The World's Best Dad by Valerie Taylor

Author:Valerie Taylor
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2013-12-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eight

Julie shook her head. “Oh, no husband—I’m a single mom.”

He raised an eyebrow, interested. “You adopted a five-year-old on your own? How brave of you!”

“She was in foster care, and I was her guardian ad litem. I just couldn’t—” the memory hit Julie again and she swallowed “—just couldn’t watch while she was bumped to another foster home.” She smiled cheerfully.

He finished signing her book and handed it to her. “Is there any chance I could talk to you about it for a while? My next book is about the special concerns of those adopting an older child.”

Julie grinned. “Only if I can pick your brain a bit.”

He smiled. “You’re probably more of an expert than I am at this point, but you can pick my brain all you like. I’m finished here at one o’clock—would you be able to meet me in the coffee bar here in the bookstore? I’ll buy you a cup of coffee.”

Twenty minutes. Just enough time to call Carla and tell her to deal with Ed, then call Happy Learners and check on Marisa. “I’ll be there.”

Julie made her phone calls. Ed was at lunch himself with his own bosses, so probably wouldn’t be back in the office for at least an hour. Marisa had had a good morning, had eaten her entire lunch and was napping.

After she hung up, Julie hit the rest room for a rapid makeup check, found a seat in the coffee bar and gave her order to the waitress just as Jonathan walked into the room. She waited while he scanned the area and waved as his eyes turned toward her booth. He smiled, a really nice smile, and stopped to speak briefly to the waitress as he crossed the room.

He held out his hand as he slid into the booth. “Just for the sake of formality, Jonathan Nearing.”

“Julie Miles.”

The waitress set down their coffee. He smiled up at her. “Thank you.”

Julie picked up her cup and blew on it. “So. You’re a parenting expert.”

He laughed. “As much as one can be, when one has no children. Like I said, I’m sure you’re more of an expert than I am. I think most parents are. Most just need to learn to trust themselves and their instincts.”

Julie shook her head. It was a nice thought, but she already had too much firsthand experience to the contrary. “I don’t know about that. Don’t you think there are an awful lot of parents out there who don’t know what they’re doing? Me included.”

“No parent knows what she’s doing. You just muddle along.”

“But what if I make some hideous mistake?”

He stirred his latte, thinking. “Do you love her?”

“Do I love Marisa? Of course I do.”

“No ‘of course’ about it. Adoption is a tricky thing, especially when you’re adopting an older child. Love isn’t automatic, not even for biological parents. We all have to learn to love our children, no matter how they come to us.”

“I’ve known Marisa since before she was two, though.”

“Two is a difficult age.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.