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“Why are looking at me like that? You want me again already, don’t you?”
Lucy giggled and said, “It’s hard not to want you when you look like that.”
Jamie put down his coffee, walked up to her, set his hands on her waist, and pulled her against him. “Well, I know I said one night together, but what I really meant was last night and this morning until we both have to leave…” He kissed her, deeply and passionately, clearly with the intent of appeasing a different kind of hunger before breakfast came.
But then Lucy’s phone rang.
Lucy broke the kiss and Jamie groaned. “Don’t answer it. That’s what voicemail is for.”
“I just left a message asking about the baby. If I don’t take this call, they might not call back.”
He leaned his forehead against hers, took a deep breath, then slowly let her go.
She brought the phone to her ear. “Hello?”
“Hello, is this Ms. Lucy Conrad?” a smooth, male voice asked.
Great, I made Jamie stop kissing me for a telemarketer, she thought.
“Yes, but if you’re selling something…”
“No, Ms. Conrad, I’m not a salesman. I’m an attorney.”
“An attorney?” she repeated. Her gaze met Jamie’s.
“Yes. Daniel Cummings. I’m calling on behalf of Diana Lancaster Norton. She said you just left her a message and she’d prefer you not contact her directly any longer.”
“I was contacting her about Milly,” she explained. “My niece.”
“I’m aware of who Milly is, Ms. Conrad. But given the circumstances, it really is best if you work through your attorney where Milly is concerned.”
“Circumstances? I don’t understand.”
Her answer was met with brief silence. “Ms. Conrad, have you talked to your parents since yesterday?”
“No, I haven’t. I don’t speak with my parents, Mr. Cummings.”
“Oh, dear.” He took an audible breath. “Well, they gave me your home number and I left a message there. I didn’t have your cell phone number until Diana gave it to me just now.”
“My father had my cell phone number,” she said.
Mr. Cummings cleared his throat. “I see. Well, anyway, your sister Gail and her husband named you legal guardian of Milly should something happen to one of them.”
“Wh—what?” Lucy breathed.
She felt Jamie’s hand on her shoulder and experienced a sense of déjà vu. He’d done the same thing back in California, when she’d first gotten the phone call about Gail’s accident. He’d unhesitatingly stood beside her and offered her comfort. And just like then, she took it, leaning her weight into his.
She couldn’t believe it. Gail and Mason had named her guardian of their baby?
“You can reject guardianship, of course, but I drew up the paperwork with your sister myself. She wanted you to raise Camilla in the event that they couldn’t.”
Lucy’s head was spinning. Her…raise a kid? Had her sister and Mason lost their minds before the accident? She couldn’t imagine what they’d been thinking….
But of course she didn’t say any of that to the lawyer.
Instead she said, “No. No, of course I’m not rejecting guardianship.” At least not yet, she thought. Maybe not ever. But she needed time to think. What did she know about raising a child? “Mr. Cummings, this has come as a shock. I need—need some time to think.”
“Of course. I assumed you had an attorney of your own, but if you don’t, as your sister’s representative, I’ll be happy to help you. Your sister was adamant that she wanted Milly with you. Unfortunately though, there is an issue….”
