The Family Plan

by Gina Wilkins

  “It’s certainly worth a shot.”

  “I still think you should fire her.”

  Caitlin folded her hands on top of the now-signed correspondence and shook her head. “I hired her—on my own—because you didn’t want to be involved. If you aren’t happy with her performance, it’s up to you to fire her.”

  She would have sworn his face paled at the very suggestion. “Me? No way.”

  “That’s what I thought. So I suppose you’d better find a way to get along with her,” Caitlin advised sweetly.

  He glared at her in return.

  The speaker on Caitlin’s desk suddenly buzzed. “Mr. McCloud?”

  Nathan jumped out of his chair as if the woman could see through walls. “I’m on my way to sign those letters right now.”

  “Actually, you have a call on line two. It’s Mr. Alan Curtis from San Diego, California.”

  Nathan looked surprised. “The attorney who handled my father’s estate,” he murmured. He motioned toward Caitlin’s phone. “Mind if I take the call in here?”

  “Of course not.” She gathered her letters. “I’ll take these out to Irene.”

  “Kiss-up,” Nathan murmured, reaching for the receiver.

  She only smiled at him as she left him to his call.

  Nathan watched Caitlin leave her office, wondering if he’d ever mentioned to her that he liked the way she walked. Smooth strides, soft sway of hips, head up and shoulders squared—very appealing. Of course, if he did tell her, she would get all gruff and flustered the way she always did when he complimented her, which was actually something else he found intriguing about her.

  Did she react that way when any man flirted with her or just with him? And what would she do if he cranked it up a notch and suggested they actually go out sometime? It was a suggestion he’d been contemplating for several weeks, waiting until the time seemed right to approach her about it.

  Only mildly curious about the call from his late father’s attorney, he lifted the telephone receiver to his ear. “Nathan McCloud.”

  “Mr. McCloud, it’s Alan Curtis. I’m glad you were available to take my call.”

  Nathan’s eyebrows rose. “You make it sound important. Is something wrong?”

  Nathan’s father, along with his much younger wife, had died six months earlier in a tourist helicopter accident in Mexico, leaving a three-year-old daughter behind. The estate had been settled weeks ago, and Nathan couldn’t imagine any problems that might have arisen since. The child had been left in the custody of her maternal great-aunt in California and had inherited all her parent’s assets, since Nathan and his two adult siblings had refused any claim.

  For reasons Nathan still didn’t fully understand, his father’s will had named him executor of the child’s inheritance. He’d retained Mr. Curtis’s services for the monitoring of those details. He had expected to be contacted only in cases of emergency. What sort of crisis could have arisen already?

  “I’m afraid something is wrong, Mr. McCloud. Barbara Houston has been diagnosed with colon cancer.”

  Barbara Houston was the woman who had taken in Nathan’s orphaned half sister. He’d met her only once, at the joint funeral service for Stuart and Kimberly McCloud in California six months ago, but she’d made a very good impression on him. He’d felt comfortable that little Isabelle would be raised in a loving, supportive home. “I’m sorry to hear that. Is it bad?”

  “Very bad, I’m afraid. Her chances of survival are slim.”

  Nathan sank into Caitlin’s desk chair. “Damn.”

  “Exactly. You see why it was imperative that I contact you immediately.”

  His head was starting to hurt. He raised his free hand to massage his temples. “What’s going to happen to Isabelle?”

  “Mrs. Houston and I spoke at length this morning. She sees only two options. Her preference would be for you to come get the child and have yourself named guardian.”

  Nathan spoke without hesitation. “That isn’t possible.”

  “There’s really no one else to take her, Mr. McCloud. Your stepmother’s parents are both dead and her only sibling is an unmarried brother who is on active military duty, stationed overseas. Mrs. Houston is widowed and has only one daughter, who is divorced and raising four young children of her own. There simply is no one else. Unless one of your other siblings…?”

  “Mr. Curtis, I’m not sure how much you know about my father’s history here.”

  When Nathan paused, the other man spoke with audible caution. “I’m aware that your father was a prominent business leader there in Mississippi and had considered a run for the governor’s office.”

  “He was a gubernatorial candidate,” Nathan clarified. “The campaign was in full swing, he was backed by some very influential people in his party, and he had a solid standing in the polls. He could very well have won the office. He was quite a hero here in his hometown, the first native son to run for such a high position in our state. And then, six months before the election, he announced that he was dropping out to marry one of his campaign volunteers—Barbara Houston’s niece, Kimberly Leighton.”

  “Um—”

  Nathan continued in a deliberately nonemotional tone. “It was a bit messy at the time because Kimberly was thirty years his junior, and pregnant. Oh, and my father was still married then—to my mother.”

  Nathan could almost hear the other man wince. “Mr. McCloud, I—”

  “I’m trying to explain why it wouldn’t be a good idea for me to bring my father’s child here. My father tore his family apart four years ago. He humiliated my mother and broke my younger sister’s heart. My brother hasn’t been quite the same since Dad bailed out on us. We’re still trying to rebuild our relationships with each other. Even if I were prepared to raise a toddler, which, believe me, I’m not, my family would never be able to accept her.”

  “I’m sorry. I—well, I wasn’t aware that you were so estranged from your father. He told me you visited him here in California a few times, and he named you your sister’s executor.”

  “I was the only one to maintain a relationship with my father,” Nathan admitted, “much to my family’s dissatisfaction. I didn’t approve of his actions, but I didn’t want to completely sever all ties with him. I hoped my brother and sister would be able to make some sort of peace with him, but his death put an end to that. I hold nothing against little Isabelle, so I didn’t mind agreeing to be available in the event of an emergency, but bringing her here, trying to raise her—well, I’m afraid that’s simply out of the question.”

  The older man sighed heavily. “Mrs. Houston suspected that would be your answer. It seems we have no choice but to resort to the only other option.”

  Nathan didn’t like the sound of that, nor the tone in which the attorney had spoken. “What’s the other option?”

  “The child will have to be put up for adoption.”

  Grimacing, Nathan cleared his throat. “That seems rather…drastic.”

  “The circumstances are drastic, Mr. McCloud. Mrs. Houston is very ill. She isn’t able to care for an active toddler any longer.”

  “I could help with the expense of a full-time nanny.”

  “I’m afraid that would only be a short-term solution. I’m not sure you understand the gravity of Mrs. Houston’s condition. Her cancer was already at an advanced stage when she was diagnosed, and this particular type of cancer is very aggressive. She’s only expected to live for another few months. The child must be placed soon. Mrs. Houston is ready to relinquish her to the California Department of Child Services. She’s very fond of Isabelle, but she’s simply too ill to concentrate on anyone’s well-being except her own.”

  The headache was rapidly intensifying. Nathan rubbed harder at his temples, which had absolutely no effect against the pounding. “I need time to think about this.”

  “I understand. But our time is limited, I’m afraid.”

  Picturing the pleasant-faced, kind-eyed woman he’d me
t at his father’s funeral, Nathan was aware of a wave of sadness on her behalf. Barbara Houston had seemed like a very nice woman, only in her mid-fifties. He hated to think of her suffering so terribly. “Can you give me a few hours to process this, Mr. Curtis? Isabelle’s okay for now, isn’t she?”

  “Mrs. Houston was hospitalized several days ago, but the child is fine for now. She’s staying with Mrs. Houston’s pastor and his wife. Mrs. Houston called me from the hospital, and I visited her there. Frankly, she looks terrible. Worrying about her great-niece isn’t making her any more comfortable.”

  Nathan got the message. Time was running out, fast. “Give me until tomorrow morning. I’ll call you first thing,” he promised, glancing up as Caitlin reentered her office. “Don’t do anything until I talk to you, okay?”

  “I’ll be expecting your call.”

  Nathan hung up the phone, then buried his face in his hands and groaned.

  “Nathan?” He heard Caitlin’s footsteps as she moved closer. “Are you okay?”

  Slowly lowering his hands, he looked up at her, taking some comfort from the genuine concern reflected in her warm gray eyes. “How do you think I’d stack up as a father?”

  She lifted both her eyebrows. “This is a rhetorical question, I hope.”

  “Not exactly. I have to decide whether to take my father’s three-and-a-half-year-old daughter and try to raise her myself or to let her disappear into the California child services system and hope she’s quickly adopted by a decent family.”

  Caitlin knew a little of his family history. Of course, no one could live for long in this town without hearing the details of the juiciest scandal to rock this area in decades. She had already joined his firm when his father died, and she’d run the office during the few days Nathan was in California for the funeral. So she wasn’t surprised by his reference to his half sister, but she certainly appeared flabbergasted by everything else he’d said. “There’s no one else to take her?”

  “Not a soul. The great-aunt who’s been raising her is very ill. I have to make a decision very quickly—by tomorrow morning.”

  “I’m sorry. No wonder you look so upset.”

  “Yeah. Hell of a choice I’ve got here. Take in a three-year-old and completely alienate my already-screwed-up family or farm the kid out to strangers and give up the right to ever see her again.” The final words were gruff as he forced them through his suddenly tight throat.

  Caitlin only looked at him.

  On an impulse he pulled his wallet out of his back pocket. He didn’t carry many photographs, only two. An old family photo of his parents, himself and his two younger siblings taken when Nathan was sixteen. And a snapshot of a little blond princess with enormous blue eyes and several deep dimples. He held that one out to Caitlin.

  She studied it with her lower lip caught between her teeth. And then she looked up at him again, her smoky gray eyes almost black now. “Oh, Nathan.”

  He swallowed, nodded and slipped the photo back into its place opposite the old family portrait.

  The desk speaker buzzed. “Ms. Briley? Is Mr. McCloud still in there?”

  “I’m here, Irene.”

  “Your appointment has arrived, Mr. McCloud. She seems quite nervous. You probably shouldn’t keep her waiting long.”

  “Right. Give me five minutes, then show her to my office.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Stuffing his wallet back into his pocket, Nathan pushed a hand through his tumbled hair. “I’d better go to my office and get ready for Mrs. Danoff.”

  “Nathan?”

  Caitlin’s voice made him pause in the doorway. “Yes?”

  “What are you going to do?”

  He pushed his hand through his hair again. How could he even consider taking in a three-year-old? He had never even committed to a pet. He did pretty well just taking care of himself. It would shatter his mother’s already-broken heart, and his siblings would probably never speak to him again—not that they said much to him these days, anyway.

  But could he sign her away? Turn her over to strangers with no guarantees that she would be treated well, never to see her again or know what had happened to her? She was his sister, damn it.

  Realizing that Caitlin was still waiting for an answer, he sighed. “Beats the hell out of me.”

  Chapter Two

  Caitlin had little chance to talk with Nathan again that afternoon. Both of them were busy with back-to-back appointments, and then she had to leave early for a dental appointment.

  Tired from a long, busy week, she wasn’t really in the mood to socialize that evening, but she had little choice. Once a year, the Honesty Chamber of Commerce held a reception to recognize the community’s prominent volunteers, and all the local business and society leaders attended. There was no way Caitlin would miss such a chance to mingle with influential neighbors. It was simply too good an opportunity to increase the visibility of the McCloud and Briley Law Firm.

  She knew Nathan would be in attendance, though this was hardly his preferred choice of entertainment. His mother was one of the five volunteers being honored that evening for her active role in local children’s charities. Nathan wouldn’t dare skip the event.

  As she dressed in a suitably conservative yet sophisticated black cocktail sheath, she wondered if he had made a decision about his little sister’s future. Surely he would come to the conclusion that adoption was the only alternative. She couldn’t imagine Nathan trying to raise a three-year-old on his own. Heck, she couldn’t picture herself raising a toddler, and she was a hundred times more organized than Nathan!

  And then the image of the golden-haired little girl in the photograph popped into her mind. She knew Nathan had met the child on several occasions during the past three years. During those visits with his father’s new family, he had accumulated several amusing stories about his cute-as-a-button, incredibly bright-for-her-age little sister—stories he had shared with Caitlin during the months they’d worked together because no one in his family had wanted to hear them.

  She could see both sides of his family’s conflict. While she admired Nathan for maintaining some ties with his father, his mother and siblings still bitterly resented Stuart McCloud for publicly abandoning his family in favor of a woman half his age.

  Caitlin hadn’t lived here four years ago, and hadn’t yet met Nathan, but she had certainly heard plenty about the scandal. The gossip columns and TV newscasts had been filled with talk of the gubernatorial candidate’s affair with a young campaign volunteer and the subsequent pregnancy that ended his thirty-year marriage…and his political career. The press had been vicious, camping outside the homes of the betrayed wife and adult offspring, hoping for juicy quotes and photos. She remembered how sorry she had felt for the McCloud family then, and how much she had admired the poise and restraint Stuart’s wronged wife, Lenore, had shown in the wake of the debacle.

  She had met Lenore several times during the past nine months. Nathan’s mother dropped in frequently at the law offices and had been unfailingly gracious to Caitlin. She knew the woman was much admired in Honesty—hence, the recognition from the Chamber of Commerce later this evening. Yet Caitlin also knew that Lenore had never forgiven her ex-husband for his betrayal. And while Lenore and Nathan maintained a good relationship, she had resented his refusal to sever communication with his father.

  If Nathan were to bring his father’s late-life child into his family’s midst, his mother and siblings would consider the gesture a slap in the face. A betrayal almost as cutting as his father’s. Knowing how much his family meant to him and how hard he had worked to repair the rifts that had developed between them during the past few years, she understood how reluctant he would be to further widen the chasms. And yet, because family was so important to him, and because Nathan had loved his father despite his flaws, she knew how hard it would be for Nathan to turn his back on his baby sister.

  She certainly didn’t envy him the decision he faced during the n
ext few hours.

  Nathan was beginning to worry that his head was in danger of exploding. So many thoughts were ricocheting through his mind that he wouldn’t be surprised if he developed dents in his skull.

  He knew he hadn’t been his usual charming, personable self during the chamber of commerce event. He’d been aware of the puzzled and concerned looks he’d received all evening as he’d responded to conversational gambits with absentminded and sometimes monosyllabic replies. People were used to his brother, Gideon, sitting in a corner and glowering during social events, since Gideon would rather sacrifice nonessential body parts than to attend functions like this. But Nathan enjoyed social gatherings, usually staying right in the middle of the activities and generally being the life of the party.

  “Nathan, are you sure there’s nothing wrong?” his mother asked as the evening drew to a close. “You’ve been so distracted all evening.”

  He managed a smile for her. “Sorry, Mom. I hope I haven’t spoiled your big party.”

  “Of course not.” She raised a hand to touch the rose corsage she had been given earlier to designate her as one of the special honorees of the event. “I’ve had a lovely evening. I’m simply concerned about you.”

  “I, um, have a lot on my mind,” he said, stalling.

  This was definitely not the time to bring up his father’s name, nor to remind his mother of little Isabelle’s existence. As much as he would have liked to discuss his dilemma with his mother, he was convinced that he already knew what her response would be. Lenore McCloud would not wish harm on any child, but she couldn’t be objective where this little girl was concerned. She would expect him to give the child up for adoption without a second thought. She would even try to convince him that he would be doing Isabelle a disservice if he were to prevent her from being placed in a two-parent home.

  And maybe she would be right, Nathan mused. He was all too aware of his own shortcomings as parental material. Who was to say there wasn’t a perfectly wonderful couple waiting to give Isabelle a loving, supportive home?