Three Lost and Found Babies

By Cheri LePage

Lost and Found Babies is three different complete stories in one book, all which are about a baby disappearing, but then returned to their rightful homes.

The first sto

• Language: English
• Publisher: ReadersMagnet LLC
• Release date: Mar 30, 2023
• ISBN: 9781960629289

Cheri LePage

Cheri lives in Kansas City, Missouri, with her husband, Dan. She has two daughters, Megan and Sandra, and one granddaughter, Brooklyn. She's known by family and friends for her homemade chocolate chip cookies, and love for her family. This is her eighteenth book, and she can be reached at [e-mail].

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Three Lost and Found Babies.

Copyright © 2023 by Cheri LePage.

Published in the United States of America

ISBN Paperback: 978-1-960629-27-2

ISBN eBook: 978-1-960629-28-9

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any way by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the author except as provided by USA copyright law.

The opinions expressed by the author are not necessarily those of ReadersMagnet, LLC.

ReadersMagnet, LLC

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Book design copyright © 2023 by ReadersMagnet, LLC. All rights reserved.

Cover design by Ericka Obando

Interior design by Don De Guzman

Carley’s Dilemma

Prologue

Carley Ervin couldn’t understand why Annette, her half-sister, hated her so much. Even though Annette had been coming over to visit their father, Clark Ervin, every other weekend since before Carley was born, the two girls hadn’t ever been close. Carley had tried to be friends with her sister, who was three years older, but Annette wouldn’t have it.

Annette hated every minute she spent at her father’s home with his new wife, as she loathed seeing her father with another woman. When the new baby had joined the family, her father’s attention was drawn to Carley, and he was then too busy to spend much time with her. As she watched him with the new baby, it appeared to her that he loved Carley more than he did her.

When Annette was eight and Carley five, hoping to hurt her sister, Annette pushed the younger girl down the steps. Clark, thinking it had been an accident, told the girls to be more careful around the stairs. Carley knew the truth but was too afraid of Annett to tell her father what his other daughter had done. At Annette’s next visit to her father’s home, she started hitting Carley whenever they were alone together. But no matter how hard Annette hit Carley, the younger girl didn’t tell her parents what was happening, as she was hoping Annette would quit hating her and become her sister.

One day, Joy happened to enter Carley’s bedroom without knocking while Carley was undressing. When she saw her daughter’s bare torso, she was shocked to see all the black and blue marks on her body. When she questioned Carley about them, she refused to tell her mother, as she was afraid the next time Annette would hit her with something other than her fists.

It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out who was hurting her daughter, so Joy told her husband about his daughter hitting Carley. Clark was stunned at the violence Annette was capable of inflecting on her younger sister. He wanted to deny Annette would hurt Carley but knew he couldn’t as he’d see Annette’s hatred for Carley in her eyes when she didn’t think anyone was looking. They decided they wouldn’t confront Annette, as then she would think Carley had snitched on her. So instead, they decided they wouldn’t leave the two girls alone. This action was a great relief to Carley, but it caused frustration to build in Annette, just like a volcano preparing for an eruption.

Then one night shortly after Annette turned ten, she just happened to overhear her mother talking to her aunt, learning the real reason why her father had left them. She hadn’t been aware her father had been having an affair with Joy Duren. When Joy became pregnant with Carley, her father divorced her mother in order to marry Carley’s mother. Annette swore she would get her revenge, and since she couldn’t attack Joy directly, she would injure her stepmother by hurting Carley.

While Carley was sleeping, Annette silently entered her sister’s room with a container of lighter fluid she got from the garage. Slowly the lava in Annette’s brain started creeping upwards as she squeezed the can and poured the liquid on the carpet round the door. Just before she closed the door completely, she stuck her hand into the room and laid a rubber doorstop in front of the door. This way if Carley woke up, she wouldn’t be able to open her bedroom door far enough to escape the flames. In her panic, Carley wouldn’t realize something was preventing the door from opening, and then she would burn up in the flames. As the hot liquid started spurting out into Carley’s world, Annette lit a match. She smiled an evil grin as she laid it down on the soaked carpet and the carpet instantly ignited. Annette watched the flame spread for a few seconds, then she closed the door and returned to her room.

By the time the smoke detector went off, Carley’s room was engulfed in flames and smoke. Carley woke up coughing, not realizing what was wrong, she opened her eyes. When she saw her room was on fire, she began screaming for her parents. Even as she cried out for help, she knew they wouldn’t be able to get to her in time because of the intensity of the blaze. She had been taught in school just last week what to do in case of a fire, so the first thing she did was to get down onto the floor. She couldn’t see her hands due to the darkness and the smoke, but that didn’t stop her from putting them out in front of her and moving towards where she knew the window was.

When she found the wall behind her bed, she moved her hands upward, when she touched the windowsill, she quickly stood and threw open the sash. She stuck her head out into the night air, and swiftly took in a gulp of fresh air. She let out a loud sigh of joy of being alive as she exhaled. When she heard her parents screaming for her outside her room, she hollered back that she was okay and was at the window. A few seconds later, her daddy was standing outside just below her window telling her to jump into his arms.

Carley’s room was on the second floor and to a seven-year-old, it looked a long way down to where her daddy stood with his hands reaching out to her. She was terrified, but her father kept promising her he would catch her. She sat down on the window frame, then put her legs out of the window. Once both legs were out, she closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and then jumped. She felt her tummy fluttering as she descended through the air. She didn’t think she would ever reach her father, then suddenly his strong arms were clutching her tightly to his hard chest.

The fire department quickly determined the cause of the fire had been intentionally set. When Clark realized Annette would have been the only one to do such a thing, he packed her bag and took her back to the mother. When Clark told his ex-wife that Annette had set fire to Carley’s room, she was shocked by her daughter’s vicious and spiteful act. Clark promised to continue to support her, but Annette wasn’t ever welcomed at their house again. Betty understood, and considering their situation, Clark had taken care of Annette longer than any other man in his position would have done.

As Annette stood there with her parents, listening to them talk about her as if she wasn’t there, she became enraged. Not knowing what else to do with her anger, she ran to the father and began hitting him, while screaming obscenities at him. Clark suggested Annette should see a psychiatrist to find out why she’d set fire to Carley’s room, and Betty agreed. The doctor told her parents Annette needed to be committed, as she needed to learn how to handle her emotions and anger, telling them she was a threat to herself and others.

Annette didn’t want to go, but at ten years old, she didn’t have a choice in the matter. She stayed in the hospital for six months, and by lying to the doctors, she was discharged from the hospital. On the day she was released, she swore someday Carley would pay for causing not only for her to lose her father, but also for being the reason she had to be admitted into the looney bin. She continued to visit the psychiatrist every week for a year, but she didn’t ever return to her father’s house, nor did she ever see him again.

Clark explained to Carley why Annette wouldn’t ever be coming to their home for a visit, telling her about his relationship to Annette which she hadn’t known before. The night of the fire was the last time Carley saw Annette, but it didn’t bother her one tiny bit. She was glad she wouldn’t have to put up with Annette’s attacks or her evil stares any longer. The years passed, and Carley slowly forgot Annette, as her name wasn’t mentioned ever again.

During Carley’s senior year of college, her parents decided to divorce. It hadn’t surprise her, as she knew they hadn’t been getting along for the last few years. Carley asked her parents what had caused their breakup, but neither of them would say. She wasn’t sure exactly what the problem between them was, but felt her father was involved with someone from work. Clark moved to an apartment a mile away, leaving the house to his wife and daughter.

When Carley graduated from college, Clark Ervin offered her a job with his security company and she excitedly accepted. As she worked day after day beside her father, she came to realize he wasn’t the same loving man she used to know. To her, he seemed sad and lost. She wasn’t sure what had caused the damage but felt it may have been the divorce from her mother.

Chapter One

May 2010

Carley did her best at her job, but no matter what she did, she couldn’t seem to satisfy her father. Finally, after trying for three years to make him happy, Carley decided she’s had enough of his disapproving attitude and started looking for a job with another company. No matter what the pay was, she planned to leave as soon as she got a job offer. In the meantime, she would continue trying to please her father by obtaining as many new clients for his company as she could.

Carley was in California on business, she was exhausted from putting in a long hard day. Because of the rain, she was wet and cold, as the temperature was hovering around fifty degrees. She couldn’t wait to reach her hotel so she could get out of the cold damp air and get warm. Her meeting today with a potential new client had been a disappointment. Just the thought of telling her father the bad news, turned her stomach to the point she thought she was going to be sick.

Of course, it wasn’t her fault she hadn’t been able to get Peter Adams to sign the contract, but she knew her father would blame her just the same. This contract was important to Clark’s Security, as it would have doubled the company’s business. She could have gotten the contract signed if she had been willing to sleep with Peter, but when she slept with a man, it would be because she wanted to, not because she was blackmailed into it.

When she reached the hotel, she shook out her umbrella before stepping into the restaurant. The hostess took her to a table near the windows and she sat down, so she was able to look out at the falling rain. She planned to order some hot tea, hoping it would not only warm her, but relax her as well. As she sat there waiting for her server, she ran through her mind how she was going to tell her father about losing the account. The more she thought about it, the more upset she became, and when she began to cry, she realized the tea wasn’t going to help her relax. When the server arrived, she ordered a mixed drink, deciding she would call her father after she had at least two of them.

The server brought her the drink, Carley thanked her, and she walked away to help someone else. She took hold of the straw, brought it to her mouth, closed her eyes, and took a big pull on it. Once the drink hit her mouth, she moaned at the delicious taste, then shallow, enjoying the feel of the cold alcoholic drink going down her throat. When she opened her eyes, she was surprised to find a man with a drink in his hand sitting in the chair across from her. She didn’t have to ask who he was, as anyone who knew what was going on in Hollywood knew Dylan Crosby, as he was 2009’s most popular leading man.

Hello, she muttered, stunned to discover this man sitting at her table.

You don’t mind if I join you, do you? he asked politely.

No, of course not, she said softly, then licked her dry lips.

I’m Dylan Crosby, he said, giving her a smile that indicated he knew she recognized him. And you are?

I’m Carley Ervin.

What is a nice girl like you doing in a place like this? he teased with a popular pickup line.

She smiled at his question. I’m here on business. She would love to tell him about her horrible day, but she doubted if he really would give a damn.

From the look on your face when you walked in here, I would say it wasn’t successful.

No, it wasn’t. My father is going to be furious when he finds out I was a failure.

Dylan moved his hand on top of hers. How was it your fault?

Her eyes flew to her hand, as his simple touch seemed to burn her. She looked back up to look at the man across from her. I wouldn’t sleep with the man I was meeting with, so he refused to sign the contract.

Good for you, he commented.

My father isn’t going to see it that way.

You mean he would want you to sleep with a man for the sake of the company?

Tears glistened in her eyes. Yes.

Then I say he isn’t much of a father.

No, he isn’t. He once was, but he hasn’t been one for the last few years, I’ll probably lose my job over this.

Maybe, but you didn’t lose yourself respect.

She smiled at him. Yes, you’re right, she agreed.

What kind of business does your father own

Our company provides companies with alarm systems, surveillance cameras, and other such devices.

How important was the contract?

Very important, she replied, fighting her tears.

If you need some moral support, I’ll stay with you while you call your father.

Carley was touched by his offer. Thank you, I would like that. She grabbed her cell phone out of her purse and dialed her father’s number.

Hello? a deep male voice answered.

Dad, I have bad news.

Damn it. Tell me what happened.

He wouldn’t sign the contract unless I slept with him."

So, what was the problem? he asked loudly.

His comment was hurtful to her. You wanted me to sleep with him just to get the contract? she asked, praying he would say no."

It isn’t as if you are a virgin and are saving yourself for your wedding night.

Tears began to build in her eyes at his words. He might not believe it about a woman her age, but she was a virgin. So, you’re saying I should have sold myself for your company, she replied softly so those around them wouldn’t hear.

It’s your company too.

Dad, I’m not going to sleep with any man for the sake of the company.

I should have sent Marcie. She would have made sure she got Mr. Adams to sign the contract.

Yes, you should have. Marcie will sleep with anyone with a dick, as I’m sure you well know, she spatted, not caring how her crude remark sounded.

What is that supposed to mean? he asked angrily.

I know she’s the reason you and Mon divorced. Since working at her father’s company, she’d heard more than her share of rumors regarding her father and Marcie.

Did your mother tell you that? he hollered at her.

No, I’ve heard rumors around the office.

Well, those are lies, I’ve never slept with Marcie.

That might be true, but something broke up your marriage.

That isn’t any of your business.

Not my business, she shouted, not caring the other patrons could hear her. You divorced Mom and left us. When her tears started down her cheeks, Dylan’s grip tightened on her hand.

I’ll have your office packed and you can pick up your belongings whenever you want.

Well, I love you too. She slammed her cell phone closed. That went well.

Did you lose your job?

A job and a father, she said broken heartedly.

I’m sorry. Maybe you should have another drink.

Carley laughed. I don’t see why the hell not. It isn’t as if I’m in any hurry to get home. Then she quickly finished off her first drink.

Dylan motioned to the server he needed two more drinks, then he turned back to her. The two of them sat there talking for another hour, then Dylan offered to walk her to her hotel room. When they reached her room, she opened the door and stepped in.

Good night, Dylan. Thank you for a lovely evening. It helped having you with me this evening.

What if I told you I didn’t want our evening to end? he asked boldly.

She was astonished by his comment. Why would this man want her when he could have any woman in the entire country? Should she sleep with this man? Then she thought, why not? He was a good-looking man and she was a consenting adult. What did you have in mind? she asked, wanting to be sure the two of them were on the same wavelength.

I want to make love to you.

She never dreamed Dylan would have wanted to sleep with her, but then, what red-blooded man didn’t want to sleep with an attractive woman? I would like that. She stepped back to let him in, then closed the door behind him.

After they made love, Dylan took an ink pen and wrote his phone number on her hand. Not wanting to take the chance of losing it, she entered it into her cell phone. When she was finished, she reached over to his phone and inputted her number into his, not realizing in her nervousness, she’d missed entered it by one digit.

The next morning Carley woke to a pounding inn her head. Even before she opened her eyes, she knew Dylan was still in her bed with her as she could feel the heat of his body touching hers. Even if she hadn’t remembered what had transpired last night, waking up naked was enough for her to know they’d been intimate during the night. She wished it could be more than just sex between her and Dylan, but she knew she’d just been an available woman for him.

She sat up in bed, then instantly putt her hands to her head as she groaned aloud. She shouldn’t have had that last drink, but she had been having such a great time last night, she hadn’t wanted it to end. She stood. Keeping her back to the bed and the