“What other choice do I have?”
“You can—” She glanced at the child to make sure she was still asleep, then lowered her voice to a whisper, anyway. “You can still put her up for adoption. Take a little time to find a nice family you can trust with her safety and her trust fund.”
“I figure I’ll adopt her myself. I’ve handled a few adoptions in my time, even a couple for single parents. With the advantage of being her biological half brother, I shouldn’t run into any serious problems.”
And then what? Caitlin stared at him, trying to imagine footloose Nathan McCloud trading in his sports car for a minivan. Cooking macaroni and cheese, doing laundry, attending PTA meetings….
“You have lost your mind,” she decided aloud.
“I can see why you might think so,” he answered rather stiffly.
“Have you told your family?”
“Not yet. I came here straight from the airport.”
“Do you…” She paused while she mentally groped for the right words. “Do you think they’ll be able to accept her?”
She watched as he held the toddler closer. “I hope so. They’ve got good hearts, despite the pain my father caused them. I find it hard to believe they could look at Isabelle and not fall for her, despite the circumstances of her conception.”
Caitlin wasn’t so sure. Lenore McCloud was a woman who was greatly concerned with her social standing. Having just rebounded from her former husband’s betrayal, she wasn’t going to easily accept this reminder. Gideon was a taciturn, withdrawn man—a writer who seemed to live more inside his head than in the real world. She couldn’t imagine him melting in response to a child’s smile.
Caitlin had only met Deborah a couple of times, but Caitlin had gotten an impression of a woman who was impulsive, tempestuous and stubborn—a volatile mixture of her brothers’ diverse personalities.
Nathan had a tough road ahead of him.
“I sure hope you know what you’re doing.”
“Are you kidding? I don’t have a clue. I’m open to any advice I can get.”
“Don’t look at me.” She held up both hands. “I know nothing about raising kids—or placating irate family members. I was an only child, remember, and my family actually got along pretty well, despite our other problems.”
“You’ve never told me much about your family,” Nathan remarked. “I’d like to hear about them sometime.”
She didn’t want to talk about her family now. She wondered if it was incredibly selfish of her to be wondering how Nathan’s impulsive move would affect her. Professionally speaking, of course, she assured herself—though she knew there was something more to her stunned reaction than that. Something she didn’t want to think about right now.
With a drowsy murmur, Isabelle roused and lifted her head from Nathan’s shoulder. Her big blue eyes were still heavy-lidded when she looked around in curiosity at her new surroundings, her gaze finally settling on Caitlin’s face. “Hi,” she said.
A bit surprised by the calm greeting, Caitlin attempted a friendly smile, hoping it wasn’t as stiff as it felt. “Hello, Isabelle.”
“Who are you?”
“My name is Caitlin.”
“Miss Caitlin,” Nathan murmured, deeply ingrained Southern traditions kicking in.
“Are you Nate’s friend?”
Apparently Nathan hadn’t exaggerated when he had gone on about how smart and well-spoken his half sister was for her age. There was hardly a baby lisp in the clear little voice. “Yes, I’m Nathan’s friend.”
“I’m his sister.”
Caitlin couldn’t help smiling again at the quiet pride in the statement. “Yes, I know.”
“I’m going to live with him now. Aunt Barb is sick.”
The desk intercom buzzed before Caitlin could reply. “I’m sorry to interrupt, Ms. Briley, but the call you’ve been waiting for is on line two.”
“You’d better take that.” Nathan stood. “Isabelle and I are going to my office to see how much work has piled up while I’ve been away.”
“You probably don’t want to know,” Caitlin warned as she reached for the phone. “Don’t you want to go home for a while before you dive in?”
“I thought I would gather some things to take home with me. I can get some work done tonight after Isabelle’s asleep.”
“I’m not tired,” the child said quickly.
Nathan chuckled. “I didn’t say you have to go to bed now. I meant later.”
“Okay. Can I get down now?”
“Sure.” He set her on her feet.
Dressed in a purple-and-green-striped knit top with purple pants, her feet encased in impossibly tiny white sneakers, her blond curls tumbling almost to her shoulders, the child looked like a life-size porcelain doll. Caitlin couldn’t get over how lovely she was. Maybe Nathan was right. Maybe his family would be too captivated by the child to hold her parentage against her. Maybe.
Nathan held out his hand to Isabelle. “C’mon, poppet, let’s leave Miss Caitlin to her call. I’ll show you my office.”
Lifting the receiver to her ear and pushing the button for line two, Caitlin spoke absently into the mouthpiece, but her attention was focused on the twosome leaving her office. Stunned was hardly the word to describe her feelings at the thought of Nathan bringing a child home as casually as he would have adopted a puppy.
She couldn’t even imagine his family’s reaction to the development.
Okay, so he had been a little conniving.
Nathan knew very well that Caitlin had never intended to come home with him that evening, but when she had asked, as they were leaving the office, if there was anything she could do to help him out, he’d jumped on the offer so quickly and so fervently that she’d had no chance to back out.
He had assured her that he just needed a little help getting Isabelle set up in his home and had promised he wouldn’t keep Caitlin long. Almost before she’d realized what she had agreed to, they were in their cars, Caitlin following as Nathan drove home.
He glanced in the rearview mirror to check on Isabelle, who was belted into a toddler seat behind him on what passed for a back seat in his small car. He’d brought the toddler seat from California; decorated with Sesame Street characters, it was the one she’d used in Barbara Houston’s car. Nathan thought it was important for Isabelle to have as many familiar things around her as possible to make the transition easier, though she seemed to be adapting to the changes very well thus far.
“You doing okay back there?”
She had been looking out the side window, watching the passing scenery with the avid curiosity that was so characteristic of his baby sister. Their eyes met in the rearview mirror and she smiled. “I’m okay.”
“Are you hungry?”
“A little.”
He made a quick mental inventory of his pantry and refrigerator and winced. He didn’t have milk. No bread, either. Or peanut butter or fresh fruit or veggies or anything else a growing child needed. Maybe he could call for pizza or something tonight, but that would hardly work for breakfast tomorrow.
Making an impulsive decision, he switched on his turn signal and drove into the parking lot of a shopping center. Noting that Caitlin was still behind him, he parked in front of the supermarket at one end of the center. Caitlin