“So when she found out Tanya was pregnant, she paid her off to keep her away from you,” she said.

He nodded. “If I’d known she was pregnant, I would have put the divorce on hold, at least until the baby was born.” He frowned. “A baby. I still can’t believe it.”

“She’s not a baby anymore.”

“You have that right.” He straightened. “So what do I do with her? Are you sure she’s not old enough to be left alone while I’m at work?”

Francesca shook her head. “She’s certainly capable of taking care of herself for a few hours, but I wouldn’t leave her in the house by herself all day. She’s into ballet. That gives you a place to start.”

“That’s right. She mentioned a school or a class. That will fill some time. Then what?”

“Then you get to know her.”

“But what does she eat? How much? What about clothes? She wants a DVD player. Should I buy her one?”

She held up a hand. “You can’t solve all the problems at once. Having a child dropped in your lap with no warning is going to offer some logistical challenges. Take them one at a time.”

He grinned. “Logistical challenges? Is that the professional term for this?”

“Yes, and I hope you appreciate that I’m volunteering all this information for free. I’m a highly paid professional.” She smiled. “Well, I will be in about eighteen months.”

He shifted so he was facing her. After setting his glass on the coffee table, he stretched out his arm along the back of the sofa and touched her shoulder.

“You’re being great. I appreciate it.”

“I told you, I don’t mind helping.”

What she didn’t tell him was the way he’d handled the entire situation had made her like him more. He wasn’t just a pretty face and great in bed. He could have gone ballistic when Kelly showed up. Instead he’d remained relatively calm. Despite the shock he had to be feeling, he was planning things through, worrying about his daughter, and not blaming anyone.

He leaned forward and kissed her. His mouth was warm, firm, and tender, but not passionate. Francesca understood. Having an unexpected child show up had a way of changing the flow of a date.

“I don’t have much going on over the next few days,” she told him. “I should be working on the outline for my dissertation, but I’m practicing creative avoidance instead. Would you like me to come over tomorrow morning and help out with things?”

He hesitated. “You have no idea how much I want to say yes. But this isn’t your problem.”

“You’re right. It’s yours. So? Do you really want to do this all on your own?”

“No way. But we had that definition of great sex and no complications.”

“I’ll make an exception this one time.” She looked into his eyes. “I mean it, Sam.”

“Then I’ll stop pushing back and say thank you.” He glanced at his watch, then shook his head. “I can’t make any arrangements tonight, so I guess I won’t be going into work tomorrow.” He touched her face. “If you wouldn’t mind coming over, that would be great. At least then there will be two of us on the side of the grown-ups. You think that will make things even?”

Francesca thought about Kelly’s precocious sophistication. “She’ll probably still outthink us, but at least we can band together.”

He chuckled. “You’re terrific. Thanks for all of this.”

His words made her feel warm inside. Sort of melty and squishy. Good thing she’d sworn off romantic entanglements years ago, or she could be in real danger here.

She rose. “I’m going to head home. We’re both going to need our rest for tomorrow.”

He stood. “When we face the terror of the preteen?”

“Exactly. Just remember. You’re the adult.”

“Oh, I know that. Kelly’s the one we have to convince.”

“You sure she’s not dead?” Gabriel asked as he leaned back in the kitchen chair. “It’s after nine. Maybe you should check on her.”

Sam didn’t think Kelly had passed away in the night. He doubted he’d been lucky enough that she’d run away. Of course, her leaving would be only a temporary reprieve. He would be forced to find her and drag her back. Not exactly how he wanted to start his day.

“I’ll give her another half hour, then go check on her.”

Gabriel shrugged. “She’s your daughter.”

Sam still hadn’t made peace with that concept. A child. It didn’t seem right. Not after all this time. And from what he’d seen of Kelly, she wasn’t exactly the kid he would have chosen.

“What are you going to do with her?” his grandfather asked.

Sam glanced out the large window over the sink. “Hell if I know. Get her settled. She wants to take some ballet classes.”

“What about carting her around? She can’t drive. You’re going to have to hire someone.”

“I know.” He’d already spent some time on the phone, but professional day care for preteens was sadly lacking. “The nannies all want to work with little kids and babies. I have a few people checking. They’re supposed to get back to me.”

His grandfather picked up his coffee mug. “Tanya’s a bitch.”

“Tell me about it.”

After Francesca had left the previous evening, Sam had called his grandfather to tell him what had happened. Gabriel had been furious at the deception, but not surprised. He’d shown up bright and early to examine his great-granddaughter, but Kelly had yet to make an appearance.

“At least the kid isn’t an idiot,” Gabriel said. “It took brains for her to travel all this way herself. You should be proud.”

“Uh-huh.” Sam was trying not to say much until Gabriel had met Kelly. Maybe she would be better this morning. Maybe last night’s demands and attitude had been more about being tired than anything else.

Unlikely, he thought grimly. Very unlikely.

“Whatever happens, I’m taking responsibility for her,” he said.

“You make me sound like a dog you brought home,” Kelly said as she breezed in the kitchen. “Do I get my own leash and water bowl, too?”

So much for a good night’s sleep improving things, Sam told himself.

“Good morning,” he said. “Gabriel, this is my daughter, Kelly. Kelly, this is your great-grandfather Gabriel.”

The old man looked her over. Sam saw she’d pulled on the same low-rise jeans and yet another abbreviated T-shirt. This one was green, tight, and proclaimed “Girls Rule.” She was barefoot. Her toes were painted, her skin pale.

Kelly tucked several curls behind her ears as she walked past them and headed for the refrigerator. “Whatever. So is there anything for breakfast?”

Sam’s temper boiled, but before he could say anything, Gabriel pounded his cane on the tiled kitchen floor. Kelly jumped.

“What?” she demanded.

“You should lock this one up until she learns some manners,” he said.

Kelly planted her hands on her hips. “We’re not in that century anymore.”

Gabriel’s eyes narrowed. “You didn’t say she was a smart-mouth, Sam. She got that from her mother.”

Kelly rolled her eyes. “Are we done? Can I eat now?”

“I don’t know,” Gabriel said. “Can you?”

Kelly stared at him as if he’d started speaking Russian.

Sam sighed. “May I eat now,” he told her. “Can is ability. May is permission.”

“Oh. You’re one of those.” She turned back to the refrigerator and muttered something about “weird old men.”

“You have a lot of freckles,” Gabriel said.

“Gee, thanks,” Kelly said. “Because until this moment I hadn’t been sure. I kept scrubbing my face, but they wouldn’t come off. Freckles. Who knew?”

Gabriel scowled. “Can we send her back?”

I wish, Sam thought. “We all need time to adjust.”

Kelly shut the refrigerator. “I’d rather be back in New York. Tell you what, Grandpa. Just set me up in an apartment and I’ll be fine. I’ll go to school, then my ballet classes, and you won’t even have to remember that you ever met me.”

Gabriel grumbled something under his breath. Sam wondered if he was doing the math to figure out how much it would cost him.

“You’re not going back to New York,” Sam told her. “It’s been less than twenty-four hours. Why don’t we back off for a few days.”

Kelly scowled. “Tell him to back off.” She walked to the pantry. “What did the ballet teacher say when you spoke with her?”

“I haven’t.”

Kelly turned on him. “What? I asked you to do one thing. Just one. Not twenty, not even five. And you couldn’t do it. Why? Is this just to torture me or do you have a reason?”

“I’ve been busy.”

“With things that are important to you. Not with things that are important to me.”

Sam gripped his coffee mug so tightly, he thought he might snap it in two. His first instinct was to send Kelly to her room and ground her for life. Not that he knew what terms would be considered grounding. Locking her up sounded pretty damn good, though.

He thought about telling her she’d just lost her chance at ever attending a ballet class, but quickly reconsidered. Getting her out of the house for a few hours a day could be a blessing for both of them.

He sucked in a breath. “You know that DVD player you wanted?” he asked. “You can forget it until you learn to speak politely and respectfully.”

She stared at him. “You are so kidding.”

“Not even close, kid.”

“Whatever. I’ll buy it myself.”

That’s right. The credit card, compliments of his mother’s estate. He would have to take care of that next.

“When are you calling the ballet teacher?” she asked through gritted teeth. “I want you to do it now.”

“I will get to it when it’s convenient for me. You can hurry the process along by being civil or you can wait. Your choice.”

She glared at him. “You’re not the boss of me.”

“That’s where you’re wrong. I absolutely am. I know you’ve been through hell, and I’m sorry about that. However, your circumstances don’t give you the right to mouth off.”

Kelly looked at him as if he were dog crap on her shoes. “If you’re so worried about what I say, then you shouldn’t swear in front of me. Or do the rules only apply to me? Don’t you have to be civil, too?”

With that she turned on her heel and left the room.

Sam clutched his mug, not sure if he was going to drink the contents or throw it across the room.

“She’s a handful,” Gabriel said.

“Tell me about it.”

“I guess locking her up would be against the law,” Sam said.

Francesca wasn’t completely sure he was kidding. “You know it would be. And it wouldn’t solve any problems.”

“Maybe it would. You could report me and the state would take her away.”

“Is that what you want?”

He shook his head. “No. What I want is for this to be easier.”

“It’s only day one,” she reminded him.

It was mid-afternoon. She’d arrived about an hour before to find Kelly eating lunch by herself and Sam holed up in his office. Neither of them seemed to be speaking to the other, and Kelly had barely acknowledged her.

She and Sam were out on the deck, enjoying the warm afternoon, with a soft ocean breeze blowing over them. He was holding her hand, which made her want to talk about tangled sheets instead of his daughter. But that wasn’t an option right now. Which was really too bad.

“It’s been a long day,” he told her, then explained what had happened that morning when Gabriel had been over to meet Kelly.

Francesca winced. “Okay, so we won’t describe her as shy or timid. What did your grandfather say?”

“Nothing I can repeat in mixed company. He wasn’t a fan of my ex-wife’s, either, and to his mind, Kelly is too much like her.”

“For what it’s worth, I think you handled the situation really well. If she wants a DVD player, that gives you something to hold over her head.” She glanced at him and smiled. “I mean that figuratively, not literally.”

“I know. I’m not interested in hurting her. What I would like instead is to deal with a regular child instead of Teen-zilla.”

“Does she have access to a computer?”

“Yes. In the other guest room.”

“Then she could go buy the player herself. She’s good at that.”

He grinned. “Not anymore. I’ve canceled her credit card.”

“How?”

“I contacted the law firm handling my mother’s estate. Tanya had already told them that I had custody of Kelly. The lawyer I spoke with said I was entitled to the same monetary provisions Tanya had-Kelly’s expenses covered plus five thousand a month.” He shook his head. “I told them that wasn’t necessary.”

“She’s going to be crabby when she finds out she can’t shop at will.”

He chuckled. “I know. I figured I’d let her find out for herself.” His humor faded. “The lawyer told me something else. When Kelly was born, my mother had the paternity checked. The kid is mine.”

Francesca was afraid to ask if that was good or bad. “At least you know.”