financially. Evenings and weekends, I’ll take care of her while you study. I’ll do the cooking, the housekeeping, the laundry. I don’t have a lot of experience with young children, but I’ve got nieces and nephews around that age. I’m sure I can manage.”
“Why would you even consider this?” he asked, genuinely bewildered by the magnitude of her offer.
She shrugged and he could almost see her mind working. “It could actually be beneficial for both of us. You know I’ve been saving money to start graduate school after teaching for another year or two. Not having to pay the lease on this apartment would go a long way toward those savings. Your place is paid for, and I’d trade child care for rent there. I’d help you with some expenses, of course, but it would still save me several hundred dollars a month to share your house.”
It sounded to him as though she were trying to rationalize her impetuous offer. “It’s too much, Mia. I couldn’t ask—”
“You didn’t ask,” she broke in to remind him. “I offered. Think about it. This could be a win-win situation for both of us. I’ve even thought about taking an evening job in a bookstore or something to earn a little extra for my grad school expenses. This would save my having to do that.”
“Mia…”
“Connor.” She rested her hands on his again, her eyes locking with his. “You are one of the best friends I’ve ever had. You’re a good, decent man who’ll make a wonderful doctor. The world needs doctors like you. It would break my heart if you had to walk away from that dream now because of a youthful indiscretion. Wouldn’t you do the same to help me achieve my dreams?”
He wanted to believe he would do anything for Mia. She was such a good friend. Such a good person. Of course he wanted her to be happy. But what she offered was so overwhelming. So life-changing. Would he really be that unselfish?
“Why don’t you think about it tonight?” she suggested, seeing the conflicting emotions on his face. “Don’t do anything rash without at least considering what I’ve suggested, will you? I think we can do this, Connor. I think we can work together to provide a home for Alexis while you finish medical school and while I work toward my own educational goals.”
“I’ll think about it,” he agreed slowly. “But you need to do the same. You made an impulsive offer because you care about me, but you need to really consider what would be involved if you do this. Like you said, we don’t know this child. We don’t know what kind of raising she’s had, whether she’s been expected to follow rules or have respect for other people and their property. She could be a holy terror, for all we know. And you’re talking about spending every evening and weekend with her—what would that do to your social life?”
She laughed. “You, of all people, should know that I don’t have that much of a social life to worry about. I’m hardly a party girl.”
“What about the guy you went out with last night?”
She shuddered, giving the gesture an extra touch of drama for emphasis. “If I never see that jerk again, I’ll be quite happy, thank you. If I’d had to move his hand off my bottom one more time, I might have gone ballistic. As it was, his life was hanging by a very thin thread. I gave Natalie a piece of my mind later for setting me up with such a creep, but she swore she didn’t know he was that bad.”
The thought of some guy putting those moves on Mia made Connor’s blood boil. He told himself he’d have been as defensive on behalf of any of his women friends, and then tried to believe it. “You should have broken his fingers.”
“I considered it. I think he finally realized I was edging toward violence. He looked a little nervous toward the end of the evening.”
Her light tone invited him to laugh with her, but he couldn’t seem to tap into his sense of humor tonight. “It’s getting late,” he said. “I’d better go. Like you said, we both need to think about this.”
“I know my offer was spur of the moment, but I won’t change my mind. The more I think about it, the more I know it’s the right thing to do. It’s the only solution to your problem, and not such a bad deal for me, either.”
She’d obviously convinced herself. He was going to need a little more time to process. He’d had too much thrown at him today.
But there was certainly some appeal to the idea of Mia sharing his home. As a friend, of course, he assured himself as he left her apartment a few minutes later. A temporary solution to a very big dilemma.
Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to give her plan a try.
Mia shook her head when Connor looked at his watch for what had to be the dozenth time in the past ten minutes. “Constantly checking won’t make the time pass any more quickly,” she reminded him.
Looking sheepish, he dropped his arm. “I know. I’m just…antsy,” he admitted.
As if that was something she didn’t already know.
It was Tuesday afternoon, and the minutes were creeping toward 5 p.m., the time when Patricia Caple, Alexis’s aunt, had said she would arrive at Connor’s house with the girl.
Connor had offered to drive to Springfield to fetch the child, but Patricia had refused. Mia suspected she didn’t want Connor to know where she lived, for some reason. Maybe so he couldn’t return Alexis if he changed his mind about keeping her?
As if a child were a sweater or something that could be returned if the fit wasn’t perfect, she thought in exasperation.
Connor was a nervous wreck and she couldn’t say she blamed him. She could not imagine how it must feel for him to be on the verge of meeting the daughter he hadn’t known existed for six years.
She was more than a little anxious herself.
As she had promised him, she had not changed her mind about her reckless offer during the three days that had passed since she’d made it. Even though her parents had expressed concerns about her decision. Even though Natalie had asked her flatly if she had lost her mind. Even though she knew the gossips would have a field day with her moving in with Connor, despite her stated reasons for doing so. Even though she was occasionally overwhelmed with the reality of what she was doing, of how much responsibility she was taking on.
Just don’t let me mess this up, she prayed silently as she had quite a few times during the past few days. She hoped she was up to the challenge she had given herself.
The doorbell finally rang at 5:05 p.m. Stopping mid-pace, Connor took a moment to smooth his hair before moving toward the door, a gesture Mia found touching. He wanted to look nice when his daughter saw him for the first time. He was clean-shaven and dressed in a nice green shirt and neatly pressed khakis.
She, too, had freshened up after work, brushing her shoulder-length brown hair into a shiny curtain and donning a fresh pink top and gray slacks. Curious, she moved to stand behind him as he opened the door.
Patricia Caple was a tall, thin, bleached blonde with full breasts pushed upward into a black, scoop-necked sweater. Her high-heeled boots looked very expensive, as did her diamond earrings and the rings that glittered on her hands. It didn’t look to Mia as if money was her reason for declining to raise her niece.
“You’re Connor Hayes?” Patricia asked, giving him a long once-over.
He
