Barbara Freethy - Some Kind Of Wonderful by Some Kind Of Wonderful Read Free Book Online Page A

"I'm just worried about
you. I know the accident set you back, but it was months ago, and
something is still wrong. I want to help. I wish you'd let me."

Caitlyn wished she could, too. But some things were too private, too
painful. She took the bottle out of Emily's mouth and pulled her out of
the car seat so she could burp her. When she glanced back at her
cousin, she saw Jolie shaking her head in disbelief. "What?" Caitlyn
asked.

"Career woman? Yeah, right. Look at you. you're in heaven."

"I'm baby-sitting," she said defensively.

"Sure you are." Jolie got to her feet. "I'm going to sell some dresses
while you take care of someone
else's baby. Now, do you see anything
wrong with this picture, Miss Career Woman?"

"It's just for today, a few hours."

"Tick. took, tick, took."

"It's not like that."

"Maybe it's a good thing Brian is back. Maybe it's time you looked at
some of the choices you're making, because it's been months since I've
seen you so content. Holding a baby is definitely a good look for you.
As your business partner, I'm not encouraging it. But as, your cousin
and your friend, I have to admit that—"

"Don't say it. Emily is just temporary. Tomorrow I'll be a career woman
again, I promise."

Caitlyn sighed as Jolie walked away. She couldn't believe Brian was
back in town. She wasn't ready to see him, to look toward the future,
to make decisions. She'd been comfortable in her safe, secure, bland
life of the past year. Now, she felt suddenly overwhelmed, and as she
looked down at
Emily, she wondered if Sarah had felt the same way. Had Sarah been so
burdened with motherhood that she'd simply run away from it? Because
Caitlyn could understand that desperate need to flee. She felt it right
now, so much so that her toes were tingling.

She looked up as the door opened and Matt walked in. Wearing worn blue
jeans, a brown aviator jacket, and a pair of dark sunglasses, he looked
stunningly male. So much for bland. This man was anything but.

"It's about time," she said, deciding her rapidly beating pulse had to
be due to anger and not, not, God forbid, attraction, because she
certainly wasn't in the market for any spine-tingling, palm-sweating
moments. She had enough problems.

Matt walked over to her. "I went to your apartment, but you'd already
left."

"Thirty minutes after you were supposed to come back," she reminded him.

"I got hung up."

"Did you find your sister?"

"Not yet." He took off his glasses, and the worry in his eyes stopped
her from giving him a harder time.
It was obvious he was concerned
about Sarah, and she could respect that.

"Maybe she'll call or come by," Caitlyn said. "You should be home just
in case. I'm sure she won't leave Emily with you for long."

"I'd like to believe that. But I don't know Sarah anymore. She was a
little girl when I saw her last."

Caitlyn hesitated to press for more information, but she desperately
wanted to understand. "May I ask what happened to your parents?"

"My father died right after Sarah was born. Some years later there was
a fire. My mother disappeared, and my sister and
I were sent to foster care."

"That sounds like the short version."

He shrugged. "It's what happened."

"I'm sorry." She couldn't imagine the horror of being abandoned. Not
that she wouldn't mind a bit more distance from her own family, but not
total abandonment. "Your mother just disappeared? Why?"

"I don't think she wanted to be a mother," Matt said, surprising her
with more information. "I guess she tried—sometimes." He stared out the
window, lost in thoughts that turned his face to stone. "Maybe Sarah
turned out just like her," he murmured. "Maybe she isn't coming back
for her baby either."

"Don't say that. It's not like Sarah left Emily on a street corner. She
left her with you." Caitlyn didn't know why she was trying to make Matt
feel better, except that he seemed to need it. And making people feel
better was ingrained in her. It was the way she compensated for her
shortcomings,