Their Second-Chance Child

by Karen Sandler

• ISBN13: 9780373654376
• ISBN10: 0373654375
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-02-01
• Publisher: Silhouette

Summary

Tony Herrera couldn't believe Becca Stiles had applied for a job at the home he'd started for former foster kids. And that he'd hired her! Eleven years ago, she'd walked out on him and their marriage without a backward glance. But even as the old attraction sizzled between them, the single father knew that letting Becca back into his life was asking for trouble.Rebecca knew that returning to her childhood town would reopen old wounds. But Tony had a child of his own now--a little girl who needed a mother.

Excerpts

Tony Herrera studied his four-year-old daughter, Lea, across the kitchen table as she nibbled on her peanut butter and jelly sandwich without enthusiasm. She hadn't touched her cup of chicken noodle soup and had only taken a few sips of her milk.In the six weeks since she'd been returned to him, she'd barely eaten enough to keep body and soul together. It broke Tony's heart."Do you want a cookie,mija?"Tony asked as he gathered up the lunch dishes.Lea shrugged. Tony chose to take that as a yes. Setting the dishes on the tile counter in the big country kitchen, he lifted the lid on the cookie jar. As he flipped back the big-eyed cat head on the jar, an electronic voice sang out,Three little kittens have lost their mittens...Lea's eyes brightened at the cheeky melody, her mouth curving into a faint smile. She took the chocolate chip cookie he offered her with a soft-spoken thank-you, then dipped it into her glass of milk.Lea finding pleasure in anything, even a cookie, set off a mix of joy and pain inside him. He knew he had to be patient; as a former school psychologist, he understood better than most how long it might take Lea to recover from the trauma she'd endured. But it hurt so damn much seeing her suffer."Jana will be keeping an eye on you this afternoon," he reminded his daughter.She nodded gravely. Lea liked Jana well enough. At twenty-three, his young assistant was barely older than the eighteen- and nineteen-year-old former foster children that his independent-living program served. But she kept an eagle eye on Lea when the little girl was in her charge.While Tony and Lea ate their lunch, Jana had been conducting a preliminary interview with a potential new hire. After five previous candidates had proved to be a waste of his time, he'd gotten a clue and sent in Jana to vet the woman first. With her spiky blond hair striped with pink and myriad ear studs, Jana was far more representative of the independent program's students than Tony was. She'd never been a foster child herself, but she knew what it was like to turn eighteen with no skills and little education and have to find a way to support herself.The applicant had to have the proper temperament to work with his initial group of six girls and two boys. The lives these former foster kids had led, their hard luck stories, had left many of them rough around the edges. There was no room in the program for someone who'd have a hissy fit over a few piercings or tattoos.He picked up the woman's resume from the kitchen table and scanned it again. Rebecca Tipton, from Los Angeles. A graduate of the California School of Culinary Arts' cordon bleu program. Pastry chef at some chichi four-star restaurant.That had raised red flags when Tony had first read the woman's curriculum vitae. Why was she contemplating a move from sprawling Los Angeles to rural Northern California? Why abandon a high-profile position at a haute cuisine restaurant to teach former foster kids to bake apple pies at an isolated Sierra foothills ranch? What was Rebecca Tipton running away from?Rebecca. Far too reminiscent of Becca, the name of his first love, his first wife. His initial irrational impulse when he'd read that name had been to eliminate the resume from consideration. He'd had to force himself to replace it on the stack. Ridiculous to penalize a stranger for having the same first name as the woman who tore his heart out eleven years ago.A knock on the kitchen door pulled him out of his brooding. Lea's wary gaze slid toward the door as she gripped her half-full glass of milk."It's just Jana,mija,"Tony reassured her.The solemn little girl watched as Tony crossed the kitchen and opened the door. Jana grinned up at him as she entered, but he saw the query in her brown eyes."Not too bad today," Tony told her softly. "She's a little quieter than usual.""How's it going, sweetpea?" Jana s