The Surprise Holiday Dad. Jacqueline Diamond

none in return. Then last December his card had come back with Bruce’s address crossed out and the handwritten notation “Don’t know him and don’t want to.”

      Some people liked to hold a grudge. Don’t be one of them, Wade told himself, and took the plunge. “I was thinking that you, me and Reggie could see a baseball game sometime.”

      “Maybe.” If Bruce longed to meet the boy—which he probably did—he disguised it well. “Do me a favor, will you?”

      “What’s that?”

      “Since you wouldn’t stoop to work at the agency when I owned it, don’t insult me by doing it now just because you got fired.”

      “Laid off,” Wade corrected.

      “Whatever, as you young people like to say.”

      “I’ll take it under consideration.” If he stayed here any longer, Wade might lose his temper the way he had during their last meeting. “See you around, Grandpa. Thanks for the coffee.”

      “See you.” Bruce walked him to the front. From the corner of his eye, Wade saw his grandfather watching as he rounded the side of the building.

      At Fact Hunter Investigations, Wade reflected, he had an excellent shot at a suitable position that would allow him to stay near Reggie. Despite the old man’s request, it seemed unlikely that passing it up would do any good. More likely, his grandpa would see compliance as a weakness.

      You couldn’t please him, so why try? On his cell phone, Wade pressed Mike Aaron’s number.

      * * *

      SEATED IN THE attorney’s waiting room, Adrienne glanced irritably at her watch. Wade was ten minutes late, and she had to be home in an hour to meet Reggie’s school bus.

      Doubts and speculation were driving her crazy. In her medical practice, she was accustomed to dealing with uncertainty. Patient outcomes couldn’t always be predicted, and in surgery she had to change tactics instantly if complications developed.

      Yet she’d lain awake last night, struggling with the unknowns about Reggie’s father. Would he break his son’s heart by playing the doting daddy until he got bored? Or would he demand full custody, ignoring Reggie’s attachment to Adrienne? In either case, what about Reggie’s rights to the house and its contents?

      The man was no knuckle-dragging Neanderthal, Adrienne conceded. But she’d grown up with a bipolar father whose mood swings had kept the household teetering on the brink between his warm, expansive side and his abrupt withdrawals. Her sister had been equally unpredictable. There was no telling how many sides Wade Hunter had or which would emerge today.

      Then she saw him through the blinds, cutting across the parking lot. He was carrying... Were those flowers?

      She barely had time to rise and smooth her powder-blue dress before he blew into the room on a crisp breeze. Wearing a dark suit, with a trace of early gray at the temples, he had a distinguished air offset by the apologetic gleam in his eyes.

      He regarded her appreciatively. “I like your hair down. That’s a good color on you, too.”

      Adrienne rarely wore dresses and usually put her hair in a twist or ponytail. Nervous about this meeting, she’d taken extra care today. “Thanks. Listen...”

      “I didn’t mean to be late.” Wade held out a decorative pot containing a yellow miniature rose. With shiny green leaves and copious buds, it would fit perfectly into her front bed. “Just landed a job, and on my way from the interview, I passed a flower shop. It occurred to me that a peace offering might be appropriate.”

      “I love miniature roses. Thank you.” A peace offering—better than hostility, in Adrienne’s opinion. Then the rest of his statement registered. “You’re going to work at the police department?”

      “Private agency. Fact Hunter.”

      “Congratulations.” Clearly, Wade didn’t plan to leave town soon. That might be good...or not. It meant less of a likelihood that her little boy would be carted away to some distant place, yet having his father living nearby was far from ideal.

      The inner door opened. Geoff Humphreys emerged, greeting Adrienne before turning to the new arrival. “Mr. Hunter? Pleased to meet you in person.”

      “Me, too.”

      After shaking hands, they went into the comfortably appointed office. “Did I hear you say you found a job at Fact Hunter?” the attorney asked.

      “Founded by my grandfather, although if there’s an opposite to nepotism, that’s what I have.” In an upholstered chair, Wade sat straight with legs slightly apart, as if accustomed to a heavy equipment belt. Adrienne had seen Patty sit the same way.

      “Mike Aaron owns it now, doesn’t he?” Geoff didn’t explain how he knew that.

      Wade tilted his head in acknowledgment. “That’s right.”

      “Mike’s wife is a colleague of mine,” Adrienne put in. “Dr. Paige Brennan.”

      Wade blinked. “A cop and a doctor? That’s an unusual combination.”

      “It’s not uncommon around here. Patty’s married to an embryologist, Alec Denny, although he’s a Ph.D., not an M.D.” In case that sounded snobbish, she added, “As Alec keeps reminding everyone.”

      “What about this brother of Mike Aaron’s?” Wade said. “Ever meet him? I like to know who I’m working for.”

      “Lock’s a good guy,” Adrienne told him. “He married a surgical nurse, Erica. They have a little boy—almost a year old.”

      “Does this town put something in the water?” he asked. “Seems like everybody’s getting married and having kids.”

      “We’re a friendly bunch.” Despite her attempt at a light tone, Adrienne felt an all-too-familiar tensing in the gut at the reminder that she would never be so lucky. She was grateful when Geoff cleared his throat, drawing their attention to the topic at hand.

      “While I realize you’re just getting acquainted, we should discuss a parenting plan,” he said. “That describes how parents will handle a variety of practical matters in their child’s life. It prevents misunderstandings and minimizes conflict.”

      “We could all use more of that,” Wade muttered as Geoff handed out printed sheets. “Minimizing conflict, I mean.”

      Adrienne scanned the list. Although she appreciated order, she found it daunting. It called for plans regarding visitation, both regular and for vacations and holidays, instructions as to dietary requirements and internet use, details of how to handle contact with extended family members and parents’ dating partners, and numerous other issues. “Is this really necessary?”

      “It will be eventually,” Geoff said. “We don’t have to carve anything in stone right now.”

      “This visitation business,” Wade put in. “I don’t know my work schedule yet.”

      “I can imagine your hours might be somewhat irregular,” the lawyer noted. “Perhaps you’d be willing to stipulate that you accept Dr. Cavill’s current babysitting arrangements.”

      Adrienne could see Wade’s muscles tightening. “Is that a problem for you?” she asked him.

      “I haven’t met the babysitter yet.”

      How dare he question her choices? Adrienne gripped the pot in her lap. Peace offering or not, she was tempted to chuck it at Wade’s head.

      Yet as Geoff had warned earlier, antagonizing the man was likely to backfire. She’d done research on the internet, hoping to find that Vicki’s will and Adrienne’s longtime care of Reggie put her in the driver’s seat. To her dismay, the articles she’d read had confirmed that Wade’s rights took precedence over hers.

      She’d been shocked