Bachelor Father (18 page)

“What are you doing here?” she blurted,
hastily closing the Waiting Children Book that still lay open on
her desk where the Shermans had left it. Guilt overwhelmed her. She
hadn’t told Brett about listing Jake in the book.

Brett tossed his gloves on the book and eased
his tall frame into the chair. “Guy Conrad from Conrad Engineering
called this morning. They have overflow surveying work and he
wanted to know if I was interested. It’s a job I can do over the
weekend. But it’s up north. I’ll have to go on Friday afternoon and
stay until Sunday. Weekend after next.”

Molly’s guarded expression made him stop.
Maybe he was assuming too much, that she would want to watch Jake
for the weekend. Just because he’d like her life to center around
him and Jake didn’t mean it did. She’d been avoiding him since
their talk the other evening, going to her room “to read” as soon
as they’d tucked Jake in bed. It struck him that she might have
made plans to go away for the weekend to escape having to be with
him. Desolation stabbed his heart in a hundred points like pins
being pushed into a pincushion.

He flexed his fingers into fists and released
them to relieve the sensation. “Hey, if you don’t want to watch
Jake, I’ll see if Tina can. I told Guy I’d let him know
tomorrow.”

“I do. It’s fine,” Molly said quickly, looking
down at her desk calendar in an obvious attempt to avoid meeting
his gaze. “The only problem is, I have that conference in New York
Thursday and Friday of next week. I won’t be back until Friday
evening.”

“Tina can probably watch Jake on Friday. You
can pick him up in the evening.”

Molly nodded her agreement.

Brett stood, his purpose completed. “So, have
you had lunch yet?”

Molly started to smile, as if warming to the
idea, then looked at her watch and eyed a pile of reports in her
in-box. The guarded expression she’d worn earlier replaced the
smile.

Brett swore silently. She obviously didn’t
want to be alone with him, even in a crowded restaurant.

“I take it you’re too busy,” he said, not
waiting for her answer. “I’ll head on home. See you about five, or
are you working late again?” Molly responded with a guilty,
stricken look.

It looked like his dig had hit home. He needed
a reaction from her to show him that she still had some kind of
feelings toward him, that the passionate, caring woman who consoled
him through Jake’s illness hadn’t been completely absorbed by the
polite stranger who’d been living with him since.

“No,” she said tiredly. “I shouldn’t be late
tonight.”

“Good.” He grabbed his gloves and strode out
the door.

Any remaining enthusiasm Molly had for her
work left with Brett. Who had she been trying to fool? She was
handy as a sometimes baby-sitter and sounding board for Brett’s
childraising concerns. But he didn’t need her any more than he
needed Tina, or Josh, or any other of his friends. And, if she
referred Jake to the Shermans, he’d no longer consider her a
friend.

There was one way she could draw Brett to her.
She had the power to mark Jake’s file unavailable to other
prospective parents. Doing so and telling Brett would make him ever
grateful. No! She refused to stoop her mother’s level and use
manipulative tactics to trap a man in a relationship he didn’t
want. Besides, changing the record falsely would be unethical and
jeopardize her job. And sadly, without Brett and Jake, all she had
was her job.

She’d concentrate on getting through the next
week until her conference in New York. The conference, followed by
his working up north for the weekend would give her a four-day
respite to bring her life back into perspective. By then, Brett’s
application could be approved and she could move on.

She’d survive. She always did.

It felt funny to come to Thayer House and not
see Molly, Brett thought as he climbed the stairs to the office she
shared with Charles. She’d been kind of jumpy the past few days
since he’d asked her to watch Jake. He didn’t know if she’d been
nervous about speaking at the conference or nervous about being
around him.

He didn’t have that problem. Living with her
felt comfortable, right to him. Visions of Molly sitting across the
dinner table from him flush with excitement, telling him about an
adoption placement she made mingled with a picture of her flush
with another kind of excitement, her gold-red hair spread across
the pillow. Until the past few days, he’d felt they were growing
closer. Maybe not as close as he would have liked. His body
tightened in response to his thoughts. But closer just the
same.

He’d really expected her to call last night
from New York to tell him about the conference and check on Jake.
Brett had wanted to hear her voice, share his day with her, know
she was okay. When she hadn’t called, he’d tossed and turned most
of the night, waking at every creak and groan the old house
uttered.

Could he have been that wrong about Molly’s
feelings for him? He’d been making enough of a fool of himself over
her since Jake’s illness for her to know how he felt. Did she see
him and Jake as simply part of her job? If so, it could soon all be
over.

Brett had caught Charles’ message on the
answering machine when he’d gone back to the house for his
surveying equipment after dropping Jake at Tina’s. Rather than call
the caseworker back, Brett had decided to stop by Thayer House on
his way north to the Conrad job.

Charles hadn’t said outright that Brett’s
adoption application had been approved, but he did say he had good
news. What other good news would he have? Brett took the remaining
stairs two at a time. When he reached the office and saw Charles,
he couldn’t keep the grin from his face.

“Hey, Charles.” He strode over to the
desk.

“Hey man.” Charles looked up from his
paperwork. “I didn’t expect to see you today.” He stood and offered
Brett his hand.

Brett shook the extended hand
enthusiastically. “I’m on my way to a surveying job. I got your
message before I left and decided to stop in, rather than call.
What’s the good news?”

Charles paused dramatically. “Maybe you should
sit down, Charles said. “The good news is because of the
extenuating circumstances, Korean Child Welfare approved your
application ahead of the official January 1 date for allowing
single parent applications.”

Brett leapt up from the chair before he’d even
hit the cushion. “Does this mean Jake is ours, I mean mine?” He’d
automatically thought of him and Molly and Jake as one,
again.

“Yes,” Charles answered, settling back in his
seat.

“All-right!” Brett exclaimed. He hadn’t been
this excited since he’d gotten his driver’s license.

“You got ahead of me by stopping by, so I
haven’t written the referral letter yet.”

“Then, it’s not official?” Brett’s excitement
plummeted as quickly as it had arisen.

“Oh, no, it’s official. All I need to do is
update Jake’s computer records.” Charles turned to the computer and
typed in Jake’s identification number.

Brett sat back down, elbows on knees, hands
folded. A concerned look on Charles face caused Brett to lean
closer, trying to see the computer screen. The reflection of the
sun streaming through the window behind Charles made it impossible
for Brett to read anything on the screen.

“What the blazes has she done now?” Charles
muttered more to himself than to Brett.

“What’s wrong?” Brett asked, moving around the
desk behind Charles, for a better view of the screen. He skimmed
the record, but didn’t see what could be causing Charles’ reaction.
“What’s wrong?” he repeated more forcefully.

Charles looked over his shoulder at Brett.
“I’m going to have to verify some of the information
here.”

“Well, do it.” Brett motioned to the computer.
Something was wrong, very wrong.

“I have to check with whoever last updated
Jake’s file, Charles said, avoiding direct eye contact with
Brett.

Brett studied the other man’s profile. Charles
knew something he wasn’t saying.

A movement on the computer screen drew Brett
from his speculations. Charles had his hand on the mouse poised to
close the file.

“Wait.” Brett stepped closer and,
when Charles hesitated, he quickly re-read the information on the
screen. The word
Referred
hit him like a sledgehammer. He swore vehemently.
Molly’s name leaped out at him from the screen. Unbelievable.
“Molly referred Jake to another family, didn’t she?”

Charles closed the file and spun his chair
around to face Brett. “As I’m sure Molly told you, she had to list
Jake in the Waiting Children Book. Korean Child Welfare
insisted.”

“No,” Brett said tightly. “She didn’t.” No
wonder she’d been hiding in her room all week. Her conscience, if
she had one, wouldn’t let her face him. He’d never been so wrong
about a woman—anyone—in his life. What a front. All along, he’d
thought Molly was a caring compassionate person, when in reality
she was looking out for number one.

Brett paced the office, trying to contain his
anger and disbelief. Why should he contain his anger? He had every
right to be angry. Molly had deceived him and led him on one merry
chase. He couldn’t believe he’d been such a fool.

Spinning to face Charles, he demanded, “Tell
me. Did Molly refer Jake to someone else?”

“I don’t know,” Charles answered, shaking his
head. “I don’t know. We had a computer network crash earlier in the
week.”

Nice try, Brett thought. Charles was fishing
for excuses to cover for Molly. Obviously, she had him as
bamboozled, too. Despite their long friendship, Charles didn’t seem
to know Molly’s true nature any better than he did. Brett tapped
his foot impatiently, waiting for more of an answer from
Charles.

“I’ll talk with Molly and get this
straightened out over the weekend,” Charles said. “You’ll be back
in town Monday?”

“Yeah, you do that.” Brett knew that, if Molly
had referred Jake to another family, Charles couldn’t rescind the
referral. The only way he’d get to keep Jake now was if the other
people didn’t want him. Fat chance of that.

“You okay, man?” Charles asked.

“Fine, great, couldn’t be better,” Brett
replied.

“Why don’t you sit and cool it for a minute?”
Charles walked over and placed his hand on Brett’s shoulder in a
friendly gesture. “I’m sure it’s all a
misunderstanding.”

“Uh, uh. I’m outta here. I want to spend what
little time I have left with Jake.”

Chapter
Thirteen

Brett made it home in record time. Trash the
job. He had to pick up Jake and get away to think. Molly would be
home soon and he wasn’t in the mood for any more of her do-gooder
lies. He’d pack a few days’ essentials for Jake and they could go
up to his grandfather’s old hunting cabin where there was no phone,
no interruptions.

His mind rushed on. Maybe he could sue. He’d
talk with Tina when he got back, after he’d made sure Molly was
gone. Right now, he was tired of talking.

He slammed into the house, threw some clothes
in a bag for himself and Jake and headed over to Tina’s.

“Hi,” she greeted him looking, up from the
game of blocks she was playing with Jake and Amy. “What did you
forget?”

“Nothing, I canceled the job. Jake and I are
going away for a few days.”

“What’s wrong?” Tina’s voice was laced with
concern.

“Nothing, everything. I don’t want to talk
now. I just want to get out of here.”

“Calm down, sit down. I can’t let you take
Jake when you’re so upset.”

“Yes, you can. Jake’s mine, for the time
being.” He started toward Jake, a look of alarm on the little boy’s
face stopping him. Great, now he’d frightened Jake.

Brett breathed deeply. “Sorry, Bud,” he said
reassuringly. “You play with Amy while I to talk to Tina.” Jake’s
chin quivered ever so slightly, and Brett reached down and tousled
his hair. “Everything’s okay, really.”

Jake looked up at him trustingly.

“Why don’t you go help Amy with her building,”
Brett prompted.

“‘
Kay.” Jake stuck his thumb in
his mouth and padded back to the pile of blocks.

“You’re okay?” Tina questioned
Brett.

“I’m okay,” he answered in a quiet voice.
“I’ve got some hard thinking to do and I can’t do it here, not
while Molly is still in my house. Can we leave it at
that?”

Tina nodded. “I’ll get Jake’s things
together.”

“Thanks,” he said wearily. “I’ll explain it
all when I get back. I may need your help, your legal
help.”

“Sure, you know where to find me.”

“Yeah.” At least he could count on
Tina.

Tina had Jake help her round up his belongings
and stuff them in his backpack. She handed the pack to Brett. “Oh,
wait. This came today, UPS. We were out in the yard, so I signed
for it.” She handed Brett the overnight envelope.