Page 1 of One Week With My Dad's Best Friend

Chapter 1

Scarlett

I stare down at the cherub in my arms. She’s a beautiful little girl with too much hair for a seven-day-old baby. My fingertip touches her nose as I coo, “See you later, beautiful girl.”

“I’ll take her.” My sister’s husband, Max, takes my niece from my arms and I feel it again. A strange emptiness that I’ve never felt before, but since Ella was born, I crave for a baby of my own.

I glance at my sister, Jade, as I hand her over with a heavy heart.

My friend Hetty thinks I’m crazy. Seven days, Ella has been in the world, and I’ve gone from aspiring to be a top lawyer to a mum in one week.

“Plenty of time for you,” Jade says, knowingly. She’s not looking at me when she speaks, and I’m no longer sure what she means as she kisses Ella on her head.

I love my older sister. I’m more in tune with her, despite her being five years older than me. I get on better with her than I do with my two younger sisters, and they are only two years younger than me at seventeen.

“I’m going to miss her,” I say. “I wish I could stay with you.” My eyes are staring into jade’s, almost begging for the chance. Because the alternative is me being embarrassed for one entire week when my parents take my sisters for an audition in Los Angeles.

Jade sighs and turns to her husband.

“We already have a baby to look after and you won’t be able to get to college from where we live,” Max says. “And Anton is the perfect man for you to stay with. I thought you wanted to be a lawyer?”

I do.

I think.

But I’m not sure anymore. Since Ella came into the world, I want to hold her and smell her all the time. But I know it is stupid to feel this way. I’m nineteen years old and have plenty of time for babies and everything that comes with them. “I do.”

Hell, my mother thinks I’m still a baby and that I can’t look after myself, and that’s the reason she refused for me to stay home alone. It’s also the reason I’m staying with Anton when she and my father take my younger twin sisters to the west coast. Not that I need taking care of. I can look after myself, but my parents refused—and surprisingly, Anton insisted.

Anton Hawthorn is my father’s friend. They’ve known each other for years. My father and Anton used to work at the same company together. Both trained as lawyers, and probably why I’m following in my father’s footsteps, as did my older sister Jade.

My gaze follows Ella as Max straps her into her baby carrier. My heart is beating fast, knowing I won’t see her until my parents get back.

I’m not sure that not seeing her will stop me from feeling this urge I find I have. It’s been this way since my mother told Jade she had to have a baby, and quickly, because of infertility being on our maternal family line.

My mother had trouble conceiving when she got married and needed IVF treatment to have Jade, but four years after Jade’s birth, she gave up on another baby by IVF, opting to adopt, and then she fell naturally with me.

Not long after I was born, they received a call from the adoption agency. They had twin girls for my parents. Their mother was a very young girl and after a couple of months of trying with her babies, she knew she could never give them the life they deserved and gave them up for adoption.

My parents jumped at the opportunity. They now have the large family they both craved.

But now I’m that middle child—the one who gets little attention. Jade is her wonder baby and the twins are a blessing—me—I’m the independent one. The one who takes what she can. Maybe it’s a good thing because I also get away with more than my siblings do.

My sister smiles as her hand raises to my mouth, pulling at my bottom lip and dragging it out of my teeth. “You’ll be fine.” Her voice is soft as she tries to reassure me. “Anton is a good man.”

“I don’t know.” Worry laces my words as I suddenly remember I am going to stay with Anton from tonight, and I’ll see him every day for the next week.

“You’ve got this. Let him see you study and work hard and he might offer you a job. Just do your best while you’re in his office next week.” She laughs and turns to her hubby. “And then Max will poach you once you’re qualified and have experience.”

She looks behind her at her baby and then at Max.

Max gives me a nod. “I only employ the best. This opportunity doesn’t get gifted to everyone.”

“Sorry, but we need to leave before the traffic gets bad,” Jade says, pulling me in for a hug.

I fight back my own tears as I say my goodbyes and grab the baby bag and follow them to their car. The late afternoon sun catches the silver trim of their SUV, momentarily blinding me. Max opens the door and secures Ella’s carrier into its base while Jade fusses with the blanket around her.

“Text me when you get home.” My voice cracks as a lump forms in my throat while I pass the baby bag to Jade.

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