Love Inspired Suspense November 2014 - Box Set 1 of 2: Deadly Holiday Reunion\Twin Threat Christmas\Identity Withheld by Sandra Orchard

Author:Sandra Orchard
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2014-10-15T00:00:00+00:00

A DNA test will prove this is Alyssa Jackson’s son.

* * *

He read the message out loud, then looked up at Alyssa.

Her brown eyes widened.

“I don’t—” she started, then blinked and held the baby backward at a slight angle, staring into his face, her expression incredulous. She squinted at his face, then looked up and all around, as though half expecting someone to appear from behind a statue.

Chris took in everything, the messages sharply conflicting. Alyssa didn’t appear to know how to hold the child. She didn’t seem familiar with him at all. Nor did her slim, wiry figure at all resemble the post-baby pudginess his sister had fought back for years before regaining something of her prebaby figure. Not that all women gained weight after having a baby, but still, Alyssa simply didn’t look or act like a mother.

Moisture sprang to Alyssa’s eyes, but she pinched her lids shut, pulled the baby close to her chest and planted her lips against the downy softness of his fuzzy head.

Unsure what to make of this call, Chris rocked back on his heels. Whatever his hopes of finding evidence of drug smuggling, they took second place to this strange case. The woman before him held the baby close, and the child’s cries stilled. The baby reached for a lock of her hair and pulled her ponytail into worse lopsidedness, but Alyssa didn’t even open her eyes.

Chris looked around. There was still no sign of anyone else nearby. Mary and Joseph looked blankly down at the scene in the manger, their faces frozen in blissful serenity, as though they were pleased with what had just unfolded. Chris didn’t feel nearly so joyful about it.

“Is this baby your son?” he asked, though he felt certain of the answer. He’d been driving by this place for over a year. Alyssa Jackson had never looked pregnant. She’d never stopped lugging heavy statues and bags of cement mix around, as a pregnant woman probably should have when her due date neared and after giving birth. He’d never seen any sign of a baby around here before, and he felt certain he’d have recognized her name had it appeared in the births section of the local paper.

Alyssa opened her eyes but didn’t take them off the baby. She stared at his face in silence for a moment. The little boy’s eyes watched her in wonder. She offered the baby a tentative smile.

He returned a smile that was equally unsure.

The two seemed to appraise one another.

No, this wasn’t a meeting of two familiars, but a first-time introduction. Chris could feel it, would testify to it under oath if he was ever called to do so.

Alyssa didn’t take her eyes off the baby. Her smile grew. “A DNA test will say this is my son.”

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