“You’ve been talking to Susie,” she concluded.
“Actually I was talking to my brother. Jeff told me Susie has been showing you properties and that you’ve already applied for a license. What sort of nonsense is going on in that head of yours? Why didn’t you discuss this cockamamy plan with me before you dived in?”
Carrie dropped the cookie sheet onto the table with a clatter she hoped would be a hint of just how annoyed she was. Naturally her grandfather was oblivious. She’d expected this reaction from him, but that didn’t keep it from hurting.
“You’re an O’Brien,” he declared. “You’re meant to be doing great things, not babysitting other people’s children.”
“Even if some of those children are O’Briens?”
He scowled at her. “There are plenty of people in this family to look out for our own. Not a one of them needs to be in some impersonal day care.”
“So now I’m providing impersonal care?” she challenged.
“You know what I mean,” he said.
“Actually I do. You mean that I’m letting you down yet again. You didn’t approve of it when I was in Europe working in fashion. Then you were disappointed in me for quitting that job and coming back here. You were thoroughly frustrated when I didn’t jump on the bandwagon and take up Caitlyn’s favorite cause in Africa. Sorry, Grandpa Mick, I guess I’m just destined to be a huge failure in your eyes.”
As her heated words and the tears stinging her eyes registered with him, he looked stunned. “I never said any such thing.”
“Didn’t you? Worse, you just referred to something I’m truly excited about as a cockamamy idea.”
“Carrie, sweetheart, all I want is for you to be happy.”
“And I think this will make me happy,” she told him, swiping angrily at her tears. “I really do. I love kids. Right now I don’t see any children of my own in my immediate future, so this works for me. I’m good with kids. Ask anyone.”
“Well, of course you are. I’ve seen you at the house reading stories and playing games with all your little cousins. You’ve a gift, no question about it,” he said, clearly backpedaling as fast as he could.
His expression turned thoughtful. “Seems to me, though, what you really need is a man and a houseful of kids of your own.”
Carrie gave him a horrified look. “Do not get any ideas about matchmaking, Grandpa Mick. I mean it. Right now I need to focus on this new business. I want to do it right. When it’s up and running and such a huge success that even you will be impressed, then I’ll think about my social life. And when that day comes, I want you to remember that I’m perfectly capable of finding the right man without any help from you.”
Her grandfather didn’t appear impressed by her declaration. “Are you, now? Is there one lurking about I’ve not seen? That Sam Winslow fellow, perhaps?”
“Leave Sam out of this. There are lots of men lurking about, as you put it,” she said, silently begging forgiveness for the blatant lie. “Everywhere I turn, in fact.”
“Then you’ll be bringing one to Sunday dinner, I imagine,” he said.
Check and checkmate, she thought with a resigned sigh. “Sure,” she said, wondering who she might draft for the assignment. It needed to be somebody tough enough to withstand Mick’s scrutiny and willing to play the game for a few hours on a Sunday afternoon.
Because his name had just come up and because an image of Sam popped into her head all too regularly, she considered him as a possibility. Bad idea, she told herself. Then again, at least he would come away with a decent meal and some new friends for his little boy.
She wouldn’t go looking for him, but if they crossed paths between now and Sunday, what was the harm in asking?
She glanced up to find her grandfather munching on a warm chocolate-chip cookie and regarding her suspiciously.
“You aren’t thinking of trying to put one over on me, are you?” he asked.
She mustered her most innocent expression. Given the number of times she’d been called upon to use it with this very man, she had it down pat. “Absolutely not,” she told him.
He gave a little nod of satisfaction. “Then I’ll see you on Sunday.”
He picked up another couple of cookies and left through the kitchen door. Carrie sighed heavily. That gave her exactly three days to find the man of her dreams...or at least someone willing to play the role.
14
On Saturday Sam stood just inside the front door of the little house on Willow Brook Road as Bobby raced through the rooms, the sound of his footsteps on the shiny hardwood floors echoing in the empty space.