The Texas Christmas Gift. Cathy Thacker Gillen

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      Chapter Two

      “Mind if I drive?” Derek said as they walked out the door of his swanky office complex.

      Whatever the client wanted. Within reason. That was the rule. “Not at all,” Eve fibbed. “Where are we going?”

      “I have to pick up my daughter by five-thirty. I’ll have her until tomorrow evening.” He paused to help Eve with her coat, and then escorted her out to a late-model Jaguar SUV. He opened the passenger door, waited for her to slide in, then circled around to the driver’s side.

      Impressed with his good manners—it had been a long time since she had met anyone so naturally chivalrous—Eve pulled out her notebook again. Determined to keep things strictly business, she asked, “You want to take her with us when we look?”

      “Tomorrow, when we go see the house we select, yes. As for this evening, I plan to take her back to my hotel, feed and bathe her, and then put her to bed.”

      Eve wasn’t sure where that left her and the business she needed to conduct.

      Derek continued, “And while I do all that, we’ll have a little chat about what property would be best suited for my daughter and me.”

      Eve wasn’t surprised. Most single parents were adept multitaskers. Still, she would have preferred they talk under less intimate circumstances. She wanted to know only enough about him and his life to do her job well. Anything else would be just too personal.

      He turned onto Crescent Avenue. “I assume you have most of the property specs on the computer?”

      Eve nodded. “Including visual tours.”

      “Then we should be able to pick one.”

      Derek parked in the driveway of one of the largest, most elegant properties in Highland Park. “Mind giving me a hand? There’s a lot of stuff when we switch back and forth.”

      So now she was a bellboy, too. What next? A nanny? Tamping down her irritation, Eve flashed a smile. “No problem.”

      This time, she managed to exit the sedan before Derek could gallantly lend a hand. If he noticed her effort to keep things on an impersonal level, he didn’t show it. Instead, he seemed distracted, almost eager, as they walked to the front door. The doorbell was answered by an attractive brunette in a silk shirt, heels and jeans. She had a pair of reading glasses perched on the end of her nose and a pen tucked into the short, sophisticated curls above her ear. Her expression was intellectual—and kind.

      “Hey, stranger!” She greeted Derek with a friendly pat on the arm and a peck on his cheek. “How’s the house-hunting going?”

      Derek inclined his head at Eve. “We haven’t really started yet. Carleen, this is Eve Loughlin. Eve, Carleen Walton, my ex-wife.”

      The woman grinned and extended her hand. “It’s nice to meet you,” she said.

      They certainly were friendly, Eve noted. Maybe the most amiable exes she had ever seen. “Nice to meet you, too,” she replied.

      A tall forty-something man ambled up with a baby in his arms.

      “And this is Craig, my husband,” Carleen continued. “With our baby, Tiffany.”

      And what a beautiful baby she was, Eve could not help but note.

      The one-year-old had a cloud of dark curly hair, like her mom’s, and Derek’s vivid sea-blue eyes. She was dressed in a white turtleneck, ruffled red velvet overalls and shiny, high-topped shoes. Spying Eve, she beamed, her smile revealing four teeth, two on the bottom and two on top.

      Eve had never been much of a baby person. She saw no reason to lust after something she likely would never have. But something about this little girl captivated her attention.

      Still grinning, Tiffany lifted her chubby little hands to her face and spread her fingertips over her eyes. “Peek—boo!” she chirped to Eve.

      Eve couldn’t help it; she chuckled. She lifted her hands to her own eyes and covered them playfully. “Peekaboo to you, too!”

      Tiffany threw back her head and chortled. Without warning, she lurched out of Craig’s arms and reached for Eve.

      Eve caught the infant, cuddling her close. It wasn’t the first time she had ever held a baby. However, it was the first time she’d held one and felt something catch in her heart.

      “She’s a real people person,” Carleen noted proudly.

      Craig СКАЧАТЬ