Stolen Goods: A Secret Baby Romance by Lola White Page A

of
the donor in question, followed by a black and white photo of their whole body.
Reports of the testing the clinic had done came next, complete with genome
charts and medical histories No names on any of the pages. There was nothing to
guarantee the outcome of a pregnancy, but Weslyn figured that sort of promise
was impossible anyway, and settled down to make her decision as quickly as she
could. She focused on appearance rather than medical history or educational
status—after all, poor health precluded men from donating and anyone with
enough money could buy an education, so neither were important markers for
successful pregnancy.
    Some donors were
too old, some too young. Considering that the guidelines of ideal candidacy
kept every contributor around the same general age, it wasn’t a rational reason
to reject a man, but little was rational about the situation anyway. Weslyn
didn’t like this one’s mouth or that one’s nose, some had a jaw that she found
unappealing, others had a chin too pointed for her taste. Page after page,
section after section, donor after donor.
    And then she found
him.
    Dark hair. Hazel
eyes somewhere between silver and green in the photo, so warm with a spark of
kindness shining within and surrounded by a faint network of laugh lines. He
looked happy, and for a wild moment, Weslyn felt happy looking at him. His ears
were well-sized, his jaw square and strong without being bullish, his nose long
but not large, his cheekbones high and sharp enough to slice cheese. His mouth
would give any woman a whole slew of dirty fantasies—even a woman like Weslyn,
who would rather gnaw off her own lips than have another’s pressed against her,
anywhere.
    She turned the
page. Male beauty, laid out in black and white. Broad shoulders, nice hands and still that sparkle could be seen in the man’s eyes. Weslyn tamped down
the sliver of anxiety worming through her at the thought of how big the guy
looked in comparison to the medical equipment next to him. It wasn’t as if
she’d ever meet him, and if she had a boy that turned out just as big as his
biological father… Well, Weslyn would have raised him right, and he would love his
mother unconditionally, and would therefore never even think of hurting her.
    She ran through
the whole checklist again, and came to the conclusion that the genes of the
donor in question would make a beautiful baby. The man was attractive, strong
and compelling. He seemed nice, from his picture, and she really was taken with
the look in his eye, the laughter she imagined he must experience every day.
The rest of his file wasn’t as complete as the others had been, but the date at
the top also marked his donation as the oldest in the facility. Two years, and
no takers for the single sample they had left in storage.
    You snooze, you
lose , she thought. All in all, the donor was perfect.
    “This one,
George.” Weslyn tapped the photo with a confidence that echoed in her gut. She
knew that feeling—she’d been living by it for years now. Everything within her
went prickly with excitement, but also still with assurance that she was on the
right track. “Donor A-00176.”

 

    2
     
     
     
    Nolan answered the
phone on the second ring. “Findley.”
    “Agent Nolan
Findley?”
    “Yeah.”
    “Good afternoon,
sir. My name is Sarah Long and I’m calling from the Barre Birth and
Reproductive Center. In Barre, Vermont?”
    Searing anger
followed on the heels of disbelief. Just the name of the place that had become
Nolan’s private hell was enough to have him seeing red, and the utter gall of
the woman to call him up—
    “I paid that
bill,” he snapped. “Two years ago, in fact, right before my wife left me. I
have my receipts to prove it.”
    “Oh no, sir,
that’s not why I’m calling. Well, you see, I’m the assistant to Doctor
Trentham, the new director of the clinic? Well, it has recently come to our
attention…”
    Nolan gritted his
teeth, prayed for patience