Free The Family Plan by Gina Wilkins Page B

dessert. Surely enough time had passed that it would be safe to go back, she reasoned.
    Excited about the prospect of decorating her room, Isabelle practically bounced in the safety seat Caitlin had borrowed from Nathan. The little girl babbled a mile a minute. Fortunately the only responses required were a few nods and murmurs. Caitlin was becoming increasingly distracted by her concern about what had transpired between Nathan and his mother.
    “Is Nate’s mom still here?” Isabelle asked as Caitlin parked in the driveway.
    “No, her car’s gone,” Caitlin replied with some relief.
    “She was sad.”
    The quiet comment surprised Caitlin. It was the first time Isabelle had mentioned Lenore since they’d left earlier. She had assumed the child had already forgotten the brief encounter. “What makes you think that?”
    “Her eyes were sad. I think she was nice, though.”
    “She can be very nice,” Caitlin agreed, though she didn’t want to say much more. She didn’t know if Isabelle would ever even see Lenore again. “Let’s get Nathan to help us carry all this stuff in.”
    “We got a bunch of stuff,” Isabelle commented happily, looking at all the packages piled around her—not to mention the ones squeezed into the trunk, Caitlin thought.
    “Yes, we do.” Reminding herself that Nathan had encouraged her to buy whatever Isabelle wanted, she helped the child out of the car and held her hand as they walked to the front door.
    Though Nathan was smiling when he opened the door, the expression in his eyes made Caitlin’s breath lodge painfully in her chest.
    “Well?” he asked. “Do I have any money left?”

    “Nathan—”
    He cut off her concerned question with a quick, “Later.” And then he focused on Isabelle. “So, did you find anything you like?”
    The child immediately launched into a breathless monologue, listing not only everything they had purchased that morning, but also nearly everything else they’d seen. Responding with apparent fascination, Nathan helped them carry in boxes and packages, hauling everything straight to Isabelle’s room.
    He teased about the amount of purchases they had made, laughed when Isabelle said something funny, asked questions and made appropriate comments, but Caitlin sensed that a part of him had simply shut down. His smile was as bright and charming as ever, but a light had gone out in his eyes. She had heard that phrase before, but she’d never quite understood what it meant until now. Nathan’s usually gleaming blue eyes were dark, and their expression was heartbreakingly empty.
    Darn it, she hadn’t wanted to get this deeply involved in her partner’s personal problems. But looking at Nathan now, she knew she couldn’t pull back without trying to encourage him.
    The best way to help now seemed to be with manual labor and upbeat conversation. Within a couple of hours, Nathan’s bland guest room had been transformed into a lovely setting for a little girl. The bed was covered with a lavender-and-white gingham comforter over lavender sheets and a white eyelet dust ruffle that just brushed the floor. Throw pillows in gingham, solid lavender and white eyelet rested invitingly against the headboard. White eyelet panels hung at the windows, and the beige ginger jar lamp had been exchanged for a white china lamp hand-painted with clusters of violets.

    The built-in bookshelves now held books, toys and Isabelle’s collection of Disney figurines. Colorful framed posters depicting several of those same characters replaced the dull landscapes on the walls.
    On the mirrored dresser sat a pretty little white-painted jewelry box and a purple glass music box—items Isabelle had seen on display at the store and had fallen in love with. Caitlin had bought them for her, charging those purchases to her own card, rather than Nathan’s. Her lecture about not spoiling the child had hovered at the back of her mind, but she hadn’t been able to resist when she’d seen