The Mummy Proposal. Cathy Gillen Thacker

dear, I explained …” Mrs. Walker replied in a feeble tone.

      Landry scowled at Nate. “I don’t care how much money this dude has!” he blurted. “There’s no way he’s going to adopt me and be my dad!”

      NATE COULDN’T BLAME the teen for being upset with the quick turn of events. He hadn’t seen this coming, either. Had it been anyone but Jessalyn Walker asking him to do this, he would have been on the phone to his lawyer, seeking another solution. But it was Jessalyn who was here, orphan in tow. And it had been her granddaughter Seraphina making the request, through a letter left for Nate. A letter Jessalyn had held on to until yesterday, while she, too, tried to do what was best for all concerned.

      Nate dropped his hand. “I’m very sorry about your loss,” he said quietly.

      “My mom died a year and a half ago.” The teen glared at him, still hovering protectively next to his great-grandmother. “If you were really my mom’s friend, where were you then? You should have been there.”

      What could Nate say to that? The kid was right. “Had I known your mother was ill, I would have been,” he assured him.

      Landry looked at him contemptuously.

      “He’s here now, Landry, ready and willing to help us—just the way your mom wanted, when the day came that I could no longer care for you.” Jessalyn Walker reached out and put a comforting hand on her great-grandson’s forearm. “That’s all that counts.”

      Landry’s chin quivered. “You don’t have to take care of me,” he declared. “I’ll take care of you.”

      “That’s not the way it’s supposed to be,” Jessalyn reminded him patiently, giving his arm another beseeching pat.

      Landry broke away abruptly. “I don’t mind. I want to do it!”

      “Landry—” Jessalyn pleaded.

      “If you don’t want me around, fine! Go ahead and move into that retirement center!” Landry huffed. “But I’m not signing on for this! And none of you can make me!” He spun around and strode toward the door.

      Nate took off after him, catching up with Landry before he reached the elevators. Nate had no experience with wayward teenagers, but he was pretty certain he knew what was called for here. “If you care about your great-grandmother as much as you say you do, you’ll come back to that office and work things out like a man instead of running away.”

      Landry snorted. “Whatever.” He did an about-face and marched back to the office, spine straight, attitude intact. Nate followed him.

      Brooke, who had been consoling Jessalyn, gently squeezed the woman’s frail hand and met Nate’s gaze.

      “I know you are furious at my failing health. So am I,” Jessalyn Walker told her great-grandson wearily. “But my doctor is right. I need more care than I can get at home. And you can’t live with me in the assisted-living home I’m moving into tomorrow. So it’s either go with Nate today, and give that a try as I’ve asked, or enter the foster care system.”

      Landry’s scowl deepened.

      To Nate’s surprise, Brooke stepped into the fray. She fixed Landry with a kind look. “I know this is none of my business, but I would advise you to go with Nate. I was in foster care as a kid. I got moved around a lot. It was … not fun.”

      This, Nate had not known.

      Landry’s eyes narrowed. “Is that the truth?”

      Brooke nodded sadly. “I lost both my mom and dad when I was fourteen, but unlike you, had no relatives or old family friends to take me in.” She paused, regarding the teenager with a gaze that was as matter-of-fact as it was softly maternal. “Not having any family at all to care about you is a tough way to grow up. I really wouldn’t recommend it, honey.”

      Landry’s shoulders sagged. “Can I live with you then?” he asked Brooke.

      She seemed as taken aback by the request as everyone else in the room, and exhaled ruefully. “I’m sorry, Landry, but that is not an option.”

      He crossed his arms in front of him. “Then I’ll take foster care,” he insisted.

      Seeing a situation he had hoped would go smoothly rapidly deteriorate into emotional chaos was not part of Nate’s plan. Determined to regain control of the moment, he caught Brooke’s attention and gestured toward the door. “If you two will excuse us, I’d like to talk to Ms. Mitchell alone a moment.”

      Brooke didn’t appear to want to go with him, but complied nevertheless. Her posture regal, she walked down the hall to the boardroom. Nate held the door, then followed her inside.

      The room was elegantly appointed, with a long table and comfortable leather chairs backed by a floor-to-ceiling window overlooking the Trinity River and downtown Fort Worth. The spectacular view was nothing compared to the tall, slender woman standing in front of it.

      Nate paused, taking in the glossy fall of walnut-brown hair brushing her shoulders. A sleeveless tunic showcased her shapely arms. Matching silk trousers fluidly draped her legs. But it was the inherent kindness and empathy in her golden-brown eyes he found the most captivating. It was no wonder Landry had gravitated to her. Brooke Mitchell was an intriguing mix of savvy business entrepreneur and empathetic woman. She seemed like someone who would know what to do in any situation. And right now, Nate and Landry both needed a woman like that in their lives.

      She glanced out at the skyline, then turned back to him. “I understand you have a big problem,” she told him with all sincerity. “I feel for Landry. But there my involvement ends.”

      Nate remained determined. “I understand you’re a single mother with a thirteen-year-old boy.”

      A delicate blush silhouetted her high, sculpted cheeks. “How did you …?”

      “Alexis McCabe mentioned it when she gave me your name and suggested you were the ideal person to help me make the mansion I just purchased a home.” Nate walked over to stand next to her. He glanced out at the view, too, then back at her. “I need help getting Landry situated.”

      Brooke inclined her head slightly to one side. “As a single parent, you have to get used to handling these challenges by yourself.”

      Again Nate followed the spill of glossy hair brushing her shoulders, and couldn’t help but notice her fair skin and toned body. She was one sexy lady, in the woman-in-the-office-across-the-hall kind of way. And due to the circumstances he and Landry were facing, totally off-limits. Nate needed to keep his thoughts trained on the issue at hand.

      “I will handle these problems myself,” he promised her, “as soon as Landry adjusts to the idea of becoming my son.”

      She remained silent, but gave him a look that said Lotsa luck with that!

      Undeterred, he braced a shoulder against the glass. “In the meantime, you have a son close to Landry’s age, and I have a two-bedroom cottage on the property. You and your son could stay there while the makeover of the main house takes place, under your direction. The boys could swim in the pool, play on the sport court, and you could help bring me up to speed on this whole parenting thing.”

      Brooke shot him a censuring glance. “You presume a lot.”

      Nate countered with what experience told him would be the winning hand. “I’m also willing to pay a lot,” he said bluntly. “Double your usual rate for the next two weeks, if you’ll help me out here.”

      Silence stretched between them, as palpable as the sexual sparks he’d felt when he had first taken her hand. Brooke’s services were expensive to begin with. They were talking a lot of money here. “You’re serious,” she said.

      “As a heartbeat.”

      Brooke sighed and then muttered something under her breath he couldn’t quite catch. “All right,” she