Free Adopted Parents by Candy Halliday Page B

her say—respected her too much to do any differently. But there wasn’t much left for them to talk about.
    Roberta was a hard woman to like because of her abrasive way of speaking her mind and the high standards she held people to. But she was a good woman to have in your corner—she’d defend one of her own to the ends of the earth. Nate only hoped Hallie realized how lucky she was to have Roberta. He would have given anything if he’d had a mother who’d been so protective of him.
    Finally, Nate pulled up in front of Roberta’s complex. He was as relieved as Roberta seemed surprised to find The Colonel sitting on a bench outside, patiently awaiting their arrival.
    Even though the man was in his seventies, Nate would have pegged him as military at a single glance. The Colonel’s gray hair was clipped short, his shirt starched, the crease pressed into his pants razor-sharp. He stood up as Nate came to a stop, shoulders back, head held high, ready to take command of the situation.
    Nate got out and walked to the rear of the SUV for Roberta’s luggage. The Colonel’s handshake was firm and strong. Roberta was so flattered over her new beau fawning over her, Nate was saved from any parting schoolteacher lectures. But her final reply was enough.
    “I’ll be checking in on things,” she said.
    Nate knew it wasn’t an idle threat and she was referring to more than Ahn’s care.
    As he headed back to Wedge Pond, everything Roberta had said reverberated through Nate’s mind. Regardless of what Roberta thought, he didn’t believe for one minute that Hallie was in love with him. In lust—definitely.
    But not in love.
    Roberta acted as if Hallie had been pining for him all these years. What a laugh that was. Hallie had never been lacking for male attention any more than he’d suffered for lack of female attention.
    Roberta’s problem was her old-school outlook on life. She hadn’t accepted the fact that, yes, it was perfectly normal for healthy men and women to have sex without being madly in love with each other.
    Still, she was right about Hallie needing a friend, and not a lover. And she’d need all the help he could give her with Ahn.
    Nate was willing to be Hallie’s friend, and he was willing to help with Ahn.
    He’d do his best to leave it at that.



CHAPTER SEVEN
    H ALLIE FRANTICALLY CHECKED her watch every few seconds as she paced around the back deck, bouncing a crying baby on her hip. Where the hell was Nate? His cell phone was obviously off since her call had gone straight to voice mail. There hadn’t been any point in leaving him a message, however. Nate wouldn’t have been able to hear above Ahn’s piercing screams.
    She’d briefly thought of trying Roberta’s cell, before dismissing that option.
    If she called after only minutes of being left alone with Ahn for the first time, she’d never be able to live it down.
    So where the hell was Nate? Ahn had been crying nonstop practically from the moment Nate and Roberta left. Three hours ago. And Hallie didn’t have a clue what was wrong. After they’d waved goodbye to Roberta all of a sudden Ahn’s tiny face had screwed up into an angry frown, her lower lip had trembled, then the screaming had commenced.
    Hallie had checked her diaper. She’d felt Ahn’s head for any signs of a fever. She’d looked the baby over from head to toe. As far as she could tell, there wasn’t a single thing wrong.
    “Please stop crying,” Hallie begged, adding a little more bounce to her jostling.
    Ahn only cried louder.
    “Oh, look. There’s a birdie.” Hallie turned Ahn toward the birdfeeder.
    Ahn’s loud wail sent the bird flapping.
    “You want to play in your sandbox?” Hallie cooed, heading for the large plastic pink and green castle that David had set up on the far end of the deck. “You love to play in your sandbox.”
    Ahn drew her legs up in protest, her feet never touching the sand.
    “Poor baby, I know you miss your mommy. I miss her, too.