I held Gretchen close, still marveling at her tiny perfection. “How so?”
“I shouldn’t be telling you about this.” She massaged her neck. She was wearing the same shirt as yesterday, I noticed—which might’ve been a turn-off, if it wasn’t still showing that hint of cleavage. Lean a little further…
“It’s
all right,” I said. “If you want to talk about it, or not talk about it… I’m here.”
Tell me everything. Make me your confidant. I want to know every part of your history… not to mention every part of your body.
“My family is… not traditional,” Faye said after a pause. “My mom barely knew my dad. Or my sister’s dad, for that matter. She moved us around a lot when we were kids. Other than my first twelve years in Sargasso, we never stayed in one place long enough to finish a lease. I guess it rubbed off, because Amanda isn’t exactly the kind of person to have a fixed address. And since she’s not picking up her phone…”
“Oh.” I wasn’t sure what to say. None of this had shown up on her faculty page.
“It’s all right. I have a plan. I intend to contact her friends. Surely she had some sort of help during her pregnancy and the birth. One of them will be able to lead me to her.”
She was going to be like a private investigator. “She seems like your complete opposite.”
“I don’t exactly know how I turned out so different from my family,” she said thoughtfully. “As a child, somehow I realized that an escape was to bury myself in books. My grades were good enough to get me a full scholarship. I’m the only one in my family to graduate high school, never mind getting a doctorate.”
“Wow.”
To think yesterday I’d thought some small talk about other professors was such a big deal! Now Faye was opening up to me for real… to an uncomfortable extent, really.
Catching sight of my face, she gave a faint smile. Even that tiny bit of pleasantness made my knees go weak, and I was glad I was seated.
Leaning over her desk to tap Gretchen on the nose, Faye continued. “All that goes to say, I couldn’t get ahold of my sister last night, and my mother wants nothing to do with Gretchen. I plan to keep looking for Amanda, but she’ll stay with me until then.”
“With you?” I looked again at the helpless infant, then at the woman who seemed to have no idea what to do with her. “Have you been feeding her?”
Faye let out a grim laugh. “Told you I was up half the night, didn’t I? I know how to Google. It took a few attempts, but I managed to get some formula into her. Even changed her diaper.” Her nose wrinkled. “Three damn times.”
Maybe Gretchen would be all right with her after all. Still… “The babysitting offer stands.” Out of concern for her welfare, and that was all. “No charge.”
Her first urge was to say no, but I saw her suppress it. She bit her lip, looking at how Gretchen lay quietly in my lap. “Seriously?”
“Of course. She’s a darling… and I know kids… and you need help.” I fluffed up Gretchen’s little bit of hair. “If or when things get a little more under control, you can start paying me if you still want to. But let me start this off as a favor.”
I could practically see the thoughts running through her mind. She was supervising my thesis… and she’d be a member of the committee when I defended it. Some people might’ve said there was a conflict of interest. That she’d give me preferential treatment because I was doing something nice for her.
The baby opened her mouth again and I popped my thumb inside. She began to suckle it like a soother, and Faye stared at me in amazement.
I could practically see the “conflict of interest” evaporating from her mind.
“You’re hired.”
* * *
Since Faye had professor stuff to do, I agreed to take Gretchen for the rest of the day. Piling all the baby stuff into my hands, she said goodbye with an expression of utter relief.
Considering that she’d had her for less than twenty-four hours, that baby had a lot of stuff.
I balanced everything in my arms and headed for the library. I got a few funny looks along the way, but at least Gretchen was quiet.
Supposedly, Beasley was a family-friendly campus. The administration didn’t want to discourage young single parents from coming to school here. Given that the school was Ivy League, not many people actually had kids and there was no need for anything like a day care. But the policy meant I could take Gretchen wherever I wanted. She was generally a good baby, only crying when she needed something. That helped—but even if she squawked at top volume all day, according to the school’s code of conduct, no one could complain.
Once I found the most private study carrel I could, I set her down and went through what Faye had bought. Gretchen had a few bottles of formula now, as well as diapers and a couple more outfits. There was an actual baby sling too, the tags still on—I guessed Faye hadn’t had a peaceful moment to unpack it.
Gretchen burbled, and I wiped the drool off her chin. I probably wasn’t going to get much work done on my thesis today… but how cute of a distraction was she?