A Precious Gift

“So you ran?” Carrie guessed.

“I didn’t run, I escaped. After graduation, I came back to Portland, got a room and a job waitressing. But I had morning sickness really bad and I couldn’t work all my shifts. I couldn’t pay for the room so they kicked me out. I learned how to get along,” she insisted, her chin going up as she looked at Carrie now. “I’m eighteen and no one can tell me what to do.”

“Do you want to give your baby up or do you feel you have to?”

The question seemed to perplex the teenager. “I don’t want this kid. I don’t want it to remind me how stupid I was. I don’t want to have to take care of it twenty-four hours a day for the rest of its life.”

“You might change your mind once you see your baby.”

“I won’t change my mind. I know I’ll never get anywhere if I have to drag a kid along.”

Lisa’s words were tough, but Carrie didn’t believe the girl was that tough. She just tried to make the world think she was.

“I want to be a mother more than I want anything,” Carrie admitted.

“And I want to know my baby’s going to a good home. Why didn’t your husband come with you?”

“He had to fly to San Francisco today on business. I came to meet you.”

Thinking about holding a baby in her arms, Carrie felt her heartbeats race with one another. Before she could catch the words, they soared out of her mouth. “How would you like to come live with us until you deliver? That way, you can decide if we’re the couple you want to adopt your baby.”

Now Carrie’s stomach somersaulted. What was Brian going to say if Lisa accepted?

The grandfather clock in the foyer chimed six as Carrie added broccoli to the saucepan on the stove. Brian had insisted she have a housekeeper so she didn’t have to worry about cleaning and cooking. They’d compromised and Verna came in three days a week, leaving casseroles on her days off, making sure the house was spic-and-span when she was there. Carrie supposed she’d fought against the idea of a housekeeper because she’d been used to taking care of a household and her three sisters while her mom worked. She missed it, actually. Now she couldn’t help but smile as she started the preparation for cream of broccoli soup. She was going to fix salmon cakes to go with it.

Was she totally crazy bringing Lisa into their home?

She’d always had good instincts about people. On the outside, Lisa was defiant, sullen sometimes and looked a little wild. But Carrie’s intuition told her that the girl was sensitive and looking for a place to belong, looking for a place for her baby to belong.

When the phone rang, Carrie froze midstride to the refrigerator. Her heart raced as she hurried to pick it up.

“Summers residence,” she said, unable to keep the excitement from her voice because she suspected Brian was calling.

“Hi,” he said in that deep tone that always curled her toes. “How did the interview go?”

She swallowed hard and jumped right in. “It went great. You’ve got to understand Lisa’s background to understand her, and I think I do. And you can’t let her appearance put you off. She has two-toned hair and tattoos. But she lost her parents, she’s scared and she wants a home for her baby.”

“I’m between meetings, Carrie. We can talk about it when I come home.”

Only hesitating for a moment, she plunged ahead. “That’s what I’m trying to tell you, Brian. I made the decision during the interview to invite Lisa to stay with us until she has her baby.”

The complete silence that met Carrie’s announcement wasn’t broken even by cell phone static.

“You did what?”

The question was rhetorical, and she waited.

“How could you be so impulsive? How could you make a decision like this without consulting me? We don’t know this girl, Carrie. We don’t know who she is or where she’s been. She’s been living on the streets—” He stopped abruptly.

Sometimes Brian handled Carrie as if she were a piece of glass, and she wasn’t sure why. He didn’t know about the rape or the abortion or the counseling that had saved her life and her future. Yet he held back with her. He always seemed to hold back, and she guessed he was holding back angry words now.

He’d never seen how strong she could be. Maybe it was time to show him. “I know you believe my decision was impulsive. Maybe it was, but I’m going into this with my eyes open. If we can show Lisa we can be caring parents and that we’ll be the best parents for her baby, we’ll have a child. Isn’t that more important than a little inconvenience?”

She heard his sigh, and his words were filled with concern. “I’m not worried about the inconvenience. I’m being cautious. This might not turn out the way you want, and you’ll be hurt. This girl could change her mind about adoption or decide she’d rather place her child elsewhere.”

“I know that. But Lisa will give me something worthwhile to do while you’re away on business. Volunteer work is fine, but taking care of Lisa will be like taking care of my sisters. I’ve missed that.”

His silence went long. Finally he responded, “I know you have. But the timing of this— For the next month or so I’ll be on call. This land deal in Alaska is important. I think you’ve made a mistake, and you need to rectify it before this girl settles in.”

“You’re always on call, Brian, and all the deals are important. I’m used to that.” She had never put her resignation into words before but now she did so. She was fighting for this chance to make their marriage strong again, and intuitively she knew Lisa and her baby were part of that. “I know we can make this work.”

His voice was clipped when he replied, “I’ll be flying home tonight instead of tomorrow. I should be there around eleven-thirty.”

“Brian, I couldn’t leave her in that shelter another night.”

“We’ll talk about it when I get home.”

Yes, they would. Having Lisa in their home might not be easy, but inviting her to stay had been the right choice. Somehow Carrie would convince her husband of that.

A few hours later as Brian came in the door from the garage, Carrie was there waiting for him, hoping to ease him into an introduction to Lisa.

First, though, she smiled and asked, “Are you hungry?”

A flash of desire in Brian’s eyes reminded her of the other night and the way they’d made love. It had been different somehow. She’d almost felt Brian wasn’t holding back, that he’d let himself go and she’d responded to that. Yet afterward he’d withdrawn. Sometimes she felt as if she were doing a complicated dance with her husband, afraid she’d misstep and the rhythm would be broken forever.

Setting down his overnighter and his briefcase, he bent to her, letting his lips say his “hello,” letting his kiss tell her he’d missed her.

Ending it, he straightened. “No. I’m not hungry. Dinner was elaborate.” Picking up his luggage once more, he crossed the kitchen. “During the flight, I thought about what we should do. You’ve gotten us into a situation. Our only resort now is to put this girl in a hotel suite—”

“No! That’s not the answer. Especially since you haven’t even met her.”

Brian stopped and turned.

“Lisa’s blood pressure is a bit elevated,” she hurried on. “She needs someone to look after her. I can do that here. Brian, please. The easy course isn’t always the best one. Besides, if she doesn’t live with us, why would she want to choose us? Why would she want to let us adopt her baby?”

It was obvious Brian was struggling with all of it. He didn’t want his life disrupted, especially not by a stranger off the streets. But he did want a child. “Where is she?” he asked.

“In the family room. I told her to make herself comfortable. She’s been watching TV.”

He finally said, “All right. I’ll meet her.” Striding to the foyer, he deposited his luggage by the staircase.

When Carrie hurried after him, she warned in a low voice, “Don’t make a first impression just from her appearance. She’s—”

Before Carrie could finish her sentence, he’d already headed for the family room. There he stopped and took in the scene with a frown.

It had been a long day, and Brian saw it was going to get much longer. Carrie had never done anything like this before—made a decision without consulting him. He wondered what was at the bottom of it now. Did she want a baby that badly?

He stared at Lisa Sanders in stunned amazement. Yes, Carrie had told him she had two-toned hair and tattoos. But she hadn’t told him one tattoo was an upside-down mermaid that started at Lisa’s elbow and disappeared under her T-shirt sleeve, and that the teenager’s hair wasn’t only two-toned, it was spiked and sticking out at all angles. Three earrings dangled from both ears and her lipstick was purple!