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A seagull suddenly swooped by the bedroom window, snapping Mallory back to the present.
She could hear footsteps in the room above. Was Jordan packing his things? Getting ready to leave? She hoped so. But she also prayed that before he left, he’d reassure her that he wasn’t going to sell the house. At least, not yet.
He must see things differently, now that he knew the baby was Janine’s. No way would he want to be responsible for throwing his own sister’s child out on the street.
With her heart in her mouth, Mallory went out into the front hall and as she heard his steps approach the landing, she breathlessly waited for Matthew’s uncle to come down.
CHAPTER THREE
JORDAN gestured curtly towards the sitting room as he reached the foot of the stairs. “We’ll talk in there.”
Bossy, bossy! “Let’s go out to the backyard patio,” Mallory said. “It’s such a lovely day. My bedroom window’s open, I’ll be able to hear Matthew if he wakes up.”
He shrugged. “Fine.”
He followed her as she led the way along to the kitchen. When she opened the outside door, a startled robin flew off the redwood deck and in a flash of orange, disappeared around the side of the house.
Mallory crossed to the middle of the spacious deck, where a bench and chairs were arranged around a rectangular wooden table. Taking a seat, she watched as Jordan strode over to the edge of the deck and looked out over the lawn.
“It’s a big garden.” He jammed his hands into the pockets of his shorts. “Must take quite a bit of upkeep.”
“But it’s wonderful for children. A nice flat lawn—and lots of shrubs and nooks for playing hide-and-seek.”
“Looks as if it was professionally landscaped, but I remember it as being neglected. Everything overgrown.”
“It was, but Tom soon licked it into shape. Elsa gave him some tips but he had a green thumb and everything he touched seemed to flourish.”
Jordan still had his back to her and at mention of Tom his spine stiffened and she sensed a wall of hostility rise between them. He’d had a very low opinion of Tom and he obviously didn’t care to listen to her praise him.
Well, too bad. She wasn’t about to gloss over her brother’s talents and accomplishments just because Jordan Caine had been so blinkered he hadn’t appreciated the man his sister had married.
His expression was shuttered when he finally walked back across the deck.
She’d expected him to sit across from her but instead he came around and leaned his backside against the table beside her, so close that if she’d wanted to, she could have stroked his left thigh. A powerful, tanned, and brawny thigh. If she’d wanted to. Which, she decided as she determinedly raised her gaze, she most definitely did not!
He folded his arms across his chest and looked down at her. “Right,” he said, “let’s discuss our options.”
She refocused her thoughts and waited.
“The first,” he went on, “would be to put the kid up for adoption—”
“No.” She didn’t raise her voice. She just said “No,” very quietly, but in an icy tone that made it clear that this was not, nor ever would be, an option.
“Okay, no surprise there. Next option, you keep him. You’d have sole custody.”
She grasped the arms of her chair. “Naturally,” she said, “this would be the option I’d choose.”
“The only snag being, from your point of view, that you wouldn’t have this house.”
She’d hoped that the second option would include his letting her rent the house. Her spirits sank as she realized it did not. “That’s a limited option,” she said. “If I didn’t have the house, the best I could afford would be a dingy basement apartment—”
“The third option,” he plowed on, “would be for me to have custody. I’d keep the house, of course, and—”
“You?” Stunned, she stared at him. “But you don’t even like babies. You admitted that this morning. You said you didn’t like babies and you wanted nothing to do with—”
“I didn’t know, at that time, that we were talking about Janine’s baby.” His gray eyes had a steely glint. “We’re talking family here, Mallory. Family, blood ties—”
“But you said just now that the first option would be to have him adopted—”
“I threw that in for good measure. Like you, it wasn’t something I’d have considered.”
Frantically, she tried to keep her cool. “You’re not being consistent. You originally wanted Janine to have him adopted—in fact, you were hell-bent on it! Now you say that one option would be for you to keep him yourself—”
“Apples and oranges. Yes, I wanted Janine to have her baby adopted, but only because she was too young and immature to take on the responsibility of a child—and because she had her whole life ahead of her. This scenario is totally different. For me, money’s no problem—and,” he added drily, “at the grand old age of thirty-five, my life’s half over.”
“But—”
“This baby is my only connection to Janine. I want to be part of his life, and I want him to be a part of mine.”
“But you spend most of your time abroad!”
“No problem. I’d hire a nanny to care for him while I’m out of the country—”
“A nanny?” Mallory’s outraged expression told him exactly what she thought of that idea. “You’d leave Matthew with a stranger? No way! I’ll fight you in court if—”
“The fourth option,” he interjected smoothly, “would be for the two of us to share custody.”
She gave a derisive—and most unladylike—snort. “You’re joking, of course!”
“Do I look as if I’m joking?”
He did not. His jaw was clamped, his lips compressed, his gray eyes hard as cement.
“Us? Sharing custody?” She shook her head. “Uh-uh. It would never work. We would never get along—”
“Why not?”
“Your attitude, for one thing.”
“What’s wrong with my attitude?”
“You’re arrogant and rude and controlling and—”
“You’re stubborn and bloody-minded,” he growled. “And far too romantic for your own damned good!”
“Romantic?” Where the heck had that come from!
“You’re looking at this situation through rose-tinted glasses—it’s as if you’d found a baby on your doorstep and you see the two of you living together and being happy ever after. The reality is, you can barely afford to keep him. The reality is a child is better off with two parents.”
“The reality is that he’d be far better off with one than with two people who’d be sparring constantly the way you and I do! And besides, shared custody would be so unsettling for Matthew it would make his little head spin. He’d have to move back and forth between us, never knowing a real home.”
“Of course he’d know a real home!” Jordan’s voice was rough with impatience. “If we were to share custody, you’d stay on in this house.”
Totally taken aback, she stared at him. After several beats, she said, “And you? Where would you fit in?”
“I’d continue with my work abroad but we’d share responsibility for the baby, make joint decisions regarding his welfare. And I’d visit when I could.”
She chewed her lip. “You’d consider this your…home?”
“Uh-uh. Home is where I hang my hat.” His grin was self-mocking. “And I never wear a hat.”
Looking at him warily, Mallory said, “You’d be happy to leave Matthew with me?”
“I don’t recall using the word happy. Let’s just say, you’d be right for the job. And he likes you.”
“But you don’t.”
“It wouldn’t be necessary for me to like you, Mallory. Or for you to like me.” His gaze narrowed as he searched her face for an answer. “You’d consider it? I myself see shared custody as the best option.”
“I’d prefer to have sole custody,” she said stubbornly.
“Even without this house?”
“I could manage.”
“As you yourself just said, if you didn’t have this house, all you’d be able to afford would be some dingy basement apartment. But if you were determined to seek sole custody, we’d end up in court…and I’d win hands down.”
“Oh, not necessarily,” she shot back. “Just because you’ve got pots of money—”
“Pots of money can buy the best lawyers in the country. You wouldn’t have a hope in hell of beating me.” His smile was faintly malicious. “It’s my turn, sweetheart. You won hands down when it came to the wedding; I’ll beat you hands down when it comes to the baby. Seems only fair.”
“You don’t care about Matthew, do you! All you care about is winning!”
“But I think you’ll agree with me, when you simmer down, that shared custody is the best option.”
She drew in a very deep breath. “I agree,” she said reluctantly, “that it’s worth considering.”
“Good. Because even though I know I’d win a custody battle, I’d prefer not to go that route. It wouldn’t be in Matthew’s best interests; he’d be better off with both of us looking after his welfare. Furthermore, as I said, he’s used to you, and for his sake it would be better to hire you than hire a stranger to look after him.”
“Hire me?” She gaped at him. “Hire me?”
“Weren’t you paying attention? I said, you’d be right for the job, and ‘job’ is what I meant. You stay in the house, rent-free, and I pay you—well, whatever good nannies get paid.” He pushed himself off the table and towered over her. “Take it or leave it, Mallory. That’s the deal.”
She sprang to her feet and glared up at him. “And what happens if you decide to get married? You’d have me out on the street in two seconds flat.”
His grin was lazy. “Not a problem, sweetheart. I don’t plan on marrying. Ever.”
“That’s what you say now. But how do I know that somewhere down the road you won’t meet somebody, fall in love, and all of a sudden there’s a new bride at Number Five Seaside Lane. Somebody who loves children and doesn’t want me around! No.” She squared her shoulders rigidly. “I won’t do it. I won’t risk it.”
“I’d be taking that chance too, Mallory. You don’t have the resources at present to fight me in court…but what if you were to meet some millionaire and get married?”
“I have no plans,” she said coldly, “to marry. Millionaire or no millionaire.”
“That’s what you say now.” In a flat tone, he echoed her own words. “And I’m not prepared to risk it either.”
As they stared at each other, Mallory felt a sinking sensation. “It seems,” she said defeatedly, “that we’ve reached an impasse. I don’t trust you, and you don’t trust me.”
“Then we’ll just have to sign a contract. Make it legal. I don’t marry; you don’t marry.”
“I don’t think that would stand up in any court.”
He sighed. “Probably not. Look.” He rubbed the heel of one hand over his beard, making a rasping sound. “We can make this work. Trust me. I promise you, I’m not going to marry. I don’t want a wife. I don’t want to be tied down.”
“I’d like to believe you, but people change—”
“For God’s sake, Mallory, what do I have to do to convince you?”
She drew in a deep breath. “I don’t know,” she said. “I don’t know what you could do to convince me. But I could never agree to shared custody unless I have absolute faith that any agreement between us would be absolutely rock solid and permanent. I need that security. Because of Matthew. I love him too much to take any chances.”
Jordan walked away from her, back to the edge of the deck, and looked out over the garden again.
The robin had returned. It ran about the lawn, halting every few seconds to cock its head and look around with its sharp inquisitive eyes. Mallory watched it, her own gaze slightly blurred, her heart filled with despair. She and Jordan had, indeed, reached an impasse.
And she could see no way out.
She was standing there dismally, when she heard the phone ring inside.
She made her way to the kitchen and picked up the handset from the wall phone.
“Hello,” she said. “Mallory Madison speaking.”
“This is Celia, Ms. Madison, at Burton Barton Realty. May I speak to Mr. Caine?”
“Mr. Caine’s outside. Could you hold on a minute, please, and—”
“I’m here.”
Mallory turned and saw Jordan coming into the kitchen. She held out the phone. “It’s Burton Barton Realty.”
He nodded, and murmured “Thanks’ as he took the phone. Then he said, “Jordan Caine here. Oh, hi, Celia…”
He listened for a few moments, before saying, “Two o’clock it is.” Replacing the receiver, he announced, “Burton has a client coming to see the place at two.”
Mallory leaned back against the countertop, glad of its support as her legs had become weak. “Word travels fast.”
“It’s a prime property, in a prime location.”
“I guess.”
