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“I agree, but that’s not the current issue. His problem now is he and Olivia are getting temporary custody of the kids for two weeks, starting Sunday.”
“And it’s a problem because they’re not married yet?”
“No. It’s a problem because Olivia is supposed to go with us on the big ski trip starting next weekend.”
“Oh... that’s right. So she can’t go?”
Steven smiled. “I hope you don’t mind, but I offered for Josh and the kids to come with us.”
“That would be fun. Micah and Ellis will have a playmate. Is there enough room in the house?”
“It’ll be a little tight, but we’ll make do. He also needed to find a nanny, pronto. So I gave him the number for our agency.”
“And maybe the little girl could come here in an emergency. I’m sure Heidi could handle a third.”
“Yes, but Heidi’s off until after the first of the year, so that would mean Charlie would be watching her. Are you up to some kind of matchmaking scheme again?”
“Who, me? Matchmaking?” Anne blinked her eyes in a parody of innocence, continuing with an exaggerated Southern drawl, her hand pressed over her heart. “Why, I would nev-ah do such a thing!”
Steven’s mouth twisted as he attempted a stern look while obviously trying not to laugh. “Seriously, Anne. Don’t start meddling.”
“I’m just kidding. I think it would be kind of hard on Charlie, even though she swears she doesn’t have any feelings for Josh. Hopefully, he won’t have a nanny-emergency until Heidi comes back.”
He looked unconvinced, but Anne could hardly be offended by his skepticism, since she had a rather colorful track record.
“When will he get final custody?” She tried to change the subject.
“I’m not sure. He said the hearing is scheduled for February.” Steven raised his eyebrows. “So his plan is to be married by then.”
“Are you kidding? He’s planning to marry Olivia by February?”
“Yes, but she hasn’t agreed to do it. Listen... He also wants us to help talk her into it.”
“I don’t know if I can do that. Did you tell him we would?”
“I told him we’d talk about it. And I told him at least we wouldn’t try to discourage her. Is that fair?”
“But this seems like a terrible idea for Olivia. I don’t see how she couldn’t get hurt, unless there’s a chance they might really love each other.”
Steven grimaced. “I don’t think it’s a love match. He’s offering to pay for her medical school in exchange for a year of marriage, with an annulment at the end.”
Anne groaned. “Oh, no. Isn’t there something you c
an do? Can’t you somehow fix this thing so he can adopt the kids without being married?”
He rolled his eyes. “Contrary to popular belief, you can’t fix everything by throwing money at it. But I’m going to meet with him to talk more. He could adopt both kids without being married, except he’s got competition for the little girl. His sister’s in-laws want to adopt Chloe. I think he should try to talk to them, but he’s really angry they don’t want the boy.”
“Why would they only take the girl? I can’t believe they’d want to separate the kids.”
“Evidently, the boy has a different father. So they only want custody of their son’s daughter. But I think it’s possible they’ll listen to reason, if Josh can control his temper with them.”
“It would be so much better if Josh could just adopt them on his own, without involving Olivia.” Anne looked up through her lashes and batted her eyes at Steven, pooching out her lower lip. “Are you sure we can’t tell anyone? I think Emily and Charlie—”
“That’s not going to work. The answer is no. I promised we wouldn’t talk about it.”
“He’ll have to say something to explain things when we go on the ski trip. Right?”
“That’s his problem. He can explain it when the time comes, or he could decide to tell everyone the truth tomorrow. But we’re leaving that decision to him.” He gripped her hand, pausing until she gave him her full attention. “Anne, are we in agreement? We only have permission to help persuade Olivia to marry Josh. So other than that, you’re not to interfere.”
