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He was thirty-six. She was in her early thirties. What did it matter if she’d messed up in college over a decade before?
He wasn’t interested in the college-age Josie. He was falling for the woman he saw now—the beautiful, kind and faith-filled woman who seemed perfect with Addie, and maybe—just maybe—perfect for him.
He left the phone alone, took his own shower and went to bed.
Carly Moore was a top-notch IT person in the Central New York area. The team she brought on board planned their work and worked their plan, top flight.
But he didn’t need her snippy innuendo or rolled shoulders to influence his choices. And unless he flipped his life upside down, his choices lay many miles south.
But when he closed his eyes, it wasn’t job opportunities that crossed his mind as it used to be. It was a hazel-eyed, tawny-skinned woman with long, thick, dark hair. A woman who seemed at peace with God, his daughter and running a top-notch business. A woman with enough strength to be admired, and enough warmth to draw him closer.
“As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters.” The quote from the Song of Solomon tweaked him.
Josie never spoke ill of others. She worked quietly and carefully, with a winning nature, but stood strong when things hadn’t gone her way.
Wild child…
The phrase irritated him, but what irked him more was that now that it had been spoken, he couldn’t get it out of his head, and that was the biggest bother of all.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Josie saw the unfamiliar number in her phone and answered the call as she double-checked the smoker on grand opening morning.
Excitement warred with nerves, and she was happy to be behind the scenes, controlling what she did best, the flow of great food at reasonable prices. She’d never planned on being part of a larger whole; she’d been fine on her own. But that all changed last winter, and here she was, part of the grand resort, a new beginning. “Josie Gallagher speaking.”
“Miss Gallagher, this is Keshia Holmes from Sweet Hope Adoptions in Greenville.”
No.
She couldn’t do this now. She couldn’t reasonably listen to what Ms. Holmes had to say in the middle of opening-day crazy. “Ms. Holmes, this isn’t a good time. I’m at work and there’s no time to go into this right now.”
“I assumed that, because you haven’t returned my calls or answered the phone when I used a marked agency phone.”
“Ms. Holmes—”
“I understand this is hard,” the woman pressed on. “The entire agency understands the difficulty in this most unfortunate turn of events, and we want you to know that while we assume no responsibility for the dishonest actions of others, we realize this situation has created an unforeseen predicament.”
Unforeseen? Did she really just say that?
Josie’s pulse sped up. “What you’re calling unforeseen was seen clearly by others. Relatives and friends. So I’m not sure your choice of words is accurate, Ms. Holmes.”
“Of course the home study was done to our usual thorough standards, as was the county home study,” the woman continued.
Rule number one: Don’t throw bad facts at a really mad mama. “Brewer County’s human services has been complaining about being underfunded and understaffed for a decade, and those are only the formal complaints I’ve been able to find online, so I don’t think your argument about the home study will prove satisfactory. It clearly wasn’t done well enough, and I’d have more respect for you if you simply admitted that. When the people in charge are willing to brush off ineptitude and/or misconduct, how can your clients have faith in the system? I put my trust in you to screen potential parents properly. Now I’m wondering if you didn’t just put out feelers for a socially acceptable appearance or for a couple who was willing to pay the highest price.”
“Miss Gallagher, I assure you, that wasn’t the case and I’ve gone through the files personally.”
Josie wanted to scream.
She didn’t. She took a breath, thought about what Cruz had told her, and changed her tone. “Ms. Holmes, here’s the situation as I see it. Your agency didn’t do the job to the best of its ability. You can contest that, you can argue the point, but from our end, that’s a fact. You allowed a fraudulent couple to sneak through the system. Having said that, during our current conversation you’ve referred to this matter as a situation and a predicament.”
