Think About Love Read Free Page A

Dorothy. Maybe Samantha wasn't Dorothy, with her easy, maternal ways, but at least she'd held her niece in her arms many times. Kippy would know her.
    She needed to convince the judge that she was the obvious person to care for her niece until Dorothy got back home, that there was absolutely no need for a foster home.
    She should have told Cal during their meeting in the boardroom, but first she needed to organize the details.
    She pushed the intercom and called Marcy in.
    Mercy stepped into her office a few seconds later. "HR has all the handouts ready for the meeting."  
    "Thanks, Marcy. While I'm in the meeting, book me a flight to arrive in Nanaimo by two P.M. tomorrow. You'll probably have to route me through Vancouver, Canada."
    With any luck, there'd be a jet flying to Vancouver about noon, with a connecting flight to Nanaimo on Vancouver Island. She probably couldn't get everything done in time to fly back home tomorrow evening. She'd have to rent a car, take a ferry to the mainland and drive home—probably with a baby in the car.
    With any luck, she'd be back at work Friday morning.
    She'd need day care for Kippy. Tomorrow morning she'd call the employment agency.
    She was glad she'd told Cal to hold off on the board seat. Bad politics to accept, then irritate him with an unscheduled absence. After the meeting, when he'd seen how completely everything was organized, she'd tell him she needed half a day, just a few hours to straighten out a personal matter across the border in Canada.
    Maybe she wouldn't mention Canada. It made the journey sound bigger than it was. She'd have her cell phone and computer with her, and she'd be back hours before the open house to settle any crises.
    She'd never before had a personal crisis that interfered with her job at Tremaine's. She'd prided herself in being the perfect businesswoman—reliable, available, and driven to succeed. She'd seen other women distracted by lovers, by marriage, by motherhood, and Sam knew she didn't want any of that. Lovers and husbands, with their potential for conflict and fighting, were the last thing she needed.
    After the lessons in married life she and her sister Sarah witnessed as children, she'd been amazed when Sarah married. But Jonathan Morrison had been a good man, considerate of Sarah, and Sarah had claimed to love him madly.
    Tragically, Samantha's sister and her new husband weren't given the opportunity to test their marriage with time. Last December, en route to Mexico a few weeks after the birth of their first child, Sarah and Jonathan lost their lives in an airline crash off the coast of California.
    Samantha pushed away the familiar grief. She had a meeting to orchestrate, then Cal to face. Tomorrow, she'd convince a judge that she was a fit guardian for Kippy Morrison until Dorothy got out of the hospital. One way or another, she was determined to manage both as Calin Tremaine's second-in-command and Kippy's substitute mother, for as long as Dorothy needed her help.

    By the time the meeting concluded, Samantha knew Cal was impressed. The employees were determined to make this open house a huge success.
    "They love being in on exciting projects," she murmured as the room emptied. "Your projects."
    She laughed when she realized he didn't know what to say to that. For a man determined to carry the world along with his own vision of the future, Cal was remarkably naive about the power of his own charisma.
    "Let's get something to eat," he said. "I need food."
    And she needed to talk to him. During the meeting, Marcy had slipped her the bad news from the travel agent. No available flights. She would have to drive, although she had no right to take twenty-four hours for private business tomorrow. No choice, either.
    "I just need a couple of minutes of your time, Cal. There's no need for a dinner meeting."
    "Did you have lunch?"
    "I'm not—"
    "I'll meet you down at the parking lot."
    Frustrating man, she decided, watching him walk through the