“Caroline’s doctor said if she responds to someone, we should maintain the relationship as much as possible. Unfortunately, so far, I haven’t found a single person she reacts to with enthusiasm. She used to have a sunny disposition. Now, instead of a joyous little girl, she’s quiet, polite and withdrawn. Her nanny and my staff all try to pamper her, but it doesn’t seem to matter to her.”
He picked up his menu. “We better decide on something to eat before we get too deep in this conversation. Our waiter will return soon. Do you see anything that appeals to you?”
She laughed lightly. “It all appeals to me. This is one of my favorite places to eat.”
“It’s one of mine, too” he said, staring in surprise. “When I’m in Austin, I eat here. I can’t recall seeing you. I’d remember.”
As she shook her head, she smiled. “No, you wouldn’t. We were strangers until today. Even though this is a favorite restaurant, I come at odd hours and not often.” She closed her menu. “I do eat here often enough that I know what I want.”
“It’s always good when you know what you want,” he said, watching Ava as the waiter returned and she ordered a Cobb salad and raspberry iced tea.
He ordered a hamburger, and as soon as they were alone, Will added, “On the flight here, I looked over the resumes of the teachers you recommended.”
“I’ve given you highly qualified, experienced teachers who have very successful track records in raising children’s reading levels.”
“I know, and I appreciate that. But it’s more difficult to choose a tutor than I realized. I’m worried about kindergarten because Caroline is going to have to participate and show her teacher what she can do. She’ll be in a private school and they’ll work with her, but there’s just so much they can do. When she doesn’t respond at all, people give up trying to help her as much.”
“Hopefully the right tutor might make a difference.”
“Right now, Caroline is the most important person in my life. Before we go further, I’d like to fly you to Dallas and have you meet Caroline. I think it would be better if you know her. Once you meet her and spend a little time with her, you might be able to better assess the situation. Since time is valuable, I’ll make the trip worth your while. Two thousand a day plus expenses, and I’ll fly you to Dallas and back to Austin.”
“That’s an enormous amount to pay,” she said, not hiding her surprise.
“I can afford it, and this is top priority,” he stated, determined to get what he wanted.
“You know there are excellent private schools where you can board her and they work with the children all day and have activities at night.”
He could tell the question was a test, but one he knew he’d pass. “I’m not sending her away.”
Her green eyes flashed. “That’s commendable.”
“Will you come to Dallas?”
While he waited for her answer, his pulse sped. He wanted her to accept his offer, and it wasn’t altogether because of Caroline. This morning he had expected to fly to Austin, have lunch, go over the candidates and fly home, mission accomplished. Instead, from the first moment he looked at Ava, he had scrapped his original plan and purpose and was going by instinct, determined to get help for Caroline but also to get to know Ava.
“When are we talking about?” she asked.
“Whenever you want. You can fly back with me now. Fly tomorrow or next week. Whenever you can work the trip into your schedule, but the sooner, the better.”
As she gazed beyond him while she thought it over, he took the opportunity to study her again. Her silky hair was meant for a man’s hands to tangle. Thick, long sandy lashes framed her seductive eyes. The sight of her mouth made his temperature climb. All he wanted to do was flirt, ask her out, take her to dinner and then kiss her until they were both on fire. She didn’t want to be entangled with anyone and he didn’t, either, so passion would not lead to complications.
The waiter brought their orders. As soon as they were alone she leaned forward. “What time are you returning to Dallas?”
“I have one appointment at three this afternoon to stop by the office of one of my customers. It won’t take long and then I planned to fly home. I can change my schedule easily.”
“In a couple of hours I can be ready to return with you tonight if you’d like. The weekend is coming up, plus I have a few days with nothing scheduled.”
“Excellent. We’ll fly home and you can meet Caroline. Stay a week if you can.”
She smiled. “It won’t take that long to get to know Caroline a little. I’ll stay tonight and tomorrow night and fly back Saturday. I just got my doctorate and I plan to spend the summer and this next year working on opening my own private school.”
“That’s admirable,” he replied, his pulse humming because she would be at his house for the next three days and he could get to know her.
“I assume you read to Caroline,” she said. “If you can give me a list of some of her favorite books, I might be able to add to them with a new book or two.”
“Sure. Better yet, when we finish lunch, I’ll take you to a bookstore and we can look things over and get what you want.”
“As long as you still leave me a couple of hours to get ready to go.”
He couldn’t imagine what she would have to do that would take a couple of hours because she looked ready now except for packing clothes and necessities. “You take all the time you want.”
“You’re very determined about this.”
“I’d do anything to help Caroline. I know what she was like before she lost her father.”
“I think I’ve misjudged you. I had preconceptions built by tabloids and television,” she admitted.
“It’s good news to discover your opinion of me is improving. Hopefully, we’ll get better acquainted.”
She smiled. “I’m flying to Dallas to get to know Caroline.”
“I’ll have to work on my image. I’m not accustomed to having someone I’m with tell me she is not interested in getting to know me.”
“It really isn’t important that we become buddies,” she said, pausing over her salad.
“It will be far more fun, and you might be surprised what you discover. I know I want to get to know you,” he said, his voice lowering a notch.
“I ought to tell you no flirting,” she said, shaking her head, “but I suspect that’s impossible. I imagine at this point in your life, it’s as much a habit as breathing.”
“And where a beautiful woman is concerned—as necessary. You’ll be gone in two days, so what does a little flirting hurt?”
“Maybe you deserved your media coverage after all.”
“Forget the media. I really don’t know that much about you except you’re excellent in dealing with children and reading. You’ve taught and you said you recently earned a doctorate.”
“Correct.”
“What do you plan to do with the degree?”
“I publish texts on teaching reading, children’s books on reading and games. Hopefully, the degree lends more credibility. I plan to open a private school—at this point, limited to first and second grade—and use some of my own methods for reading instruction. I’m working on securing grants. I have limited funds for this.”
“Opening a school is ambitious,” he said with admiration, reassessing his opinion of her. “A woman with drive.” And one who hoped to get