“Dragging her through all this just seems terrible. I don’t want to do it, Chris. Why would he even want custody of her? He’s never spent longer than three hours at a time with her in her entire life.”
“He’s a manipulative prick. That’s why. We’ll fight this, baby. I promise you we’ll fight it, and we’ll win. If we can get it done soon enough, Adi might not even have to know about it.”
“He’ll never make it that easy,” she whispered, her eyes round. “I don’t know how he’s affording a lawyer, but if he’s found one willing to represent him for what he can pay, he’ll just keep going until he gets what he wants.”
“He won’t ever get what he wants.” Fresh tears landed on my hands, but I let them pool, looking at her intently while trying to assuage her fears. “Do you really think he could out-litigate me? I have the best law firm in the city on retainer and I’ve never even been sued.”
I linked our fingers together. “I pay them an exorbitant amount of money each month just in case. If they don’t have someone who specializes in family law, we’ll find someone else. My point is that I probably pay those guys a month what Craig will pay his lawyer for the next ten years.”
“But that’s your money, not mine.” She squeezed my hands and shook her head with a watered-down smile. “I could never ask you to spend that amount of money on us.”
“You didn’t ask. I offered, but I also won’t let you refuse my offer.” I didn’t even really care if I was being too pushy with her right now. I knew we hadn’t known each other all that long, and I knew, technically, this was none of my business, but fuck it. “Money is no object where Adi is concerned. Just repeat after me. We will fight this, and we will win.”
“Why are you doing this?” Her whispered question made her sound broken, but I knew she wasn’t. “Why do you keep helping us?”
“Adi deserves better than Craig.” I drew her back into my arms. “I know what it feels like to feel helpless because you don’t have money. No one should ever feel that way, and you don’t have to. Let me take care of this for you, please?”
“You’ve already done too much,” she protested before putting her hands on my shoulders and looking into my eyes. “Let’s just see how this plays out, okay? For all we know, the message was from one of his idiot friends pretending to be a lawyer.”
“But if it really was from a lawyer, you’ll let me know and let me help you?”
She managed a weak smile. “We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. Thank you for always being there for me. I have no idea what I ever did without you.”
You’ll never be without me again. The errant thought jumped into my head out of nowhere and made me question my own sanity. Who thought that kind of thing after spending time with someone for only a few weeks?
Then again, my father had proposed to my mother after knowing her for two weeks. They’d been married by the time they’d known each other for seven. Eleven months after their wedding day, I was born. And they’d stayed true to their vows until death really had done them part.
Dad had always said that when you knew, you knew. Maybe that was what was going on. I wasn’t one-hundred percent sure, but considering I’d just offered to pay the woman’s legal fees, I had a sneaky feeling it was.
“We should get out there,” I said once April had wiped her eyes, taken several deep breaths, and even had some color back in her cheeks. “Looks like the initial shock has worn off.”
She laughed dryly. “Give it a few minutes. It might just hit me again. But yes, we should get back out there.”
She stood up, and I gave her a final hug. Dropping a kiss on top of her head, I just held her until she stopped trembling.
When we got to Hunter and Adi, a different Adams was crying. I gave Hunter a questioning look. He pressed his lips together and lifted his hand in response.
“Are you okay, sweetheart?” April rushed to her side and enveloped her in a hug. “What’s going on out here?”
“I can’t get it right.” Adi sobbed into her mother’s hair, really breaking down now that her mom was there. “My hand is never going to work well again. Never.”
April whispered soothing words I couldn’t hear, holding her until sobs no longer wracked her body. While she was busy with her, I went to speak to Hunter.
“What the hell happened?”
“We were working on fine motor exercises again. I stuck to the treatment plan, I swear. She should’ve been ready for these.”
His eyes were filled with so much sadness that I thought he might burst into tears as well. It wouldn’t be the first time. The guy really was as soft as he was big.
I clapped a hand on his shoulder. “I believe that you stuck to the plan. Don’t worry. Let me see what I can do, okay? The exercises might just need some minor adjustments.”
Adi stepped away from her mom, looking positively miserable. “I’m sorry I’m not doing well enough. If you want to stop treating me, I’ll understand.”
I smiled gently as I shook my head, opening my arms to her. “Nonsense. You’re doing way better than you think. Everyone has setbacks sometimes, honey. It’s the comeback that really matters, not the setback.”
She burrowed into my chest, clinging to me like I was her last hope, greatest cheerleader, and biggest protector. Otherwise known as what a father should be.
Rage filled me again over the fact that her dad was such a useless fucking prick. Despite the fact that he should never have caused her any pain at all, he should also have been the one here soothing her now that the pain and the fear was there.
And yet, a part of me was glad he wasn’t here. Because his absence meant that I got to be there for her. Yep. I’m going straight to hell.
I didn’t even feel guilty for being glad that I could be here for her. Craig didn’t give a shit and Adi deserved someone who did. Why did it matter if that person also really wanted to be there when she needed them?
When she let me go, I motioned toward the corner of the room where we kept the different fine motor activities. “Want to come look over there with me? I’m sure we can find something that will be better for you.”
“I just want to go home.” She pouted, actually looking her age for once. It was difficult to remember at times that the child was only nine. “I’m done for the day.”
“That’s fine,” I said. “But let’s go look over there anyway. You don’t have to try any of the activities if you don’t want to. Let me at least show them to you. That way, you can jump right in next time and already know what to expect.”
After a long pause, during which I was half expecting her to stomp her feet, she simply nodded. “I want to see, but I don’t want to do them.”
I smiled. “Let’s just go have a look at what’s over there. You might just change your mind.”
When we reached the shelf, I let Adi choose items that looked interesting to her. I patiently demonstrated and explained to her how they worked, and before anyone knew it, she was doing them herself.
I didn’t interrupt her to point that out, though. She was still on track with her treatment plan, and judging by how well she was doing on some of these new activities, she was even a little bit ahead.
“You fixed the problem,” Hunter mumbled to me when he came to join us. “Asshole. I don’t know how you always do that.”
I wiggled my fingers at him. “Magic.”
April came up to me after the end of the session, a relieved smile on her face. “You’re kind of becoming our knight in shining armor, do you know that?”
I pretended to fan my face. “Aww shucks.”
She gave me a light punch in the arm, and it was good to see her laughing again. “Even knights have to eat, though. Can I cook you dinner again sometime?”
“I’m free on Wednesday.”
“Perfect.” Hooking one finger into the gap between two buttons on my shirt, she yanked me closer and brushed a lightning fast kiss to the bottom of my jaw while Hunter was with Adi
. “I’ll see you on Wednesday.”
Chapter 26
APRIL
“Since when do you like jazz?” Katie asked as we danced around my kitchen while making dinner.
I hadn’t been relegated to company-keeper this evening, but I was actually quite enjoying cooking with my sister for a change. She lifted her arms up in the air, tongs and all, and moved her hips to the sultry rhythm.
“I’ve rediscovered it recently.” My mind flashed on a number performed by the servers while we’d been having dinner with Chris. “It’s the perfect music to cook to, don’t you think?”
“I like cooking to French, but this isn’t bad.” She smiled and kept swaying her body but brought her arms down to turn the chicken in the pan. “How did you rediscover it? Radio?”
“No.” I rolled my lips into my mouth and released them with a soft pop. “Chris took us to a restaurant where they performed all kinds of music, but the jazz with dinner stuck with me.”
“Chris again, huh?” She pursed her lips, stopped dancing, and shot me a worried glance. “That doctor seems to have wormed his way into your lives quite thoroughly.”
I exhaled deeply with a shake of my head, abandoning my dance to amble over to the fridge. “He hasn’t wormed his way into our lives. We want him with us.”
Her brows climbed up on her forehead. “You do? Since when?”
“Since I’ve gotten to know him and he’s a really nice guy.” I began piling ingredients for a salad into my arms. “It’s nothing serious. You still don’t have to worry about my Pretty Woman story.”
“That’s not what I’m worried about.” She turned the last piece of chicken and leaned back against the counter, folding her arms as she gave a pointed look to the living room where Adi was doing her homework. “I’m worried about you, but I’m also worried about Adi. What if she gets attached to this guy? It’s tough bringing someone new into her life as it is, but more especially so when you don’t even know where things are going with him.”
“Does anyone really know where things are going in their relationships when it’s still new? No. It’s always going to be a leap of faith.”
“Sure, but that’s why people usually get to know the person and try to gauge what the prospects for the future are before they get their kids involved.”
I set the fresh ingredients down and looked at her just so she could see me rolling my eyes. “There’s no rule that says it has to work that way. Plus, Adi already knew Chris the first time we went out. I needed to know that he knew I wasn’t just looking for a hookup.”
“As far as I knew, you weren’t looking for anything,” she said, sighing before she bent over to check on the veggies in the oven.
“I wasn’t looking for anything.” I shredded the lettuce into a bowl I’d gotten out earlier, but my gaze stayed on my sister. “There’s nothing wrong with what we’re doing, Katie. I wasn’t planning on dating again, and I didn’t want to, but things change.”
“Evidently.” Twisting her ponytail around itself to make a bun, she snapped an elastic off her wrist to fasten it and then pulled up a stool to sit on. “I’m not saying you’re doing anything wrong. All I’m saying is that you have to make sure this is the right thing to do. “
“It’s the right thing to do,” I said firmly. “You don’t know him, and if you did, I think you’d agree with me. He’s really good for us. He makes me feel safe without making me feel like I need him to feel that way.”
“Safe from what?” She frowned. “Is there something going on I don’t know about?”
“Well, yeah, but that’s not really what I’m talking about. I meant it more generally. Chris is loyal to a fault. He’s reliable. He’s fun, smart, and hot. Name a single one of those characteristics that makes you doubt this is the right thing to do.”
My sister’s head dropped to the side, and she studied me with a puzzled expression on her face. “What’s going on? Reliable and loyal used to equal boring to you. Now that’s something you’re looking for?”
“It’s always been something I wanted. I just didn’t find it before. Seriously? Who wants someone unreliable and disloyal? No one.”
“You used to.” She pointed at my chest. “I thought you liked the bad boys.”
“Bad boys are only fun until you realize that a lot of them really are bad. No girl really wants a guy who’s unreliable or disloyal. We just keep hoping that we’re the one the bad boy will turn good for.”
“Fair enough.” She chuckled. “This doctor doesn’t bore you then?”
“Not at all,” I said honestly. “Just because he has a good heart doesn’t mean he’s boring. He has all the attractive elements of a bad boy but none of the shitty ones.”
“How so?” Donning an oven mitt, she pulled the tray of vegetables out of the oven and placed the chicken pieces under the broiler.
I sliced through a tomato, almost cutting off my finger, as lost in thought as I was. “He’s confident, assertive, protective, somewhat mysterious, and lives his life on his own terms. But he’s not arrogant, aggressive, or dangerous.”
“So that makes him what?”
“Perfect,” I joked, wagging my eyebrows at her. “Can we drop this now? I like the guy. Adi likes him and he likes us. What’s the big deal?”
“The big deal is that you still haven’t told me what’s going on that I don’t know about and that two months ago, you were firmly in camp Down on Love.”
“What’s the use of a mind if you can’t change it?” I tapped my temple while sprinkling croutons over the salad with my other hand. “I also never said I was in love with him. Love has nothing to do with this.”
She snorted. “If that was true, you wouldn’t have had a problem with him just being a hookup. Now stop stalling and tell me what’s going on.”
I braced my hands against the counter and lowered my head, knowing that Katie was going to kill me for not telling her sooner. “Craig plans on suing me for full custody of Adi. Long story short, he’s not bluffing and I don’t know what I’m going to do. I can’t lose her, but I also can’t afford a lawyer.”
The string of words that left her mouth would’ve made even the most experienced sailors blush and take cover. She ranted for five full minutes before the timer on the oven cut her off.
After she yanked the chicken out and shut the broiler off, she slammed the tray down on the counter and spun around to face me. “That’s such freaking bullshit. I have some money saved up. We’ll get a lawyer. We’ll get the best flippin’ lawyer we can afford and sue him for child support while we’re at it. If he’s got money for this farce, he can afford to help with Adi’s expenses.”
“That’s a really good point, but we need to get through the custody suit first. Chris offered to help too, and to be honest, I still don’t really know what to do. I’ve been thinking about nothing else for days. I think I just need a night away from it all.”
“Want to have a girls’ night out?” she offered. “There’s karaoke at Bottles tomorrow night. We can call Luna to come with us and get that sitter from your building to watch Adi.”
“Actually, Chris is coming over for dinner tomorrow night. I was hoping you might be able to watch Adi so I could get a night away from it all with him.”
She looked surprised. I didn’t often turn down the opportunity for karaoke. “I thought you’d be all in for a night of singing and drinking with me and Luna. You’d really rather spend it with Chris?”
“Yes,” I said without hesitation. “I’d love to go out with you two sometime but not tomorrow. I’m not really in the mood for letting loose and partying like there’s no tomorrow.”
“Then okay. Of course, I’ll watch Adi.” She smiled softly. “I’m actually kind of proud of you for this. You’ve definitely grown since you met him.”
My eyes widened. “Why does it look like you suddenly approve of my relationship with him when less than ten minutes ago, you were telling me I was making a mistake?”
&nb
sp; “I never said you were making a mistake. All I said was to make sure you’re doing the right thing. For the record, I never said I didn’t think you were doing the right thing.”
“So you’re okay with this?” My mouth nearly dropped open. “I’m so confused right now.”
“Don’t be.” She laughed. “You need tomorrow night, and I’m happy to watch Adi for you so you can do whatever it is you want to blow off steam in whichever way growing April wants to.”
“Why are you okay with this? I thought you would kidnap me and keep me locked up in your bathroom with some food until I got over the notion that a relationship might just work out.”
She shrugged. “I might still do that. Who knows? In the meantime, Adi talks about Chris all the time. I know a lot more about him than you think, and you need to keep him.”
I was so shocked that I was, for once, speechless. The only thing I could even think was how it was so weird that it was possible that people could surprise others so much even when they’d known them all their lives.
But this was a good surprise. I wasn’t even going to question it.
Chapter 27
CHRIS
“It’s been a long day,” I said to April when we met in the parking lot at the hospital. “How about we go out for dinner instead? That way, neither of us has to cook.”
She smiled and looped her arms around my shoulders, letting her head fall back to look into my eyes. “Have I told you today how much I appreciate you? That sounds heavenly.”
I wound my arms around her waist and pulled her right up against my chest, not giving a damn who saw us together. “Consider it done. Anything particular you’re in the mood for?”
“I wouldn’t say no to a really big pizza and a pitcher of beer.” A dreamy look came into her vivid green eyes. “There’s a restaurant on Midway called Backpackers’ that has a rooftop that does a two-for-one special. How about it?”
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