Bachelor Father (3 page)

“Sure.” Molly found the cloth and put it in
his waiting hand.

“No, no, no,” Jake protested to Brett's
ministrations.

She stepped closer and bent to peek at the
activities under the table, only to have Brett turn to stand up. He
paused, his face so close that she could see each individual
whisker shadowing the tanned hollow of his cheek. She quickly
stepped back.

“Terrific,” he said. Brett stood and gave
Molly a grin verging on a grimace. “I can see your report now.” He
shuddered.

“Hey, it hasn’t been all bad,” she said giving
him a broad smile. “You did rescue me from Humphrey.”

He pulled out one of the kitchen chairs for
her, sat Jake on his booster seat, and moved the baby’s milk cup
within his reach. “I'll clear off these other dishes and we can
talk. Would you like me to put on some coffee while I’m
up?”

“No, but I’ll take tea if you have
any.”

“Sure.”

The earlier chaos aside, Brett appeared to be
a man at home in the kitchen. He stacked the dishes in the
dishwasher, wiped the remnants of Jake’s lunch from the table, and
started the water for tea before sitting down next to
her.

She pulled a sheaf of papers and a pen from
her satchel. “Let’s get these forms out of the way first, then we
can talk some more about Jake.”

 “
Okay, where do I sign?”
Brett lifted the pen with a flourish. “I’m anxious to have
everything finalized.”

Molly studied Brett’s face, lingering on his
dimple. Surely, he was kidding. Susan must have told him about the
new application. “I’m afraid there’s a little more to it,” she
said.

“What?” he asked, the dimple disappearing.
Jake’s been with Kate and David and me for the required six months.
I thought this visit and signing the final papers was
it.”

“Susan didn’t explain?”

“Explain what?” A muscle worked in his
jaw.

“Because your sister and brother-in-law’s
adoption of Jake wasn’t completed, Korean Child Welfare is
requiring you to apply to adopt Jake yourself.”

“It’s not enough that Kate—” His voice caught
on his sister’s name. “It’s not enough that her and David’s Wills
named me as Jake’s guardian?”

Molly’s heart went out to Brett. “Korean Child
Welfare doesn’t recognize your guardianship, because, technically,
Jake wasn’t legally Kate and David’s son, yet.”

“Technicalities.” His voice had an edge, but
Brett’s expression had visibly relaxed. “So, what do I have to do?
Fill out some forms?”

“Yes.” Molly hesitated. She hated being the
bearer of bad news. “But, there’s another small
problem.”

“Like, what?”

Molly cast her eyes down, away from Brett’s
penetrating gaze. “Korean Child Welfare doesn’t allow single-parent
adoptions.”

“What!” Brett said so loudly, Jake dropped the
cup of milk he was drinking, spilling the liquid on the table.
Brett let the milk flow over the table edge and on the floor.
“Susan Green didn’t say anything about Korean Child Welfare not
allowing me to adopt Jake. Are you telling me I can’t?” he
demanded.

Molly bit her bottom lip and forced herself to
meet his gaze. He was leaning back in the chair now with his arms
crossed and his mouth frozen in a straight line, the light from the
window defining the sharp planes of his face. “No, not
necessarily,” she answered cautiously, not wanting to cause him any
more pain.

Jake slapped his hands in the puddle of milk,
catching Brett with a splash to the cheek. “Let me clean Jake up
and put him in for his nap, then we can talk.” Without waiting for
a reply, he picked up Jake and took him upstairs.

She wasn’t handling this well. Reading the
adoption file again to get a better handle on the situation, she
saw that the home study update box on the new application was
checked. What had Susan Green been thinking? She must have told
Brett all he had to do is update Kate and David’s home
study.

Molly couldn’t even be certain
Korean Child Welfare would accept a new application from Brett. The
agency
was
considering changing its policy on single-parent adoptions,
but, even if the change were approved, it probably wouldn’t go into
effect until next year.

Maybe it would be for the best if Korean Child
Welfare wouldn’t take Brett’s application. She had reservations
about Brett—or anyone—taking on single parenthood. Brett’s
footsteps on the stairs warned her of his return.

Giving him a conciliatory smile when he
hesitated in the kitchen doorway, she said, “I really am sorry.
I’ll try to make this as easy on you as possible.”

“It’s no problem,” he said tightly. He closed
the distance to the table in two long strides and sat
down.

“Susan hasn’t handled your case exactly
according to procedures. It appears she may have told you we only
needed to update your sister’s home study and then we could proceed
with the adoption.”

Brett nodded, his lips pressed together in a
thin smile.

“And that Jake could stay with you while we
and Korean Child Welfare processed the update.”

He nodded again, his smile becoming a flat
line.

Molly’s throat tightened. She forced the words
out. “Then Susan didn’t tell you that at your sister’s death, Jake
became a ward of Thayer House, that you don’t have legal
custody.”

“Not exactly, he said, the muscle in his jaw
beginning to work again. “She said something about technicalities.
I don’t know. I wasn’t in that great a shape, you know, with Kate
gone and Jake and all.” He pushed his hand though his
hair.

Molly imagined Brett had had a hard time. It
wasn’t as if he’d planned on becoming a parent or losing his
sister. And unfortunately, what she had to tell him next wasn’t
going to be easy. “Brett, there’s a chance—a small one—that Korean
Child Welfare could direct Thayer House to reassume custody of Jake
while we try to work things out.”

He pushed away from the table, clenching the
edge. “I see.”

“I’m not sure you do.” Uncharacteristically,
she touched his hand in sympathy. “I want to check on a few things
before we go any further. Korean Child Welfare can be very rigid in
how they require us to apply their regulations. I’ll get right back
to you later today or tomorrow morning.”

He pulled his hand away from hers, got up, and
paced the kitchen. “Neither you nor anyone else is going to take
Jake away from me.”

She should say something more, give him some
reassurance, but instead she sat, her gaze locked with his, until a
wail from upstairs broke the silence. He turned and hurried
upstairs.

“Go ahead,” she said to his back. “I’ll let
myself out.”

Chapter Three

Molly hated what she had to do. She liked
Brett Cahill, his quick smile, and the ease with which he'd handled
each little disaster that had plagued the home visit. A child would
be lucky to have Brett as a father. That was why she hated what she
had to do.

But the adoption requirements were clear.
Korean Child Welfare allowed infants to be adopted only by couples
who had been married three years or longer. She’d doubled checked
as soon as she got back to the office. The requirements for older,
harder-to-place children were more relaxed and, after the first of
the year, chances were good that Korean Child Welfare would let
single people apply to adopt infants. For the time being, though,
Brett wasn’t eligible to adopt Jake.

Molly took her glasses off and rubbed her
brow. In a worst-case scenario, Jake would have to be placed in
foster care for a while and listed as one of Thayer House’s
available children. The thought bothered her, more than it should.
She was just doing her job.

 “
Problems?”

She jerked her head up to see Charles entering
the office. “Yes . . . no . . .”

“Well, which is it?” Charles asked.

“Both,” she answered.

Now, it was Charles’ turn to frown. “What’s
wrong?”

“Brett Cahill isn’t married.”

“Go for it, friend,” he teased.

“Get serious,” Molly said. After
this afternoon, Brett surely saw her as an adversary Not that
he
should
see her
in a romantic light, but she’d hoped they could work together on
friendlier terms.

“Okay, relax. But you knew Brett wasn’t
married.”

“Yeah, but what I didn’t know was what he
didn’t know.”

“Girl, you’re not making any
sense.”

No, she wasn’t making sense, but it didn’t
make sense to her that an experienced caseworker like Susan had let
Brett believe his adopting Jake would be a simple matter. Molly
pushed the file folder away and slumped in her chair. “This case is
a mess. I can’t understand why it was assigned to me, rather than
someone else with more experience, like you,” she challenged
Charles.

“Hey I had nothing to do with it. Maybe it’s
trial by fire to see what you can do.”

“Wonderful!” Molly raised her hands in defeat.
“All I know is that no matter what Susan told him, Brett Cahill
isn’t eligible to adopt Jake now. Korean Child Welfare very
specifically requires its adoptive parents to be married for at
least three years when they make the application.”

“I’m with Susan,” Charles said. “Give the guy
a break. You know we’re expecting KCW to issue new requirements
giving its American agencies the discretion to approve adoptions by
single people.”

“I want to, but I have some reservations. The
new regulations won’t take effect for another three months, if they
do at all. What if the director assigned me this case as some sort
of test to see if I can handle the job, and I start off by
flaunting the regulations? How would that look?”

“You have a point,” Charles
conceded.

Molly chewed her pen top. “Susan should have
started proceedings for Thayer House to resume custody of Jake as
soon as Brett notified her of his sister’s death,” she said as much
to herself as to Charles.

“What are you going to do?” he
asked.

Molly looked at Charles. He did
like to play devil’s advocate with her. She knew what she had to
do, but it wouldn’t hurt to hear his opinion. “What do
you
think?” she
asked.

“I think you should cut the guy some slack and
begin processing the new application. By the time you finish the
new home study, you should be able to file the application under
the new requirements. Case closed.”

“But what about the baby?”

“What about him?” Charles asked.

She answered, “Leaving him with Brett is
against Korean Child Welfare’s regulations. Taking him from Brett
could be difficult.” What an understatement. She shuddered,
remembering Brett’s vow to keep Jake at all costs. “And placing
Jake in temporary foster care and, then, back with Brett if his
adoption is approved could traumatize the child. He won’t know
where he belongs.”

“It’s within our power to name Brett as a
temporary foster parent while we try to place the baby with him or
elsewhere,” Charles suggested.

“I wonder if he could get certification as a
foster parent,” she said, leaning her forearms on the desk, hands
clasped. “He’s juggling a business and childcare with no one to
help him. No matter how hard he tries to be a good parent, it’s not
the best situation for a young child.”

“Girl, you just described the situation of
most single parents in America.”

“Exactly. It’s not the best situation for a
young child,” she said firmly, her look daring him to contradict
her.

Charles looked right back. “Hey, it’s your
case. I’ll support your decision, but I’m going to give you a
couple of warnings. First, keep your personal feelings out of
it.”

Molly started to interrupt, bracing herself
for the lecture she knew was coming. Charles’ voice had taken on
his camp counselor, big brother tone.

“No, I’m not finished. I know your feelings
about single parents.”

She nodded. If anyone knew her feelings on
this subject, it was Charles. They’d been over it a million times.
But Molly couldn’t help relating single parent homes to her lonely
childhood and her neglectful mother. Kids deserved a real home, a
family with a mom and a dad and love. Molly knew her unstable
childhood was half the reason she wanted to buy her condo so
desperately. For the home she didn’t have as a child.

He waved a finger at her. “Keep those feelings
out of this case. If you can’t, let me know and I’ll ask the
director to reassign it. We deal with people here. Our rules and
regulations are meant to serve those people, not the other way
around.”

Molly bit her lower lip. She hated to provoke
Charles, or anyone for that matter, and she certainly didn’t want
to jeopardize her job or their friendship.

Attempting a conciliatory smile, she said,
“I’ll do everything possible to make sure Jake is placed
permanently in the best home situation for him. If Brett Cahill’s
home is the best place for Jake, that’s where I’ll place him. But,
Charles, I’m going to do it by the book. You know that’s how I
am.”