Only Mine (Fool's Gold #4)(51)

Somewhere in the background there was a dinging sound. Finn walked into the kitchen and took the casserole dish from the oven. Then he turned to face her.

“You’re adopting a child?” he asked, sounding stunned.

She nodded, still unable to focus on anything. “Yes. They have a little girl for me arriving in L.A.” She looked at him. “She’s from Kazakhstan. Six months old. They’re sending me a file. I need to go turn on my computer.”

She stood, then couldn’t remember where her computer was. This wasn’t happening, was it? She laughed. “They’re going to give me a little girl of my own.”

“I know you wanted kids…” His voice trailed off, then he nodded slowly. “You have a lot to deal with. Why don’t I get out of your way?”

“What? Oh.”

So much for their romantic dinner, she thought sadly. So much for him. Finn had more than made it clear he wasn’t looking for another family.

“Thanks,” she said. “I have to make a decision pretty quickly.”

“No problem.” He started to leave, then paused. “You’ll let me know what you decide?”

“Of course.”

“Good.”

She watched him leave. There was a whisper of sadness, but it quickly faded as she hurried to her spare room and turned on her laptop. The machine seemed to take forever to boot, but when it finally did and she was able to open the file, she saw the picture.

And she knew.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

MAKING THE DECISION was easy, Dakota realized the next morning. The details, on the other hand, threatened to drown her. She’d barely gotten any sleep. Every time she’d closed her eyes, she’d thought of something else she had to do. Even putting a pad of paper and a pen on her nightstand hadn’t helped very much.

It was barely after eight in the morning, and she was exhausted. She had lists, including supplies, and the names of who she was going to call. The last big issue to be resolved was whether to drive to Los Angeles or to fly.

Although flying would be faster, she had to face the reality of dealing with the six-month-old baby she barely knew. What if her new daughter cried the whole way? Dakota wouldn’t know how to handle that. So driving made more sense. Except it was probably an eight-hour drive and wouldn’t that be stressful on the child, as well?

Dakota tapped her pen on the paper, not sure what was the best solution. In a few minutes, she would call her mother. She wanted to tell Denise the good news and ask her advice on the transportation issue.

In the meantime, she could review her shopping list. Not only would she need diapers and a couple of blankets, there was the issue of formula. Dakota didn’t know very much about babies, but she was relatively sure switching formula could cause an upset stomach. Hopefully, the person traveling with the little girl had brought plenty.

She crossed to the phone by the sofa, but before she could pick up the receiver, there was soft knocking on her front door. She changed directions and opened it, only to find Finn standing on her small porch. He had take-out coffee containers in each hand.

“What are you doing here?” she asked. “It’s early.”

He handed her the coffee. “Nonfat, right?”

“Yes. Thank you.” She stepped back and shook her head. “Sorry, I’m a little fuzzy this morning. Why are you here?”

“You’re keeping the baby.”

“How do you know?”

He smiled. “I know you. You talked about the fact that you can’t have kids and you’re a kid person. Given the chance to adopt, you will.”

“Oh, you’re right.” Unexpected insight, she thought. But nice.

He followed her into the house.

“I don’t know what I’m doing,” she admitted. “I didn’t get much sleep and it seems like there are a thousand things to do.”

He followed her into the kitchen. “Sure there are. Most people get nine months to figure out what to do about a baby. You’ve had what? Nine hours?”

All of which was true, she thought. But she was still surprised to see him. He’d taken off so quickly the previous night.

“I’m doing the list thing,” she said, pointing to the pages on the kitchen table. “I’m going to call my mom in a few minutes. She’s had six kids. If anyone knows what to do, it’s her.”

“Have you picked a name?”

She smiled. “I was thinking of Hannah. It’s the name that came to me when I saw her picture.”

“Hannah Hendrix. I like it.”

“Me, too,” she said. “Everything is so surreal. I don’t know what to think even.”

“You’re going to be fine,” he told her.

“You can’t know that.”

“Sure I can. You’re the kind of person who cares about other people. And isn’t that what you’re always telling me? That kids want to know you’re there for them?” He smiled. “I’m really happy for you, Dakota.”

His support was unexpected, but very nice. She was close enough to the edge that it could’ve made her cry, but she was determined to maintain control.

“For a guy who isn’t interested in having a family,” she said, “you’re pretty sensitive and understanding.”