Elizabeth Harbison - A Groom for Maggie

“Then it will be up to you to get Kate through the transition,” she challenged Alex. “I hope you realize that.”

He tensed. How could he help Kate, when she was more afraid of him than anything else? Every time he was in a room with her, she became wary, with eyes darting for the door. When he spoke to her, she looked like a cornered rabbit.

He’d tried. Heaven knew, when he first got Kate back after her mother’s death, he’d been wholly optimistic. He’d been happy for the chance to have his daughter back, close to him. But it hadn’t taken long to see that Kate hadn’t thought of him nearly as much as he’d thought of her. And she clearly didn’t want to be in his house. She said it every night for three months: I want to go home. I don’t like you.

Maggie wouldn’t believe that, of course. She’d never understand. With her, Kate was the sweetest, gentlest child alive. Alex himself couldn’t believe she was the same Kate who had come to him a year ago. Maybe it was men in general she was afraid of, or maybe it was him in particular, he didn’t know. But if Maggie left, and it were up to him to be with Kate, there was no telling what sort of trauma she would experience.

And he didn’t want to do it to her.

“Don’t concern yourself with what happens after you go,” he said, trying to prevent Maggie from driving the stake deeper into his heart.

“I’m very concerned. You have to start learning to be a father so that child has some consistency in her life.”

Alex tightened his jaw. She was right. She was almost always right, and it drove him crazy. “You’re out of line.”

Maggie’s cheeks turned pink. “I have to speak honestly. If I can’t stay on to take care of her, at least I can try to help you see she has needs which you cannot ignore. She needs you. And maybe you need her.”

Alex tapped his fingers on the desktop and looked out the window. “Thank you for your input,” he said shortly, then looked down at his papers. Parenting was the most awesome responsibility in his life and he’d had more than enough criticism about his handling of it. “Please send my secretary in on your way out.”

“I’m not going.”

He looked up at her, surprised. “What?” The corner of his mouth ticked. This woman was amazing. He’d never seen someone with so much gall. He really admired it.

“I’m sure you have connections somewhere in Washington,” Maggie said. “I’m not leaving this room until you agree to help me stay at least three more months. Kate needs more time. I need more time.”

“I wish I could help you, I really do,” he said, and. meant it. The house was going to be awfully quiet after Maggie packed her opinions and left. It was regrettable. “There’s nothing more I can do.”

Before Maggie could respond, the door creaked open behind her and Kate walked in. Her dark, moss green eyes were wide but unafraid. Not for the first time, Alex wondered at how much Maggie and Kate looked like mother and daughter. It had to be the light hair, he decided, or the eyes. Strange, since neither he nor his exwife had those particular characteristics.

“Sorry to innerupt,” Kate said, her sweet voice clear.

“What do you need?” Alex asked, feeling suddenly self-conscious. A boardroom full of high-powered executives was nothing compared to the intimidation from this one big-eyed five-year-old.

The tense moment of silence that followed was punctuated by a phone ringing in another room.

Kate looked at her father briefly then rushed to Maggie. “Maggie?” she asked in a hushed voice.

“Yes, darling?” Maggie answered, with a glance toward Alex.

“Can you put Ariel’s head back on?” Kate held a decapitated doll head in her small hand. “It came off again.”

Maggie laughed and knelt in front of Kate. “Of course, sweetheart. Did she fall off the horse again?”

Kate nodded enthusiastically. “They were racing. Ariel won.”

“Good for her.” Maggie took the doll head. “Remember, because we’ve put it back on so many times, it’s going to be loose.”

Alex could have sworn he heard her add, “I’m feeling that way myself.”

She pressed the head onto the body Kate pulled from her jumper pocket and heard it snap in place. “There you are. Good as new.” She held out the doll, whose head tilted slightly to the right. “I feel like Dr. Frankenstein.”

Kate’s smile was as bright as morning, something he rarely saw. Maggie’s effect on her was truly astonishing. Where once his daughter had been sullen and constantly miserable, now she was open and relaxed.

Maggie was right—he couldn’t let her go. For Kate’s sake he couldn’t let her go.

But the only possible solution was so…radical.

“Thanks.” Kate beamed. “I knew you could fix it. You’re the best!”

Maggie wrapped her arms around the small form and Alex noticed she blinked back tears. “You’re the best.”

“No, you’re the best.” Kate giggled at their familiar game.

Maggie pulled back and straightened to her full five feet eight inches. She ran her hands across her slender hips to straighten her skirt, and Alex felt a tightening in his chest. “Daddy and I are talking right now. Go on up to your playroom and I’ll be along in a few minutes. Why don’t you dress Betsy in the blue ball gown? Ariel can wear the pink. They’ll have a party this afternoon, how’s that?”

“Great!” Kate turned to dash from the room then stopped and turned back. “Bye, Father.”

He was startled by her attention to him. “Bye…Kate. I’ll see you later.”

Maggie closed the door behind her. “I can’t stand to leave her like this.” She placed her hands on her hips and shifted.

Alex shifted, too, then took a long breath. Her short denim skirt had folded up at the thigh when she bent down to Kate but when she stood it didn’t go all the way back down despite her efforts. Only about four inches of material were between his gaze and her—He couldn’t think about it. “I agree it would be best for you to stay with Kate.” He cleared his throat. “But the only—”

“I know, I know, you have no choice.” She threw her hands up and took a step to the side. The lean muscles in her legs flexed. “You’re going to hire another nanny, and another one after that, and another—”

“Stop. Please. Let me think.” He pressed his hands down on the desk, pushed his chair back and leaned back in it. He gazed at Maggie in front of him. There was a spirit in her eyes that had never been in Sandra’s.

His jaw tightened at the thought of his deceased exwife. How many nannies had she gone through before Kate had come to live with him? Sandra hadn’t worked—she’d lived off his substantial alimony payments—yet she had somehow found it necessary to employ a complete staff, including full-time care for Kate.

Kate needed consistency, Maggie was right about that. In fact, it was long overdue. But what should I do? he asked himself. How far can I go to provide it?

He closed his eyes hard and opened them to find Maggie, standing before him, like the answer to his question.

The intercom on his desk buzzed. “Alex, Anna Christianson is on the phone again,” his secretary’s voice informed him.

“Take a message,” he growled, trying to ignore Maggie’s eyes on him. Wannabe socialite, Anna Christianson was relentless in her pursuit of him—or, more specifically, his money—and everyone knew it. It was a fact he found very embarrassing. “Get rid of her.”

“Okay, Alex, but this is the third call today, you know. Is there something specific I can tell her?”