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But when she turned to face him and put her small hands on her hips, he knew he didn’t have a choice He set down the brush and held out both hands, palned in response

He did He didn’t want to, but his daughter’s ned back

Which earned him the inevitable, "Why?"

Why? There were a thousand reasons, none of which he could explain to an eight-year-old

"I want Claire," she signed, her face getting that stubborn look he dreaded

As a rule, Nicole looked after Aot away from his work If he was in the office, she would come there instead, but most afternoons he was on a job site--not a place he wanted his eight-year-old hanging out

But with Nicole recovering fro a problem Amy wanted to propose her own solution

He didn’t think telling her that Claire wasn’t the babysitting type would help Aet into the fact that he’d decided to avoid Claire as erous, not to ned "She’s nice"

Wyatt could think of a lot of words to describe Claire and none of thened back "She’s busy"

Arinned "She likes me"

He didn’t kno to deal with that Maybe Claire did like his kid--assu anyone but herself

"I’ hi as long as it wasn’t a pony

He was trapped by his inability to tell his daughter the truth That he didn’t trust Claire and he wasn’t a hundred percent sure he could control himself around her Hoas that for a sad excuse?

"I’ll talk to Nicole and Claire," he signed "No pushing"

Amy’s response was to throw herself into his ared her Love filled hiht have the worst luck omen, but when it came to kids, he’d been blessed with the best

THE PARKING LOT at the bakery was jaet around to the back She found a space by the wall andto back out

She walked purposefully across to the rear door of the building and entered "Hello?"When there was no answer, she headed tohat she assu door and entered chaos

There were people everywhere They filled the waiting area, pushing aside tables and looking i a little sick to her stomach Did they all have to co?" he derabbed her by the arm and pulled her into the back He set her purse on a small desk, then reached into a box and pulled out a hairnet

"Put this on"

She took it and furabbed it and shoved it on her head After thrusting an apron in her hands, he dragged her toward the front

"Maggie will show you hoork the cash register It’s easy Punch in what they buy, tell them the total Take their money Credit cards are even easier Good luck"

With that he disappeared back into the bakery, leaving Claire standing there with no idea what to do

The woe, then hurried over "Prices are on the list here" She showed Claire a laels, pastries Don’t worry about the quantity button If they buy five, hit the key five times"

She quickly went over the basics of the machine, showed her hoork the credit card part of it, then pointed to the glowing number on the wall "Call the next one"

That was it? Thirty seconds of training and they were done? Claire looked around, not sure what to do She glanced back at the wall

"Uht?"

"Here" A well-dressed woman pushed to the front of the counter "I need two dozen ular and fat-free creaels sat in , reached for a tissue and started putting one of each kind of bagel into the bag After a couple of seconds she realized the bag wasn’t going to be big enough She pulled out a bigger one, then didn’t kno to get the bagels fro into the second one

"Can you hurry?" the wo late"

"Uels into the second bag and continued filling the bag When she got to ten, she’d gone through all the bagels, so she started back at the top of the case, trying not to buels to the woman "I’m sorry What else did you want?"

The woular and fat-free And two dozen muffins Quickly"

Claire turned, not sure where the creaie thrust two containers into her hands

"Thanks," Claire athered everything, she went to the cash register Her customer handed her a credit card Claire stared at it, then the o slower?" the wonored the pressure

"I’m sorry," Claire said with a suessed"

Maggie cao to the next customer"

Claire nodded and looked at the nuers in uniforms stepped forward "A cherry-cheese Danish and a mediuirl said

"Sure" Claire drew in deep breaths, but that didn’t htness only increased until it