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“Or if inviting myself over every Wednesday’s too much, you can just tell me and I’ll fuck off.”
Allison winced and looked at the kids, but then she waved her hand. “They hear me swear plenty, so I don’t think there was any harm done. They’re still too young to really know what we’re saying.”
We moved toward the wooden table and chairs she had out here and set everything down on it. As she got things ready, the twins ran around the yard with a balloon they were using as ball.
“Hey, it’s dinnertime!” she called to them, but they didn’t respond right away. “I think they want to finish their game first. They’re going to be late for bedtime again.” She sighed, her shoulders drooping. “My sister wouldn’t be happy.”
“Allison,” I said, stepping closer to her. It was truly impossible not to be smitten with how gorgeous she was. She had freckles on her nose, and her fragrance drew me in. But that’s when I noticed her beautiful sage-colored eyes were a bit red. She’d obviously been crying, and I hated that they all were going through this. Losing a sibling would be unbelievably hard.If something happened to one of my brothers, it would cut me deep.
“You’re doing a great job,” I told her.
“Let’s see how long I get to do it,” she whispered.
“What are you talking about?” I fixated on her freckles again and then cast my gaze away. She even had freckles on her cleavage.
Nick, whatever you do, don’t hit on her. I’d been repeating this mantra ever since the first time I came here—which was two days after the funeral.
“Bob and Sophie’s lawyer contacted me.”
They were Jim’s parents.
“Why?” I questioned, maybe a bit too harshly.
I’d met Jim when we were in college, and we hit it off right away. I’d only met his parents a few times, and they weren’t the warmest people I’d ever encountered. In fact, they were more academic and snobbish and totally different from the upbringing I had with my mom. Plus, they’d never approved of Nora, and they hadn’t been too happy about him marrying her.
“They want custody of Annie and Jack!” Allison’s voice shook as she told me.
“What the fuck?” I said a bit too loudly, and the twins looked up. “Shit,” I whispered.
Allison said nothing.
“Have they mentioned anything like this before?”
“No. I’m not even sure why they’re bringing it up now. I never got the sense that they wanted to spend too much time with the kids,” she whispered and then grabbed her hair. She pulled at something, and it fell to her waist. She needed to play with her hair, I realized as she took a strand and wrapped it along her fingers. The impulse to reach out was even stronger.
“Did they see them that much? I mean, even before the accident?” I asked.
“No, not really. That’s the thing. Mostly just on Christmas and Jim’s birthday. That’s the only time they came to Boston. And even then, they didn’t really spend time with the kids, so this is very out of the blue.” She shook her head. “Nora rarely spoke with them, and neither did Jim, so I’m guessing phone calls with their grandkids were minimal too. I don’t know. I’m still trying to process this.”
She pulled at the thin straps of her dress, rearranging them, and I caught a glimpse of her breasts. I nearly groaned.
“They don’t have a case.” I sounded far more confident than I was. I was extremely good at business—I’d grown a failing company into the most successful chain of gyms in the country—but I was no lawyer.
“I don’t know. I’ve asked a colleague at work. He doesn’t specialize in family law, but he said it all depends. It’s circumstantial.”
“What the hell is circumstantial? Your sister passed away, and she and Jim specifically put it in their will that they want the kids to be with you. And you didn’t even hesitate in taking them to live with you.”
She was a fucking amazing human being. Not many people would do that. Some people, like my own father, even had an issue taking responsibility for their own damn kids.
“You have a fantastic job,” I continued. “You own this house. How could you possibly not be fit to have custody?”
In addition to being drop-dead gorgeous, Allison was also a brainiac. She was a CFO of a huge fashion label.
“Yes, I do. But as the lawyer pointed out, I have a great income for myself, not necessarily for myself and two kids.”
“That’s bollocks,” I said.
She laughed. “That’s actually a British swear word.”