Her heart cartwheeled in her chest. Looking up at him, she swallowed hard. “You have?”
Straightening, he cupped her cheek with his hand as he threaded his fingers into her hair and leaned toward her.
Closing her eyes, she drew in a deep breath, anticipating his kiss. He smelled of coffee and fresh air. Then his lips met hers, and possibly for the first time in her life, she thought she might swoon.
His arms found their way to her waist, and he pulled her closer, deepening their kiss. This was too good to be true. He wanted her to stay in Ouray. Wanted to—
He abruptly pulled away, leaving her lost in a romantic haze.
She opened her eyes as he released her.
His face was marred with confusion and pain. “I’m sorry, Lily. I can’t do this.” With that, he whisked past her and into the house.
She turned around just in time to see the front door close.
What just happened?
Touching her fingers to her still-throbbing lips, she wandered into the house and dropped onto the sofa, her heart breaking as she struggled for answers.
One thing was obvious. Noah didn’t want her.
So why did she still want him?
Her cell phone rang in the kitchen. Like a fool, she hoped it might be him and hurried to grab it. Instead, her attorney’s name appeared on the screen. Why would he call her so late?
She shook her head to clear the fog from her brain before answering. “Geoffrey?”
“Lily, if you’re not sitting down, I’d advise that you do so now.”
That was rather cryptic. “Why? Is there a problem?”
“You could say that.”
She racked her brain trying to comprehend what he was saying. “Go on.”
“Wade is suing for full custody of Colton and Piper.”
“Wait, what?” Since when was Wade interested in being a father?
“There’s a photo that has surfaced showing Colton on the ground, as though he was bucked from a horse.”
“Bucked from a horse? That never happened.”
“I’m afraid it gets worse, Lily. Wade is claiming that you’re an unfit mother. That you’ve put the children in danger, so he wants immediate custody and has managed to secure a preliminary hearing for Friday.”
She rubbed a hand over her forehead and through her hair. “That’s only three days from now.”
“I know. Which is why I’m going to suggest you come back to Denver as soon as possible so we can go over things. Just let me know when, and I’ll clear my schedule.”
When the call ended, Lily staggered to the couch, her body shaking. Why was this happening? First Noah, now this. If she lost her kids...
A sob caught in her throat.
Her world was falling apart.
* * *
Noah was a fool.
How could he think about having a relationship with Lily when had yet to say goodbye to Jaycee? Yet, he’d kissed Lily, anyway. Then left without so much as an explanation.
Pulling up to the ranch house, he contemplated turning around and going back. But he wasn’t sure he could face Lily until his conscience was clear.
Inside the house, he barely spoke to his father as he passed through the living room. Once in his room, he opened the top drawer of his dresser and pulled out the note his mother had written to him shortly before she passed away. A note he hadn’t even known existed until last year. Instead, it had been tucked away until his sister-in-law Carly stumbled across it.
He sat on the edge of his bed, opened the card with a columbine on the front and read.
My dearest Noah,
The first time I held you in my arms, I knew I was created to be a mother. You were my sunshine on cloudy days, always quick with a smile. But that smile faded when Jaycee died. As though a part of you had died with her.
You were a good husband. You loved Jaycee with everything you had. Though that doesn’t mean you can’t love again.
Your loyalty is one of your greatest traits, but, someday, God may bring a woman into your life who makes you smile once more and infiltrates your thoughts at the most unexpected times.
He looked up. Even Dad had said it was nice to see him happy again. Was it really because of Lily? She definitely seemed to find her way into his mind on a daily basis. Morning, noon and night. He was helpless to stop it. Perhaps because he didn’t want to.
He continued to read.
Allowing yourself to love her won’t mean you love Jaycee any less. You just have to let go of the past. Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning. You deserve joy, my son. So much joy.
When he’d first read this letter a little over a year ago, he’d been touched by his mother’s sentiment. Now her words smacked him in the face. She was right. It was time to let go of the past.
But how?
He tossed and turned most of the night until just before dawn. Then, as though a bolt of lightning had struck him, he knew just what he needed to do. Something he’d put off for twelve years.
He gathered a few clothes and some canned goods from the pantry and wrote a note to his father, explaining that he was going to the cabin, asking him to cover things at the stable and begging him not to let anyone know where he was. He set it beside the coffee maker before heading out the door.
The road to the cabin was overgrown, barely wide enough for his truck to get through anymore. Something he’d need to remedy.
When he reached the cabin, he stepped out of the cab, allowing the sun’s rays to warm him as he stared at the abandoned house. When he’d first left, shortly after Jaycee’s death, his mother had taken care of it. Until she got sick. Since then, Dad checked on it occasionally, making sure there were no major issues.
Noah wasn’t sure how long he stood there, remembering the life he and Jaycee had built here. The dreams they shared and looked forward to expectantly. Dreams that came to an abrupt end the day she died. But the memories they’d made here remained. Good memories that he’d all but forgotten because he’d allowed them to be overshadowed by the bad.
That had to stop.
After turning on the power to the house, he made his way up the steps and onto the wooden porch. It was still solid, though it could use a good power washing and another coat of stain.
He drew in a deep breath as he unlocked the door and stepped inside. The room was dark and smelled musty. Shoving aside the curtains on either side of the door, he opened the windows, allowing the fresh air to flow in.
Funny, the living room was much smaller than he remembered. Though it looked just the way it had the day he walked in and found Jaycee lying on the floor.
A lump formed in his throat, but he swallowed it away. The last time he was in here, he’d taken only what was his and left everything that reminded him of her behind. As though not being surrounded by Jaycee’s things could diminish her memory.
Moving past the leather sofa, he picked up a framed wedding photo from the bookshelf, recalling how excited he’d been to make Jaycee his wife. It wasn’t long after that he’d made the decision to leave the rodeo and come back here to start a family. So many plans. Plans that died right along with Jaycee.
For years he’d begged God to take him, too. Every time he got on the back of a bronc or bull. Until he finally realized that, maybe, God still had him here for a reason. That’s when the idea for the rodeo school first took root.
God, thank You for bringing Jaycee into my life, even if it was only for a short time. She taught me what it meant to love.
He continued through the house, opening curtains and windows, flooding the space with sunlight. Light that revealed the signs of neglect. How could he do that to Jaycee’s memory?
Well, not anymore.
He rolled up the sleeves of his work shirt and went outside. After locating a pair o
f trimming shears in the shed out back, he attacked the overgrown lilac bush and brought it under control. Next, he brushed away cobwebs from the outside of the house and cleaned the windows, removing twelve years’ worth of haze.
Inside, he moved from room to room, wiping down walls, dusting, scrubbing floors and vacuuming. After making sure the washer and dryer were still in working order, he stripped linens from beds and took down dust-laden curtains.
The sun was setting when he finally sat down on the porch with a bowl of canned chili. The once-forgotten cabin looked more like a home now. A place Jaycee would be proud of.
A place he actually wanted to be.
Waking up in the cabin the next morning, Noah felt like a new man. Good thing he’d hung on to that container of coffee he found in the cupboard yesterday.
Lifting his cup, he took another sip. A little on the stale side, but it would do.
He wandered through the house, thoughts of Lily peppering his brain. What was she doing? Had she brought the kids out for lessons? Had she come to check on Honey? He should have called her, told her what he was doing.
After locating a box in one of the closets, he gathered all of the photos around the house and placed them in it. He didn’t need them to remind him of Jaycee. She would live in his heart forever. But it was time for him to move forward.
Standing in the hallway, he studied the two secondary bedrooms. Why were they so small? Okay for a baby or small child, he supposed, but Colton and Piper would need more space. Peering into the so-called master, he realized that it wasn’t much better, except that it had its own bathroom. He couldn’t expect Lily to live—
A smile split wide across his face when he realized what he was contemplating. And for the first time in twelve years, he felt his heart truly beat. A pounding, strong and vibrant, as though it had finally broken free of the grief that had held it captive.
He fell against the wall. “I love her. I love Lily.” Why had it taken him so long to realize it? “God, I don’t know how, but I have to make this right.”
He rushed outside to his truck. He had to find Lily.
It was just after noon when he reached the ranch house and burst through the mudroom door.
“Dad?”
“Noah, just the person I need to see.” Carly met him as he moved from the mudroom into the family room.
“I can’t talk right now.” He moved past her. “I need to find Lily.”
“You’re going to Denver?”
His steps slowed. He turned to face her. “What are you talking about? She’s in town.”
“No, Lily left for Denver yesterday.” Carly reached for a stack of papers on the end table beside the sofa. “She asked me to give you these flyers for the grand opening.”
“Denver?” He sank onto the couch. Why would she go back now?
“Yeah.” Carly set the papers back down again. “She seemed pretty upset, too.”
He buried his face in his hands. Because of me.
“Noah!” Dad rushed in from the adjoining kitchen. “Lily’s on TV.” Remote already in hand, the old man turned up the volume.
Looking at screen on the other side of the room, Noah saw side-by-side photos of Lily and her ex-husband.
“Billionaire businessman-turned-state-senate candidate Wade Davis is suing for custody of his two children after a photo surfaced earlier this summer, showing his son grimacing in pain after being bucked from a horse,” the announcer said.
Standing, Noah stared at the image on the screen. “I remember that. He wasn’t bucked off. He tripped and fell.”
“And came up laughing, as I recall,” said Dad.
“Davis appeared before reporters—” the announcer continued as they cut to a clip of Wade Davis.
“The welfare of my children is my top priority. I cannot risk having them put in danger.”
“Danger?” Noah started to pace. “This guy is out of his mind.”
A picture of Lily flashed on the screen as the announcer again spoke. “The children’s mother, Lily Davis, daughter of late real estate mogul Gunther Yates, refused comment. The former darlings of Denver are due in court tomorrow.”
He turned away. Lily had trusted him, and he’d let her down. Why did I have to walk away?
Dad came alongside him. “What are you going to do now?”
Chapter Eighteen
Lily sat at the front of a Denver courtroom Friday morning with her attorney by her side as they awaited the judge’s arrival. Across the aisle, at a duplicate table, her ex-husband eyed her smugly.
He hadn’t changed. This lawsuit had nothing to with being a father. It was about his political campaign and appearances. He thought that if he played the doting father, it would garner him more votes. Lily was certain of it.
Her stomach churned. Her only defense was the truth. She’d done nothing wrong. That photo they were trying to use against her, to prove her an unfit mother, was a lie. Something taken completely out of context. And if needed, she had witnesses who would confirm that.
Still, Wade’s self-satisfied grin rubbed her the wrong way.
Standing, she crossed to where he sat. “Why are you doing this, Wade? You know I would never put my children in danger, just like you know that picture doesn’t portray the real story.” Arms crossed, she cocked her head. “How did you get it, anyway? Did the photographer offer it to you? Was he looking to pad his wallet?”
Wade leaned back in his chair, one side of his mouth lifting in amusement. “You seem awfully worried, Lily. Is there something you’d care to tell me?”
Anger sparked inside her, but she tamped it down, unwilling to give him the satisfaction.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the doors open at the back of the courtroom. Corrine Davis, Wade’s current wife and Lily’s former best friend, walked in. The woman Lily had once been foolish enough to share all of her secrets with was as beautiful as ever in her perfectly tailored navy pantsuit, though her shoulder-length hair was a shade blonder than Lily remembered.
With a final look at Wade, Lily returned to her seat, not wanting to cause a scene.
Corrine paused beside her husband, almost glaring at him, then continued around that table toward Lily.
Her heart beat faster. What could Corrine possibly have to say to her? Would she call Lily an unfit mother and pretend to care for Colton and Piper as if they were her own?
Stopping in front of their table, she nodded in Lily’s direction before pulling a plain manila file folder from her leather Salvatore Ferragamo tote and handing it to Lily’s lawyer. “This is for you.”
Her gaze moved to Lily. “I’m sorry, Lily. For everything.” With that, Corrine turned on her Jimmy Choo heel and moved across the granite floor, past Wade and his attorney, back down the aisle and out the door.
Weird.
Lily leaned toward her attorney. “What did she give you?”
Only then did Geoffrey open the file just enough for him to peer inside.
“Well...?” She waited anxiously.
He straightened. Then sent her a smile. “Excuse me, please.”
She watched as he stood and made his way to the other table. What was going on? And why wasn’t Geoffrey sharing anything with her? He did work for her, after all.
“Some information has come to light that you two might be interested in.” He handed the folder to Wade’s attorney.
The man opened it so that both he and his client could see its contents.
Yet, she was being kept in the dark.
The lawyer riffled through the papers, and Wade’s eyes went wide. Wade and his attorney exchanged looks. Then he slumped back into his chair, a scowl on his face as his attorney closed the folder and handed it back to Geoffrey.
Lily’s lawyer returned to her side as the judge entered the courtroom.
“All rise for the honorable Judge Rawlings.”
Standing, Lily leaned toward Geoffrey and whispered, “What’s going on?”
The judge gaveled in. “You may be seated.” The older, fatherly-looking man took his seat behind the bench.
Geoffrey grinned. “Let’s just say that a leopard doesn’t change his spots,” he whispered.
“What?” All of these ambiguities were about to drive her crazy.
“First order of business, Davis versus Davis,” said the judge.
Wade’s lawyer stood. “Your Honor, counsel requests permission to approach the bench.”
“Permission granted.”
Wade’s attorney moved forward and spoke to the judge in hushed tones.
The suspense was killing her.
A few moments later, Wade’s attorney returned to his seat as the judge gaveled once again.
“The case of Davis versus Davis has been dismissed.”
Now Lily was really confused, and she couldn’t help but wonder what her ex-husband was up to now.
“Dismissed? Geoffrey?” Standing, she watched as he gathered his papers.
Finally, he met her gaze. “Corrine is filing for divorce.”
Lily didn’t think it was possible, but she found herself even more puzzled. “Why?”
“Let’s just say there was a third party involved. And some photos confirmed it.”
“A third— Oh. Oh...” So Wade was cheating on Corrine. Now it all made sense. The dismissal, Corrine’s apology.
Despite everything, though, she felt sorry for her old friend. The sting of betrayal hurt on many levels.
Again, she eyed her ex-husband across the aisle, a new sense of determination flooding through her. The more she discovered about this man, the more she felt the need to protect her children from his self-serving antics. And protect them she would.
She approached him once more. “That didn’t turn out so well for you, did it, Wade?” Laying her hands atop the table, she leaned toward him. “Well, it’s about to get worse, because not only will I be seeking full custody of my children, I can assure you that I will receive it.”
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