The Good Father

by Kara Lennox

  Jane winced. “She didn’t object?”

  “Maybe it’s the medicine she’s taking, but she seems to not be repulsed by me anymore.”

  “You didn’t repulse her,” Jane objected. “She just met you on a bad day under bad circumstances. She generally likes everybody.” Except maybe Billy the bunny-snatching bully. “But that’s beside the point. Was the meeting ruined?”

  “Actually, no. As it turns out, Ellen Lowenstein loves kids, and she was impressed we had a ‘kid-friendly’ office.”

  “Oh. So it actually…worked in your favor?”

  “This time. But, Jane—”

  “I know, I know. This isn’t really a kid-friendly office, and I can’t continue to bring Kaylee in to work. But she should be able to return to school tomorrow. Or the next day at the latest.”

  “You can’t bring her back here,” he said in no uncertain terms. “She’s an accident waiting to happen. I’ve got work crews coming in later today, and tomorrow, too. She could get hurt, not to mention exposed to the wrong people—”

  “I understand. I’ll take her home, and I’ll try to find a sitter. That is, if I still have a job.”

  “I’m not firing you,” he said, his voice gentle now. “If I ever fire you, you’ll know it.”

  Jane nodded, afraid to speak. She’d once again dodged the unemployment bullet, but only just. She dashed back to her office before Max could change his mind.

  Carol gave Max an arch look. “You were kind of tough on her.”

  “Was I? I didn’t mean to be. I had to stress the point, that’s all. Kaylee could get hurt.”

  “Kaylee probably helped you land that account,” Carol shot back, though she lowered her voice. “Ellen Lowenstein is gaga over the child, and she thinks you’re her father. You should be thanking Jane, not reprimanding her.”

  “I didn’t reprimand her.” He balled up the towelette, now dry, and tossed it in the wastebasket. “And I haven’t won the account yet. Not by a long shot. Ellen might have been charmed by a child running around the office, but Ogden Purcell clearly wasn’t. For all we know, he’s the real decision-maker.”

  “The account is yours,” Carol declared. “I could see it in her eyes. She adores you.”

  “Yeah, but that could all change if she finds out I’m not a family man after all.”

  “Hmm, now what are you going to do about that?”

  Max got the distinct impression Carol was enjoying his predicament. “I’m not going to mention it again, that’s all. If I have any more meetings with Kidz’n’Stuff, we’ll do it at their offices in Houston.”

  “What about the baseball game?”

  “Ellen probably wasn’t serious about that,” he reasoned. “If I don’t mention it again, it’ll probably be forgotten.”

  “Uh-huh.”

  IT HAD TAKEN SOME DOING, but Jane had arranged for babysitters the following day. Sara couldn’t do it; she was busy catering some women’s club luncheon. Allie was free in the morning, but she had a fishing charter after lunch. So she had agreed to run Kaylee over to the bed-and-breakfast at noon, where Reece, who ran his accounting business out of the B and B, had agreed to look after the child until Sara got home around three.

  At least Jane wouldn’t have to worry. Her friends would take good care of Kaylee. But just making the arrangements had been exhausting. She’d never before appreciated how hard it was to be a working single mom.

  She arrived at the office a little later than usual, having spent extra time organizing Kaylee’s medicine and explaining everything to Allie, who would in turn have to explain things to Reece. Then Kaylee had gone through a minimeltdown.

  But it was still before nine.

  Carol was at her desk, and two workmen were busy setting up an aquarium in the reception area.

  “Oh, this’ll be fun,” Jane said. “Kaylee loves fish. Of course, I won’t be bringing Kaylee in here anymore,” she quickly added, glad Max hadn’t heard her slip.

  Carol smiled. “Max was a real grump about that. The stain came right out of his shirt, by the way. I have to get me some of those stain remover wipes.”

  “They save me on a daily basis.”

  “I think the boss must have felt a little guilty, ’cause he bought you a present.”

  “Really?”

  “It’s in your office.” Carol smiled mysteriously, but offered up no more hints.

  Jane all but sprinted down the hall to her office. When she got there, she found a shiny new laptop computer sitting in her chair.

  A laptop? He’d bought her a laptop?

  She turned to seek him out and get an explanation, but she didn’t have to go far. He was standing right behind her.

  “Is that for me?” She pointed to the ultra thin computer.

  “Yeah. I’ve loaded it with the graphics program and set up the e-mail. Everything you need to work at home, if you have child-care issues.”

  “Oh, Max! This is so thoughtful. I’ve never had my own computer before. I mean, I know it belongs to the company, but—I can take it home with me? Are you sure?”

  He laughed. “That’s what I bought it for.”

  “I can practice with the graphics program after Kaylee goes to bed.”

  “Just make sure you don’t stay up all night.”

  She felt the heat rushing to her face. How embarrassing and unprofessional that she’d shown up at her job looking a wreck, then had taken a nap on her boss’s sofa. “I’ll try not to.”

  She picked up the lightweight computer, sat in her chair, and opened it. “Does it have an instruction manual?”

  “I’ll get it for you. But it’s pretty easy.” He reached down and pushed a power button, and the machine hummed to life. “You haven’t forgotten the Mattress Master ad, have you?”

  “I’ll get right on it.” Actually, she had. If he hadn’t reminded her, she’d have probably gotten engrossed in checking out her new toy, and then the Mattress Master deadline would come and go without her noticing.

  But her own laptop! Scott had owned a laptop, of course, but he literally hadn’t let her touch it, claiming that if she used it, Kaylee would end up getting peanut butter on it or some such nonsense—as if Jane weren’t smart enough to prevent that. She had wanted to get a home computer, but Scott had nixed the idea, claiming he saw no reason for her to have one.

  Looking back, she realized now that was just one more way he had controlled and isolated her.

  “I have a favor to ask,” Max said, sounding uncharacteristically uncertain of himself.

  “Anything.”

  “How do you feel about traveling for business?”

  “Traveling?” She couldn’t imagine where she would need to go. Unless…did he want her to sit in on client meetings? The thought thrilled her. She hoped to someday have more responsibility at her job. “I hadn’t really thought about it. I hate to keep beating the same drum, but child care would be a big issue. If it’s important, though, I can try to work something out.”

  “I appreciate that. In this case, however, you can bring Kaylee with you.”

  Take a child on business trip? “Maybe you better explain.”

  Max came into her office and closed the door, then settled into her office’s only other chair, a small club chair that looked like an afterthought. With its red-and-yellow floral print, it didn’t really match anything.

  “Here’s the deal. Ellen Lowenstein was quite taken with Kaylee. As she was leaving she mentioned all of us attending a baseball game in Houston. I thought she would forget, but she called and offered tickets to a game next week. We would leave after lunch on Tuesday, go to the game that night, stay over, and the next day we would tour the Kidz’n’Stuff offices and the manufacturing plant, stay for lunch, then drive home Wednesday afternoon.”

  Jane couldn’t help the excitement that bubbled over. “That sounds wonderful!” It had been so long since she’d done anything so fun. A baseball game, staying at a hotel, eating at restaurants,
learning how children’s clothes are made. She thought Kaylee would love it, too.

  Max smiled. “Great. We’ll do it, then. Um, there’s just one little hitch.”

  “I’m happy to do work while I’m there,” Jane volunteered. “With the laptop I can work in the car, and at the hotel after Kaylee goes to bed—”

  “That’s not it, though I appreciate the offer. See…one of the reasons Ellen Lowenstein is leaning toward giving her account to the Remington Agency is because…well, because she wants Kaylee in the ads. She thinks Kaylee has the perfect look. And she wants us…you and Kaylee…to meet with a kids’ modeling agency in Houston. It could mean extra money for you—lots of money, actually.”

  Jane was stunned. Kaylee, a model? “This is kind of a big deal,” she said. “I would have to think about it. I’m not sure I want Kaylee posing in front of cameras, being the center of attention. It would take her away from her preschool and…well, I don’t want to rule it out, either,” she added hastily. “What a great opportunity for her to earn money for her college fund!”

  “You don’t have to make a decision right away. But would you be willing to meet with the agent?”

  “Sure, it wouldn’t hurt to just talk.”

  “Great. I’ll make all the arrangements. Oh, Jane, there’s just one more thing.”

  “What?”

  “We have to pretend to be married.”

  Chapter Five

  Jane’s mouth opened, but no words came out.

  Max probably shouldn’t have sprung it on her like that, so he backpedaled. “Ellen assumed Kaylee was my daughter, since she climbed into my lap, and I didn’t disabuse her of that notion.”

  Jane continued staring, waiting for more of an explanation.

  “I think she would prefer to give her advertising account to a family man, someone who really understands what it means to be a parent. Her reaction to Kaylee was so positive, I didn’t have the heart—or the courage—to tell her I’m single with no kids.”

  “I see. I think.”

  “Jane…I know it’s wrong to mislead her. But I need this account. I really, really need this account, and I can do a great job on it. Maybe I’m not a parent, but I’m not completely ignorant of children. Between you and me, I know we can give this account what it needs and deserves, and everyone will be happy, and that’s what’s important, right?”

  “I…no. I can’t condone lying, Max.”

  “We’re not really lying. Just not telling the whole truth.”

  Jane narrowed her eyes. “You’re quibbling.”

  He sighed. “You’re right.” Now he felt like a slime-ball. Playing fast and loose with facts was such an in-grained habit in the advertising business, he hadn’t really seen it as a big deal. Once he landed the account, he probably would have little or no personal contact with Ellen Lowenstein, so he would have no need to maintain the family ruse. But that didn’t make it right.

  “You should tell her the truth.”

  “I know.” He thought for a minute. “Okay, how about this? We all go to the game, and I explain the situation then.” After Ellen had a chance to see Max interact with Kaylee, see that he really was good with kids and that, if he were a father, he would be a good one.

  “Well…”

  “After all, my omission of the truth shouldn’t get in the way of Kaylee’s modeling gig. Ellen was entranced with Kaylee’s picture long before she came to believe Kaylee was my daughter.”

  “You promise to tell Ellen the truth?”

  “I will. But can we at least pretend to be…involved?”

  “Max.”

  “Close friends? Come on, Jane. We are getting to be friends.”

  “You’re my boss. How will Ellen feel about your being involved with your employees?”

  Max thought of the proprietary glances Ellen gave Ogden from time to time. “I don’t think she’d mind.”

  “All right. We’ll go to the baseball game. How will we handle the overnight accommodations?”

  Max grinned. “I’ll take care of that.” Remington Industries owned the Hotel Alexander, a luxury hotel in a historic downtown Houston building. Maybe he still had enough status as a Remington to get a comped suite.

  “Why does that smile you’re wearing give me an uneasy feeling?”

  Maybe because for just an instant, Max had let himself picture himself and Jane alone in a hotel room. “Can’t imagine why.”

  “I CAN’T BELIEVE you’re going out of town with him.” Allie, done with her fishing cruises for the day, had come over to kibitz while Jane packed for her overnight in Houston. “I can’t believe you’re going to pretend to be married to him. What got into you?”

  “I’m not pretending anything. Okay, which of these is better for the baseball game?” She showed Allie two choices, a red halter top and a more conservative polka-dot T-shirt.

  “You’re asking me? I’m not exactly a fashion plate. You need Sara. She’s a shopping maniac.”

  “Oh, right.” Jane settled on the polka dots. The halter was too revealing. “I seem to recall Sara helping you pick out clothes for…what was that? A trade show in Houston? With your boss, Cooper?” Although Allie had never forked over the details of that trip, Jane knew that was how Allie and Cooper ended up in bed the first time.

  Allie blushed prettily. “He was my partner, not my boss, but that’s beside the point. Are you hoping you and Max will follow in our footsteps?”

  “Allie, of course not!” Jane realized her denial was perhaps too fast, too emphatic. “Never mind that he’s my boss. He doesn’t date women with children, and I don’t date, period. The ink is barely dry on my divorce decree.”

  Allie laughed. “Trust me when I say a whole boatload of reasons for staying apart can go right out the window in a hurry once you’re alone with him—”

  “Shh. Little pitchers.” Kaylee was already asleep in her bunk, but she could wake up and overhear.

  “But that hotel! You have no idea what a place like that does to your senses. It’s like being in an amusement park. For adults.”

  “I have stayed in luxury hotels many times. Now, which do you like better, the pink or the purple?” She held up two sets of Kidz’n’Stuff overalls.

  “The purple, I think. But what about that cute shorts outfit with the blue flowers?”

  “Would you believe it’s too small? Kaylee is growing so fast, she can hardly fit into any of those beautiful, expensive clothes I bought her when I still had Scott’s credit card.”

  “Sara might like them, if she has a girl.”

  “I’ll ask her. But that doesn’t solve my current packing problem. I want Kaylee to look her best.”

  “Are you really going to do the modeling thing?” Allie asked, jumping in to hang up the clothes that had been discarded.

  “I don’t know yet. Depends on what’s involved. This sounds selfish, but I’d rather keep working as an artist, even at a paltry salary, than become a stage mother to a high-fashion child model earning big bucks.”

  “You really love your new job?”

  “I really do. I feel so alive when I’m using my creativity. I’m finally doing something that matters.” At least, it mattered to Max. He was a hard taskmaster, but also generous with his praise. She lived to hear him tell her she’d done a good job. It was embarrassing, how her mood hung on his every word.

  She tried not to place too much importance on that. It would be the same with any boss, she reasoned. She just wanted to succeed at a job that used her creativity. Scott had scoffed at the idea that she was even employable. He’d thought her “little art degree” was a joke. Her parents had sent her to college only because a society wife was expected to be educated, not because they expected her to do anything with the degree.

  She wanted to prove all of them wrong.

  “I’m so glad your job is working out,” Allie said.

  “Me, too. So it’s doubly important I don’t mess things up by making this trip to Houston so
mething it isn’t. I’m helping Max to make a good impression on his potential client. And if that means putting Kaylee in the magazine ad, I’ll do that, too. But that’s it. Really.”

  Allie sighed.

  “What?”

  “I just think you and Max would be cute together. Even if he does claim to not like kids.”

  That stopped her. “He actually doesn’t like kids?”

  “He’s never said so. But he has a policy of not dating women with children,” Allie clarified. “So I gather he’s not that crazy about them.”

  Jane thought back to his attitude her first week at the Remington Agency. Maybe he really didn’t like children. Just because he’d playacted for Ellen Lowenstein’s sake didn’t mean anything.

  “Well, that does it, then,” Jane said with finality. “I’m not going to even think about hooking up with some guy who doesn’t like kids, even if he were willing, which he apparently isn’t. So stop playing matchmaker. You’ve got romance on the brain.”

  “But romance is nice. A lot nicer than I imagined.” She got that dreamy look in her eye, the one she got whenever her thoughts turned to Cooper.

  Jane rolled her eyes. “Just because you fell in love with a Remington doesn’t mean everyone has to.”

  “Sara did. She had worse odds than you to overcome.”

  “I beg to disagree. No, Allie. No, no, no. Get it out of your mind.”

  Allie sighed again. “We’ll table this discussion. For now. But when you get back from Houston, I want a full report.”

  JANE COULDN’T REMEMBER the last time she’d been to a baseball game. When she was dating Scott, probably, back when he was still trying to impress her as well as his boss. Before the game Scott had critiqued every aspect of her appearance down to the height of her heels and her color of nail polish. Then they’d sat in his company’s box, and Scott had paraded her in front of the company muckety-mucks like so much eye candy.

  Which was exactly what she’d been. He’d even told her not to talk too much at the game, not that she’d wanted to because all anyone wanted to talk about was technology and the stock market.