The Cinderella Plan

A lopsided grin appeared on his face. “I don’t usually have a woman fall for me.”

Finding herself being held by Reverend Caleb Williams, not to mention his teasing comment, flustered Anne. Fantasies she didn’t allow to surface taunted her thoughts of impossible dreams. Shoving them back into the dark recesses of her mind, she pulled away, smoothing back the few stray strands that had slipped from her ponytail. “I was concentrating on finding an old ledger. I didn’t hear you opening the door.”

“Can I help?”

Anne shook her head. “I was just going to look something up.” She hated saying more with all that had happened lately at Tiny Blessings Adoption Agency.

Caleb peered at the metal folding chair lying on its side with the telephone books askew next to it. “That’s no way to get something from the top shelf.”

Heat scorched her cheeks. She knew better than to stack items on top of a chair, then use it like a ladder. But she had thought that maybe some of the old ledgers would have answers in them concerning the falsifying of adoption records. She would search the account books later. She wanted to help her employer, Kelly Young, with the mess the late director Barnaby Harcourt had left the agency in.

Caleb stepped over to the bookcase that went from the floor to the ceiling and pointed toward one of the account books kept on the top shelf. “Is that what you’re looking for?”

“I’m not sure. I should probably look through them all.”

He righted the chair and, without the telephone books, stood on it, easily reaching for the ledgers in question and handing them one by one to Anne, who stacked them on a table behind her desk. “There. Now I won’t have to worry that you’ll break your neck trying to get them down.” He snared her with his intense blue eyes.

Anne’s mouth went dry. She swallowed several times while backing up against the table where the old account books were. She needed to look away from Caleb, but for the life of her she couldn’t. Today he was dressed casually in a pair of jeans and a long-sleeved light blue shirt that emphasized the vivid color of his eyes. He was the most handsome man she knew and was way off limits for her. He could date any woman he wanted in Chestnut Grove—for that matter, in the whole state of Virginia. She couldn’t imagine he would be interested in her, and she’d best remember that. She tore her gaze from his and busied herself at restacking the ledgers until they were perfectly lined up—anything to keep her hands and mind off the man occupying her suddenly small office.

Caleb cleared his throat. “Where are the girls? I told them I would pick them up at four-thirty. I thought they would be outside waiting.”

“They probably forgot the time. They’re in the back conference room. They made some copies for me earlier and are stuffing envelopes. I gave them money for some soft drinks so they might be taking a break and forgot the time.”

“You spoil them, Anne.”

“They’re a big help to me. I don’t know if I could get everything done if it wasn’t for the girls from the church’s youth center volunteering here a couple of times a week.”

“Keeps them busy and out of trouble.”

“I can’t see Gina, Tiffany or Nikki getting into trouble.”

Caleb grinned, his whole face lit with a mischievous expression. “Teenager and trouble both start with the letter ‘t.’ It wasn’t that long ago you were one. Do you honestly feel that way?”

Thinking back to her days as a teenager made her frown at the memories. They were not good ones. Hurt on top of hurt was what had characterized her formative years. But she doubted Caleb would understand what she had gone through, trying to fit in, trying to ignore the people who had made fun of her, trying to blend into the background so no one picked on her.

Anne forced a smile and said, “They have you to guide them.”

Again Caleb snagged her gaze and held it. “And you. Tiffany has told me about your little talks.”

“She has?”

“She has a crush on Billy and isn’t sure what to do.”

Anne hadn’t been comfortable advising Tiffany on what to do about Billy because she could count on one hand how many dates she’d had as a teenager. But she had tried, thinking of the advice some of the magazines she’d read had given.

Caleb moved closer. “I like what you said about being yourself. It rarely works to change for another unless we really want that change, too.”

Anne had nowhere to go, caught between the table and Caleb, so she straightened her shoulders, her arms stiff at her sides while clutching the wooden edge. “I’m glad Tiffany listened to me.” She caught a whiff of his citrusy aftershave.

He plunged his fingers through his black hair, then rubbed his hand across the back of his neck, one corner of his mouth hiking into a wry grin. “Now that I’m not so sure about. She may have listened to what you said, but following your advice is a whole different matter. Tiffany’s talking about having her mother take her shopping for dresses this weekend.”

“Dresses? Tiffany? I never thought I would hear those two words said in the same sentence.”

Moving back a step, Caleb half sat, half leaned against Anne’s desk, his arms folded across his chest. “Yeah, she’s quite a little tomboy, but she wants to impress Billy, and she thinks wearing dresses will do it.”

Relieved to have a little breathing room, Anne relaxed the tense set of her shoulders. “Who told her that?”

“Nikki.”

“Oh, this should be interesting. Has Nikki talked Tiffany into buying some black dresses?”

Caleb chuckled. “Your crew of workers is quite diverse, I must say.”

Anne lounged against the table, trying her best not to allow Caleb’s presence in her office to throw her off-kilter too much—if that were even possible. “Let’s see. Nikki only wears black and listens to punk rock in her spare time. Tiffany is a tomboy through and through, and Gina is our resident genius. Yes, I would say you’re right, but technically they’re your crew. You recruited them, and bring them here and pick them up.”

“But only you, Anne, have made these three girls work as a team. Now at the church youth center they hang out together. Six months ago they wouldn’t have been caught in the same room because of their differences.”

Anne hadn’t thought her cheeks could redden anymore than they had earlier when she had been caught against his chest, but if the singeing heat was any indication, her face was beet red, especially with Caleb staring at her. She hated to think what he saw through his eyes when looking at her. A plain Jane, someone who had learned to fade into the background. If someone would make office camouflage, she would wear it.

“Is that why you had them work together?” Anne managed to ask, desperate to keep the conversation centered on the girls, not her.

“Ah, you’ve discovered my strategy. Let’s hope they don’t.” He pushed away from the desk. “I guess I’d better round up the girls. It’s a school night, and I’m sure they’ll have homework to do.” Starting for the door, he flicked a glance toward Anne. “I realize you don’t get the church newsletter so you might not know all the details concerning the upcoming carnival. Would you like to help this year?”

“Sure.”

“Have the girls said anything to you about the fall carnival for the youth center?”

One stray strand of her hair tickled her cheek. She brushed it back, hooking it behind her ear. “No. What were they supposed to say?”

“More like ask.” He flashed her a grin. “I’ll let them break the news to you.”

His devastating smile momentarily drew her attention away from what he’d said. Then his words sank in. “Break the news? That doesn’t sound good.” Anne followed Caleb from her office and fell into step beside him as they walked down the hall, which was lined with photos of children and their adoptive families, to the conference room where the girls were working.

“I suppose it will depend on how adventurous you are.”

“There isn’t an adventurous bone in my body.”

His gaze skimmed down the length of her. “Not even one?” One brow quirked upward.

She shook her head, unable to say a thing when he was looking at her so intently with a gleam in his blue eyes. His classic good looks and charm did strange things to her stomach, causing it to churn with emotions she wished she could control. Thinking of him in any light other than as a casual friend would only hurt her in the end.

“I seem to remember that at the last fall carnival you manned the booth where anyone with a buck could throw a pie at you.”

“That wasn’t adventurous.”

“I thought you were a brave soul.”

“Nah. I love pies, especially the ones from the Starlight Diner. So I made some money for the center and got to taste some delicious pies in the meantime. Nothing adventurous in that.” She reached out to stop him before entering the conference room, her hand immediately falling to her side when she realized what she’d done. Her fingertips tingled from the brief contact. “What have they cooked up this year for the adults? I don’t like surprises.” Lack of control in her youth had firmed that in her mind. She worked hard to keep control in her life as much as possible.