Page 46 of Delivery After Dark (Gansett Island #28)

“ I know it’s not what you wanted, sweetheart, but it’s what makes sense right now with three little kids to drive around,” Blaine said as he showed Tiffany the ugly SUV he wanted to buy to “replace” her precious red Volkswagen Bug that had been squished by a tree during the hurricane. Oh, how she’d loved that car!

He was right, of course. They needed a bigger family vehicle, but not the one he was showing her. “I can’t with that. It’s ugly.”

“It’s functional and has an excellent safety rating, which is the most important thing.”

“Functional. Such a sexy word.”

“Since when are cars sexy?”

“My Bug was!”

“Can we agree that we can’t put five of us—including two car seats and a booster—in the Bug?”

“I suppose,” she said with a pout. She felt like a spoiled brat but couldn’t muster an ounce of enthusiasm for the vehicle he’d shown her.

“Reminder that we were going to need something bigger even if the Bug hadn’t gotten squished, so why can’t we put the insurance money for the Bug toward this one?”

“I don’t like it. What’re my options?”

He went to get his iPad and called up the dealer site where he’d found the first one and scrolled through the available choices. Black. Gray. Light gray. Silver. White. Boring.

“Anything?” he asked with the patience of a saint.

She shook her head. “Can we look somewhere else?”

“What is it that you’ve got in mind that’s not the size of the Bug?”

“Something fun and sexy and red.”

“Fun, sexy and red. Okay, got it. I’ll keep looking.”

“Sorry to be difficult.”

“It’s okay. I’m used to you by now.”

She sputtered with outrage that made him laugh.

He kissed her. “You’ve been trying me since the day we met and every day since. Why should today be any different?”

“Are you going to get sick of me someday?”

“God no, sweetheart. I’d be lost without you. And PS, you know you never need to worry about that with me.”

She rested her head on his shoulder. “I know.”

He took her hand and laced his fingers with hers.

“Do you really? Do you know how hard it is for me to go to work every day when I’d much rather be here with you and our kids?

Do you know how much I think about you when I’m not with you, how the scent of strawberries makes me hard, regardless of where I am, and how I’m so happy to have you driving me crazy every day of my life? ”

She sniffed as tears spilled down her cheeks.

“Are you crying?”

“Postpartum hormones. Nothing to see here.”

“You know how I feel about girl tears.”

“I’m very sorry, but you have your own sweetness to blame.”

“I don’t want you to spend one second worrying that I might do to you what he did, because I could never, ever, ever live without you.”

Her now-late ex-husband, Jim, had shattered her by suddenly leaving their marriage for reasons that had taken her years to fully understand. Even now, she sometimes still thought about that time and tried to see warning signs that hadn’t been there.

“I’m sorry to still be weird about that even after all this time, when you’ve given me no reason at all to be insecure.”

“It’s okay. I get it. When it happens once, why wouldn’t it happen again? Any time you feel worried, you let me know, and I’ll remind you of how obsessed I am with you.”

A tiny squeak came from Adrian’s bassinet.

“I’ll get him,” Blaine said. “Hey, little man, how was your nap?” The rapturous look on his handsome face as he picked up his son made Tiffany fall in love with him all over again. “Did you have some sweet dreams?” Blaine put him on the changing table and unsnapped the sleeper to get to his diaper.

“Don’t forget?—”

“Oh shit, he nailed me.” Blaine grinned as baby pee ran down his face. “You were saying?”

“Don’t forget to cover the package.”

Blaine used a towel to wipe his face. “Did you just pee on your daddy?” he asked as he nibbled playfully on baby toes. “I don’t think he’s one bit sorry.”

“The things babies get away with before they’re old enough to know better is legendary. Ashleigh once loudly loaded her diaper while she was sitting on my mother’s lap.”

“That must’ve been funny.”

“We laughed about it for months.”

Blaine handed the baby to her for feeding and then sat next to her to watch. “I never get tired of seeing you feeding our babies. You’re never more beautiful than you are in Mom mode.”

“Even when I’m huge?”

“You’re not huge. You just gave birth to our son. Be nice to my wife. She’s the most precious thing in the world to me.”

“He’s so handsome, like his daddy.”

“He looks like you.”

“No way. He’s all you. Even your mom says so. She says he looks just like you did as a baby.”

“Poor guy.”

“Oh hush. His daddy is the sexiest man alive.”

Blaine snorted with laughter. “Whatever you say, babe.”

The next day, Kendall arrived at Jared and Lizzie’s at eight thirty, a half hour before Violet’s father was due to arrive with his attorney on the eight o’clock boat from the mainland.

She’d done a deep dive on Brooks Ward online and found him to be an accomplished student, a star lacrosse and soccer player and a well-regarded colleague and friend.

In short, there was nothing about him not to like—at least on paper, that was.

She was reserving judgment until she met the man in person.

Jared and Lizzie moved like survivors of an apocalypse or something, going through the motions of coffee and breakfast for Violet, who was thankfully unaware of the drama playing out around her.

She banged her spoon on her high-chair tray, laughing at the sound it made as her parents watched with none of the usual delight for everything she did, as if they were already preparing themselves to have her ripped from their lives.

That couldn’t happen.

She was surprised when Dan Torrington walked in, looking every bit the part of one of the most successful attorneys in the country. Dan knew she could handle this meeting, but he also understood that his presence would be intimidating to opposing counsel.

“Thanks for coming,” she said when he sat next to her at Jared’s table.

“No problem. How’re they doing?”

“Terrible.”

“Thanks for being here, Dan,” Jared said in a dull, flat tone. He had purple circles under his eyes and looked as tired as Kendall had ever seen him. “How’s the baby?”

“She’s great.”

Lizzie sat on the edge of her seat, as if she was afraid to get too comfortable even in her own home. “And Kara?”

“She’s feeling much better and settling into a routine of sorts with the baby. I understand that once you get used to things, they change the game.”

“That’s right,” Lizzie said with a loving glance at Violet. “They keep you guessing.” Lizzie abruptly stood and left the room.

Jared went after her.

Kendall’s heart broke for both of them as she watched Violet cheerfully eat the dry cereal from her tray, oblivious to the stakes of this day that seemed like every other one to her.

“This is unbearable,” Kendall said to Dan.

“Truly.”

“How do you think today will go?”

“I honestly don’t know. The lawyer has played it cool from the start.”

“Yeah, with me, too. He doesn’t give anything away.”

Jared and Lizzie returned a few minutes later. Her face was red and puffy from crying, and Jared looked so tense, Kendall feared for his health.

They sat in uneasy silence that was broken up only by spurts of laughter from Violet, who was amused by the way the cereal pieces jumped around on the tray when she banged her spoon on it.

The sound of a car arriving outside had them all sitting up straighter.

“I can’t do this,” Lizzie said tearfully.

“I’ll be right here,” Jared said. “We’ve got this, honey. Just stay strong.”

Kendall wanted to hug them both, but there wasn’t time for that as their guests arrived at the door.

Lizzie took Violet out of the high chair and quickly washed her hands and face.

The lawyer, Mr. Martin, came in with a young dark-haired man who was obviously Brooks, along with an older couple.

Shit. He’d brought his parents.

Kendall glanced at Dan and saw that he didn’t like that development any more than she did.

“I’m Kendall James. This is my colleague, Dan Torrington.”

Martin shook hands with both of them. “Pleasure to meet you both. I’m a big fan of your work, Mr. Torrington.”

“Thank you,” Dan said.

“This is my brother, Jared James, and his wife, Elisabeth, and their daughter, Violet.”

Brooks and his parents stared at the child, without blinking, or so it seemed, since the minute they crossed the threshold into the house.

“My client, Brooks Ward, and his parents, Denise and Hunter Ward.”

Everyone shook hands and said hello as if this were a normal social event, when nothing about this was normal.

“Can I offer you anything to drink?” Jared asked.

Lizzie couldn’t do this. She simply couldn’t make polite conversation with people who might want to take away the most important person in their lives. She wanted to leave with Violet. She’d do it if it wasn’t for the fact that she was on an island and could go only so far before they’d find her.

The guests declined refreshments, and Jared suggested they move to the family room so Violet could play while the adults talked.

How could he be so calm and rational when her heart was about to explode out of her chest at any second?

“We all know why we’re here,” Dan said, “so how about we get right to it?”

“That works for us.” Martin turned to Jared and Lizzie, who sat together on a love seat. “My client was unaware that he’d fathered a child until recently. Needless to say, the news came as a shock to him, and he was at once very eager to meet his daughter.”

“She looks like you did as a baby, Brooks,” his mother said tearfully.

“I was thinking the same thing,” his father said, his voice gruff.

“Are you going to take her from us?” Lizzie asked, her voice hitching on a sob.

“Because if you are, I want you to know we’ll fight for her until our last breath.

She’s lived with us for more than six months.

We’ve sat up with her all night while she was teething and when she had a fever.

We’ve tucked her into bed every night and woken up to her happy squeaks every morning.

For one hundred and ninety-two days, she’s been the center of our lives.

If you try to take her from us, we’ll fight you. ”

As an attorney, Kendall would’ve advised her sister-in-law to take a more conciliatory approach. But as a mother, she wholeheartedly approved of Lizzie’s blunt words.

“We don’t want to upset her life,” Brooks said haltingly. “But I’m not sure how I’m supposed to go on with my life, knowing I have a child in the world being raised by people who are strangers to me.”

“So get to know us,” Jared said. “Come to visit any time you want. All of you. There’s no reason you can’t be part of her life, but as my wife said, if you want to take her from us, we will fight you.

We can either spend years raising this child with your reasonable involvement, or we can spend years in court. ”

Wait. What did he say? She hadn’t expected him to say that and didn’t want strangers involved in raising Violet.

“We understand that you weren’t told of her existence,” Jared said, “and we feel for you in that situation. We really do. But we hope you have some empathy for us, as well. We’ve devoted our lives to this child since her mother left her with us, and we’re weeks away from the adoption being final.

As you can imagine, this situation has been extremely distressing for us. ”

Violet crawled over to Lizzie, who picked her up.

“I’m sorry for the pain this has caused you,” Brooks said. “That’s not our intention. I wanted to meet my daughter. Could I… Would it be possible to hold her?”

Lizzie tightened her arms around Violet. No, it was not all right if he held her.

Sensing her mother’s disquiet, Violet burrowed into her embrace.

“Lizzie.”

She looked at Jared, who nodded as he reached for Violet.

Lizzie feared if she let her go, she might never get her back.

“It’s okay,” Jared said softly as he took the baby from her and transferred her to Brooks, who sat on the sofa with his parents on either side of him.

“Hey, baby girl,” Brooks said. “You’re so pretty and sweet.”

“She’s beautiful,” Denise said.

Lizzie thought she might die right then and there watching them fawn over her child.

Jared took her hand and held on tight.

Five minutes passed, or maybe it was five hours, for all she knew or cared. Give her back. Give her back. Give her back.

Violet suddenly seemed to realize she was with people she didn’t know and began to cry the way she did when she was scared.

Lizzie crossed the room to retrieve her child, who immediately settled when she was back in the arms of the only mother she’d ever known. She took her out of the room and went to the rocking chair in Violet’s room, where she’d spent hours soothing her baby girl.

That’s where Jared found her twenty minutes later.

“Did they leave?”

“Yeah.”

“What did they say?”

“Brooks said he’ll consider what I said and get back to us.”

“When?”

“He didn’t say, but Kendall and Dan assured me they won’t let it drag on indefinitely.”

“He holds all the cards. If he says they want her, we have to give her up to them. There won’t be anything we can do.”

“We’ll delay in court so long she’ll be in high school before they see her again.

They’re well aware that we have the resources to fight them.

I think, in the end, he’ll take our offer.

He’s in medical school. He has no time for a child.

Dan said both parents have big jobs in New York, so they don’t have time for her either. ”

“They could retire. If they have big jobs, they have resources, too.”

“Not like we do.”

Jared rarely referred to his fortune, let alone used it to intimidate someone.

That told her more about how upset he was than anything else ever could have.

He squatted next to her and stroked Violet’s soft blonde curls as she slept in Lizzie’s arms. “I don’t want you to worry.

I’m not going to let anyone take her from us. ”

She wanted to believe he had the power to get the outcome they wanted, but she wouldn’t relax until she heard from Brooks himself that he wasn’t going to take her child from her.