“No, just a sudden awareness that there’s more than one way to approach those priorities. Family will always be first for me, with a fulfilling career a close second. If you study my family, you’ll discover that most of them have achieved a balance between those two things, even if it took a few of them a little longer than it did others.”
“I never gave much thought to having a family,” Sam said, drawing a shocked look. “I know that must be strange to an O’Brien, but my family was very different from yours. Laurel and I were fairly close as kids, but we’ve had our differences as adults.”
“But your sister left you custody of her son. That must mean she trusted you.”
“There was no one else,” he replied simply. “I was the default guy. I know she believed I’d do right by Bobby. So did Robert. But if they’d had any other viable option, they probably would have taken it. Robert’s parents are around, but they’re older and a little too set in their ways for the chaos a kid Bobby’s age would bring into their lives. They did talk to a lawyer about fighting me for custody, but I think they were relieved when he advised them they were unlikely to win.”
“Will they continue to be a part of his life?”
“Of course, if they want to be. I’ll take him to visit or invite them here. I can see the value of Bobby knowing I’m not the only family he has.”
“Now that you’ve had some time, how do you feel about becoming a dad overnight?”
“It’s an adjustment,” he admitted. “I was a pretty carefree guy. Now I have no choice but to think of someone other than myself. Fortunately Bobby’s a terrific kid. I think we’re going to do okay. It may be rocky from time to time while I find my way, but there’s nothing like a kid to keep a guy honest.”
He smiled at her. “You’ve been doing that, too. I don’t want to let either of you down. That’s a scary prospect, because I know sooner or later I will. Until this happened, I’d led a pretty selfish existence, doing whatever appealed to me, taking off at a moment’s notice if something that sounded exciting came up. Those days are done.”
He was surprised to realize that he no longer regretted that the way he had when he’d first grasped all the changes he was going to have to make to life as he’d known it.
“As long as you’re doing the best you can, you won’t let either of us down,” Carrie assured him.
Her confidence, especially given their rocky first meeting, meant a lot. “I’ve already made mistakes, as you can attest.”
“Find me one human being who hasn’t,” she countered. “Or one parent who hasn’t made a boatload of them. My grandparents, the ultimate role models for a family matriarch and patriarch now, made some doozies. I’ll fill you in sometime. Mistakes are part of life. It’s what you do to fix things that really matters.”
“I’m going to remind you of that next time you’re scolding me for the error of my ways.”
“I vowed to give you gentle advice, not scoldings, remember?”
Sam touched her hand to make sure he had her full attention. “I think I might miss the fire in your eyes when you’re telling me I’ve gotten it all wrong.”
She glanced up at his words and he met her gaze.
“There’s something about a redhead with a full head of steam that gets to me,” he said. “Makes me want to discover what else she might be so passionate about.”
“I guess we’ll see, won’t we?” she said, a telling hitch in her voice.
For the first time since they’d begun this dance, Sam was starting to believe they might get the steps just right.
“This house is amazing,” Lucy enthused as she walked from room to room in the property Carrie was hoping to turn into her day-care center.
“Lucy’s right,” Julie added. “The open concept is very workable for keeping an eye on the kids from anyplace you happen to be, yet it’s easily divided into activity areas.”
“Then you think it will work?” Carrie said, excited by their enthusiasm. She’d been holding her breath awaiting their reaction. If they approved, she was ready to move forward first thing Monday morning. Connor was on standby to close the deal. She knew even then she’d be weeks, if not months, away from opening, but owning the right property would make the dream feel real. She’d have something concrete to show for all the steps she’d taken in this new direction.
“Not a doubt in my mind,” Julie said. She handed over a few pages from a notebook she’d been writing in since she’d arrived. “Notes on things you’ll need to address to bring it up to code for a day-care center. An inspector might have more, but this should cover most of it. When are you thinking of opening?”