Her Secret Daughter. Ruth Herne Logan
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She should say no because to oversee the restaurant at the hotel, with Addie right there... How could she do this, then watch her leave in a few months? How could she put herself through that?
But then she looked over at her daughter’s happy face, a face bearing her grandmother’s sea green eyes and pale, Celtic skin. The narrow dusting of powdered sugar around sweet pink lips cemented her answer, because looking at Addie, there really wasn’t a choice. “I’d like that, Jacob. I’d like it a lot. How soon can you have the paperwork ready for me to run by my lawyer?”
He handed her the folder. “We were hoping you’d consider the idea.”
Her heart went tight. Stark reality said she needed to hand back his folder and quietly walk away because of the deal she’d struck with the agency over six years before. But now—
Things were different now, and not by her doing. Something had gone wrong shortly after the adoption papers were filed, and if Ginger and Adam O’Neill had done that intentionally, they’d accepted Addie under fraudulent terms.
Josie wasn’t sure how to set things right. She needed more information, and taking this rental contract to Cruz would give her the excuse to put him on the trail. But one way or another, the thought of working in the same area with her beloved daughter was too good a chance to pass up. “I like a company that plans ahead. I’ll run these by my lawyer’s office this afternoon and get back to you.”
“By five o’clock Thursday?”
She nodded, stood and slipped the folder onto a stainless steel countertop. “Absolutely.”
“Then we should go.” He stood, too, and when Addie sighed, he angled his head. “Really? I brought you over for the best breakfast we’ve had in a long time, kid. Don’t push it.”
Addie didn’t whine. She didn’t pout. She slid down off the stool, then grabbed Josie in a hug—a hug she’d dreamed about for six long years. A hug that made her realize she would never want to let the girl go again...
“Thank you, Miss Josie! It was great!”
“You’re welcome, Addie.”
“And I’ll look forward to hearing from you, Josie. If your lawyer offers approval before Thursday, just call me. I’ll get a crew right over to dismantle everything and bring it up the beach.”
Two months with Addie.
Two months watching the child she’d given away as she laughed, skipped and hopped her way through life.
She didn’t need Cruz’s approval for that. No matter the terms, she’d grab this contract because it offered her something she never thought she’d have, time with her daughter. And that was a dream come true, no matter what the terms.
“Josie.” Cruz Maldonado set the contract down on the upscale desktop. He bridged his hands, thoughtful. “This deal with Carrington looks fine. I’ve got a few tweaks to make, nothing they should balk at. But then we come to the other situation, your little girl...”
His words made her swallow hard.
No one ever talked about “her little girl,” even when she was donating a life-giving organ. Everyone treated her as a kindly benefactor, while Ginger had gotten all the sweet mother references. Josie had swallowed it like a bitter pill then, determined to save Addie’s life, but hearing Cruz speak the phrase made it real.
She had a little girl. A precious child. Here. Now.
“I’ve got a friend in New York who specializes in adoptions. I’m going to send the facts to her, and she’ll have a team sort through it and find out what went wrong. She’s got resources I can’t access, and she’s good. Rory and I used her to ensure everything went fine with Lily and Javi.”
Lily and Javi were his cousin’s orphaned children, two beautiful youngsters he and Rory had adopted months before.
“Life can be weird.” When she frowned, Cruz raised a hand of caution. “Sometimes coincidental timing messes things up. But on first look, I have to agree with you. The timing sounds contrived, and while it’s unfortunate, it’s nothing that hasn’t been done before, according to my friend. She described it as an upscale bargaining point in pricey marriage breakups.”
Josie wanted to hit someone. Or something. The very thought of using a child as a bartering chip made her stomach rise up toward her throat. “That’s despicable.”
“A lot of folks think that fathers or the whole two-parent idea is overrated, and they’ll cite successful single parents to make their case. But if true, to deliberately lie to an agency with a marriage requirement for this particular adoption is fraud. We just don’t know for sure that’s what they did.”
“How expensive is the inquiry?” She hated to ask, and she’d pay whatever was required, but it wasn’t like she was made of money. Far from it.
“Pro bono,” he told her.
She scoffed. “Cruz, I can pay my own way. I have to. This is my deal, not yours, and don’t think you can slip this woman money behind my back and take care of things. I can handle this.”
“Good to know, but I mean it,” he told her. “Cait had me organize her parents’ retirement funds last year, and I was able to get them out of a serious logjam of events before their funds tumbled into nothingness. She’s happy to return the favor now. No cost, Josie. Although if you make me barbecue now and again, I’ll consider that my tip.”
No cost. She’d been fully prepared to hand over a large chunk of her resettlement money from Carrington. Now she wouldn’t have to. “And you’ll call me as soon as she knows anything?”
“Yes. Or I’ll stop by and see you.” He indicated The Square, the upscale shopping and gathering spot in the town’s center, with a glance toward the window. “This town hears everything, even with windows closed and doors locked.”
Josie knew the truth in that, another reason she’d kept her silence. She’d embarrassed her family by being the talk of the town once. She’d done her best to avoid it since. “Like any small town, I suppose.” She stood up and shook his hand. “Thank you, Cruz. And remember—”
“My lips are sealed.” He tapped the Carrington contract. “Let me tweak this and I’ll send it on to them and you for approval. Oh, and Josie?”
He was going to tell her this was a stupid idea, to accept the Carrington offer and work right there, with Jacob and Addie close by. And he’d be right. She knew that.
Cruz said nothing of the kind. He reached out and took her hands in his. “This is a gutsy move on your part.”
Gutsy or foolish? She waited for him to continue.
“And I want to tell you that any mother who can do what you’ve done, to put the best interests of her child first, both when you gave her up and when you risked your life to save hers...” He gripped her hands. “That ranks you pretty high up on my list. Sacrificial love is a wonderful thing.”
The praise came from the lips of a man who’d had an egocentric mother. If anyone appreciated good parenting, it was Cruz Maldonado. “Thank you, Cruz.”
“I’ll be in touch.”
She walked back to her car in the municipal lot, conflicted.
She didn’t want to risk having Addie in the middle of grown-up drama. But how else was she to ascertain the O’Neills’ history, and Addie’s placement with Jacob? What could go wrong besides absolutely everything?
If Jacob discovered her true identity, what would stop him from leaving with Addie? A talented man who’d overseen major projects could work anywhere. He could leave at a moment’s notice, and