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Chapter One

“Mom, you’re asking the impossible.” Sage Madison held the phone away from her ear, certain she’d misunderstood her mother. Her shoulder-length brown hair fell across her cheeks as she bowed her head. “This isn’t a good time for me.” Sage sincerely wanted to help her sister. The timing, however, couldn’t be worse. Sage was vying for the manager position with Park Marketing. She’d worked toward this goal for years, almost from the moment she’d been hired by the well-known and respected agency. Bringing her five-year-old nephew into her home and life would put that promotion in jeopardy.

“Saffron needs your help,” Rosemary Madison insisted.

Surely there was someone more suited to this than Sage. She knew next to nothing about children. She closed her eyes, desperately seeking a way to help her sister without putting her own career at risk. She had no idea how she’d be able to manage Ricky’s care plus work the ridiculous hours she did. Sage was a corporate woman through and through, with limited maternal instincts. If ever there was a time when this precious little boy needed mothering, it was now.

“Mom, I understand Saffron didn’t expect to be deployed. Seriously, what did she think when she signed up for the Army Reserve?” Sage loved her sister, she truly did. Saffron, however, was impulsive to a fault. During her first year of college she ended up eloping with Rick O’Brien. A month later she was pregnant with little Ricky. Then Sage’s brother-in-law had died in a freak accident two years ago, when he’d fallen on the ice and suffered a catastrophic head injury. He died almost immediately. There had been no life insurance.

Then, earlier in the year, Saffron had signed up for the Army Reserve for the benefits and to supplement her income while she finished her schooling. Apparently, Sage’s sister had never taken into account that her services would be called upon.

“Of course, your father and I could always cancel our fortieth-wedding-anniversary cruise.”

Oh boy, here it came. The guilt. Sage closed her eyes and groaned, accepting that she really didn’t have any options. “You can’t do that,” she insisted. Her parents had been planning this monthlong cruise for more than a year. It was the trip of a lifetime.

It seemed Sage was always the one to step in when Saffron did something foolish. Up to this point, all the military had required of her sister was one weekend a month for training. It was as though Saffron assumed her parents would step in to care for Ricky if she was asked to serve. And if her parents were unavailable, the duty apparently fell to Sage.

Yet again, Sage was expected to rescue her sister, even when it was the worst possible time.

“How long will Saffron be away?” Sage asked, giving in. She hoped it was for a week, two at the most. Any longer was out of the question.

Her mother’s hesitation said it all. “Saffron’s commanding officer said she should be prepared to be away for the entire month of December.”

“A month?” Sage bellowed. “Mom, I can’t.”

“There’s no other option,” her mother continued.

There had to be.

“Ricky loves you.”

“And I love him, but he barely knows me.”

“Not true. The two of you had a great time together over Thanksgiving.”

They’d had fun. Ricky was a delightful little boy. They’d put together a jigsaw puzzle and watched a movie. Sage did her best to be a good aunt, and it was fine for an hour or two, but that was her limit. By the time the movie was over, Sage had been exhausted answering Ricky’s thousand questions. Like his mother, Ricky was a curious child. He wanted to know why Sage lived so far away. Did she have a boyfriend? What was it like in Seattle? Did she watch football games? By Ricky’s bedtime, Sage’s head was swimming.

Sage didn’t like to be reminded why she’d left Chicago. She’d accepted the Seattle position to mend a broken heart. The man she loved all through college had decided he wanted to play the field. They’d been together so long, Mark explained. He felt he should date others to be sure they were right for each other before they married. Sage should have known then that something was up. That something was someone. Within three months of their college graduation, Mark was engaged to Annalisa, a good friend of Sage’s. Seeing the two of them together was hard, and after a couple years of making excuses to avoid social events, Sage decided to look elsewhere for employment. Being dedicated and a hard worker, she had no trouble finding a position in Seattle.

“There isn’t anyone else,” her mother continued, breaking into Sage’s tortured thoughts. “Ricky knows his mother will be away for a while. Having him come to you is the obvious choice.”

There had to be someone more qualified.

What about a friend?

A neighbor?

Someone who wasn’t her.

If only Rick’s side of the family lived closer. Unfortunately, they weren’t an option. His parents and two siblings all lived in Australia, and sending Ricky to be with them wasn’t a viable alternative.

“Ricky’s such a good little boy,” her mother continued. “You’ll hardly know he’s there.”

The insinuation was downright laughable. “Mom, I work long hours. How am I going to take care of a five-year-old when I…” She paused and drew in a deep, calming breath. She’d spent years working toward becoming the Seattle-based manager of Park Marketing. The promotion was within her sight. If ever there was a time she needed to focus on her career, it was now.

“I…I’ve barely spent any time with Ricky,” she added lamely. Clearly her mother wasn’t concerned about the ramifications to Sage’s career if she agreed to do this.

“This is your chance to become better acquainted,” her mother countered.