“You haven’t mentioned any of this to mother?”
He gave his sister a look. “I’m not a complete jerk, Deb.”
She merely shrugged.
“If the family meeting is over, I’m out of here,” Gideon said, pulling his keys from the pocket of the sport coat he’d worn as his only concession to the formality of the event.
“And I’m going back inside. I think I’d like a drink,” Deborah said, implicitly daring either of them to try and stop her.
Nathan moved out of her way. He would have offered to escort her back in, but he suspected she’d had enough of his company for now. She was safe enough in the parking lot. There wasn’t much crime in Honesty. And Officer Dylan Smith was still very much on duty at the entrance.
Nathan was watching Gideon’s truck leave the parking lot when he heard Caitlin’s voice behind him. “Are you all right?”
Deliberately blanking his expression, he turned to find her standing only a few feet away.
“I wasn’t eavesdropping,” she assured him quickly. “I was on my way to my car and I saw the three of you parting. I thought I should check on you when I realized you look…well, you look so tired.”
Tired was exactly what he felt. And old, even though he was barely thirty-one. And sad. He’d lost his father. His brother and sister seemed to be drifting farther from him—and each other—all the time, and now he was about to sever all ties with his baby half sister.
What had Stuart done to this family? And could the damage ever really be repaired?
Caitlin took a step closer. “Nathan?”
“I’m fine. As you guessed, I’m tired. I told Gideon and Deborah about the decision I’m facing tonight.”
“I take it from your expression that they weren’t very supportive.”
As always, his first instinct was to defend his family. “You can’t really blame them. They’re both still getting past everything Dad put them through. And though neither of them is able to admit it yet, they’re still dealing with their grief over his death. This just brings everything back for them.”
She motioned toward her car, which was parked only a few spaces from the one Gideon had just vacated. “I was just headed home. I’ve got no plans for the rest of the evening, if you’d like to go someplace and talk. I’m not sure I have any good advice to offer, but I’m a good listener.”
“It’s a tempting offer—” very tempting, actually “—but I think I’ll pass tonight. I have to make some arrangements. I’ll be leaving for San Diego in the morning. I’ve canceled my appointments for tomorrow. I hope to be back by Monday, Tuesday at the latest. I hope our scary office manager can rearrange my schedule if I should get detained.”
“I imagine Irene can handle just about anything. Um, why are you going to San Diego?”
“I thought I should pay a visit to Mrs. Houston, see if there’s anything I can do for her. And I’d like to see Isabelle one more time before…well.”
Caitlin laid a hand on his arm, reading something in his tone that had drawn her even closer. “You’ve decided to go with the adoption plan?”
He tried unsuccessfully to erase a mental image of his father and Kimberly. Despite the scandal surrounding their relationship, Stuart and Kimberly had been happy together, and they had loved their daughter deeply. The vacation in Mexico had been the first time they had been away from her.
Nathan knew they would never have considered the trip if they’d had any idea they would be leaving the little girl so vulnerable and alone.
Appreciating the moral support Caitlin was offering, he covered her soft, cool hand with his larger one. “Adoption seems like the best alternative for everyone involved. Mrs. Houston and her family will be able to concentrate on her treatments, and Isabelle will be placed in a state-approved, two-parent home. She won’t have to be bounced between sitters, constantly uncertain about where she’ll end up next.”
She nodded, obviously agreeing with his decision and the reasons behind it. “Take all the time you need to settle things in California. Irene and I can keep everything under control at the office until you get back.”
“Thanks, Caitlin. I appreciate that. You’ve been great today.”
Her smile was faint and bittersweet. “I understand how difficult family obligations can become.”
He was sure she did understand. He knew that her widowed mother was confined to a nursing home in Jackson, a tragic victim of an untimely, massive stroke. Caitlin visited her mother at least twice a month, though she’d told him her mother hadn’t recognized her in more than a year.
He and Caitlin had both dealt with heartache in their families, and they had both been the ones who’d had to shoulder the responsibilities—Caitlin as an only child, he as the eldest offspring. Despite their differing approaches to work, he and Caitlin actually had quite a bit in common, a thought that had occurred to him on several occasions.
He glanced toward the country club. A steady stream of guests were beginning to emerge. He had no interest in going back inside, but he’d promised his mother he wouldn’t leave without telling her good-night.
He swallowed a sigh, along with a futile wish that he was in a cozy tent somewhere in a pristine wilderness with no more pressing decisions than which flies would catch the most trout. He wondered if Caitlin liked camping and fishing.
She gave his arm a little squeeze. “Have a safe trip, Nathan. I hope everything works out for the best—for everyone.”
He would have liked to kiss her then, if nothing more than a brush of his lips against her cheek. Just a gesture of gratitude, he assured himself, because she’d been so nice today. But, since their association to this point had not included even casual kisses, he decided the time wasn’t right to initiate such a gesture now, even with the most innocent of intentions.
Or were they really that innocent?
He reluctantly released her hand. “Good night, Caitlin.”
He waited until she was safely inside her car before he turned, squared his shoulders and moved determinedly back toward the entrance.
After all, he reminded himself grimly, a promise was a promise—no matter how inconvenient. That thought reminded him of the implied promise he’d made to his father when he’d agreed to be Isabelle’s executor.
His head was pounding in earnest when he reentered the country club with dragging steps.
Chapter Three
T he offices seemed different without Nathan in them. Quieter. More solemn, somehow. For some reason people tended to speak in near whispers—both the clients in the waiting room and the few employees at their desks.
Did Nathan really make that much noise, Caitlin wondered during a brief respite Friday afternoon, or was everyone responding to the tension in the offices due to his extended absence?
Appointments and court dates had been shuffled, reshuffled and rescheduled, and Caitlin was having to work frantically to keep up. Irene worked the organizational miracles Caitlin had come to expect from her, but Caitlin had to admit the efficient office manager was a rather intimidating presence. Nathan’s habitual joviality served as a counterbalance to Irene’s pragmatism and Caitlin’s naturally quiet manner. Without him the office simply wasn’t as…well, as alive.
She missed him. And the next time she saw him, she fully intended to let him have it for leaving work dangling this long with little notice and even less explanation of what was keeping him in California.
The few calls they had received from him had been brief, uninformative, and carefully timed so that Caitlin wouldn’t