“Where is Felix right now? My lawyer wants to make sure he isn’t with my parents. He was going to go to the ball, right? Is he still there?”
“No, he never went.” At least that was a lucky break. “It was too much for him, I took him to Ben’s brother’s house.”
“Can you go get him? Just to be on the safe side.”
“Absolutely.”
The thought of doing something instead of waiting for a call sent energy rushing through her. She hung up and turned to Ben. “Let’s go back to the farmhouse.”
“It’s three in the morning.”
She looked at her phone in amazement. Sure enough, they’d been snuggled in the lifeguard stand for three hours. In some ways, it felt like days, as if they’d traveled a long way in that time.
She hesitated, debating. Felix was safe at the farmhouse, sound asleep. The Reinhards probably didn’t even know where he was. “My car’s still there. I need to pick it up, and be ready to pick up Felix first thing in the morning.”
“I’m staying with you,” he told her, taking her hand and heading for the truck. “I’m not leaving you alone tonight.”
“That’s sweet, but Ben—everything I said before, it doesn’t matter now. I can’t think about anything besides Felix. He comes first.”
His face tightened, but he didn’t answer. They got into the truck, with Ben at the wheel this time. He turned on the heat, and even though she still had the blanket wrapped around her, she shivered. From cold or shock, she wasn’t sure which.
Ben started the truck and roared out of the lot. “First of all, I’m going to stand by you no matter what. I care about Felix, too, you know.”
“I know. I just don’t want you to think—”
He cut her off. “Second, I know a good lawyer. She helped Carolyn adopt Sarah, and she really knows the Jupiter Point family court system. She could be helpful. Do you want me to call her?”
She shot him a curious sidelong look. Something in the tone of his voice indicated more than a business acquaintance. “When you say ‘know’…”
He snorted. “Don’t worry, we barely made it through coffee.”
So, he had gone out with the lawyer. And why not? Ben was a catch, the sexiest man in Jupiter Point. And she loved him, but she had to put the brakes on. She had to deal with this situation with Felix, and if that meant going back to LA, she’d do it. And Ben would still be here in Jupiter Point. Just as cute and sexy and wonderful as ever.
God, her timing was the worst. Then and now.
When they reached the farmhouse, all the lights were blazing and a vehicle idled in the driveway. Horrified, Julie recognized Priscilla’s Rolls. Brooks, the driver, was waiting at the wheel while Priscilla hurried toward it, Felix in tow. Poor Felix had his glasses on crooked and looked as if he’d dressed in the dark.
Carolyn and Tobias followed behind. They were both on their phones, and in the next second, Julie’s buzzed in her jacket pocket.
She ignored it and opened the door of the truck. She jumped out before Ben had even brought it to a stop. “Mrs. Reinhard!” she yelled as she ran toward the Rolls. It felt like a nightmare in which she ran and ran, but got nowhere. She’d never reach the Rolls in time. “Stop this!”
“We’ll talk in the morning, Julie,” Mrs. Reinhard called. “We don’t want to upset Felix.”
“You’re already upsetting him!”
“If he’d come to the ball like he was supposed to, this wouldn’t be necessary,” she snapped as she manhandled Felix into the Rolls.
He barely had time for a plaintive, “Julie?” before the door closed behind him. The Rolls veered around Ben’s truck and took off down the driveway, its taillights winking like evil red dragons’ eyes.
“What on earth is going on?” Panting, Carolyn ran up to Julie. “She showed up in the middle of the night with her lawyer on the phone. She refused to wait until I called you.”
Tobias closed his phone. “Will’s on his way over.”
Julie stared after the departing Rolls. Why was she so shocked? This was how the Reinhards did things. They steamrolled over everyone else to get what they wanted.
She turned to Ben, who’d swung out of the truck to join them. “I need that lawyer’s number. Right away.”
“You got it. But Julie, you’d better call Savannah and tell her to get her ass to Jupiter Point.”
She nodded, already digging for her phone. Only one person had ever really stood up to the Reinhards and all their money. That was Savannah. “I’ll call her right now.”
Will arrived in his Jeep and Tobias and Carolyn crossed the driveway to talk to him. Julie understood why they’d called him. As a former deputy sheriff, he was the most familiar with California law. But what if the law was on the Reinhards’ side? What if they never had to give Felix back?
She shivered as she waited for Savannah to pick up. Ben’s hand cupped her neck, a comforting, warm weight. It seemed like a year ago that he’d told her about his mother, and the night of the murder. He must be exhausted.
“You can go home,” she mouthed.
He shook his head firmly. “Not happening. I’m going to follow you home. You’re upset, it’s late, and I want to make sure you’re safe.”
Savannah’s voice mail answered. Damn it. “Savannah, call me the second you get this message. It’s urgent. Beyond urgent. Are you there?”
Which was ridiculous, because no one had answering machines that you could listen to anymore. She hung up, exasperated and furious.
Carolyn’s soft voice floated through the air. “How about you guys stay here tonight? It’s so late to be driving around and you both look exhausted. Also, Sarah’s planning to make waffles in the morning.”
Julie’s heart twisted hard. She knew why Sarah wanted to make waffles. For Felix. That idyllic morning scene at the farmhouse with waffles and the Knight family, and Ben and Julie and Felix, all filled with sunshine and warmth and laughter, might never come to pass.
Because once the Reinhards got involved, they always got their way.
26
Ben would have canceled all the next day’s flights and stayed with Julie, but she refused to allow that. She left the farmhouse first thing in the morning to meet with the lawyer, while he gushed over Sarah’s waffles. Then he drove to Knight and Day to begin work for the day. The familiar smells of the hangar, the sight of the two Cessnas with their sleek curves, even the hand-painted sign that usually brought him so much joy—none of it had its usual effect.
Julie had said she loved him. He ought to be the happiest man in Jupiter Point right now—maybe excepting his brothers. But instead it felt like a huge, cruel tease. She loved him and he loved her, but it might not matter at all. It all depended on Felix and Savannah and the Reinhards—and damn it, why did the Reinhards keep screwing things up between him and Julie?
He went through his preflight checklist in a foul mood.
His first passengers showed up fifteen minutes ahead of schedule. He wasn’t sure what was worse, their campfire aroma or their sappy newlywed smiles. They were a young couple from Montana, Barb and Pete, who were spending their honeymoon backpacking through California. Now they wanted to get airborne for another view of the territory they’d hiked.
He tried to smile back, he really did. But he was pretty sure he saw the girl flinch away from his crabby attempt.
“You’ll have to enter your weight and next of kin here,” he told them, swinging the logbook across the desk toward them.
“But we’re each other’s next of kin,” said Pete. “If we go down, we go down together.”
“Romantic. I’m touched, truly I am,” Ben grumbled. “Doesn’t change the law. FAA regulations.”
“Of course.” With a wary look at him, Pete bent over the book to fill out the information.
“How’d you two meet?”
“High school sweethearts.” Barb took her turn at the logbook. “Our parents wanted us to wait, but we thought, what’s
the point when we know exactly what we want?”
Ben ground his teeth. “Sounds like smooth sailing for you two. That’s just peachy keen.”
“Excuse me?”
“Nothing. Come on out when you’re ready.” Ben left them with the logbook and went onto the tarmac to undo the tie-downs on the 206. He kicked the right rear tire to check its air pressure. And because he felt like kicking something.
“Hey, mister.” Ben swung around to see the Pete had followed him out. “If you don’t mind, we’d like to request a different pilot.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Dude, it’s our honeymoon. You’re scaring my wife. I don’t know what’s going on with you, but I don’t think you should be taking anyone up in a plane.”
Ben kicked the right rear tire again, then shifted to the next tire. “Planes are not the problem. Up there, that’s my happy place.”
Pete scuffed his foot on the tarmac, making him look even younger than his twenty-something years. “Uh, I get it, I think. Sounds like you have some issues. But this is about us, not your happy place.”
“I don’t have issues. Jesus. I’m ready to fly. I’m always ready to—”
“Excuse me.”
A heavy hand landed on his shoulder. Ben turned to see Tobias giving him a strange look.
“Hey, where’d you come from?”
“I work here, remember?” Tobias wasn’t usually the smiling sort, but he directed a wide grin at Pete and shook his hand. “Tobias Knight, pilot. Hope you don’t mind if we switch things around and I take you up.”
“Nope, that’s awesome. I’ll go tell Barb.” With a look of sheer relief, Pete dashed across the tarmac toward the office.
Ben scowled at Tobias. “What are you doing? I got this.”
“Saving the company. I came in to finish up those bookshelves and overheard you about to ruin some poor kid’s honeymoon.”
“Me? I wasn’t going to ruin anything. Reality will do that all on its own.” Ben undid the tie-down and tossed it to Tobias.
“Reality, huh? Here’s reality: no newlywed wants to hear your sad story. Here’s more reality: those honeymooners pay our bills.”
Ben thought of his comment to Julie—let’s make our own reality. Well, they’d given it a shot. Hadn’t worked out the way he’d imagined.
He walked away from his brother, then tackled the next tie-down. “What’s the point, T? Why are we doing this? You didn’t even want this business. You’re in it for me.”
“So? It was a good idea. I like it now. What does it matter who thought of it?”
“It matters because I’m an idiot. I should have stayed in the Air Force. Things were simpler there. You get your orders, you go where they tell you. They plan, you execute. I don’t know what I was trying to prove with this Knight and Day thing. Who cares?”
“You want a list of who cares? Because it’s a long one. Look, if you’re having some kind of emotional crisis, I get it. Julie, Mom, Felix, it’s a lot. But could you do me a favor and leave Knight and Day out of it?” Tobias took the second tie-down from him. “I’ve gotten attached to this place. And Sarah loves it. So does Felix. So do you, last I heard. Did something change?”
“No. Nothing. It’s just…” Ben ran a hand through his hair, struggling to put his wild emotions into words. “I’m an idiot, that’s all. That whole happy-ending shit. It’s a fantasy. Know why I wanted to start Knight and Day?”
“So you could still fly?”
“Not just that. It was for Mom. I kept thinking, what does she even have to come back to? The house is gone, Aiden’s all grown up, we’re scattered all over the world. I wanted her to have a reason to come home.”
He had to look away from Tobias at that point, because his older brother always saw so much with that intense gaze of his. Instead, he focused on the windsock hanging limp from its pole, perfectly still after the crazy blow from last night.
“Stupid-ass idiot, that’s what I am. Like this is something to draw her back.” He spread his arms to include the tarmac, their tiny fleet of planes, the office building, even the windsock. “You should have told me to go pound rocks when I suggested a flight-tour business.”
Tobias growled at him—actually growled. “Fuck that. Think about it, Ben. What about the hotshots? They could be dead right now if not for you. What about the kids at the Light Keepers? What about all the fricking joy and happiness we’ve given everyone who goes on one of our tours?”
“Fricking joy and happiness?”
“Yeah. You heard me. Fricking joy and happiness. Who says happy endings aren’t real? Did you ever think I’d get married and be this happy? A few months ago, wasn’t I the one scaring the customers? Now look at me.”
He clasped his hands and batted his eyelashes like a cartoon Snow White. He even kicked up one heel, looking so ridiculous that Ben burst out laughing.
“Laughter. That’s better,” Tobias said with satisfaction.
Ben felt something in his heart shift. His gruff older brother was trying to cheer him up. That was worth something. That was worth a whole lot of something.
“Aren’t I supposed to be the one getting you to lighten up?” That was usually how it went. Ben was supposed to be the charmer, the smiler, the lighthearted one.
“I guess we’re in the upside-down now.” Tobias shot him a rueful smile. “Don’t get used to it, because you’re still the guy on the flyers. And that ain’t changing.” All playfulness gone, Tobias came closer and planted a hand on Ben’s shoulder. “You know, Ben, our family is never going to be the same. It can’t be. But we’re still pretty fucking lucky. We got the Knight brothers all in one place. And that’s not all.”
“What do you mean?”
“Besides being worried you were about to take that poor kid’s head off, I came out here because I got a call from Julie. She’s been trying to reach you, says your phone must be off.”
Ben snapped to attention and dug in his pocket for his phone. It must be something urgent if Julie had reached out to Tobias. “Something about Felix? Did she meet with the lawyer yet? Is Savannah on her way?”
“Nope. None of the above.” Tobias showed him the screen of his phone, where an address flashed. “Julie found Mom and Cassie.”
“What?”
“Yeah. I don’t know the details, but she saw them, and now they’re waiting for you. This is the address where they are. I’ll handle the rest of the flights today. With a smile, I promise.”
He bared his teeth in a classic Tobias expression that qualified more as a grimace than a smile—unless you knew the amazing person underneath it.
Ben reached out and hugged his brother. Not a shoulder-bump hug, either. The real deal. “Thank you, T.”
Tobias was right. He was pretty fucking lucky.
The address was that of a hotel on the outskirts of town. On his way there, he called Julie back. “My ringer was off, sorry. What happened? How’d you find Mom? I thought you were busy dealing with the Reinhards today.”
“I’m outside the Reinhards’ right now, waiting for them to see me, so I don’t have long. I was going crazy this morning, there really wasn’t anything to do after I met with the lawyer. So I logged onto Facebook and sent Cassie a message. She happened to be online, so I just laid it all out for her. I said you were really hurt that they didn’t come to the ball last night, and that she needed to make it right. She asked me to come out and help her persuade your mom. So I did.”
“Jesus, Julie. What did you tell her?”
“She was afraid you hated her for leaving. She feels really guilty. It’s eating her up. I told her it was hard for me to come back, too, and that I was afraid you hated me at first. And you kind of tried to hate me, but you couldn’t pull it off.” Laughter ran through her voice. “Because you’re a sweet and loving person. Yup, I used the S word. Sweet.”
Ben shook his head in amazement. “Just this once, I forgive you. I can’t believe you did all that, toda
y of all days.”
“I didn’t know how long your mom would stick around. It’s a good thing I did, too, because Cassie said they were considering leaving today. But she promised they wouldn’t. Okay, Ben, I have to go. Priscilla just came out and she’s glaring at me like some kind of guard dragon.” Tension threaded her voice. He heard her car door open and close again. “Wish me luck.”
“Good luck, and I—”
She hung up before he managed to spit out the rest.
“Love you,” he said to a dead phone connection.
Why did their timing always suck?
27
“What do you mean, I can’t come in?”
“Just what I said.” Priscilla’s crossed arms and forbidding frown didn’t leave much doubt what she meant, but Julie could still barely believe it. “This is a family matter. We’re grateful for all you’ve done for Felix, we really are, Julie. But this needs to be sorted out between us and Savannah.”
“Savannah’s coming. She’s already on her way. Why can’t we talk in the meantime? The way you’re doing this is hurting Felix. He needs consistency and familiarity. Sudden change is really hard on him. Forget how you feel about me. This is about him.”
Priscilla raised an eyebrow. She wore pearls and a tight cashmere sweater and showed no trace of a party hangover. “We have no problem with you, Julie. We just don’t see why you should be raising our grandson. I’m sure the courts will agree. Now until this is litigated properly, I think it’s best you don’t confuse Felix further. You should keep your distance. In fact, it might be best for you to go back to LA for now. I promise we’ll keep you in the loop.”
“Keep me in the loop? Are you serious?” Julie gripped her fists so tightly she might have cut into her skin. “Felix needs me.”
“Felix is just fine. He has his family around him. He doesn’t need a nanny. He’s been doing his homework and reading a book. You don’t need to worry. Go now, Julie. This doesn’t concern you.”
The word “nanny” burned almost as much as Priscilla’s dismissive tone, but Julie tried to hold on to her cool. “I promise I’ll go, I won’t make trouble, but I want to see him first. I want him to know I’m not abandoning him. I promised him that I never would.”
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