Terri DuLong - Casting About

Casting About

Also by Terri DuLong

Spinning Forward

A Cedar Key Christmas in Holiday Magic

Published by Kensington Publishing Corp.

Casting About

TERRI DULONG

KENSINGTON BOOKS

www.kensingtonbooks.com

All copyrighted material within is Attributor Protected.

For Brian and Vronique,
with much love

Contents

W hen I passed the phone to Adam, I had no idea that the callers information would force me to question my insecurity on motherhood. Adam and I had only been married for six months. Rather than focusing on starting a family, my time and energy had been directed toward purchasing my mothers yarn shop, Spinning Forward. I was still a new bride, for goodness sake, so being a mom was the last thing on my mind. Its for you, I said, passing the telephone across the breakfast table while I continued to nibble on toast and update my to-do list.

Yes, this is Adam Brooks, I heard my husband say. While silence filled our kitchen it occurred to me that perhaps I should apply for a small business loan. Sure, my mother had basically passed the yarn shop over to me before she left for Paris with Noah, but I knew that I wanted to be the official proprietor of the business Id come to love. My mother was thrilled that my desire for ownership would keep what she worked at so hard in the family. And the week before she was to leave, we met with an attorney to sign the documents that would transfer Spinning Forward from Sydney Webster to Monica Brooks. My mother would only accept a minimal amount of money to make the transaction legal. Revenue from sales would pay the monthly lease and overhead, and continue the small salary of Aunt Dora. I hoped that even without some of the special services my mother offered, Id keep Spinning Forward the success it had been for over three years. A bank loan would help to make that happen.

My attention reverted to the one-sided phone call.

She what? Adam said in a tone he used when he was upset.

I glanced up as my husband pushed his chair away from the table and began pacing around our kitchen. Apparently this wasnt a telemarketer call, as I had thought.

Well, where is she now? he questioned.

Anger was being replaced by concern. His brow furrowed as he raked his hand through sandy-colored hair, and I considered him the sexiest and most attractive man Id known.

Yes, yes, I understand that. But you have to understand that I have a job and will have to make arrangements. The soonest I could be up there would be Monday.

Up there? Where? All of a sudden it dawned on me what this phone call was about. Adams daughter, Clarissa, was now eight years old and lived with his ex, Carrie Sue, in some godforsaken town in Georgia.

Adam reached for paper and a pen from the counter drawer. Yes, go ahead, he said and began jotting down information. Okay. I need some time to make arrangements. Ill call you back tomorrow.

Placing the phone on the table, he blew out a deep breath before sitting down across from me. We need to talk.

Jumping up to grab the coffeepot, I refilled our cups. When a crisis happens, Im one of those people who functions better while keeping busy.

Rejoining him at the table, it was my turn to exhale loudly. Okay. Whats up?

Carrie Sue was in an automobile accident the other night. Shes in the hospital. No major injuries, but Carrie Sue and the driver were both drunk.

My God, was Clarissa with her?

No, its worse. Carrie Sue left her alone at the condo to go out drinking with her girlfriends. When the accident happened, she had to tell the authorities her eight-year-old daughter was alone at home. Social services got involved. Thats who that was on the telephone. Adam began fiddling with the spoon on the table and shook his head. Clarissa is in a temporary foster home. The woman on the phone said its highly unlikely that Carrie Sue will retain custody of her. Theres an emergency hearing next week and I have to be there.

Thoughts were swirling in my head. Id only met Carrie Sue once. The summer that Adam and I began dating, we drove up to Georgia together to bring Clarissa Jo to Cedar Key for their annual month-long visit. Meeting Carrie Sue once had been quite enough. She came from a wealthy family that disowned her the moment shed married Adam. Blond, beautiful, and bitchy, Carrie Sue had always enjoyed tipping her wrist a little too often with whatever alcoholic liquid appealed to her at the moment. Her drinking problem had contributed to the breakup of their marriage. I knew that Adam had attempted to get custody of his daughter and had been devastated when the judge ruled in favor of the mother, leaving Adam with only every-other-weekend visitation. This was compounded by the fact that two years ago, with an economy in tatters, the school in Georgia had been forced to let him go. Faced with hefty support payments, in addition to being responsible for his daughters medical insurance, Adam had felt fortunate to be offered a teaching position in his home town of Cedar Key, Florida.

And soall of this means what? I asked, too stupid or too stubborn to understand what was coming next.

It means I have to go to Georgia and be there for the hearing. Ive been paying support for Clarissa Jo these past four years, and Im her legal guardian.

Oh, was all I could manage to say.

Adam reached across the table for my hand and gave it a squeeze. I know. This certainly came out of the blue. Having Clarissa with us full-time will be very different, but I think well manage.

We had discussed children when we began dating, and while we didnt say wed never have anywe didnt agree that we would, either. Not wanting to sound like the witch from Hansel and Gretel, I let out a deep breath, squeezing Adams hand in return. Of course we will, I said, sounding much braver than I felt. Of course well manage and everything will be fine.

My husband nodded and then shook his head. Christ, Monica, what a loser Carrie Sue is. Im just grateful nothing happened to Clarissa Jo alone in that apartment.

Scary news events flashed through my mind concerning children either left alone or abducted. Although Id always felt horrible when I heard about these things, I certainly had never considered them from a parents point of view.

Jesus, he said, glancing at his watch. Ive got to get moving. Class starts in fifteen minutes.

Jumping up from the table, he came around to pull me up next to him.

Itll be okay. I promise. We both need a little bit of time to digest this and well discuss it tonight. How about dinner at the Island Room? he whispered into my hair.

God, his arms felt good around my body. No, Id prefer dinner here. Quiet and private. Ill make your favorite pasta dish.

Its a deal. I love you, Monica. And things will work out.

They will, I agreed, uncertain where any of us were headed.

After Adam left I put the breakfast dishes into the sudsy water to let them soak and prepared to start a load of washthe whole time, thoughts of the phone call going through my head.

Pouring myself another mug of coffee I took it outside to the deck and curled up on the chaise lounge. Bushes of vivid red azaleas and yellow hibiscus rimmed the outer perimeter of the garden, creating a floral sanctuary.

I loved springtime on Cedar Key, when the air filled with all sorts of tropical fragrances. When I first came to the island to visit my mother and grandmother, it hadnt been my intention to stay forever. I was a Yankee girlnot Southern born and Southern bred. By the time a year had passed, I knew that a place of birth doesnt necessarily produce a feeling of home because the small island off the west coast of Florida was what accomplished that for me.