Читать книгу Married For The Boss's Baby - Susan Carlisle - Страница 11

CHAPTER THREE

GRANT HAD AVOIDED moments like this since he’d been given guardianship of Lily. Handling her made him think that this could have been his child. Instead it was his father’s. The father Grant had never measured up to or been good enough for, except where his girlfriend had been concerned. And his father had stolen her.

Lily whined. He pulled her to his chest and patted her back. She quieted. He was thankful and fairly sure the others in the waiting room were too. He observed Lily’s bright eyes surrounded by her peach-colored skin. A soft coo bubbled from his half-sister’s lips. Her hand found his pinky finger and circled it.

He may have had a poor relationship with his father and stepmother but he wouldn’t betray this tiny being, as he had been. He was obligated to her, to give her what he hadn’t had from their father. Even if Evelyn’s family won custody, Lily would have his support. She would grow up knowing she had a brother she could depend on. Someone who believed in her.

“You must be a wonderful father,” commented a woman with graying hair, interrupting his thoughts. She sat beside a young mother. “Your wife is lucky.”

“I’m...” He didn’t say any more. It wasn’t worth the effort to explain.

Minutes later, Sara returned.

“Okay, I’ll take her now.”

Before he could hand Lily over the woman spoke up again. “You should have seen your husband in action. Your baby stopped fussing the second he held her close.”

Sara looked at him with wide, questioning eyes as if she was surprised. “She did?”

“She did.” It gave him an inordinate amount of satisfaction to say that.

Sara smiled at him. “It’s not so hard to do if you want to.”

Was she referring to him holding Lily or stopping her from crying or both? Apparently Sara had noticed how he’d managed to get around having much interaction with his sister.

“Would you like me to take Lily now? I’m sure you need to get back to work.”

The note of hope in Sara’s voice that he would need to hurry back to work irritated him. To his astonishment, he said, “I’m done for the day and I’m hungry. Why don’t we go to a little café around the corner and get some supper?”

“With Lily?” Sara’s look of surprise was almost comical.

“Sure. Parents do it all the time. I think two intelligent adults can manage a two-month-old for an hour. You did bring a bottle, didn’t you?”

“Yes, but...”

He started to hand Lily to her but the baby began to cry again. He brought Lily back to his chest and she stopped.

“I guess you’d better carry her.” Sara didn’t turn fast enough to hide her disappointment. It was as if it hurt her to have Lily prefer him over her. Was she that insecure?

Left with no choice, Grant headed out the door and into the hallway with Lily happy in his arms. He led the way outside, across the bricked park area and down the sidewalk.

“By the way, did you know that Lily had a doctor’s visit today and just forget to tell me?” Sara asked.

“No. How did you know about it?”

“There was a reminder call on the house phone.”

He shifted Lily to his other arm. “I looked for a calendar but Evelyn wasn’t very good at details, except when it came to her makeup.”

“That sounded a little harsh. You get a pass this time for not telling me, but the new nanny needs to have some notice when Lily is supposed to be somewhere. And provided with an insurance card.”

“Noted.”

She followed him down the sidewalk, pushing the empty stroller. “I’ve laughed at people carrying a child while pushing a stroller. Now I understand.”

Grant gave her a wry smile. Lily was getting heavier in his arms. “It does look ridiculous. The café is just down this way.” When they arrived at the glass-fronted eatery he held the door open for Sara. “Let’s take that table in the back. We’ll be out of the way.”

Sara parked the stroller beside the table. “Is she asleep?”

“I think so.”

“Let me see.” She went up on tiptoe and looked into the crook of his arm. The top of Sara’s head was just inches away. She smelled of roses. Was it a scent she wore or her shampoo? Whichever, it was nice. He inhaled deeply.

“She is,” Sara declared. “Let me take her. I’ll put her in the stroller.”

“I can do that.” What had gotten into him?

“Okay. Let me lower the seat so it’s flat. Hopefully she’ll sleep until we get home.”

Home. Sara was calling his father’s place home. It wasn’t home to him. The only reason he was staying there was because of Lily. His apartment was a bachelor’s pad and he liked it that way. Truthfully, he hadn’t really felt at home anywhere since he’d been a child. What he remembered about his father’s house was that it was where his mother had cried and begged his father not to leave her. His brother had already been living in Idaho, leaving Grant alone to deal with his parents’ decaying marriage.

If he gained permanent custody of Lily he’d need to find a new place. He’d have to make arrangements for her to have a good place to grow up. Or could he get past his feelings about his father’s home enough to live there? Over the last few days it hadn’t been memories keeping him away but the young woman sitting across from him.

“Excuse me, what?” Sara had said something, bringing him back to where he was.

“I wanted to know if you came home last night. I waited up to talk to you but it got late.”

“No, I went to my apartment.”

“It would have been common courtesy to call.”

He met her gaze. “Do you always say what you think?”

“Not always.”

Was she holding back her thoughts about him? “I didn’t make it home until one and I didn’t think you’d want me to call that late.”

She gave him a keen look. Was she implying he hadn’t even thought to call?

A college-age waitress came to their table. “Hi, Doc, I haven’t seen you in a while.”

“Hi, Karen. I’ve been a little busy of late.”

“You never said anything about having a wife and baby, Doc. Cute.”

“Thank you. What would you like, Sara?”

Sara gave him another look, her eyes narrowing. She had a way of making him uneasy. His father’s look hadn’t held that much censure. Grant shifted uncomfortably. Did Sara suspect he’d flirted with the girl?

“BLT and water. Thanks,” Sara said, with a smile at Karen.

“And I’ll have a Reuben with a soda, please.”

“It’ll be out right away.” The girl smiled at him then looked down at Lily sleeping soundly. The waitress shook her head slightly. “You learn something new every day.”

He looked at Sara. Her unreadable gaze held his.

“It’s too hard to explain about our relationship, I know. I’m sorry all of this has happened to Lily. To you.” She sounded truly sympathetic. For once he appreciated it.

“It’s more about Lily. My father and I never really got along.”

Sorrow filled her eyes. “Still, you must be grieving on some level. He was your father after all.”

Grant didn’t like to think about it. He shrugged. “The S.O.B. made my life, my mother’s life miserable yet there’s something about knowing I’ll never see him again that does bother me.” How could Sara’s simple questioning and earnest looks make him say things he wouldn’t tell anyone?

She drew imaginary figures on the tabletop with the tip of her finger. “There must have been some good times.”

Grant gave that idea some thought. Had there been? Before the divorce? Had the later years overshadowed everything he could remember about his father?

She continued to draw. Without warning, she looked up and volunteered, “I would miss my father if he died. He’s the only family I have. He raised me. If anything happened to him I don’t know what I would do.”

Did he miss his father? He’d been so wrapped up in Lily, the funeral, estate affairs and his anger, he’d not had time to think about his real feelings. He didn’t want to contemplate those now. “What about your mother?”

“She left us when I was four and I haven’t seen her since.”

“Not even heard from her?”

“Nope.”

As horrible as his relationship had been with his father, at least he’d had two parents. He and his mother had remained close. Even though she lived out of state, he still talked to her weekly. “I’m sorry.”

“Nothing to be sorry about. It’s just the way it is.” Did Sara take everything that came into her life with such matter-of-fact acceptance?

“So, have you always lived with your father?” He didn’t usually take the kind of interest in a woman that warranted that type of question.

A worried looked formed on her face then disappeared. “Yes. He’s disabled. There was an explosion at work years ago and he was hurt.”

What had that look been about? Why was he asking all these questions about her personal life? He never involved himself in a woman’s life beyond what was required for a good time. His rule was not to make any commitments other than the one to his mother. He didn’t trust his judgement of women. The less they knew about him the smaller the chances of him being hurt. He didn’t need to know this stuff for her to care for Lily. Perhaps the sharing-a-meal idea hadn’t been his wisest.

“Have you found a nanny to replace me?”

He didn’t look at her. “No.”

“Have you looked? My time will be up soon.”

Grant met her gaze. “I thought I could maybe talk you into staying a while longer.”

She slowly shook her head. “That wasn’t our agreement.”

“I know. But I need your help. Don’t you need the money?”

Her face turned red and she looked away.

“You said something about being evicted the other day. If you will stay, I’ll make it worth your while.”

“It won’t matter. My father has to be out by this Saturday.”

“So where do you plan to go?”

“I don’t know. I’ve not had time to look for anything. I guess to a hotel until I can find us a place.”

The waitress brought their food and left.

“Anyway, you have enough to worry about with Lily. This is my problem and I’ll handle it.”

She was making it pretty clear she didn’t want to talk about it any more. He needed to figure out some way to at least get her to stay a little longer.

They ate in silence. Grant had completed his meal and Sara was still working on hers when Lily stirred.

“Do you mind giving her a bottle while I finish?” Sara asked, pulling one out of the bag hanging on the stroller.

“Won’t she wait?”

Sara’s look implied he had to be kidding. “Yeah, for about three seconds and then she’ll cry loud enough to break the windows. What’s the deal about holding her anyway? You did a good job earlier. It’s just a bottle. She does all the work.”

“I guess I could.”

“Thank you. I’ll be done here in a minute. Then I’ll change her diaper and we’ll get out of your hair.”

“You’re not in my hair. I told you I was finished for today.”

“You’re sure acting like we are.”

Sara was starting to annoy him. “Well, you’re not.”

“That’s the way it sounded to me.” She placed the bottle on the table in front of him as if she was daring him to admit he was afraid to feed Lily.

“It did not.” He was reluctant but had no plans to admit it.

Sara laughed and the sound rippled through him, almost a caress. “We sound like high-schoolers.”

Grant grinned. His life had been so serious for so long it was nice to smile. “Rather silly ones at that.” He lifted Lily out of the stroller and cradled her in his arm. “Okay, this is my first baby feeding. What do I do?”

“Just put the bottle to her lips and she’ll handle the rest.”

Grant did as instructed and Lily quit crying the second she had the nipple. He beamed at Sara as she finished eating.

“I told you. Nothing to it.”

Lily had finished her meal and Sara stood. “Let me have her and I’ll take her to the restroom for a burp and a diaper change. If you don’t mind, would you push the stroller out?”

Sara reached down, again coming close enough for his senses to appreciate her, and took Lily into her arms. She did so with complete confidence. It was hard not to trust her. Something he never did where women were concerned. “This baby stuff comes natural to you, doesn’t it?”

A startled expression mixed with regret crossed her face. “I learned most of what I know from babysitting as a kid.”

Grant watched them go. It was the perfect maternal picture. They could be mother and daughter.

As in Lily’s mother.

A wife.

Sara had said she was being evicted. If he offered her a place to live, would she consider marrying him as a business deal? Kill two birds with one stone? The idea was too crazy. But Leon had said that he needed to be married if he stood a chance of keeping Lily. Desperate people did crazy things. What would he lose by asking her? The most she could do was slap his face and quit.

He’d have to give the idea some thought.

* * *

Sara washed the bottle she’d used to feed Lily. It was hard to believe she’d been working with Lily and living with Grant for almost a week. Soon she would be on her way. She and her father would rent a trailer on Saturday and move their belongings to a cheap hotel down the road from the apartment complex and then spend what was left of the day looking for another place to live. It made her tired just thinking about what was ahead.

Grant would have to take care of Lily or find someone else to for the day. That wasn’t her worry. She needed some time away from Lily anyway. Maybe all the packing she had to do would take her mind off how much she enjoyed being a mother to the baby.

The outside kitchen door was unlocked and to her astonishment Grant walked in. He carried two bags of Chinese food. Other than the meal they’d shared at the café, he’d shown little indication that she and Lily existed.

He placed the bags on the table. “I thought you might like some takeout.”

It was thoughtful of him and totally out of character from what she’d seen. “I like Chinese.”

“Great.”

She put Lily in the windup swing nearby. “I’ll get us something to drink. Is tea okay?”

“Sure.”

Grant had pulled white cardboard boxes out of the bags and placed them on the table by the time she returned with their glasses.