Millie Gallagher looked out at the Seattle skyline from her vantage point of the Space Needle’s observation deck. All her life, she’d been drawn to this monument as though it held the secret to her destiny. She felt a sense of anticipation, of magic every time she stood here gazing at the endless horizon.

This was a place where she could let her eyes roam and her mind wander, let the responsibilities sitting on her twenty-three-year-old shoulders melt away for an hour or two.

High above the city, she could dream silly dreams, imagine herself falling in love with the perfect man, a man who would be the father Lindsey so desperately wanted, who would love her as deeply as Millie did. The three of them would be a family, live in a stately old Victorian house in the Queen Anne neighborhood that draped across the tallest of Seattle’s seven hills. And Lindsey would have a tree house with a bird’s eye view of the ferries scurrying in and out of Elliot Bay and the ocean-going freighters resting at anchor farther out in Puget Sound.

Adventure, possibilities, new worlds. They were only wishes right now, but maybe someday . . .

“Mimi, I can see the whole world!”

Millie smiled down at her five-year-old sister. Lindsey’s blond hair was a riot of curls, much like her own, and the absolute love she felt every time she looked at the sweet, energetic, happy child made her realize that she was pretty darn lucky. Lindsey had called her Mimi ever since she’d learned to talk and couldn’t quite get her tongue wrapped around the L’s. The name sounded enough like Mommy, and most people assumed Lindsey was her child. She rarely corrected the assumption anymore.

Because Millie was the only mother Lindsey really knew or remembered.

“ You say that every time we come here, Linz.”

“So do you. Can we go to the kids museum next? And we could take off our shoes and play in the fountain.”

Millie passed a hand over Lindsey’s soft curls. “It’s only March, kiddo. It’s still way too cold to traipse barefooted in the water. And we’ll have to save the museum for another time.” “Aw, Mimi.”

With her hand on Lindsey’s shoulder, she urged her forward.

“I have to work this afternoon. You know that.”

“ Hy knows how to make lattes.”

“ Yeah, but nobody makes a double-chocolate skinny foam like I do.” She shook her head and grinned. “There’d be a mutiny. And after work there’s the bridal shower for Hannah, remember?”

Lindsey nodded, but deliberately looked away from the closed doors of the gold and glass elevator that would shoot them five-hundred-twenty feet down to ground level in a matter of seconds. She understood Lindsey’s reluctance to end their special time together. It was rare for Millie to have a free morning. Any other day she’d be working at Forrester Daycare Center preparing fresh lunches for the children before she started her shift at Caffeine Hy’s.

“ How come the mountains have snow on them?”

“ Because they’re very tall and it’s cold up there.”

“ Can you teach me to ski, Mimi?”

“ Yes.” Unexpected tears burned the backs of her eyes as she punched the button to call the elevator. “Next year. I promise.”

Every once in a while, the ache of missing her parents sneaked up on her. She remembered how stunned, and then excited Cleve and Selma Gallagher had been when they’d found out they were expecting Lindsey, a late in life baby. Millie, too, had been excited.
Her parents had been wonderful people, and they’d made sure Millie’s childhood was full of new experiences, that she always knew she was loved, and looked after, and safe. A senseless automobile accident had cheated Lindsey out of knowing Mom and Pop, feeling that security.

But Millie was determined that Lindsey would have all the same advantages that she’d had--the childhood memories that stick with you forever, the friends, parties, dance lessons, field trips, and vacations.

Although she worked three jobs to make ends meet, Millie counted her blessings. They had a roof over their heads and enough money in the bank to take care of their needs. Her dream of someday opening a catering business seemed unattainable just now, but she wasn’t a person to ever give up hope.

“ Hi!” Lindsey chirped. “What’s your name?”

Caught daydreaming again, Millie glanced down to see who Lindsey was talking to. It was sometimes frightening how friendly her little sister was.

A little boy, taller than Lindsey, but looking pretty close in age stood with his hands in the pockets of his nicely creased slacks. His shirt was buttoned to the neck, his kid-size bomber jacket pure leather, and his dark hair neat and trim. Mighty dressed up for a little guy.
“ Sam,” the child said, his dark brown eyes darting behind him, then at one of the game stations on the Space Needle’s O deck. “Did you play any of the games?” He spoke as properly as he was dressed.

Lindsey rolled her eyes. “A’course. We come here all the time. You want to play? I’ll show you. We could do the one about the candy bars.”

“ Lindsey,” Millie interrupted. “We really have to go.” She glanced around, wondering where this child’s parents were. “You’re not lost, are you, Sam?”

“ No.” Clearly indignant, his chest puffed out, and Millie struggled not to smile. Still, she didn’t like to see a small child alone--striking up a conversation with total strangers.

“ Silly question,” she agreed for the sake of his pride, still looking for a frantic mother who’d lost track of her kid. “I’m sure your mom and dad are here with you.”

“ My mother died when I was five. I am six now.”

“ Oh, Sam.” Millie dropped to one knee in front of the little boy. She was a nurturer--couldn’t help it and didn’t want to change it. “That’s a very sad thing to happen. I lost my mom, too.”

He frowned. “Why do you not find her?”

She smiled softly. His speech was so proper and grown up. “Not lost as in playing. She died, too. Are you here with your father, then?”
“ Yes. He is talking business on his telephone.” Sam gestured with his head, his dark, silky hair shifting and falling right back into place. “He does that a lot. He is a very important man. But I saw this cool building when we flew into Seattle, and Father promised we could come.”

Millie smiled. Little Sam was loosening up a bit. “Yeah, the Space Needle’s pretty cool,” she echoed.

Lindsey, a nurturer as well, slipped her arm around Sam. For a moment he seemed startled, as though he wasn’t used to affectionate displays.

“ Don’t be sad about your mom,” Lindsey said. “We could go get some candy bars. They got ‘em over there at the coffee place. We could stack ‘em up and pretend--“ she glanced at Millie, “--how many candy bars tall are we, Mimi?”

“ One thousand-three-hundred-twenty from the ground to the top of the Space Needle.” The little stinker. She was deliberately trying to distract and stall so they wouldn’t have to leave, figuring Millie would feel sorry for Sam and cave in. Normally she would have, but she had obligations, and she didn’t blow them off lightly, even when it meant cutting short her and Lindsey’s ‘special days’ together.

“ It says so in one of the trimmeal game things--”

“ Trivia,” Millie automatically corrected, “but we really have to--”

“ Yeah.” Lindsey nodded. “One of those.” She removed her arm from around Sam and faced him, her expression earnest and excited. “If we were rich, we could buy that many candy bars and see. But we don’t have lots of money for extra stuff, so we pretend.”

“ Linz--“

“ My father is rich,” Sam said. “I could ask him to buy the candy.”

Millie had to put a stop to this. She checked her watch, saw that she had plenty of time to get Lindsey to the Forrester Day Care center and get herself to work at Caffeine Hy’s. But not enough time to do a load of laundry before she left--which meant she’d be up well past midnight since she was going to Hannah Richards’ bridal shower tonight.

“ Sorry kids. I don’t think the SkyCafe stocks that many candy bars. Sam, can we walk with you back to your father?”
“ It is not necessary. I can see him.”

Millie looked, but had no idea who she was looking for. There were men and women using telescopes, sipping coffee or simply gazing out at the awesome view. Several of the men within sight had dark hair and could well have been this child’s father.

That was fine and dandy, she thought, but Sam was standing right next to the elevator with two total strangers. A person could snatch this child and be gone before anyone could get to them--she knew that only too well after young Lily Marshall’s kidnapping at Forrester Day Care a few months ago. Thankfully, all had turned out well in that situation.

Still, the irresponsibility of Sam’s father made Millie mad, but what could she do? It was none of her business.

“ Well then, it was very nice to meet you Mr. Sam. You run on back to your dad while I watch.” She held out her hand for a cordial shake.

Sam’s brown eyes sparkled at being called Mister. He took her hand and pumped it up and down. The exuberance was in direct contrast to his formal speech.

“ You could shake my hand, too.” Lindsey didn’t like to be left out of anything.

“ You’re a girl,” Sam said.

“ So. Girls can shake hands. Girls can do anything boys can do!”

Oh, dear. A potential squabble already. Millie had deliberately raised Lindsey to be independent. She’d never dreamed she would lose her parents, and couldn’t stand to think what might have happened if she hadn’t been there to care for her sister. It brought mortality into crystal clear perspective. And Millie wanted to make sure Lindsey would grow up strong, capable, and independent.

Before she could intervene in the girls-versus-boys disagreement, Sam stunned her by picking up Lindsey’s hand and placing a gallant kiss on her small hand.

Millie’s heart melted. A little man in a child’s body.

Lindsey wasn’t quite so romantic. She snatched her hand back and wiped it on the seat of her jeans. “How come you did that?”
Sam shrugged.

Millie, making another great effort not to smile, steered Lindsey closer to the elevator. “Have fun while you’re in Seattle, Sam.” When the door swished open, she turned and stepped in, intending to hold the door until Sam made it safely back to his father.
But Sam followed them right onto the car.

“ Oh, no, little man. You need to stay here.” She quickly pushed the button to keep the automatic doors open and rested her hand on Sam’s bony shoulder. “Your dad would be frightened if you went joy riding on the elevator and he didn’t know about it. Come on, we’ll go find him together, okay?”

Sam didn’t budge. “He won’t care if I ride with you. He talks on the phone a long time. The lift will come back up. And you are a grown up, so you can watch me.” His words came faster now as he attempted to convince her with his little boy charm. “Amala came to America to watch me, but she was lazy and Father sent her home. I didn’t like her, anyway. Her hands smelled like fish.”

“ Yuck,” Lindsey said. “Fish are icky.”

“ Fish are very healthy for you,” Millie injected. Their father had made his living on a fishing boat. “Though fishy hands are a bit difficult to take. However, Sam, we have to go find your dad, because I could only watch you on the way down. You’d have to come back up by yourself, and I would worry myself silly over that.”

Sam giggled. “I like you better than Amala. You smell like apples.”

She couldn’t help herself. He was so darn cute, she just had to hug him.

A large masculine hand slapped against the door of the elevator, holding it open even though Millie was still pushing the button.

She glanced up and nearly swallowed her tongue. “Oh! You must be--“

“ What the hell do you think you are doing? Take your hands off of my son.” The man reached in and swooped Sam out of the elevator and into his arms. The boy’s feet dangled nearly to the guy’s knees, but he held his son as though he were a toddler, passing his palm over the child’s face, his hair, his back, as though checking for injuries.

Despite the man’s less than cordial manners, he obviously cared deeply about his child.

Fury and worry creased his swarthy, oh-my-gosh-handsome features, and it took a minute for Millie to realize she’d automatically risen and stepped forward out of the elevator, with Lindsey gripping the tail of her jacket.

She might as well have been in a trance, because all she could seem to do was stare. The man was impeccably dressed in a dark business suit, with a duster-style overcoat open so that she had a wonderful view of a sedate tie--silk, probably--a white shirt covering a nice flat stomach and a black leather dress belt with a platinum buckle emphasizing a lean waist and hips.

“ There are laws against kidnapping.” His voice, subtly accented, soft and dangerous, lashed out like a whip.

Never mind that he looked like a male centerfold or movie star, Millie’s temper ignited. She could only be nice to a point. How dare he make accusations when he was the one at fault.

“ Kidnapping?” Her heart thumped and her hands trembled. “You know, it just figures a man like you would automatically put the blame for his own short-comings on someone else.”

He drew back his shoulders, looking utterly appalled that she’d spoken to him in such a forward manner.

“ Taking the offense will not confuse the issue as I am sure you intend.” He removed a small cell phone from his pocket and flipped it open. “I should report you to the police department.”

Oddly enough, she realized that his hand wasn’t all that steady. She nearly reached out to him. He’d clearly had a scare with his son wandering off. But his terse voice and piercing obsidian eyes nixed her sympathy like a splash of ice water.

Millie perched her hands on her hips. “You go right ahead and call the police, buddy. In fact, I’ll be happy to do it for you. I’m sure they’ll be as interested as I am to know where the heck you were all the time your little boy was wandering around on his own. Do you think the Space Needle is anyplace to just let a child run free? What’s the matter with you anyway? And how do I know this is even your child?”

Although it was obvious they were father and son by their looks, and Sam was perfectly comfortable in the tall man’s arms, she nevertheless directed her attention to Sam.

“ Sam, is this your father?”

“ Yes.” He nodded as he answered, pride evident.

“ How do you know my son’s name?”

Several people looked their way when he hurled the question at her.

“ Would you lower your voice? If you keep standing there acting like a big brute, someone’s liable to think you’re threatening me.”

He took a deep, obviously fortifying breath, then set Sam down on the ground, keeping his hand on the boy’s shoulder.

“ I said you could not confuse me by taking the offense, but I stand corrected. I am thoroughly confused. And for the record, I do not threaten. I generally do what I say. Now, you will enlighten me as to why you were attempting to leave with my son, and how you came to know his name.”

“ I wasn’t leaving with your son. He followed us onto the elevator and if you would’ve given me a half a second you would have known I was coming right back off the elevator to find Sam’s missing parent. And I know his name because he told me . . . well, actually he told Lindsey, but that doesn’t really matter. The fact is, you were too busy talking on the telephone, or whatever it was you were doing, and your child wandered off. You’re just darn lucky it was me he hooked up with and not some crazy person.”

He stared at her for so long she nearly squirmed. Stubborn man. Hadn’t he ever heard of the concept of apology? Or gratitude? Obviously not.

“ Do you always speak so quickly?” he asked.

“ When I have something to say, I say it.” She stabbed the elevator call button, pleased when the doors opened immediately. Beneath the scowl, she could have sworn she saw a hint of amused indulgence in his deep brown eyes. It set her off balance.

Darn it, this man had been negligent with his child and downright surly with her!

Surely he wasn’t flirting.

“ Look, I’m late for work, otherwise I’d be happy to spend the day in your charming presence.” She drawled the last two words in case he was too pigheaded and full of himself catch the sarcasm.

“ That boy’s precious cargo. Try to remember that when you get wrapped up in your little cell phone dealings.” She took Lindsey by the hand and stepped into the elevator.

“ And you’re welcome,” she added sweetly just as the steel doors swished closed.

Millie leaned against the elevator wall, her body quaking like an Aspen in the wind. She wasn’t one to run from confrontations, but they took all the stuffing out of her.

“ Wow, Mimi,” Lindsey said in awe. “I thought you were gonna give Sam’s daddy a time out.”

She found the energy to laugh. “If I’d thought about it, pet, I would have.”

From the book Too Good to Refuse
by Mindy Neff
Harlequin American Romances
ISBN 0-373-61275-3 - March 2004
Copyright by Mindy Neff

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