“You’re early,” Matt said as he opened the door. There was no mistaking Lupe’s resemblance to Amy, another fact that made him wonder about his state of mind. They were about the same size, five foot tall and slim. Lupe had the same large Latin eyes he seemed unable to get enough of. Her face was more alert than Amy’s; however, she was not nearly as pretty. It occurred to him then how easy it had been for Amy to hide her real intentions. She showed so little of her internal state that one was constantly filling in the blanks.

“I went shopping for the baby and finished faster than I expected,” she said as she held up a bag of diapers and formula. Matt remembered the day he had swiped the child. A hundred miles north of L.A., in the middle of nowhere, Jimmy had awakened hungry and upset. He had wanted his mother’s breast, and his frantic efforts with a formula bottle had not been appreciated. Naturally, Matt had considered beforehand how difficult it might be to feed Jimmy. In his telescope, he had seen Amy occasionally giving her son a bottle, and he had hoped for the best. But he had never imagined Jimmy’s crying could shake him so deeply. For two hours he had seriously considered the impossible—dropping the whole scheme and returning the child to Amy.

But then Jimmy had fallen asleep and the next time he awoke he had taken the bottle happily. The kid must have been starving. His huge eyes had stared up at him with such trust that it had touched him deeply. Matt had been surprised that the routine tasks of caring for the boy did not bother him. Even changing Jimmy’s diapers when Lupe was gone was no hassle.

“Great, come in,” Matt said, opening the door wider. “I’ve errands I have to get done anyway. The sooner I start on them the better.” It was a Saturday, he did not have to work. He had not planned to work as long as he had the child, anyway. But now that Jimmy had become a permanent member of his household, that was impractical.

Matt needed to get out in either case.

Playing father was fun but not twenty-four hours a day.