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“Not your fault.”
“I’ll write up the transcript from the call and send you all salient info by first thing tomorrow.”
“Thanks. Talk to you later.”
When her image disappeared from the screen in front of him, Bowie stood, feeling a crick in his neck for the first time from being in one position too long. His stomach rumbled, too. He supposed he ought to grab some lunch before he dived in again.
As Bowie tilted his head from side to side to ease some of the tension in his muscles and ligaments, the gleam of sunlight on water caught his gaze, and he looked out the window at the lake rippling in a summer afternoon.
A quick walk out to the terrace would be just the thing to clear some of this murkiness out of his head, he decided.
It was only after he headed out into the hallway that the reminder of his responsibilities suddenly crashed over him.
Milo!
He had told the neighbor girl he would be on the conference call for only thirty minutes or so and it was now more than double that. Shit! He was the worst guardian on the planet. Every time he thought he was starting to figure out this whole being-responsible-for-a-child thing, something like this happened to remind him of his inadequacies.
Where were they? He rushed through the house, straining to hear any sound that might pinpoint their location, but heard only silence.
Nothing new there. That was one of the toughest things about having a brother who didn’t speak. On the numerous occasions when Milo had slipped away, Bowie had discovered it was tough to find him.
After a quick scan of the house didn’t reveal Milo or Lizzie, he remembered she had planned to take him for a walk on the shoreline trail. Was it possible something had happened to Milo? He had an odd fascination with the water, which scared the hell out of Bowie.
Surely he would have heard from Lizzie if his brother fell in. Someone would have contacted him, right? Unless Lizzie hadn’t been able to call for help because she had somehow gone into the water, too...
His mind racing with grim possibilities, he rushed out to the terrace, the last place he had seen them. Relief flooded through him when he spotted Milo at the water’s edge, poised to throw a small rock into the water.
Close on its heels was more concern when Bowie realized his brother appeared to be alone, with no sign of Lizzie or Jerry Lewis.
Bowie stalked forward and grabbed his brother’s arm. “Milo! You know you’re not supposed to be near the water by yourself! Where is Lizzie?”
“She left.”
He turned around sharply at the voice that most definitely was not the neighbor girl. Instead, he found the lovely Katrina Bailey sitting in one of the Adirondack chairs facing the lake, where she appeared to be keeping an eagle eye on the boy from beneath the shade of an umbrella.
He didn’t know how he had missed seeing her in his initial scan of the patio. She had been lost in shadow, he supposed, plus his attention had been focused on Milo.
Now, as she shifted into the sunlight, he couldn’t seem to look away. She wore a peach shirt and a pair of khaki shorts that made her legs look long and slim and tanned. All that silky wheat-colored hair was on top of her head in a messy, summery style that tempted a man to pull out the pins and see if it was as soft as it looked.
His heart rate, already high with anxiety over his missing brother, kicked up a notch, a reaction he found as unsettling as it was unwanted.
“What are you doing here?”
“Keeping an eye on your younger brother. Somebody had to.”
He knew the quick flash of guilt was completely appropriate. He should have been more aware of the time.
“Where is Lizzie? I thought she was watching him.”
Katrina gave him a cool look that left him in no doubt about her feelings toward him, which apparently hadn’t miraculously improved overnight. He wasn’t at all sure what he had done to deserve her dislike—okay, except maybe completely forget he had a responsibility to something besides his work.
“She left about an hour ago,” Katrina said. “She had to go to an orthodontist appointment.”
Crap. The girl had told him as much when he asked her to keep an eye on Milo. Like time itself, the memory had slipped his mind. He furrowed his brow. “That still doesn’t explain how you ended up here with him. Did she call you or something?”
He thought he saw a tiny hint of color bloom across her cheekbones, though he might have been mistaken.
“No. They bumped into me earlier when I was at McKenzie and Ben’s house, working on a few projects with her for my sister’s wedding reception.”
“Oh. You’re friends with McKenzie.”
Of course she would be friends with McKenzie Kilpatrick, who was married to his friend and the chief operating officer at Caine Tech. It didn’t surprise him a bit. In the short time he’d been in Haven Point, he had already figured out that all the women here seemed to run in one big pack.
They scared the hell out of him, truth be told.
“Yes. She’s close to my sister’s age and they were friends since school—which means we were friends, too.”
He liked both of the women Aidan and Ben had recently married. Eliza Caine and McKenzie Kilpatrick both seemed great. More important to him, they made his friends happier than he’d ever known them.
“We happened to be taking a break in the backyard when Milo and Lizzie walked past. He seemed glad to see me, and Lizzie could see that Milo and I knew each other. As we were talking to them, she kept looking at her watch and mentioned her appointment. I offered to keep an eye on him until you finished your call. I didn’t think you’d mind. We’ve been skipping rocks for the last half hour or so.”
“Sorry you were dragged into it. I should have kept better track of the time. Lizzie told me she had an appointment, but I was wrapped up in the meeting and it completely slipped my mind. Thanks for helping.”
“I’m glad it worked out.” She nodded toward Milo, who was paying them no attention. “I do think he’s getting a little hungry. I would have fixed him a sandwich or something, but I couldn’t figure out how to get in, and I thought you might worry if I took him all the way to my mom’s place.”
Her words weren’t necessarily barbed, but he felt the implicit criticism in them. What kind of ass locks his kid brother out of the house and then forgets him for hours on end?
Yeah. Bowie Callahan. That’s who.
“I didn’t even think about the door being locked. Sorry. Since Milo came to live with me, I’ve had to buy automatic locks and beef up security. He has a tendency to wander.”
That was only one of a million ways his life had completely changed in the last three weeks. He was still trying to process all the changes—and apparently wasn’t doing a very good job of it.
“Probably smart. You live on a lake. Anything could happen if he managed to get out.”
She didn’t have to tell him that. He had the nightmares to prove it.
“I’ve tried to explain to him that he can’t just take off, but I’m not sure how much he internalizes.”
As if sensing they were talking about him, Milo wandered over to them, apparently done with throwing rocks.
He barely acknowledged Bo but handed Katrina a rock from the lakeshore with as close to a smile as he ever managed.
She looked confused for a moment, then closed her fingers over it. “Oh, that’s a pretty one. Are you giving it to me to keep?”
Milo nodded, though he still didn’t smile.
“Thanks. I’ll be sure to find a great place for it.”
Milo nodded and pantomimed putting something in his mouth.
“You want me to put it in my mouth? I don’t think it would taste very good.”
That was one particular entry in the Dictionary of Milo that Bowie had figured out. “You hungry, buddy?” he asked.
Milo nodded and Bo felt a rather ridiculous sense of accomplishment.
“Want me to make you a sandwich?” he asked.
This time Milo shook his head vigorously and pointed to Katrina.
“Want me to make Katrina a sandwich?” Bowie tried.
Again Milo shook his head. Okay, so he wasn’t completely fluent in Milo-ese yet. He was working on it.
Katrina watched this encounter with an expression he couldn’t read on her lovely features. “I think he wants me to make him a sandwich.”
At this, Milo nodded his head vigorously. The little manipulator.
“Too bad. Guess he’ll have to make do with his boring brother. I’m sure you’ve got other things to do.”
“I don’t mind. I can make him a sandwich. In fact, if you have more work to do, I’m happy to stick around a little longer.”
He blinked in surprise. Now he was quite certain he hadn’t mistaken the color on her cheeks. She was blushing. He just couldn’t quite figure out why. What was he missing here?
“That’s very kind of you,” he said. “But you made it quite clear yesterday that you weren’t looking for a nanny job.”
“Um. About that.” She fidgeted. “I was actually glad Milo and Lizzie stopped by while I was at McKenzie’s house. I wanted to come over later, anyway, to talk to you.”
Bowie felt a tiny flicker of hope. Was it possible? Had she changed her mind? “Oh? Talk to me about what?”
She cleared her throat and looked out at the lake for a second before shifting her gaze back to his. “Um, I was wondering if you were still looking for someone to help you out with Milo for a few weeks.”
That flicker grew into a steady flame. He was almost afraid to let himself hope. He had three major projects at critical points in development at Caine Tech, each important to the viability of the new facility in Haven Point. He couldn’t continue to split his attention between work and his brother, since he wasn’t doing a good job of meeting his responsibilities at either end.
If she could help him over this rough patch until Debra Peters could arrive and start working with Milo, he might have half a chance of making this work.
“Yeah. Desperately. Lizzie is great to help me out in a pinch, but she appears to have a busier social schedule than a Kardashian. Are you really reconsidering?”
She shifted. “Maybe.”
Relief flowed through him. “What happened? The last time we spoke, you made it clear you weren’t interested in helping me out with Milo.”
“Circumstances can change, and so can minds.” She shrugged, still looking uncomfortable. “I can’t help you longer than a few weeks. You’re clear on that, right?”
“Yes. No problem. It will be perfect. The autism specialist I’ve hired will be here to start around then. If you can fill in the gap until she arrives, you’ll be saving my neck.”
“I mean it. My time in Haven Point is limited, and then I have...obligations in Colombia.”
What sort of obligations? She said she was teaching English down there, but he had somehow gained the impression it was a temporary gig. Maybe she had something more permanent lined up. Or maybe she had a man waiting for her there.
That particular idea didn’t sit well with him, for reasons he didn’t want to examine too closely. “Not a problem,” he answered.
“Good,” she said briskly. “Also, I might have errands to run while I help take care of the final touches on the wedding. As long as you don’t mind, I probably can take Milo with me on most of them.”
Based on his own experience shopping with Milo, he would rather have every single eyebrow hair plucked out one by one than take his brother into a store for any length of time if he didn’t have to. The grocery store meltdown the day before had been on the mild end of the scale.
But he would leave her to figure that out for herself. “That should be fine. Do you need a vehicle to drive? I’ve got several in the garage. You’re welcome to use any of them.”
“No. I left my car here when I went to South America last year, but it sat over the winter and needs some work. My uncle, er, stepfather has some loaners at his lot and says I can use one of those if I need it.”
“Take what you need from the garage. Milo likes the SUV, for what it’s worth, since it has a TV in the back. Now, about the salary...”
She blushed again, which he found utterly fascinating. “I’m fine with the amount you mentioned yesterday. More than fine. It’s completely ridiculous and entirely too much money for a few weeks’ work. But you’re desperate and I need the money, so I guess it’s a win-win all the way around.”
“Absolutely. I can even pay you in advance, if you want.”
Surprise flickered in blue eyes he suddenly noticed were the same shade of blue as Lake Haven in afternoon sunlight. “I don’t need the money right now, but I will before I go back to Colombia.”
Again that curiosity raced through him, along with a little uneasiness. She needed cash and she was going to Colombia. It wasn’t hard for his mind to jump to some obvious conclusions. Call him suspicious, but that didn’t sound like a great combination.
He had made a few assumptions about the woman, considering she’d taught at the local elementary school. Now he wondered if he should have run some sort of background check on her before he offered her a job caring for a vulnerable child.
After the chaos of his childhood, he had absolutely no tolerance for anyone involved in narcotics in any iteration.
No. He wouldn’t believe it. He was going to go with his gut on this one. Her father had been the much-beloved chief of police, and she had a brother who was an FBI agent. He had pieced that together after she told him who she was.
Whatever she was involved with in Colombia, he couldn’t imagine it had anything to do with drugs.
She obviously needed the money for something, but it wasn’t his business. He didn’t probe into any of his other employees’ personal lives.
“Half now, half when you’re done, then. That seems fair. Come inside and I’ll write you a check.”
Her eyes lit up with a raw sort of relief that she quickly concealed. “That’s fine,” she said. “Thanks. I appreciate it. And while you do that, I’ll make lunch for the hungry kiddo here.”
“Sounds good,” he said as he led the way into the house. “You should find plenty of options. I have a housekeeper who comes in three times a week to stock the fridge and prep some easy meals I can throw together.”
“That’s convenient.”
“Usually. Until I forget to add things to the list and end up having to go to the grocery store myself for a couple of items when they run out.”
He wouldn’t be sorry, even though he had been frustrated with himself the day before. If he hadn’t gone to the store with Milo, he wouldn’t have met Katrina and might be stuck for the next few weeks trying to juggle everything himself.
CHAPTER FIVE (#u8447eef0-0e4a-5b31-be04-0115090733b8)
KATRINA OPENED THE subzero refrigerator and took in the bounty of food that was entirely too much for one man and one small boy. “What kind of sandwich do you like?” she asked Milo.
The boy looked at the offerings inside the refrigerator for a long moment, brow furrowed, and finally disregarded the ham and turkey slices, instead pointing to a plain purple jar.
