The Family Plan (The McClouds of Mississippi 1)

“So what are you going to do now?”

He swallowed before he answered. “I’ve spent the past few days having myself named her guardian. The process was expedited because of Mrs. Houston’s illness, but it still took some finagling. Fortunately, Alan has some influence there.”

Caitlin shook her head in amazement as the reality of what he had done sank in. “You’re her guardian.”

She would have sworn he lost a bit of color, but he nodded gamely. “I have sole responsibility for her now. As I said, there wasn’t anyone else.”

“So now what? You’re surely not going to try to raise her yourself?”

“Well…yeah.”

She felt herself sink further into her chair. “Nathan, you can’t. What do you know about raising children? A little girl?”

“Nothing,” he admitted frankly. “But I’ll learn.”

“Just like that?”

“What other choice do I have?”

“You can—” She glanced at the child to make sure she was still asleep, then lowered her voice to a whisper, anyway. “You can still put her up for adoption. Take a little time to find a nice family you can trust with her safety and her trust fund.”

“I figure I’ll adopt her myself. I’ve handled a few adoptions in my time, even a couple for single parents. With the advantage of being her biological half brother, I shouldn’t run into any serious problems.”

And then what? Caitlin stared at him, trying to imagine footloose Nathan McCloud trading in his sports car for a minivan. Cooking macaroni and cheese, doing laundry, attending PTA meetings….

“You have lost your mind,” she decided aloud.

“I can see why you might think so,” he answered rather stiffly.

“Have you told your family?”

“Not yet. I came here straight from the airport.”

“Do you…” She paused while she mentally groped for the right words. “Do you think they’ll be able to accept her?”

She watched as he held the toddler closer. “I hope so. They’ve got good hearts, despite the pain my father caused them. I find it hard to believe they could look at Isabelle and not fall for her, despite the circumstances of her conception.”

Caitlin wasn’t so sure. Lenore McCloud was a woman who was greatly concerned with her social standing. Having just rebounded from her former husband’s betrayal, she wasn’t going to easily accept this reminder. Gideon was a taciturn, withdrawn man—a writer who seemed to live more inside his head than in the real world. She couldn’t imagine him melting in response to a child’s smile.

Caitlin had only met Deborah a couple of times, but Caitlin had gotten an impression of a woman who was impulsive, tempestuous and stubborn—a volatile mixture of her brothers’ diverse personalities.

Nathan had a tough road ahead of him.

“I sure hope you know what you’re doing.”

“Are you kidding? I don’t have a clue. I’m open to any advice I can get.”

“Don’t look at me.” She held up both hands. “I know nothing about raising kids—or placating irate family members. I was an only child, remember, and my family actually got along pretty well, despite our other problems.”

“You’ve never told me much about your family,” Nathan remarked. “I’d like to hear about them sometime.”

She didn’t want to talk about her family now. She wondered if it was incredibly selfish of her to be wondering how Nathan’s impulsive move would affect her. Professionally speaking, of course, she assured herself—though she knew there was something more to her stunned reaction than that. Something she didn’t want to think about right now.

With a drowsy murmur, Isabelle roused and lifted her head from Nathan’s shoulder. Her big blue eyes were still heavy-lidded when she looked around in curiosity at her new surroundings, her gaze finally settling on Caitlin’s face. “Hi,” she said.

A bit surprised by the calm greeting, Caitlin attempted a friendly smile, hoping it wasn’t as stiff as it felt. “Hello, Isabelle.”

“Who are you?”