If a neon sign had suddenly appeared on the ceiling, Caitlin couldn’t have gotten the message more clearly about why they shouldn’t give in to their curiosity. All the reasons she had listed earlier were still valid; putting them out of her mind did not make them go away.
“I’d better leave,” she said, moving toward the door. “I have a lot of work to do this weekend.”
Nathan didn’t try to detain her this time.
“Tell Miss Caitlin thank you for taking you shopping and helping us decorate,” he said to Isabelle.
Caught off guard by Isabelle’s response, Caitlin nearly had the breath knocked out of her when the child locked her arms around Caitlin’s waist. “Thank you, Miss Caitlin.”
Looking down at the top of the little girl’s golden head, Caitlin swallowed an unexpected lump in her throat. Getting way too involved here, she chided herself even as she wrapped her arms around Isabelle’s shoulders. She needed to escape soon and then spend the rest of the weekend settling back into her own routines, leaving Nathan and Isabelle to establish their own.
While she sympathized with how alone Nathan must be feeling right now, he had gone into this with his eyes open. It wasn’t up to her to help him figure out how to live with the choice he had made. She didn’t want to be callous, but she had her own problems.
“You’re welcome, Isabelle,” she murmured. “I’ll see you later, okay?”
She made her break while Nathan was busy pouring juice for Isabelle. A bit cowardly, perhaps, but it seemed like the best idea at the time.
The sooner she was out of there, the sooner she could get back to her own carefully planned life.
Because throwing herself into her work had always been her way of escaping difficult personal problems, Caitlin drove to her office in the restored old house Nathan had purchased when he had gone into business for himself. No one else was there on a Saturday afternoon, of course. There would be no one to interfere with her concentration. For the rest of the day, she was thinking about nothing but business.
She had just managed to put Nathan and Isabelle to the back of her mind and immerse herself in medical malpractice research when she heard a woman’s voice coming from the waiting room. “Caitlin? Are you here?”
She almost groaned out loud. She’d been so preoccupied when she’d entered earlier that she must have forgotten to lock the door behind her. Great security. She stood and smoothed her hands down the casual blouse and slacks she had worn for her day of shopping and work.
“I’m here,” she said, moving toward the doorway.
To Caitlin’s shock, Lenore McCloud stood in the center of the empty waiting room.
This time it was all Caitlin could do to keep the groan from escaping. It seemed that she hadn’t evaded Nathan’s personal problems, after all. One of them had followed her here.
Because surprise had rendered Caitlin momentarily speechless, Lenore spoke first. “I saw your car in the parking lot when I drove past. I hope I didn’t frighten you when I called out.”
“No, I was just a bit startled, since I wasn’t expecting anyone. Um, is there something I can do for you, Mrs. McCloud?”
As immaculate as always in a leopard-print silk blouse and trim brown slacks, not a hair out of place, Lenore looked at Caitlin with a taut expression. “I think you know what I want to talk to you about.”
As much as she would have liked to tell Lenore that she did not want to get involved, Caitlin said, instead, “Why don’t you have a seat, Mrs. McCloud? Would you like a cup of coffee? I made a fresh pot when I got here a little while ago.”
Lenore declined the coffee, but she did take a seat on one of the waiting room couches, perching stiffly on the very edge. Caitlin settled into a nearby chair. “You’re upset that Nathan has taken responsibility for his little sister,” she said to get the conversation started.
The word sister made Lenore’s features tighten even more, if possible. Caitlin had chosen the word deliberately as a subtle way of stressing the blood bond that had influenced Nathan’s decision. “I am more than ‘upset.’ I’m devastated that my son is ruining his life.”
Ruining his life—or hers? Caitlin wondered cynically. All she said was, “I don’t think the situation is quite that drastic.”
“Of course it’s drastic! Nathan is only thirty-one, and he should be concentrating on his own future. He has this firm to consider. It’s just getting solidly established and gaining respect in legal circles. I credit you in great part for that, of course.”
“Thank you, but—”
“And it isn’t only his career he’s putting at risk. What will this do to his social life? He shouldn’t have to worry about baby-sitters and day care and the other responsibilities and expenses of raising a child. And when he is interested in starting a family of his own, what kind of effect will this have? What woman would want to become involved with a man who is solely responsible for raising a small child, especially when that child was at the center of a statewide scandal?”
Caitlin cleared her throat. She certainly didn’t want to become embroiled in a conversation about Nathan’s love life—present or future! “I know Nathan has given a great deal of thought to all of these issues—”
“Nathan doesn’t give a great deal of thought to anything,” Lenore cut in bitterly. “He’s impulsive and reckless—just like his father. He makes these grand gestures, and then he expects other people to bail him
out. Just like when he started this firm. Several people tried to convince him he wasn’t ready to strike out on his own, that he should work for another firm for a few years and gain experience and maturity, but he wouldn’t listen. Then, as soon as the workload here became too demanding, he brought you in and dumped much of the responsibility on you.”
“That’s hardly an accurate description of our partnership,” Caitlin felt obliged to protest. “Nathan pulls his weight and then some. He certainly does things in his own creative manner, but he’s a brilliant attorney. He couldn’t have made the firm so successful in such a short time if he weren’t. He’s the personality of the firm. I’m the organizer and detail person. It’s a fair distribution of our talents.”