Mommy For A Minute. Judy Christenberry

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      JACK TRIED to concentrate on his work, but Lauren’s confession about her motherhood stayed with him. It took a lot for a person to raise her brothers and sisters.

      And here he’d maligned her in his mind. He’d thought she was just being bossy, but instead she was quite experienced. As well as being beautiful. He’d noticed that at once, when she’d first opened the door. So if she was so sweet, why was she called The Shark?

      Judge Robinson, who wasn’t really a judge anymore, but had once been one, felt that term was one of admiration. He should know since he was the attorney in charge of the law firm. But Jack had thought it was one of disrespect.

      Maybe he needed to visit with the judge. After all, Lauren seemed to be spending a lot of time with his daughter. And what was he going to do for tomorrow? Was he going to have to bring Ally with him again?

      He gradually lost himself in his work. Loving the work he did was a big benefit. It made the days fly by. Then he had the evenings with Ally. She was such a sweetheart, making him feel fortunate to have his little girl.

      So he was feeling good again when the door opened. He turned to see the woman from his thoughts.

      He put down his tools. “Is Ally causing a problem?”

      “Of course not,” she told him calmly. “But I want to talk to you, please.”

      “About what?” he demanded.

      “About Ally. You see, I don’t have enough to do right now, and I thought maybe you could continue to bring your little girl and I could take care of her. It doesn’t require much time, since she watches Sesame Street and Mr. Rogers and takes a nap.”

      “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

      “Why? Do you have a place you can leave her?”

      “No, but I’ll find one.”

      “So why choose to leave her with strangers? Why not keep her here where you’ll know what’s going on?”

      “I don’t think a lawyer should be spending her time taking care of my child. I can’t afford such expensive help.”

      “You’d be doing me a favor.”

      “Why?”

      “I told you. I don’t have enough to do!”

      “Care to explain why you have nothing to do for four weeks, but you’re not taking your vacation?”

      Her cheeks turned red, drawing his attention. “I—I—Judge Robinson, the head of our firm, says I’m about to burn out and he wanted me to take some time off so it wouldn’t happen. I couldn’t convince him that wasn’t going to happen, so he’s banned me from the office for four weeks.”

      “And you want to entertain yourself with my child? I don’t think so.”

      “Are you suggesting I wouldn’t take good care of her? How dare you!”

      “I think halfway through the four weeks, you’ll find a way to work your way into Judge Robinson’s good graces again and you’ll abandon Ally. That’d hurt her.”

      “How would it hurt her any more than leaving her with a bunch of strangers? And you never said why they closed your child care center. What happened?”

      “They left a child on the bus and he died,” he said in a low voice. “He was five years old and he’d fallen asleep.”

      She stared at him. Finally, she said, “That’s awful. Was Ally—”

      “No. She’s too young to go on field trips.”

      “I’m so glad.” After a moment, she said, “So if you bring her here, she’ll be safe.”

      “I don’t know that.”

      “Yes, you do. I’ll take good care of her and you can see her whenever you want.”

      “I don’t want you to teach her things,” Jack insisted.

      Lauren stared at him. “You think teaching her СКАЧАТЬ