The Family Plan. GINA WILKINS

have thought of that before you brought one home with you.”

      When he only kept smiling at her, she sighed and called herself a sucker. “Okay, fine. Maybe I could give you a hand—not that I’m guaranteeing results. I’m no decorator.”

      “Maybe you could take her shopping in the morning, let her pick out a few things she likes?”

      “Oh, I—”

      “I have to go talk to my mother,” he cut in quickly. “I really need to break the news to her before someone else calls her. I can’t take Isabelle with me, obviously, and this isn’t something I can tell Mom over the phone.”

      “In other words, you’re asking me to baby-sit while you talk to your mother.”

      He shrugged, and his expression was sheepish. “I don’t have anyone else to ask.”

      She wished he would quit saying that. She was his business partner, nothing more. It wasn’t her responsibility to help him set up a household after making a rash decision that was guaranteed to estrange him from his family.

      Because she was feeling stressed and a little defensive—not to mention exhausted from one of the toughest work weeks she’d ever dealt with—she launched into that lecture she had been trying to avoid. “You understand that this is the way your life is going to be if you go through with this? Baby-sitters and family problems and changing your whole life—even your home? Even your career will be affected. You won’t have the freedom to work any hours you like, the way you have until now. And we’re talking about the next fifteen years. You can’t just go back to the way things were when the novelty wears off, especially if you go so far as to adopt her. This little girl is going to have to be your number-one priority until she’s completely grown and self-sufficient.”

      “You think I haven’t considered all of that already?” He planted his fists on his hips and stared at her. “This wasn’t an impulse, Caitlin. I spent several days in California trying to talk myself out of bringing her here, doing my best to convince myself I wasn’t the right person to raise this child. When I said I was terrified, it was more for her sake than my own. Sure, I’ll have to change my schedules, give up some freedom, spend less time partying and playing. I can live with that. But as for Isabelle—her whole life is at stake here. Her future.”

      He was pacing now, his hands flying as he vented. It was probably the first chance he’d had to really talk with anyone since he’d had to make this life-altering decision. “I made a list of all the reasons I shouldn’t take this on. It started with the facts that I’m single and have no experience with kids. I reminded myself of the hostility she could face in this town, from my own family, for example. The list of reasons not to bring her home with me was several pages long.”

      “And the list of reasons why you should bring her?”

      He squeezed the back of his neck with one hand, his voice quiet. “Pretty short. Only two reasons, actually. She’s my sister, and my dad would have wanted me to raise her.”

      After all the pain he had been through, all the heartache, embarrassment and disappointment, Nathan was still trying to please his father, even after the man’s death. Caitlin understood that. She still faithfully visited her mother, even though her mother hadn’t looked at Caitlin with a glimmer of recognition in more than a year.

      Caitlin could no more turn her back on her mother than she could fly. She couldn’t imagine how she might feel if she suddenly found herself responsible for a young sibling. She had a sneaky suspicion she might have reacted much like Nathan had—recklessly taking on more responsibility than was good for her, even at great cost to herself.

      She was just glad she wasn’t the one who’d been placed in that difficult position. Nathan might be willing to change everything in his life, but hers was right on track.

      Because she did sympathize, she said, “Okay. I’ll do it.”

      He seemed to have a little trouble following her transition. “You’ll do what?”

      “I’ll stay with Isabelle tomorrow morning while you talk to your mother. What time do you want me here?”

      She could hear the relief in his voice when he replied. “Most of the stores open at ten, don’t they? You can pick her up just before then and let her pick out some decorations for her room. Anything she wants to make her feel at home here. You can put it on the company card and I’ll pay when the bill comes in.”

      “Maybe you’ll want to hold off on redecorating until after you talk to your mother.”

      He read her unspoken subtext easily enough. “You think I’ll change my mind about keeping her after I talk to my mother?”

      Caitlin knew Lenore would do her best to talk her son out of this plan. Could he really withstand her tears, her accusations of betrayal, her pleas and threats? “I just think it might be a good idea if you—”

      “No matter what my mother says, I’m not changing my mind about Isabelle,” Nathan insisted stubbornly. “I’ve already anticipated everything she could possibly say, even if she refuses to ever speak to me again. I would regret that, of course—hell, it would break my heart. But Mom would still have Gideon and Deborah. Isabelle only has me.”

      It seemed that there would be nothing anyone could say to change Nathan’s mind about this. Having spent the past couple of hours watching him with his little sister, Caitlin realized that their bond was already too strong to be broken by warnings or threats.

      She looked at his determined expression with a touch of awe, realizing that she’d underestimated him. She’d never realized quite how forceful he could be. And she hadn’t expected him to be so courageously self-sacrificing—for any reason. There was a great deal more to Nathan McCloud than he had allowed her to see during the past nine months—maybe more than he allowed anyone else to see, even those who were closest to him.

      “All right. I’ll pick her up at ten in the morning,” she said, committing herself to taking his side in the coming controversy and hoping she didn’t regret that decision. “But I warn you,” she added in an attempt to lighten the mood, “it’s dangerous to send two women shopping with your credit card and no budget.”