Bachelor Father (9 page)

 “
I’d better be getting back
to the office,” Molly said to Brett. “You’ll think about my
suggestion?”

“I will.” He smiled broadly. “You won’t mind
my discussing it with Tina, will you?”

“Not at all. If you decide to accept, you’ll
probably want her to draw up an agreement concerning your business
and other property.” Molly’s chest tightened inexplicably as she
glanced from Brett to Tina, watching the silent communication
between them. “Or, maybe,” Molly tried to say brightly, “she’ll
make you a better offer.”

“Oh, I doubt that.” Brett chuckled.

He walked Molly to the door, where she stopped
and called across the room, “Bye Jake, Amy,” adding “bye Tina,” as
an afterthought.

“Bye, Boo,” Jake shouted back.

Turning the door handle, Molly asked, “I’ll
hear from you, then, soon?”

Brett paused, his eyes focused on her face, as
if searching for an answer.

But Molly didn’t know the question. She pulled
the door open slightly. Wedged between him and the heavy oak door,
she felt so small, almost insignificant. Say something, anything,
she wanted to blurt.

“Sure, he answered slowly. Give me a day or
two to think about your offer.”

Brett watched the door close behind Molly and
listened for the sound of her car starting before he returned to
the living room.

“What was that all about?” Tina
asked.

“A proposal,” Brett answered cryptically,
joining her on the couch.

“Korean Child Welfare has offered an
alternative to Thayer House taking custody of Jake?”

“No, Molly has offered an alternative, a
proposal, you might say.” And a very inviting one at that, he added
silently, a slow grin spreading across his face.

“From the look on your face, Brett Cahill,
this alternative must be a little, might we say, out of the
ordinary.”

“Yeah,” Brett said, still grinning.

“Just what did Ms. Hennessey
propose?”

“Marriage.”

“Say what?” Tina spoke so loudly she startled
Jake, who was putting the finishing touch on a block tower. The
blocks tumbled to the floor, punctuating Tina’s question with a
crash.

“Molly proposed that we get
married.”

“How would this help you?”

“Molly’s certified by the county as a foster
parent. She can have herself named as Jake’s temporary guardian.
Then, we get married and she moves in here until the adoption is
approved.”

“Wait a minute. Why not simply have her move
in and skip the marriage part?”

Brett looked purposely askance. “And ruin my
reputation?” For a moment, he thought Tina was going to pick up one
of the pillows on the couch and hurl it at him. He looked around
expecting to hear his sister Kate urging Tina to go ahead. She and
Tina were always ganging up on him. Of course, Kate wasn’t
there.

Brett swallowed the lump that had suddenly
lodged in his throat. “Tina, I think it will work. You know I’ll do
almost anything to keep Jake.”

“Maybe,” Tina said cautiously. “But,
seriously, why marry?”

“It’ll look better to the authorities than if
Molly simply moves in here.”

“Since when did Brett Cahill care about how
things look to others?”

“I guess since I became responsible for Jake
and had more to think about than myself,” Brett said
quietly.

“Is that all?”

“No,” he said reluctantly. Brett wasn’t sure
how Tina would take the rest of his reason, particularly her
attorney side. “By marrying Molly, I can pay her back for helping
me keep Jake.”

“Brett, just what do you have in mind?” Tina
changed from friend to counselor before his eyes.

“Nothing like anything you’re conjuring up.
Once we’re married, Molly will have access to a trust fund her
mother left her. It’ll give her the money she needs to buy her
condominium in Albany.”

“That’s it?”

“Yep.”

“Nothing else?” Tina prompted.

“Nope. Once the adoption is approved, we’ll
have the marriage annulled. Neat, simple, clean.”

“Unless Ms. Hennessey decides she doesn’t want
an annulment after all, or you decide you don’t. You can’t very
well make a pre-nuptial agreement to end the marriage before it
starts.”

Brett took his friend’s hands in his. “Tina,
come on. This is me. Can you imagine me actually married to
anyone?”

“No,” she conceded. “But, then, up until a few
weeks ago, I couldn’t imagine you putting your entire life on hold
for a baby, either.”

“My life isn’t on hold,” Brett protested. I’m
just still adjusting to having the little rug rat underfoot.” He
looked fondly at Jake, who’d gone back to building his block
tower.

“Having Molly here underfoot will take some
adjusting from you, too.”

“I can’t see that it will be any great
hardship.” Molly certainly wasn’t hard on the eyes, and he enjoyed
her company when they weren’t arguing about KCW
regulations.

“That’s exactly what I mean, Brett,” Tina
said, looking his straight in the eye as if she could read his
every thought. “As your attorney, but more as your friend, you’re
treading some dangerous water here.”

“Don’t worry. I can handle it. I don’t intend
to let Molly rope me into anything permanent. Give me credit for
some self control.”

Tina snorted. “Right. Would you like a little
refresher of what I know about your self control?”

Brett colored, remembering one particular
evening soon after Tina’s divorce when he’d tried to push their
relationship beyond the bounds of friendship. Hiding his discomfort
with a grin, he quipped, “Hey, I did make you the offer
first.”

“And, again, thanks, but no thanks.” Tina
stood and crossed over to where the kids were playing. Scooping up
Amy, she said more seriously, “Brett, think about this long and
hard.”

“I will.”

“And let me know what you decide. Even though
I think this is a pretty hare-brained idea, I want to make sure
you’re well-protected legally before you agree to
anything.”

Brett waved her off. “I promise I’ll
call.”

Tina still looked skeptical. “Amy sweetie, say
bye to Jake. We have to get home.”

“Bye Jake.”

“Bye ‘me.” Jake waved a block at
Amy.

Tina and Amy headed toward the door. Pausing
in the foyer, Tina turned, “You will be careful?”

“I’ll be careful.”

Brett walked over to Jake squatted next to the
block pile. “Well, Bud, what do you think? Should we marry
Molly?”

Jake looked confused.

“Boo,” Brett said. Should Boo come and live
with us?”

“My Boo.” Jake nodded
enthusiastically.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought, too.”

Chapter Six

Molly wiggled her fingers to get a
better grip on the oversized box. What a time for the elevator to
be out of order. She should have taken the computer monitor out of
the box. Most of the bulk was the packing materials. Or she could
have waited for someone from maintenance to bring it up to her
office. But she'd been without her computer since yesterday
afternoon when the monitor suddenly popped and went blank. She had
paperwork piled up from last week when she'd been out sick
and
a slew of new
reports she should have been working on this morning.

Inching backwards across the empty reception
area to the glass door, she pushed it open wide and turned quickly
to slip through before the door swung closed again.

“Oomph!”

Oh, no. She'd run into someone. The impact
made her step back and start to lose her tenuous grip on the
monitor.

“I'm so sorry,” Molly said, too busy trying to
hold onto the equipment to see who she was talking to. Then, she
felt it slip. Her heart dropped along with the monitor. She closed
her eyes and waited for the crash.

When the crash didn't come, she
mouthed a silent
thanks
for packing materials and opened her eyes.
Instead of the dented box she expected and broken monitor she
feared, she saw a pair of brushed chukka boots topped by sharply
creased khaki Dockers.

“Looking for this?” Brett lifted the monitor
as if displaying it for her approval.

Showoff
,
Molly thought as she watched how easily he moved the cumbersome
equipment. It was because he was bigger. If she had longer arms,
she could have gotten a better grip on the bulky box and wouldn't
have dropped it.

Brett cleared his throat. “Would you like me
to carry this somewhere?”

“Yes.” Molly absently fingered her cross she,
wondering why her heart still seemed to be racing even though her
panic over dropping the monitor had subsided.

“Where?”

Molly dropped the cross and pointed to the
stairs. “My office.”

“Yes, Ma'am,” Brett said, hoisting the monitor
to his shoulder.

Molly winced at his tone. Where were those
Southern manners her mother had drilled into her? She hadn't even
thanked Brett for his help.

“Wait.”

Brett stopped at the foot of the
stairs.

“I didn't thank you,” she said. “I thought my
new monitor was a goner for sure.” And maybe she, too, considering
she was still working her probationary period and Thayer House
didn't have extra funds to replace equipment that shouldn't need
replacing.

“No problem,” he assured her. “I'm glad I was
here.”

Molly smiled at his back watching
how easily he maneuvered the stairs.
Me,
too
, she added silently.

Brett headed to her office and Molly
followed.

“Do you want it here?” Brett nodded toward her
computer stand.

“Yes, please.”

He placed it on the table. “Need any help
connecting it?”

“No, thanks.”

“How about the old monitor?” Brett reached
down to pick it up. “Do you want me to get rid of it
somewhere?”

Molly shook her head. “Maintenance will take
care of it.”

Straightening, Brett glanced around the office
as if looking for some other task he could help her with. He
shifted his weight from foot to foot.

As much as she enjoyed watching big, tough
Brett Cahill squirm, Molly decided to put him out of his agony.
“So, do you have an answer to my proposal?”

“What?”

“My proposal. Have you decided?”

“Yeah. That's why I'm here.” He ran his hand
nervously over his hair, pushing it back from his forehead,
emphasizing the sharp planes of his now faintly red-tinged
face.

“And,” she prompted.

“I think we should . . . go out to lunch and
talk,” he finished in a rush.

Molly looked at her watch. “Oh, Brett, I wish
you'd called. I have a home study visit scheduled in about an hour.
I'd planned to run out, get something from one of the vendors in
the park and eat at my desk.”

“Okay.”

“You want to have lunch here?” She looked at
the jumble of case folders and papers on her desk.

“No, we could grab a hot dog or something and
take a walk around the park.”

“Sure, we could do that.” An odd wave of
relief swept over Molly. Even though her proposal had been strictly
business, receiving Brett's answer over lunch at her desk somehow
didn't feel right. “Let me get my bag.” She started to pull open a
desk drawer.

Brett reached down and grabbed her hand,
stopping her. “My treat,” he said, continuing to hold her
hand.

“I'd rather—”

“Come on.” He pulled her toward the door. “You
don't want to be late for your home study appointment.”

Molly laughed, remembering how she’d shown up
a half-hour early for her home study visit with Brett. “At least
let me get my jacket.” She stopped at the coat tree, picked up her
blazer, and put it on.

Brett opened the front door and Molly stepped
out. A crisp breeze hit her, not chilly, but cool enough to make
her glad for her blazer. She stood on the porch and shaded her eyes
to look across the street to the park. The day was picture perfect,
worthy of one of the “Fall in New York” commercials that the state
department of tourism seemed to be running incessantly on TV. The
park teemed with people generally enjoying the unusually warm
day.

Brett let the oak door slam behind him. They
walked down the steps together. At the curb, he grabbed her hand
once more, making Molly wonder if all the time he was spending with
Jake had put Brett in the habit of automatically guiding everyone
across streets. When he didn't look before he started across the
street, she stood fast, giving Brett a little tug back to the curb.
He squeezed her hand in return, sending a tingle up her
arm.