LITMIR.BIZ

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of my sisters. I’ve missed that.”

      His silence went long. Finally he responded, “I know you have. But the timing of this— For the next month or so I’ll be on call. This land deal in Alaska is important. I think you’ve made a mistake, and you need to rectify it before this girl settles in.”

      “You’re always on call, Brian, and all the deals are important. I’m used to that.” She had never put her resignation into words before but now she did so. She was fighting for this chance to make their marriage strong again, and intuitively she knew Lisa and her baby were part of that. “I know we can make this work.”

      His voice was clipped when he replied, “I’ll be flying home tonight instead of tomorrow. I should be there around eleven-thirty.”

      “Brian, I couldn’t leave her in that shelter another night.”

      “We’ll talk about it when I get home.”

      Yes, they would. Having Lisa in their home might not be easy, but inviting her to stay had been the right choice. Somehow Carrie would convince her husband of that.

      A few hours later as Brian came in the door from the garage, Carrie was there waiting for him, hoping to ease him into an introduction to Lisa.

      First, though, she smiled and asked, “Are you hungry?”

      A flash of desire in Brian’s eyes reminded her of the other night and the way they’d made love. It had been different somehow. She’d almost felt Brian wasn’t holding back, that he’d let himself go and she’d responded to that. Yet afterward he’d withdrawn. Sometimes she felt as if she were doing a complicated dance with her husband, afraid she’d misstep and the rhythm would be broken forever.

      Setting down his overnighter and his briefcase, he bent to her, letting his lips say his “hello,” letting his kiss tell her he’d missed her.

      Ending it, he straightened. “No. I’m not hungry. Dinner was elaborate.” Picking up his luggage once more, he crossed the kitchen. “During the flight, I thought about what we should do. You’ve gotten us into a situation. Our only resort now is to put this girl in a hotel suite—”

      “No! That’s not the answer. Especially since you haven’t even met her.”

      Brian stopped and turned.

      “Lisa’s blood pressure is a bit elevated,” she hurried on. “She needs someone to look after her. I can do that here. Brian, please. The easy course isn’t always the best one. Besides, if she doesn’t live with us, why would she want to choose us? Why would she want to let us adopt her baby?”

      It was obvious Brian was struggling with all of it. He didn’t want his life disrupted, especially not by a stranger off the streets. But he did want a child. “Where is she?” he asked.

      “In the family room. I told her to make herself comfortable. She’s been watching TV.”

      He finally said, “All right. I’ll meet her.” Striding to the foyer, he deposited his luggage by the staircase.

      When Carrie hurried after him, she warned in a low voice, “Don’t make a first impression just from her appearance. She’s—”

      Before Carrie could finish her sentence, he’d already headed for the family room. There he stopped and took in the scene with a frown.

      It had been a long day, and Brian saw it was going to get much longer. Carrie had never done anything like this before—made a decision without consulting him. He wondered what was at the bottom of it now. Did she want a baby that badly?

      He stared at Lisa Sanders in stunned amazement. Yes, Carrie had told him she had two-toned hair and tattoos. But she hadn’t told him one tattoo was an upside-down mermaid that started at Lisa’s elbow and disappeared under her T-shirt sleeve, and that the teenager’s hair wasn’t only two-toned, it was spiked and sticking out at all angles. Three earrings dangled from both ears and her lipstick was purple!

      Restraining the desire to tell Lisa to take her sneakered feet off the mahogany coffee table and change the loud music-video station on the TV to something quieter, he counted to ten. So many questions clicked through his head as he felt anger rise at Carrie for putting them in this position.

      However, when he caught the worried expression on his wife’s face, he kept his tone as casual as he could. “You must be Lisa.” His gut told him nothing about having this teenager around would be easy.

      As she finished eating a banana, she proved his instincts right when she defiantly asked, “Why must I be Lisa? Because I’m pregnant or because my hair is more than one color?” She cast a defiant glance at Carrie. “What did you tell him about me?”

      The teenager didn’t seem to ruffle Carrie as his wife replied, “I told him you’ve lost your parents and you have nowhere to go.”

      “My wife told me very little,” Brian said. “I think she wanted me to meet you and form my own conclusions. Do you think you could turn down the sound on the TV?”

      Lisa gave him a look that said this whole interview was an imposition.

      But he wasn’t going to let her make him feel uncomfortable in his own house. “I think we should talk if you’re going to stay here.”

      With that she took her feet from the coffee table, flipped a banana peel into the waste can next to the sofa and switched off the TV. “If you don’t want me here, you’d better say so now.”

      “I don’t know you,” he admitted freely. “Carrie made the decision to ask you to stay here without talking to me first.”

      “She has to check with you on everything?”

      “We’re married, Lisa. Married couples discuss major decisions. This is one of those, especially if you decide to let us adopt your baby.”

      Lisa focused her attention on Carrie. “Were you afraid he’d say no if you asked him?”

      After a glance at him Carrie answered, “After I met you, I decided we could both benefit from this arrangement. You need a roof over your head, and we want to adopt.”

      “And he could put up with anything for a month?”

      “Something like that,” Carrie confessed with a small smile to lighten the atmosphere.

      Some of the tension seemed to leave Lisa’s shoulders, although Brian didn’t feel any more at ease. Now she addressed him again. “Do you want a baby as much as Carrie does?”

      “We want a family,” he said.

      “You want a baby,” Lisa pressed.

      “Yes.” Seeing Lisa’s large belly brought home the reality that he could be a father much sooner than he’d expected.

      Carrie sat beside Lisa on the sofa. “I know this is overwhelming, and I know you don’t feel at home here yet—”

      Sliding to the edge of the sofa cushion, Lisa pushed herself up to her feet. “At home? I shouldn’t even think about feeling at home. Even if this does work out, I’ll be gone in a month. Not much different from the shelter, though it is a lot better furnished.” She looked squarely at Brian. “So am I staying or leaving?”

      He hated being pushed into a corner, and it was reflexive for him to fight to get out. Yet he had to be careful he didn’t shatter their dreams because he was angry at Carrie. Looking at his wife now, he could see she was worried. About Lisa? About his reaction?

      His answer for Lisa came quickly. “You can stay.”

      To his surprise, he didn’t see relief on her face, or gratitude. Passing by him, the teenager stopped at the doorway to the living room, turned and threw over her shoulder, “If I decide not to give you the baby, you’ll throw me out, won’t you?”

      Carrie rose to her feet. After a look at Brian, she replied softly, “No. You need a place

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