Baby in Her Arms by Judy Christenberry Page B

and—” She broke off, regretting her words as she saw a flare of alarm in Kate’s eyes. “I shouldn’t have said that. I know the plan is a good one.”
    “Yes, it is. And Josh does have a solid reputation. Will checked.”
    Maggie raised one eyebrow.
    “Well, I wasn’t going to let you go off with some man that I knew nothing about!” Kate stretched out a hand toward Maggie. “We may have added a sister, but our family is still small.”
    “So if you had a big family, you’d let me go off with any old man,” Maggie teased, knowing the answer before Kate protested.
    “No, of course not, but...Maggie, you’re not very experienced.”
    Maggie couldn’t meet her sister’s concerned look. Not that she’d done anything she should be ashamed of, but maybe, just maybe, she’d wanted to.
    “He hasn’t hurt you, has he?” Kate asked in response to Maggie’s behavior.
    “No, of course not.”
    “So tomorrow everything will be normal again.”
    Maggie pressed her lips together. Finally, she said, “Not exactly.”
    “What’s happened?” Kate asked, her tone ominous, as if Maggie were only fulfilling a prediction her sister had already made.
    “I quit my job.”
    “What?” Kate squeaked. Even Betty turned away from the sink where she was cleaning to stare at Maggie.
    Maggie understood their shock. She’d clung to her job at the accounting firm through everything, always talking about how important her career was. She’d worked hard to move up the corporate ladder, and she’d put in long hours.
    “What happened?” Kate asked.
    “I called this morning to take a week’s vacation. I told my boss I had a family emergency. He told me I had to come to work.” She kept her gaze on her clasped hands, wondering if Kate would think she’d behaved foolishly. Finally, she looked at her sister. “I snapped. I’d given so much time to my work. Now that I needed some time away, they couldn’t be generous.”
    “Good for you,” Kate said, reaching over to cover Maggie’s hands. “I told you they took advantage of you.”
    “Good for me? I’m without a job, Kate. How am I going to support myself?”
    She shouldn’t have asked that question. She knew how Kate would react.
    “Will will give you a job. He always needs good accountants.”
    “Poor Will. He didn’t know when he married you that he’d have to employ your entire family,” Maggie said with a wry chuckle.
    “The only family member he offered a job to was Susan. You know she refused.”
    “Yes,” Maggie agreed with a sigh. And she understood why Susan had refused. Their newest sister had a lot of pride, and the job Will had offered her paid too well. Susan thought she was being given charity.
    “But you won’t refuse, will you?”
    “Yes, I will. It’s bad enough that I’m working for you. I don’t need to be working for Will, too.”
    “But what are you going to do?”
    Though she’d protested Kate’s approval of her quitting, Maggie had already formed a plan in her head. “Well, the Lucky Charm is doing so well, I might even be able to scrape by on what you pay me to do the books and my share of the profit. I thought I might try to pick up a few more clients. Sort of start my own business.”
    Kate responded at once. “That’s a terrific idea! You’ll be rich in no time. Maggie, I’m so proud of you!”
    “I haven’t done it yet,” she warned, then she admitted, “but I’ve been wanting to make some changes in my life.” She thought of the baby upstairs and the man who was in danger, and she knew some changes had already occurred.
    She only hoped those changes wouldn’t break her heart.
     
    Josh pulled into the long, elegant driveway that led to Kate and Will’s beautiful home, a sigh easing its way through his tired body.
    Sam had given his testimony and was feeling quite proud of himself. Don and Pete were going to escort him home in the morning after spending the night in a hotel. Will had done his part safely