Her Secret Daughter

“Tomorrow is fine. And if it makes things easier, I can have all of my stuff out of the restaurant and apartment by Friday.”

Easier? The delay caused by her argument over eminent domain had pushed the lakeshore part of the project into crisis mode. A lakeside hotel with no docking facilities wasn’t conducive to a successful grand opening. “You don’t need the full thirty days?”

“Not if your crew is doing the big stuff. I travel light.”

“We’d appreciate it, Josie.”

“All right.” She tucked her purse strap a little farther up her shoulder. “I’ll head out. Is Addie at school?”

“For the next four weeks. Followed by summer vacation and a two-week spot with no child care.”

“How does that happen?”

He made a face. “I didn’t realize that the school calendar up north differed from the South. I assumed, and it got me into trouble.”

“What will you do with Addie?”

He shrugged. “I’m not sure yet. It’s the worst possible timing. I even checked with your cousin, the one who runs the other preschool everyone talks about.”

“Rory.”

“Yes, but she’s closed for those two weeks, too.”

“It’s kind of a thing here, for the schools to close down and reopen after the Independence Day weekend. I didn’t realize that was unique.”

“I suppose every area has their scheduling quirks.”

“Climate and agriculturally inspired. Or folks just need a little time to regroup. If you need help, let me know.”

Let her know?

“We’ve got several nice college kids who come back in May to work summer jobs,” she explained. “A lot of them might be spoken for already, but it’s a possibility. Or I could watch her. I’m going to be staying in my aunt’s apartment over her garage. It’s right in the village, just behind The Square. There would be kids in and out all the time, the whole Gallagher crew. And I’m not working until you have a kitchen in place over here, so it could work. Just a thought.”

“I’ll think about it, sure.” He wouldn’t think about it. He didn’t know her. He didn’t know the college kids she talked about, either.

Did you know the teacher at the day school before you signed Addie up? No.

That was different. It was a registered school.

His internal voice sighed. Because of course nothing bad could ever happen at a registered school.

“I expect you’re busy now, but I’d like to go over the kitchen layout before everything’s put in place. Placement of the gas lines is pretty clutch in an operation like mine.”

“I’ll have the kitchen designer set up a time with you.”

“Perfect.” She didn’t push about Addie.

Good.

The thought of leaving Addie with anyone bothered him, which meant he needed to look into a nanny wherever they decided to settle. And that meant a house. A yard. Serious commitments for a man who had been married to his work for a long time.

A firm in Texas had contacted him about overseeing a major project bordering Waco. And a major Arizona development corporation had sent out feelers through their chief operating officer because they were contemplating a three-stage, multiyear all-inclusive adult living community with recreational built-ins.

Carrington was slated to begin a new Outer Banks project. That one would win the choice if his parents hadn’t sold their Georgia home and moved to lower Florida. His mother had proclaimed she was ready to be done with winter, but maybe that wasn’t the whole story. Maybe being in the town where she’d raised two children and lost one was just too much.

He walked to his car, wondering what his mother would think of the long, cold winter he’d just experienced here.