The Family Plan (3 page)

“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 met 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

C
aitlin 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 next 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?

A tall, somber, dark-haired man approached the relatively quiet corner where Nathan had sought refuge and where his mother had found him. “Just wanted to let you know I’m out of here,” the newcomer said to Lenore. “Congratulations on your award, Mom.”

Though her younger son had arrived barely twenty minutes earlier, Lenore didn’t protest the brevity of his appearance. Nathan knew Lenore was pleased that Gideon had shown up at all. She smiled at her younger son. “Thank you for coming, Gideon. I know this isn’t your sort of thing.”

Gideon’s firm mouth twisted in a wry half smile. “You got that right. But I knew you would be hurt if I didn’t make an appearance at this wingding in your honor.”

Though she couldn’t resist preening a bit, Lenore reminded him that there had been four other honorees that evening. Gideon shrugged off the others as unimportant.

“Hold on a minute, bro. I’ll walk you out,” Nathan said on an impulse.

His brother lifted an eyebrow. “I’m sure I can find my truck.”

“Yeah, but I want to talk to you about something.” Nathan moved aside as two of his mother’s friends approached her. “See you later, Mom.”

“Don’t leave without letting me know,” she admonished before turning to her friends.

Suspecting that she would try again to find out what had been on his mind all evening, Nathan nodded and vowed to take his leave of her when there were others around to prevent any personal conversation. Walking toward the exit, he spotted Caitlin working the crowd on the other side of the country club ballroom. He couldn’t help smiling at her earnest and eager expression. She certainly wasn’t missing the opportunity to promote the law firm.

It wasn’t the first time he’d thought that she should have gone into politics. She must have shaken the hand of everyone in attendance this evening; if there had been any babies in the room she would probably have kissed them.

Caitlin was most definitely destined for professional success. Whether she would find what she craved here in Honesty with him as her partner—well, that remained to be seen.

He and Gideon had just reached the door when their sister, Deborah, caught up with them. “You aren’t both leaving, are you?” she protested, blocking their way. “I have to stay until Mom’s ready to leave, since I drove her here.”

Deborah didn’t live in Honesty, but she had come to attend the reception for her mother. Like Gideon, she’d known it was important to Lenore for all her children to show their support for her tonight. Deborah was staying at her mother’s house for the weekend and would return to her apartment in Tampa Sunday evening.

“I’m not leaving yet,” Nathan assured her. “Just walking Gideon out. Actually, why don’t you come, too? There’s something I need to discuss with both of you—in private.”

“A private discussion in the parking lot?” Gideon inquired.