Carla plopped onto the couch next to her. “Don’t you see? That’s it. All I have to do is look for parenting experts. Or child-raising experts.” It was so simple, really. Almost elegant. “Where do you find the world’s best parents? You look for those who do it for a living.”
“Well,” Carla said doubtfully. “I suppose you could go hear him speak, maybe chat him up afterward if he doesn’t seem like a complete dork.”
“Or even if he does, a second chance couldn’t hurt.”
“So, fine, that’s one. What if you hate him? We better have some backups.” Carla reached into her purse and pulled out a notepad. She opened it to a fresh page and headlined it “The World’s Best Dad,” then added a second headline, “Candidates.”
Under that, she wrote, “Maynard Frader, Ph.D. Noted child psychologist. Author of parenting books. Kind of a dork.”
She looked up at Julie, pen poised over the page. “Now we’re cooking with gas. Where else can you look?”
“Hmm, let me think.” Marisa’s social worker had sent Julie a schedule of parenting classes in anticipation of her application to adopt Marisa. Julie dug it out and flipped to the back to look at the instructor biographies. “Okay, there are three men listed here. Of course, they might be married…”
“Or gay.”
“Right, but here are their names.” She handed the schedule to Carla, who added the names to the list, then said, “Oh. I know. The Department of Early Childhood Education at UC. They have to have some single men on faculty. And teachers. We can’t list them all, but I’ll note it down to be investigated if ol’ Frader here doesn’t pan out.”
Julie frowned and sipped her wine, thoughtful. “I still have to figure out a way to meet them. Frader, I can try to meet after his talk. But the others? I’ll have to think of something.”
Carla paused, pen in hand. “Maybe you should add experienced daddies to the list.” She waggled her eyebrows. “Like that neighbor of yours.”
Julie smiled, thinking of Ben. He was pretty cute.
Carla said, “Uh-huh. And you’ve already met that one. And judging by the chemistry I could feel from a mile away, it shouldn’t be too hard to move on from here, either.” She wrote his name down and underlined it. “I’m betting on him to hold his own.” She tore the page out of the notebook. “There you go. The hunt for the world’s best dad.”
Julie laughed. “I like it.”
“I don’t know.” Carla set the page on a pile of papers on Julie’s desk. She picked up her wine as she curled up again on the couch, tucking her feet beneath her. “I still think that whole love thing is going to get in your way.”
Chapter Three
Ben helped Joe into his pajamas. “What do you want to read?”
“Edward Overnight.”
“Edward’s Overwhelming Overnight? Oh, that’s a good one.” Ben set Joe on his feet. “Go get it, and we’ll read it.”
Joe ran over to the bookshelf and put his hand on the book, first try. He brought the book back and climbed into Ben’s lap, and they sat on the bed together, Joe cuddled under Ben’s right arm.
“‘The telephone rang. It interrupted Edward’s story…”’ Ben had read the story of Edward, the bear who wasn’t ready to spend the night away from home, until he was sick of it. But Joe wanted it every night. Lately he’d taken to sleeping with the book.
This time, after he finished reading, Ben pulled Joe around to look into his face. “Joe, you know you never have to stay overnight anywhere you don’t want to, don’t you?” Joe nodded, but he didn’t look convinced.
Ben leaned down closer. “I promise. You will never have to stay anywhere you don’t want to stay. Understand?”
Joe nodded again. “But what about at Grandma’s?”
Maggie. He knew it. She was behind this, talking to the poor kid about coming to stay with her. Scaring him out of his wits. Calmly he said, “Not Grandma’s, either.”
“But can I stay there if I want?”
“If you want to?”
“Grandma says if I stay overnight at her house, we can go to Chuck E. Cheese for lunch.”
Ben bit back a smile. Should have known food figured somewhere in all this. “Is that what you want to do?”
“Can you come, too?”
“Well, probably not. I’d stay here and work.”
Joe thought for a moment. “Then can we go to Chuck E. Cheese?”
Ben laughed. “Sure, we’ll go one of these days.” He slid Joe under the covers and tucked them snug around his shoulders, then leaned down for a kiss good-night. “Who’s my favorite kid in the whole wide world?”
Joe grinned and wiggled under the covers. “I am!”
“You’re right.”
“An’ who’s my favorite daddy?” Joe had added this lately, probably with a little help from Maggie. She really did have Joe’s best interests at heart. Feeling a little guilty at his earlier anger with her, he grinned at his son. “I am.”
“That’s right.” That was Joe’s favorite part, and he always added a few decibels for emphasis.
Ben switched on the night-light and turned off the lamp. “Night, Joe. I love you.”
In the darkened room, he could see through Joe’s bedroom window to Julie’s house. Maybe he’d call over there, apologize again for the sandbox incident. Then he saw her friend’s car was still parked in the driveway.
Well, no rush. If she’d been dating someone, the guy would have been there today, helping her out. Ben had all the time in the world to get close.
THE FOLLOWING Monday morning, Julie locked the door and led a subdued Marisa across the driveway to Ben’s house.
As Julie knocked on the door, she said, “Honey, preschool’s going to be okay.” Marisa shook her head, and Julie’s heart sank. Joe, still in his pajamas, opened the door.
“My dad’s upstairs.”
“Julie, that you?” Ben came to the top of the stairs, Joe’s shoes in his hand. “Joe just needs to get himself dressed.” He walked down the steps and handed Joe his shoes. “Now get dressed and get your shoes on, or I’m turning off the TV.”
An exasperated sigh from Joe. “Oh, Okay.” He grabbed the shoes and trudged into the living room.
Marisa looked up at Julie, anxious, and Julie set a hand on her shoulder. “Go ahead, honey, I’ll be right here. I won’t leave without you, I promise.” She bit her lip as Marisa reluctantly parted from her and slowly followed Joe into the living room. Julie could hear the Rugrats theme playing. Maybe Marisa’s favorite show would distract her from her anxiety.
“Cup of coffee? It’ll take him a few minutes.” Ben shook his head. “I can do it for him, but I’ve been trying to get him to dress himself in the morning.”
“No hurry, we’re early. But yeah, I’d love another cup of coffee.”
He led her into the kitchen and poured her a cup. “Marisa’s first day at preschool. She doesn’t seem too excited about it.”
That was an understatement. “She’s hiding it as best she can, I think, but she’s terrified. Thank goodness Joe’s school had room for her. It would have been so much worse if she didn’t know someone.” Julie dropped into a chair beside the table as Ben poured her a cup of coffee and set it in front