A Precious Gift. Karen Smith RoseЧитать онлайн книгу.
She’s been waitressing, but her blood pressure’s elevated. She has to slow down for her health as well as the baby’s. I gave her several portfolios to examine. She chose yours and that’s why I’m calling. As you know, the adopting couple often pays for the medical expenses for the mother of the child they’re going to adopt, and it would be true in Lisa’s case. We also need a couple who is willing to take her in until the baby’s born. Would you consider doing that?”
“I don’t know.” Carrie cast a worried glance at Brian. “We’d definitely be able to adopt?”
There was a short pause. “While Lisa is living with you, she could determine whether you and your husband are her choice to adopt her baby.”
“I see.”
“This isn’t as irregular as it seems, Mrs. Summers. All types of arrangements can be negotiated between mothers giving up their children and the adoptive parents. Do you think you’d be interested?”
Carrie was more than interested. For years she’d acted as a second mother to her three sisters, and she missed taking care of someone. Since she’d stopped modeling, she’d become more involved in volunteer work but there was still a hole in her life that needed to be filled. That hole had grown bigger since Brian’s success took him away from home more and more. Taking care of this teenager could fill some of the emptiness. It could also lead to the end result of becoming a mother.
“I have to talk to my husband about this. We’re on our way to the airport. How soon must I give you a decision?”
“As soon as possible. Lisa’s gone back to the shelter, but we’d like to get her out of there.”
“I’ll talk to Brian now and get back to you.”
“That was Children’s Connection?” he asked, sounding wary as Carrie replaced the cordless phone on its stand.
“Yes, it was Trina. We could have a baby in less than a month!” She couldn’t keep the excitement from her voice. “An eighteen-year-old unwed mother, Lisa Sanders, is living in a shelter and needs a place to stay until she has her baby. She’s chosen us as a possible couple. Isn’t that wonderful?”
His expression and demeanor said that wasn’t his assessment of the situation. “Let me get this straight. A teenager who’s homeless wants to give up her baby. What do you know about her?”
“Not much…yet. But she doesn’t have anywhere to go, Brian.”
“We don’t know where she came from or what she’s been doing. We can’t just bring a stranger into the house.”
“Why not?”
Now he looked at her as if she’d totally lost her mind. “Because she might not be honest, she might do drugs, she might steal. Why is she on the streets? Why is she homeless? You can’t make a decision like this without having the right information.” He checked his watch. “And I don’t have time to get it now. We have a flight to catch.”
Ever since they were married, Carrie had supported Brian’s career. She loved him. If it was in her power, she’d do anything to make him happy. That had included giving up modeling and being available when he needed her. Since she’d learned she couldn’t have children, and since she hadn’t told Brian the real reason, guilt had kept her quiet about his long hours and his reticence to adopt a child as well as about how lonely she was. Now, however, she could envision laughter filling this big house. They had so much…and she’d love to help a young girl in need, not just with a roof over her head, but with emotional support. Carrie remembered how desperately she’d needed that after the rape, after her abortion, after her world had fallen to pieces all around her.
“I want to meet her, Brian.”
“I guess that will have to wait until we get back from San Francisco. Maybe you can make an appointment for Friday.”
“She’s homeless now. She needs a place to stay now.”
His brows drew together at her unexpectedly adamant tone. “I can’t cancel this trip.”
“I’m not asking you to cancel it, but I don’t have to go with you. If I call Brenda and explain, I know she’ll understand. I can see her another time. I can go meet Lisa today.”
“I was counting on you to be at dinner tonight.”
“Is that really necessary? Isn’t adopting a baby more important than showing me off to one of your clients?” As soon as the words were out, she couldn’t believe she’d said them.
“That’s the way you feel about coming to dinner with me?”
Except for keeping her secret, she’d always been honest with Brian and she knew she had to be now. “Sometimes that’s the way I feel. Don’t you see, Brian, that I need to be more than a wife who was once a model, more than a wife who can facilitate conversation and give great parties?”
Her attitude seemed to baffle him. “You picked a great time to bring this up.”
“I’m sorry. I know you have to leave.”
“You’re not coming with me?”
“No. I want to meet this girl. There’s a possibility we could adopt her child, and I want to talk to her today. I don’t want to miss this opportunity. I don’t want us to miss this opportunity.”
Frustration creased his brow. “Fine. You stay. I’ll get your suitcase from the car.”
When he turned to go, she clasped his arm. “You do still want to adopt, don’t you?”
“I want a child, Carrie. That doesn’t mean I want a girl from the streets living here with us to accomplish that.”
When Carrie released her husband’s arm, he strode away.
Why had she said what she had? Why couldn’t she let the meeting wait until Friday?
Because she felt as if a gulf was widening between her and Brian and if she didn’t do something quickly, the distance between them could become permanent.
The instant Carrie laid eyes on Lisa Sanders a few hours later, she thought about catching the next flight to San Francisco and spending the day as she’d first intended. After introducing them to each other, Trina had left them alone.
Lisa was sitting in a chair in front of Trina’s desk. Her hair was short and spiky, half red and half blond. Three earrings decorated both ears. There was a peace sign tattooed on her right wrist and an upside-down mermaid on her left arm. An oversized green T-shirt covered her belly and drooped over her jeans. Her pretty heart-shaped face was marred by green eyeshadow and purple lipstick. Carrie had spotted defiance in her big green eyes as soon as she’d walked into Trina’s office.
Carrie knew what it felt like to be alone and lost and adrift without an anchor. She saw Lisa studying everything about her from her hair to her shoes. All she could do with this teenager was to be herself and hope it was enough.
Sitting across from Lisa in a matching chair, she opened conversation with, “I understand you’re looking for a couple to adopt your baby.”
The teenager’s eyes widened as if she hadn’t expected Carrie to be so forthright. Out of the blue she commented, “You’re pretty. You used to be a model?”
From everything in her and Brian’s file, she hadn’t expected Lisa to ask her about that. “I used to be.”
“Were you a runway model?”
“At the beginning. Then I was offered a contract with Modern Woman Cosmetics.”
“Were you on TV?”
“Yes, I was.”
“Wow. You really made it, then. Why’d you stop?”
“I got married. We wanted to have a family and modeling didn’t fit into that.”
“Your