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“Slow down, will you?” the boy named Preston called after her as he stopped and tried to catch his breath.
“You don’t want ours to be the last team to get back to the church, do you?” Haley slowed long enough to ask over her shoulder.
“No, but he doesn’t want to collapse and croak next to the health and beauty department, either,” an athletic girl named Katie answered for him.
“Good thing for him Haley’s headed for the toy department,” Matthew said.
Haley grinned as she hurried to the rear of the store. How Matthew knew where she was going, she wasn’t sure, but they must have been thinking on the same frequency because they both stopped right in front of a cage-like container of large plastic balls. Great minds did think alike.
“Here. This is perfect.” She indicated the cage with an expansive wave.
“You want us to get in there? It’s almost smaller than Matt’s car.” That came from Jimmy, the group’s resident comedian.
Haley shook her head. “I just thought we could balance some balls while we build the pyramid.”
“Are we going to balance on the balls?” Jimmy tried again.
“I don’t think so,” Matthew said. “We’ll really come in last if we have to make a side trip to the E.R. at Markston General.”
His deadpan had Haley chuckling. He’d been serious most of the night, through their assignment of squeezing themselves on the store’s minicarousel and her mid-pushup collapse as they did calisthenics on the courthouse steps.
He’d been as serious tonight as he’d been when Haley had seen him with Elizabeth. For someone so blessed with a great career in law and with the opportunity to parent a sweet little girl, Matthew didn’t seem to have much fun in his life.
“I wish we could have brought Elizabeth tonight,” Haley told him as they waited for Preston to catch up with the group. “She would have loved this.”
“It was just for the older kids. Besides, I wouldn’t want her to stay up past her bedtime.”
Haley nodded, wondering about the strict schedule Matthew and his daughter must keep. Did the house collapse around them if the child went to bed at 8:05 p.m. instead of the top of the hour?
“What are we doing?” Preston asked when he reached them.
“We’re deciding how we’re going to build the pyramid,” Jimmy told him. “We’re making you the flier.”
Preston shook his head. “Not going to happen.”
Matthew raised both hands to garner their attention. “Are we going to build this thing or just talk about it?” When no one answered, he started barking orders. “Three across the bottom. The guys and me. Haley goes with Katie next. Then one on top. Chelsea, that’s you.”
Each of them grabbed a ball from the bin and settled it between his hands, a chore that became more difficult at each level. After the pyramid was complete, and a little shaky, they looked up to pose for the camera, finding the Polaroid resting forgotten on the floor.
“Wait. Who’s going to take the picture?” Jimmy asked.
“Yes. Who’s going to take it?”
Haley swallowed as she turned her head in the direction of that unfamiliar voice. A middle-aged woman with a badge that read “Toy Department Manager” stood before them, and she looked anything but pleased.
It took some fast-talking and a promise to leave the store immediately, but they had the picture in their collection when they returned to the vehicle.
As Matthew drove them back to the church, Haley listened to the teens’ happy chatter from the second and third rows of seats in the SUV. She might not have been able to agree with their opinions that their photos competed with the work of Ansel Adams, but she had to admit that the outing had been fun.
Maybe Matthew was right. Maybe each day would get a little easier. She just needed to take control of her life and figure out what she would do next. Tonight had only been a night of distraction, but it was a beginning. She would find a way to get on with her life. All she had to do was get through tomorrow—the day she had planned to walk down the aisle.
Matthew held Elizabeth’s hand as he walked her from her Sunday school class to the sanctuary where she would sit with his mother while he led the morning music. They’d barely made it into the vestibule, though, before she broke free from him, her black-patent Mary Janes clicking across the tile as she then disappeared into the jungle of adults.
“Elizabeth Ann Warren. Come back here this instant.”
He used a louder-than-normal voice, but he shouldn’t have bothered. He would never be heard above the din of the Sunday chatter. Checking his watch to make sure he still had a few minutes before the organist would begin the processional, he hurried in the direction she’d taken.
Emerging on the other side of the crowd, he found the group his daughter must have seen first from her waist-high point of view. His mother was talking to Trina Scott, who must have said something clever because all three Scott sisters were laughing. He didn’t see a lot to laugh about because his disobedient child was giggling along with them to a punch line she probably didn’t understand, and she was doing it from her perch on Haley Scott’s hip.
Matthew pinched the bridge of his nose, feeling a headache threatening. Of all those people standing there together, his daughter had to choose Haley to cling to, as if it had been years since she’d seen her instead of days.
“Looking for something?” Haley asked when he strode toward them. She gave the miniature misbehaver in her arms a squeeze, causing the crinolines in the child’s dress to crunch. Elizabeth pressed her cheek against Haley’s.
Crossing his arms over his chest, Matthew addressed only his daughter. “Young lady, you know better than to run in church. And it’s dangerous to run off like that.”
“I’m sorry.” Elizabeth bent her head and looked up at him from under her eyelashes. “But Miss Haley was here.”
As if that explained everything. “Well, I don’t want you to do that again, okay?”
“Okay, Daddy.”
“Elizabeth was just telling me about her Sunday school lesson.” Haley lowered Elizabeth to the floor before straightening the pink-striped blouse she wore with a black skirt. “I love the Noah’s ark story, too.”
“Animals go two by two,” Elizabeth said in a sing-songy voice.
His mother touched his shoulder. “Shouldn’t you be getting inside?”
Matthew glanced toward the open doors of the sanctuary and then at his watch. The first strains of the organ processional music filtered out the door. He was late. He hated having to go in after the music had already started.
Peeking at his watch once more, he turned back to Elizabeth. “Now I want you to behave for Grammy in church.”
The little girl frowned. “I want to sit with Miss Haley.”
He opened his mouth to argue, but his mother waved a hand to stop him. “We’re all planning to sit together.”
“Oh. Good.”
Matthew hesitated only a second before waving and making his way to the front of the church. Why was he acting like a protective papa bear this morning, anyway? Everything was under control, just the way he liked it. He’d even hired a perfect, new caregiver for Elizabeth. A pre-med student, who planned to specialize in pediatrics, Renee even came with references.
From his observation point stage left of the pulpit, he watched the two families file in the sanctuary, filling most of the fourth pew. Sure enough, Elizabeth managed to sit next to Haley, but his mother sat on her other side. No big deal. What harm was it for Elizabeth to befriend Haley anyway? Haley needed friends, apparently better ones than he was being.
He glanced over to his daughter in time to see her pull out a hymnal and hand it to Haley. In the Bible, God had instructed fathers to teach their children in the ways of faith and yet at only four years old, Elizabeth was a better example than Matthew was of how to reach out to others.
Out of the corner of his eye, he caught the organist motioning for him to take his place behind the lectern to lead the opening hymn. Obviously, he needed to listen better to the lessons in church instead of just leading the music.
He did his best to pay close attention to all the morning’s hymns and then through Reverend Boggs’s sermon on the “Parable of the Lost Sheep.” Church sometimes felt like just another obligation, but this time he vowed to search for deeper meanings that he could apply to his life.
Only a few times did he give in to the temptation to glance down at his family, but that was just to make sure his daughter behaved during services. Once he caught Haley holding her index finger to her lips to hush her, but other than that, Elizabeth was a model citizen.
Matthew was proud of Elizabeth’s behavior. When Elizabeth and his mother reached him in the receiving line after services, he tried not to notice that she stood there calmly holding Haley’s hand when she’d run away from him earlier.
“Well, sweetie, you sure were a well-behaved young lady during church services. Miss Renee will be very happy if you’re this good for her tomorrow.”
“Daddy, why can’t Miss Haley be my new babysitter?”
Matthew stiffened, trying not to look at Haley. “You know why, honey. We hired Miss Renee, and she starts tomorrow.”
“I don’t want Miss Renee. I want Miss Haley.”
“You know Miss Haley will be too busy taking care of the details from the…er…wedding to…” He let the words trail away, not sure what else to say.
“Your daddy’s right about that,” Haley said.
This time Matthew couldn’t help stealing a look at Haley. She was still smiling as she had been when they’d approached, but the look didn’t quite reach her eyes.
She bent to get on Elizabeth’s level. “Don’t worry. I’m sure she’ll be nice.”
When Haley stood again, her gaze connected with Matthew’s. Her sad expression made it clear that she understood his real reason for never even approaching her about the job. She seemed to recognize what he really thought about her, and his opinion hurt.
Something tightened inside his chest. He’d always known that parenting was a tough job. He’d found that out the hard way when Stacey had left. But he’d never realized that doing what he’d considered to be the right thing for his child—what he still thought was the right thing—would make him feel like such a heel.
Chapter Four
Matthew flipped through the stack of papers on his desk for the third time, hoping he’d simply overlooked something, but the legal brief still wasn’t there. Not just any legal brief but the one he was supposed to file in court in about, he paused to look at his watch, forty-five minutes. Shoving back his executive chair from his desk, he crossed to the row of filing cabinets on the south wall and yanked open a drawer.
“It has to be here somewhere,” he hissed. At least it had better be if he didn’t plan to get the chewing out of a lifetime from Judge Andrews for wasting the court’s time.
A tap at his office door brought his head around. “Sybil, I told you no visitors,” he began. His words fell away, though, when not his office assistant but his daughter and her brand-new child-care provider stepped inside.
“Hi, Daddy.” Elizabeth ran inside, scrambling into his office chair.
He didn’t have time for this. He didn’t even have time for a restroom break, let alone visitors. “Hey, you two,” he said, trying to sound calm. “I didn’t expect you to come by. Feel free to look around, Renee, but unfortunately, I can’t give you the full tour. I’m due in court in a little more than a half hour and I’m missing—”
“That’s a bummer,” the nineteen-year-old said to interrupt him. “I know you’re busy, so I won’t keep you long. I wanted to let you know I’ve found another job, so I won’t be able to keep Elizabeth after all.”
“So you’ve come to give notice?” So much for the future pediatrician being the perfect sitter.
“I would. Really. Sorry.” She at least had the decency to look guilty. “But they needed someone right away. Today even. I’ll be working as a receptionist at a posh health club. I can study any time I’m not answering a call, and it pays better money than—” She stopped herself but not before she’d made her point.
Matthew shoved his hands in his pockets to keep from fisting them. “You can’t be serious.”
“I said I’m sorry it didn’t work out. Elizabeth’s been bawling all morning, anyway, and asking for someone named Haley. I would never get any studying done with all of that racket.”
As if that made what she’d just done to him okay. Before he could argue further, Renee waved and backed out of the door, leaving him alone with his child, who climbed down and crawled under his desk. He’d never been able to tempt Elizabeth with the box of toys he kept in one of his office cabinets when his big office desk served as the best clubhouse for a four-year-old.
Matthew started ticking off a list of possible sitters on his fingers. His mother? No, she and Mrs. Scott were meeting with his mom’s accountant this morning. Dylan? Matthew shook his head. His brother had already complained about his heavy patient load today.
Not that he liked to rely on Logan…but Logan? Grabbing his phone, he dialed his brother’s number at the park ranger’s office, but when the machine answered, he slammed the phone back into its cradle. He ground his teeth, probably ruining years of good dental care. What was he supposed to do now?
An idea slid, unwelcome, into his thoughts, and he would have dismissed it out of hand, but he had neither the time nor the luxury. He knew one person who’d already proven she was great with kids, and his own child just happened to love her. For right now, that had to be enough. Resigned, he lifted the handset and dialed again.
“Hey, Haley,” he said when she answered on the second ring.
“Matthew, is that you? Is something wrong?”
Guilt twisted inside him. Even Haley recognized that he wouldn’t call her unless he needed something. “As a matter of fact, I am in a bind.”
“What is it?”
Matthew took a deep breath and then filled her in on the details. He spoke quickly because it was going to take some convincing to get past the fact that he’d offended her yesterday.
He finished with “I know you’re probably busy, but if you could possibly help me out…” Letting his words trail away, he braced himself for a chewing out more acidic than even Judge Andrews would be giving him in—another glance at the watch—twenty-nine minutes.
On the other end of the line, Haley cleared her throat. “I’ll be there in ten minutes.”
She didn’t say more, only clicked off the phone. Matthew let out the breath he’d been holding. He didn’t have to ask himself who’d been the bigger person today. That answer was clear in the grinning face of the little girl who crawled out from beneath his desk.
“Is Miss Haley going to be my babysitter?”
As frustrated as he was with his daughter’s behavior, he could only put out one fire at a time, and his eyebrows were already singed enough from the one he’d just extinguished. Anyway, if he didn’t find that brief in the next twenty-four minutes, he would have humiliated himself by asking for Haley’s help for nothing.
“Just for today. Play there for a few minutes while we wait for her.”
He didn’t have to tell her twice. She disappeared beneath the desk again.
Hurrying back to the filing cabinet, Matthew threw open a drawer. Since he’d already searched the Lively file on his desk, he didn’t know where to begin looking for the misfiled document.
“Daddy.”
“Just a minute, honey. I’m busy.”
“But Daddy—”
His jaw flexing, he shot an annoyed glance toward his desk. Elizabeth stood just in front of the chair holding a messy stack of papers. His documents that had somehow fallen under the desk.
“It’s dirty under there.”
“It certainly is. Thank you for picking it up.”
Now he had two people to thank for cleaning up his mess and one of them was too young to understand the importance of what she’d found. He’d put the documents in order and was tucking them in his briefcase when Haley rushed through the door, her winter coat flapping open.
She brushed her hand back through her hair that was messier than normal and then glanced down at her sport pants and sweatshirt and the athletic shoes she wore without socks. “I wasn’t expecting to go out today.”
“I’m glad you did. Hey, thanks—”
“No problem,” she said to interrupt him. “Now where’s that Elizabeth hiding?” Though she asked the question, she walked right toward the desk where the child was hiding again.
Elizabeth popped out, pushing back the office chair. “I’m here.” She scrambled over to Haley and hugged her around the waist.
“Hey, you. We’re going to have tons of fun today, aren’t we?” Hefting Elizabeth on her hip, she turned back to Matthew. “Shouldn’t you be going?”
He glanced at the door and then at his watch. Fifteen minutes. “Judge Andrews doesn’t look favorably on tardiness.”
“Then go ahead.” She snuggled Elizabeth to her shoulder. “We’ll be fine.”
Matthew gave Haley his address, handed her the house key and then grabbed his coat and briefcase. They would be fine; he knew that. And he would do what he had to do. He had to push aside any misgivings and get on with it. Still, like so many times in a parent’s life, he could only hope he’d made the right decision.
“Daddy’s home!”
The sound of the garage-door opener confirmed Elizabeth’s announcement as she dropped her doll in the middle of her miniature fashion show. She raced from the living room, through the kitchen, to the door that separated the house from the garage.
Haley set her doll aside to place all the dresses and tiny pumps of every color in Elizabeth’s toy suitcase.
From the other room, she could hear the sweet exchange that was probably the daily ritual in the Warren house.
“Hi, Daddy.”
“Hey, munchkin. Did you have a good day?”
At the sound of the door closing and footsteps coming from the kitchen, Haley stiffened. It didn’t seem right for her to be so nervous now, not after she and Elizabeth had just spent such a wonderful afternoon together, but she couldn’t help hoping Matthew would be impressed by her efforts. The events of the last few days must have really done a number on her if she was this desperate for an attaboy.
Matthew and his daughter came through the doorway hand in hand. Haley waved at them from the floor.
“Hello.” He glanced her way but then started scanning the room.
Haley followed the path of his gaze, at first wondering what he was looking for and then annoyed by her guess. Did he expect to find structural damage in his home or something? Wasn’t it enough that he’d asked her to care for Elizabeth only after he’d probably exhausted other possibilities? He seemed determined to offend her today.
“It was so fun.” Elizabeth moved to stay in front of her father’s sliding gaze. “We played toys and read books and ate peanut butter and watched cartoons and—”
“That’s nice, honey,” he said to interrupt her since she wasn’t likely to stop listing every detail.
He must have found no bullet holes or burn marks on the wall because Matthew finally turned back to Haley. “Thank you for doing this.”
“A whole day and not a single emergency room visit. A real feat,” she couldn’t resist commenting.
When he looked back at her, he wore a guilty expression. Well, he deserved to feel guilty. If he thought she would be such a bad influence on his child, then he shouldn’t have asked her at all.
“Elizabeth seemed to have a good day.”
“Does that surprise you?”
Matthew blinked, her question startling him more than any observation. With her innocent question, Haley asked about far more than his thoughts on how his daughter spent her day. She had every right to ask him what his problem was, too, but he didn’t have an answer for her. At least not a good one.
Unlike Renee, who’d dumped his child with him as soon as a better offer came along, Haley had dropped everything to help him. She’d given up her whole day to care for Elizabeth and even left the house passably neat. She’d done all that, and all he could manage was a banal thank-you. The least he could do was to be more grateful. A little humility couldn’t hurt, either.
He cleared his throat. “No, that doesn’t surprise me. Elizabeth thinks you’re great.”
Haley was putting away the last of the dolls, but she stopped and looked at him, lifting a brow. Her assumption that Elizabeth’s father didn’t think she was all that great couldn’t have been clearer.
“I want you to know how much I appreciate you stepping in for us today. We were really in a pinch.”
“I did it for Elizabeth.”
Until then, Elizabeth hadn’t appeared to be paying attention to the conversation, but she looked up and announced, “Miss Haley did it for me.”
The words Haley had spoken and Elizabeth reinforced rang as true in his ears as any statement a credible witness made during cross-examination. Haley had stepped forward for the child’s sake even though she understood she wasn’t the candidate he would have chosen. Wasn’t that similar to what he tried to do with Elizabeth, always putting her needs ahead of anything else?
“Well, thanks.” His throat felt tight as he looked from Haley to Elizabeth. He reached down and tugged one of his daughter’s braids. “How about we put in a video for you while Miss Haley and I talk?”
“Okay.”
He led Elizabeth into the family room and inserted an old video that he’d only recently come to hate because she watched it so often. When he returned to the living room, he gestured for Haley to follow him into the kitchen. He took a seat at the table.
“Here, come sit with me.”
Haley chewed her bottom lip, but she took the seat opposite his. She fidgeted with a ring on her left pinkie, slipping it on and off several times. Finally, she looked up at him.
“What did you want to talk about?” She brushed at a piece of fuzz on her sweatshirt.
“A job,” he blurted before he could think better of it. “I know you gave up yours when you left Michigan.”
“I know.” She stared at her hands twisting her ring around. “There’s nothing left for me in Muskegon. Even Jenna lives on the other side of Michigan. I need to start looking for a new job, but I haven’t even decided where I’m going to live. Mom said I could stay with her until I figure things out, but I don’t know if that’s a good idea.”
“You don’t have to decide right away.”
Her head came up then. “This coming from Matthew Warren, the king of advanced-planning-for-the-future? The expert of dotted Is and crossed Ts.”
He shook his index finger at her. “Could we wait until later to denigrate my character? I’m trying to make you an offer here.”
“I probably could wait until seven thirty,” she began, but stopped in the middle of her joke. She tilted her head and studied him. “Offer? You mean a job offer?”
His hands went up in a reflexive move. “Just a temporary one. I would like you to watch Elizabeth until I find a suitable child-care provider.”
Smiling, Matthew waited for her reaction. And waited. Her bland expression offered no hints about what she was thinking.
“How could I resist an offer like that?” she said finally.
It wasn’t the enthusiastic reaction he’d expected, given how taken Haley seemed to be with Elizabeth, but he pressed on anyway, so his own misgivings wouldn’t get the best of him. “So you’ll do it?”
She nodded.
“Oh, good. So do you think you could commit to the job for, oh, let’s say, one month?” Something seemed to cloud the blue sky of her eyes, but Matthew tried not to read anything into it. “I can even draft a contract to that effect. Then we’ll both know we’re on the same page.”
Haley pushed back from the table, stood and crossed to the sink without looking at him. Turning on the faucet, she took out a glass, then filled it and took a sip. He’d offended her just as he had at church the day before. At first the contract had seemed like a good idea, even necessary given Haley’s work history, but now it felt mean.