking. He’s too quiet.”

Mal huffed. “That’s what babies do when they’re not screaming.”

Beth opened her mouth to argue, but a sharp vibration buzzed across the counter from Mal’s phone. Without meaning to, Beth’s eyes automatically went to it, but before she could see who was calling her friend, Mal snatched the phone up and flipped it face down without answering.

Huh? Beth’s eyes narrowed suspiciously. “You’re not picking that up?”

“Nope.” The word came out with a hint of warning. Mal then half turned away, her eyes scanning the tables of computers.

A tingle of unease traveled down Beth’s back. She lowered her voice and leaned forward a little so no one else could hear. “Everything okay?”

Mal shrugged, her face still turned away. “It’s just Joe.”

Beth waited for more. Nothing came. Not that she blamed the woman. Joe was Mal’s on-again, off-again boyfriend, and none of them particularly liked him. A fact they hadn’t even tried to hide, so Mal knew better than to share her man troubles with any of them.

Still, that didn't mean Beth wouldn’t listen if her friend wanted to talk about it. For a second, she wanted to press the matter, but then she remembered her own disaster of a love life, which she didn’t wish to share with her friends.

“Right,” Beth said slowly. She leaned back and turned to her monitor, which displayed the software that tracked the use of their computers, letting her thoughts wander.

It seemed love just wasn’t something they were good at. Out of the four of them, Beth had no idea when the last Belle or Avi had been in a relationship. Avi, for obvious reasons, but still, it seemed that when they weren’t single, then they were in shitty relationships. That sucked. Good thing she never got attached or did something stupid like fall in love with the measly men that crossed her path.

Avi chose that moment to come in through the front door, back from her morning walk to the hospital. Her face was as clouded as the sky on a stormy night, which was usually the case after those walks.

Beth braced herself as the woman neared the counter, knowing that this morning had to be particularly harder after their failed job last night. Her fault. But before Avi could reach them, one of their regular patrons stopped her with a question.

“No, Mr. Thomas, you can’t recover deleted files from a broken drive without backup,” Avi explained patiently, just as a sound cut through the cafe like a hot knife to butter.

Beth’s entire body went rigid. The cry came again, louder this time. The sound was so foreign in the place that it had everyone’s attention. Even the fans hanging from the ceiling seemed to pause.

Mr. Thomas blinked, looking around. “Was that… A baby?” He looked toward the front door as though expecting to see a child walking in or outside, but their cafe was literally located on a back road that was deserted ninety percent of the time. And the more the child cried, the more it was impossible not to conclude that the cries were coming from the back of the cafe and not the front.

Beth’s heart slammed against her ribs. Oh, God. This was it. They were about to get caught. Say something. Say something. She silently urged herself, but no words came.

Thankfully, her friend wasn’t as panicked as Beth felt.. “Yes,” Avi said smoothly, not missing a beat.

Beth blinked. Why would Avi agree that they had a baby back there? Weren’t they hiding the child? She tried to catch Avi’s eyes, but Avi didn’t even look at her as she continued, “My sister’s baby. We are looking after him for a bit.”

Oh. Beth held her breath. A beat passed. The man raised a brow but smiled warmly. “Didn’t know you had family in town.”

Avi offered a tight smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. “I do. Uhm… Beth,” Avi added casually, like nothing was wrong at all. “Can you check on him while I finish up with Mr. Thomas?”

Beth was already halfway out of her chair. “Yeah. Sure. Of course,” she muttered, forcing her legs to move normally and not like she was sprinting away from a bomb.

Soon enough, she slipped into the storage room and shut the door behind her with what almost felt like relief, but it couldn’t be. That would be absurd. She just wanted to make sure the baby was okay. That was all, she told herself.

It wasn’t as though she’d put him in the best of places after all. The room was dim and cramped, old rusty shelves stacked with boxes of cables, old CPUs, and random junk they never threw away.

And in the middle of it, in the only clearing away from the shelves, was a laundry basket that was acting as the temporary baby cot with folded towels for a mattress.

The baby was standing when she entered. He looked up at her immediately, big brown eyes wet, lower lip trembling. That got her feet quickly moving, and she was in front of him in a heartbeat.

“Hey… Hey, it’s okay,” Beth whispered, dropping to her knees on the hard floor.

He reached for her instantly. Of course he did.

A small smile tugged at the corners of her lips as she scooped him up, awkward but careful. “Yeah, I know. You didn’t like your new bed, huh?”

He sniffled against her shoulder, and Beth felt her chest tighten. She wanted nothing more than to comfort the child and promise him that everything would be okay. That she would make sure of it no matter what.

God, what had she gotten herself into?

***

“Don’t let him out of your sight,” Avi said from the doorway, arms crossed.

Beth looked up, eyes narrowed. She hadn’t left the child’s side since he woke up in the store room, but she knew her friend was still upset about drawing Mr. Thomas' attention and having to lie. “I haven’t.”

For some reason, the apartment felt even smaller than usual. And hotter despite the open window, bringing in the evening breeze that smelled of exhaust fumes and a long day.

Their place wasn’t fancy. They couldn’t afford fancy things. What they could afford was a worn couch that sagged in the middle. The carpet was thin in patches, but it was better than nothing.

Beth was seated on the carpet, legs bent around the child to keep him from wobbling too far. Since they had no baby clothes, he was wearing one of her smaller-sized shirts, the hem nearly reaching his feet.

It looked ridiculous. Yet adorable.

“I mean it,” Avi pressed. “Not even for a second. If anyone sees him or hears him and asks questions, we’re doomed.”

Beth frowned as something occurred to her. It sounded like no one was going to give her a hand with the child. “I don’t know anything about babies,” she blurted out.

Avi didn’t blink. “Then learn fast.”

“That’s not helpful.”

Clearly, Avi didn’t care. “You wanted to keep him. Congratulations. He’s your responsibility.”

Beth stared at her and then at Mal, their resident self-appointed cook, who stood in the kitchen corner peeling potatoes. The latter didn’t even bother to look up and intervene. Beth shook her head. “Seriously?”

“Yes. And you’re buying whatever he needs out of your own pocket.”

Beth’s eyes went wide. “Out of my…?”

“You insisted,” Avi said flatly. “You deal with it.”

Well damn. If Beth had been hoping the guys would feel less pissed after sleeping on it, it wasn’t happening. The crew was mad, and they were going to make sure she felt it. Still, she felt it was only right to argue. The least they could do was help her buy the baby stuff. That wouldn’t be cheap. Beth had already done a sneak peek online, and she could have sworn her bank account cringed.

But before Beth could come up with something to say to convince her friend, the door to Rosebelle’s bedroom opened, and she walked in, laptop already in her hands.

“Well,” she said without preamble, dropping onto the couch. “I have good news and bad news.”