The Family Plan

“I’m aware of that. But there would be no way for me to know for certain,” he said stubbornly.

She decided not to bother suggesting that he’d latched on to the first valid excuse he’d found to change his mind about the adoption. He’d probably known from the moment Isabelle had run to greet him that he couldn’t give her to strangers, no matter what the repercussions.

“So what are you going to do now?”

He swallowed before he answered. “I’ve spent the past few days having myself named her guardian. The process was expedited because of Mrs. Houston’s illness, but it still took some finagling. Fortunately, Alan has some influence there.”

Caitlin shook her head in amazement as the reality of what he had done sank in. “You’re her guardian.”

She would have sworn he lost a bit of color, but he nodded gamely. “I have sole responsibility for her now. As I said, there wasn’t anyone else.”

“So now what? You’re surely not going to try to raise her yourself?”

“Well…yeah.”

She felt herself sink further into her chair. “Nathan, you can’t. What do you know about raising children? A little girl?”

“Nothing,” he admitted frankly. “But I’ll learn.”

“Just like that?”

“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.