The Family Plan Read Free Page A

Her cancer was already at an advanced stage when she was diagnosed, and this particular type of cancer is very aggressive. She’s only expected to live for another few months. The child must be placed soon. Mrs. Houston is ready to relinquish her to the California Department of Child Services. She’s very fond of Isabelle, but she’s simply too ill to concentrate on anyone’s well-being except her own.”
    The headache was rapidly intensifying. Nathan rubbed harder at his temples, which had absolutely no effect against the pounding. “I need time to think about this.”
    “I understand. But our time is limited, I’m afraid.”
    Picturing the pleasant-faced, kind-eyed woman he’d met at his father’s funeral, Nathan was aware of a wave of sadness on her behalf. Barbara Houston had seemed like a very nice woman, only in her mid-fifties. He hated to think of her suffering so terribly. “Can you give me a few hours to process this, Mr. Curtis? Isabelle’s okay for now, isn’t she?”
    “Mrs. Houston was hospitalized several days ago, but the child is fine for now. She’s staying with Mrs. Houston’s pastor and his wife. Mrs. Houston called me from the hospital, and I visited her there. Frankly, she looks terrible. Worrying about her great-niece isn’t making her any more comfortable.”
    Nathan got the message. Time was running out, fast. “Give me until tomorrow morning. I’ll call you first thing,” he promised, glancing up as Caitlin reentered her office. “Don’t do anything until I talk to you, okay?”
    “I’ll be expecting your call.”
    Nathan hung up the phone, then buried his face in his hands and groaned.
    “Nathan?” He heard Caitlin’s footsteps as she moved closer. “Are you okay?”
    Slowly lowering his hands, he looked up at her, taking some comfort from the genuine concern reflected in her warm gray eyes. “How do you think I’d stack up as a father?”
    She lifted both her eyebrows. “This is a rhetorical question, I hope.”
    “Not exactly. I have to decide whether to take my father’s three-and-a-half-year-old daughter and try to raise her myself or to let her disappear into the California child services system and hope she’s quickly adopted by a decent family.”
    Caitlin knew a little of his family history. Of course, no one could live for long in this town without hearing the details of the juiciest scandal to rock this area in decades. She had already joined his firm when his father died, and she’d run the office during the few days Nathan was in California for the funeral. So she wasn’t surprised by his reference to his half sister, but she certainly appeared flabbergasted by everything else he’d said. “There’s no one else to take her?”
    “Not a soul. The great-aunt who’s been raising her is very ill. I have to make a decision very quickly—by tomorrow morning.”
    “I’m sorry. No wonder you look so upset.”
    “Yeah. Hell of a choice I’ve got here. Take in a three-year-old and completely alienate my already-screwed-up family or farm the kid out to strangers and give up the right to ever see her again.” The final words were gruff as he forced them through his suddenly tight throat.
    Caitlin only looked at him.
    On an impulse he pulled his wallet out of his back pocket. He didn’t carry many photographs, only two. An old family photo of his parents, himself and his two younger siblings taken when Nathan was sixteen. And a snapshot of a little blond princess with enormous blue eyes and several deep dimples. He held that one out to Caitlin.

    She studied it with her lower lip caught between her teeth. And then she looked up at him again, her smoky gray eyes almost black now. “Oh, Nathan.”
    He swallowed, nodded and slipped the photo back into its place opposite the old family portrait.
    The desk speaker buzzed. “Ms. Briley? Is Mr. McCloud still in there?”
    “I’m here, Irene.”
    “Your appointment has arrived, Mr. McCloud. She seems quite