The Daughter He Never Knew by Linda Barrett

Author:Linda Barrett
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Harlequin Enterprises
Published: 2011-08-16T04:00:00+00:00

LILA’S PHONE RANG later that evening as she prepared for bed. She ran to answer it. Maybe it was Adam, home from the visit to his parents’ house in New Hampshire. Adam, the calm, sane part of her life.

“Hello,” she said with enthusiasm, her voice almost musical.

“Now, that’s a greeting I can appreciate.”

Jason. The turbulent, crazy part of her life. “Don’t get used to it. I was expecting someone else. What do you want?”

She heard his deep sigh through the wires. “Sorry to disappoint you, but you’re my house hunter, and I need some dates so I know when I can arrange studio time. My agent just called. He’s been busy today.”

“On a Sunday?”

“You work on a Sunday,” he said, but then continued. “When Mitch likes something, he acts fast…. Celine Dion’s agent wants to hear the demo that’s not yet made. So, hi-ho, hi-ho, it’s off to work I go.”

“It’s just as well,” said Lila. “I can’t fit you in until the end of the week anyway.” Which was great. She’d have a few days for her life to get back to normal before she saw him again. “I’ll review the listings we have in the meantime. See if anything on the beach is available.” And if there were no properties, maybe he’d postpone the move. Return to California at the end of the month. She could live with that!

“Make sure you search hard,” he said. “But if there’s a problem, I’d consider the bay side of the peninsula.”

Darn! “I’ll keep that in mind,” she said. “Good night.”

She almost slammed the receiver down. The phone rang immediately. “Hello,” she barked.

“Hi, Lila. What’s wrong?” The calm voice of Adam Fielding.

“Oh, Adam. Sorry for snapping. The real question around here these days is ‘what’s right?’” she said.

“Uh-oh. Katie’s dad?”

“You got it.”

“What’s he done?”

“Well, he…” What could she say? That Jason bought his daughter gifts? That he’d played soccer on the beach with her? That he wrote a song that would probably be recorded by a major star? Even to her, it sounded ridiculous. “He wants to buy a house, and I’m his Realtor,” she finally said.

“A house? He can’t mean it. His whole life—his career is in California.”

“That’s just what I said, but it seems as though I’m scheduled to show him properties.” She shrugged. “I got coerced by my granddad and him.”

“Relax, Lila. He won’t go through with it.” Then Adam started to laugh. “You’re simply adorable. You sound just like the kids. Except Sara wouldn’t have used the word coerced. And Katie would have said, ‘They made me do it.’”

His analysis was exactly right, but somehow, Lila didn’t appreciate his humorous insight. Although Adam had several years on her, Lila wasn’t sure she enjoyed being grouped with the children. For the first time, she wondered if Adam saw her as merely an older version of Katie. Someone he enjoyed and admired, but also someone who needed to be taken care of.

“Adam,” she said, “how about you and I having dinner tomorrow night.

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