The Family Plan Read Free Page B

nervous. You probably shouldn’t keep her waiting long.”
    “Right. Give me five minutes, then show her to my office.”
    “Yes, sir.”
    Stuffing his wallet back into his pocket, Nathan pushed a hand through his tumbled hair. “I’d better go to my office and get ready for Mrs. Danoff.”
    “Nathan?”
    Caitlin’s voice made him pause in the doorway. “Yes?”
    “What are you going to do?”
    He pushed his hand through his hair again. How could he even consider taking in a three-year-old? He had never even committed to a pet. He did pretty well just taking care of himself. It would shatter his mother’s already-broken heart, and his siblings would probably never speak to him again—not that they said much to him these days, anyway.
    But could he sign her away? Turn her over to strangers with no guarantees that she would be treated well, never to see her again or know what had happened to her? She was his sister, damn it.
    Realizing that Caitlin was still waiting for an answer, he sighed. “Beats the hell out of me.”

Chapter Two
    C aitlin had little chance to talk with Nathan again that afternoon. Both of them were busy with back-to-back appointments, and then she had to leave early for a dental appointment.
    Tired from a long, busy week, she wasn’t really in the mood to socialize that evening, but she had little choice. Once a year, the Honesty Chamber of Commerce held a reception to recognize the community’s prominent volunteers, and all the local business and society leaders attended. There was no way Caitlin would miss such a chance to mingle with influential neighbors. It was simply too good an opportunity to increase the visibility of the McCloud and Briley Law Firm.
    She knew Nathan would be in attendance, though this was hardly his preferred choice of entertainment. His mother was one of the five volunteers being honored that evening for her active role in local children’s charities. Nathan wouldn’t dare skip the event.
    As she dressed in a suitably conservative yet sophisticated black cocktail sheath, she wondered if he had made a decision about his little sister’s future. Surely he would come to the conclusion that adoption was the only alternative. She couldn’t imagine Nathan trying to raise a three-year-old on his own. Heck, she couldn’t picture herself raising a toddler, and she was a hundred times more organized than Nathan!
    And then the image of the golden-haired little girl in the photograph popped into her mind. She knew Nathan had met the child on several occasions during the past three years. During those visits with his father’s new family, he had accumulated several amusing stories about his cute-as-a-button, incredibly bright-for-her-age little sister—stories he had shared with Caitlin during the months they’d worked together because no one in his family had wanted to hear them.
    She could see both sides of his family’s conflict. While she admired Nathan for maintaining some ties with his father, his mother and siblings still bitterly resented Stuart McCloud for publicly abandoning his family in favor of a woman half his age.
    Caitlin hadn’t lived here four years ago, and hadn’t yet met Nathan, but she had certainly heard plenty about the scandal. The gossip columns and TV newscasts had been filled with talk of the gubernatorial candidate’s affair with a young campaign volunteer and the subsequent pregnancy that ended his thirty-year marriage…and his political career. The press had been vicious, camping outside the homes of the betrayed wife and adult offspring, hoping for juicy quotes and photos. She remembered how sorry she had felt for the McCloud family then, and how much she had admired the poise and restraint Stuart’s wronged wife, Lenore, had shown in the wake of the debacle.
    She had met Lenore several times during the past nine months. Nathan’s mother dropped in frequently at the law offices and had been unfailingly gracious to Caitlin. She knew