LITMIR.BIZ

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her response simple. “Good. I’ll be starting on Monday.”

      He smiled and shifted Ivy in his arms. “You’re going to do great.”

      Putting on a brave front, she returned his smile. But deep inside, her nerves were fluttering, a reminder of how working at Garrett’s resort was making her feel. “I’m certainly going to try.”

      “Meagan is staying for dinner,” Candy said. “She helped me cook. We’ve got casseroles in the oven.”

      “Cool.” Tanner sounded pleased. “We can all hang out together.” He put Ivy on her feet, and the child toddled off to dig through a basket of toys that was in the living room.

      Tanner disappeared, probably to shower and change, and Candy bustled around, setting the table and filling the water glasses.

      “Can I help with anything else?” Meagan asked her.

      “No, thanks. I’ve got it under control. You can just relax.”

      “Okay. Then I’ll stay right here.” Meagan sat on the floor next to her daughter, using the extra time to try to keep bonding with her.

      Ivy reached into the basket and removed a pink plastic pony that had a long purple mane and a green tail. Clipped onto its back was a polka-dotted saddle.

      She gave the toy to Meagan and said, “Pay.” It was her way of saying, “Play.”

      Meagan gently obliged. She walked the pony in a slow circle, and Ivy watched it go round and round.

      The two-year-old looked a lot like Meagan, with her dark hair and naturally tanned complexion. She didn’t favor blond, blue-eyed Neil, which was just as well. Meagan hadn’t seen him since he’d left her, pregnant and alone. He was still somewhere in the area, she suspected. He thrived on the LA club scene. Meagan had done her fair share of partying when she was with Neil, but all she wanted was stability now.

      Ivy extended her hand, asking for her pony. “Mine.”

      Meagan returned it, and the little girl trotted it high in the air, as if it were climbing a magical hill.

      Instantly, Meagan thought about Garrett and his ocean-cliff home. She assumed that he’d never been married or had kids. But she couldn’t be sure. She didn’t know anything about his personal life. She wondered about him and the types of women he dated. As for herself, Neil had been her first and only lover, but she used to fantasize about Garrett something fierce.

      “Is everything okay? You seem preoccupied.”

      She glanced up and saw Tanner staring at her with a concerned look on his face. He’d just returned to the living room, attired in sweatpants and a T-shirt.

      She couldn’t tell her brother what she’d been thinking. Her thoughts of Garrett were her own, particularly when they concerned sexy things.

      “I’m just getting hungry,” she said.

      “Then you’re in luck.” Tanner motioned to the kitchen, where Candy was putting the finishing touches on the salad and taking the casseroles out of the oven.

      They sat at the dining room table, and Meagan snapped a bib around Ivy. The toddler was raring to go. She even brought the pony with her, setting it on her high chair tray.

      Ivy ate both casseroles, quite happily. Dessert, a creamy chocolate pudding, made her even happier. Meagan kept wiping her daughter’s mouth and hands. She cleaned the pony, too. Ivy was making a gleeful mess feeding it, as well.

      “I can bring Ivy with me when I go to work,” Meagan said to Tanner and Candy. “The resort offers free day care and after-school programs for children of the employees. I’m going to check it out and hopefully get her enrolled by Monday.”

      “That sounds great,” her brother replied. “I think it’ll be good for Ivy to be in that type of setting, especially with you being nearby.”

      “I agree,” Candy said. “I think Ivy will enjoy it. She likes playing with other kids. I’ll miss having her with me every day, but you need to do what’s right for yourself and your daughter.”

      “Thank you.” Meagan was glad that everyone approved of the idea. “I appreciate your support.”

      “I’d like to meet Garrett sometime.” Tanner took a second helping of the chicken-and-rice casserole. “He sounds like a pretty decent guy, offering something like that.” He turned toward Meagan. “It was decent of him to hire you, too.”

      Yes, it was, she thought. Even if it had been his mother’s idea, he’d still followed through and given her a job. “He told me that I can ride at the resort any time I want.”

      “Then you should take him up on it.” Tanner spoke softly. “You know I’d like to see you get back on a horse. You’re always welcome to ride at my stables, too.”

      “I know. It might be easier at the resort, though, since I’ll already be there for work. And I like the atmosphere.” She’d always loved the sand and surf. When she was a teenager, like a slew of other California girls, she used to go the beach with her friends. “If I’m going to ride again, maybe I should start there.”

      Her brother encouraged her. “So go for it.”

      Would she come across Garrett on the trail? Would she pass him along the shore? “I’m considering it.” Before her nerves ran away with her, she added, “But I don’t want to jump into anything too soon.”

      “You’ll be ready when the time comes.”

      “I hope so.” Especially if it involved seeing Garrett. Already she was anxious about their next encounter and how it would unfold. He’d told her that he spent a lot of time at the stables. So one way or another, she had to get used to seeing him.

      Tanner went quiet, returning to his food. Meagan lifted her fork and raised it to her mouth, trying to concentrate on her meal, too. But above all else, she needed to clear her troubled mind.

      And stop worrying about Garrett.

       Three

      Garrett headed toward the child care center at the resort. He promised himself that he was going to keep an eye on Meagan, to see what type of person she truly was, so he decided to be there when she dropped her kid off.

      Today was Meagan’s first day on the job, and he’d learned from HR that she’d enrolled her daughter in the day care. So why shouldn’t he be curious to see her with her child, especially on this very first day?

      Besides, it wasn’t as if he’d never popped over to the day care before. He actually did it quite often. This was his resort, his place of business, and he was a hands-on CEO. He made a point of checking on every department to make sure that things were running smoothly, to speak to everyone employed there. He knew the day care teachers by name. He liked being around the kids, too. When he was in foster care, some of the younger children used to come to him for comfort and support. Sometimes it was for something as simple as a skinned knee. On occasion, it was far more serious, like bullying. He used to look out for Max, his tech-geek foster brother, when Max had been too small and skinny to fend for himself. Garrett was good at protecting the rights of others. He handled his own rights just fine, too.

      He sat on a bench in the atrium where the day care was located and sipped his coffee out of a disposable cup. Every workday morning, he got a medium-bodied roast with a dash of milk from the coffee vendor in the food court in the hotel.

      Here we go, he thought. His timing was impeccable. He spotted Meagan entering the atrium and holding her daughter’s hand. He couldn’t help smiling to himself. Her kid was a cute little tyke, toddling along in a denim outfit and pink cowboy boots. In her free hand, she clutched a heart-shaped purse with cartoon characters on it, swinging it as she moved. She walked with a bounce in her step, a ribbon-wrapped ponytail exploding

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