Read Online Best Laid Plans by Elizabeth Palmer - Free Book Online Page B

“I’m sorry, sweetie, but this isn’t a present. It’s a special teddy bear designed to hold a spy camera. It will sit on a shelf in your bookcase and tell us all your secrets.”
    “I plan to leave it there until she goes to college.” Violet distracted the baby with a bright pink teething ring, which Daisy got to her mouth on the third try.
    “I do want to do something, though,” Jake said as he flattened the empty boxes, “but I need to speak to my lawyer first.”
    Violet involuntarily tightened her hold on Daisy when she heard the word “lawyer,” making her whimper and drop her toy.
    Jake reached for the baby, and she held out her dimpled arms to him. Violet, however, was physically unable to let her go. “Your lawyer?”
    He sighed and let his arms drop to his sides. “Violet, I know you’d like me to just disappear, but that isn’t going to happen. I’m Daisy’s father, and that means something to me. The least I can do is make sure she’s taken care of financially. I’m going to talk to my lawyer about setting up a trust fund.”
    “Daisy doesn’t need your money.”
    “I know you have a high-paying career right now, but I want to be sure you and Daisy will always be taken care of, even if something unexpected happens.”
    There was a time when Violet believed she could control her destiny, then a pink pregnancy test stick had changed her thinking. But when she decided to become a single mother, she’d vowed she would do it on her own.
    Daisy was still flirting with Jake, and he wasn’t — at least right now — suing her for custody, so she handed the baby to him. She had to give him some credit for at least trying to do the right thing.
    “Jake, my father, my biological father, was…”
    “Monty McCall. Richard told me.”
    “When I was a kid, we didn’t have any money. I didn’t have a father, either. Monty — he actually made us call him that, can you believe it? — popped in at odd times that never coincided with our birthday or holidays and showered us with gifts. Even when he started to make money, he never remembered to pay the child support, and my mother was too proud to force him. I had the world’s fanciest bride doll, but my shoes were too tight. Still, I’d have rather had a father in my life than comfortable shoes.”
    The baby was starting to squirm, because Jake was ignoring her and frowning at her mother.
    “Violet, I’m not Monty McCall. I want to be part of Daisy’s life. You’re the one telling me to go away.”
    She realized her hands were clenched into fists. “A child should have stability. Can you give her that?”
    He sighed. “I don’t know what I can give her yet. You’ve had a year to decide what kind of father I would or wouldn’t be, even though you know almost nothing about me. But because you thought it best to keep me in the dark, I’ve only had a few days to think about it.”
    Daisy was fussing now, and Violet took her from Jake. “She’s hungry.”
    During the exchange, he pressed his hand against the skin of her upper arm. She was sure he could feel her trembling.
    “I’m just asking you to give me a fair chance. Get to know me before you tell me I’m not good enough to be Daisy’s father.”
    She realized then why she was trembling. She was afraid. It might be easier to hate Jake, or at least dismiss him, if she didn’t get to know him better. Daisy’s eyelashes were darkened by tears, and so were Jake’s.
    It took a tremendous effort of will to give the answer she knew he deserved. “I’ll try.”

Chapter Five
    “We’ll be able to see the main areas of the nursery — the changing table and crib — and the entire living room. Enough of the foyer is captured to show us if she lets anyone in.” Jake showed Violet the camera he’d placed in her living room bookcase, disguised as an ordinary book.
    “I told her she can never have anyone over when she’s here alone with Daisy!”
    “Exactly.”
    Violet wrinkled her