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Especially if they learned that the switch had been just another hoax and that she and her daughter were only collateral damage in a war that had nothing to do with them. Strange, how the thought of that left him numb. Did he want the babies to have been switched just so Willow Merrill was forced to continue dealing with him? What kind of swine was he?
Candace whisked back into the room so quickly that someone in the next room must have had his daughter ready with her diaper bag for a fast handoff. He had a good idea who was on the other end of that pass.
“Here’s your sweetheart.”
She tried to switch Harper into his arms, but his daughter had her fingers wound tightly in the woman’s black-and-silver ponytail.
“Guess she must like it here.”
The older woman laughed as she carefully unraveled her hair from the infant’s tight grasp. “Your daughter has a good grip.”
“I would think that hair like yours would be a liability in your business.”
“Nah. It’s not so bad. The babies love it, and sometimes they need something good to hold on to when their parents drop them off in the morning.”
She was finally sliding Harper from her arms into his when Willow hurried into that room, carrying a huge cardboard box with a photo of baby wipes on the outside of it.
“Are they gone?” she said before she caught sight of them. “Oh. Hi. Thought everyone would have left by now.”
He couldn’t help smiling as he settled his daughter
on his hip. “I gathered that.”
She lowered the box to the floor. “So, um, Harper seems to be settling in well here.”
“She’s used to a lot of different people taking care of her.”
Willow licked her lips, seeming unwilling to meet his gaze.
“That’s a good thing. She’s a flexible young lady.”
Alicia, a midtwenties brunette with rust-colored skin and short hair, entered the room from the opposite side of the house, carrying Luna. After glancing at the box on the floor, she handed the baby to Candace and then leaned close to whisper in her ear.
Candace glanced nervously after her as the other woman walked away. “Have a good evening Mr.—I mean Asher.”
With a quick wave, she followed the path the other woman had taken.
“What was that about?” Asher pointed to the empty doorway.
Willow shook her head and rolled her eyes. “They’re always a little odd when single dads are around.”
“You have a lot of those?”
“A couple.”
She shot a look over her shoulder in the direction her staff had gone.
“Are you going to stop avoiding me soon?”
“I haven’t been—”
She shifted her gaze to his face. He grinned back at her. She answered with a shrug.
“Look, I’ll pretend I didn’t ask, and you can pretend you didn’t shoot me down.”
She crossed her arms and shook her head. “It’s only a few more days now.”
He nodded, swallowing.
