“Your cautious little protector,” Peyton teased Matteo. “Great-grandpa must mean Big E’s back home.”
“Wondered what took him so long,” Matteo said, then had the good sense to look guilty when Peyton moved in front of him to glare into his eyes.
“Explain, please.”
“Uh, it was Ty and Jon’s idea. They thought he should know what’s been going on since your so-called stalker showed up...”
“Oh, no. No, no, no. Tell me you didn’t make Big E aware of what happened.”
“Of course we did. Why not? He’s the one who sent you out here in the first place.”
“Why not?” Peyton groaned. “Because these days Big E’s been traveling around with my father!”
“He found Thomas? When?”
“No, not Thomas Blackwell.” She flinched as if he’d just reminded her of something she didn’t want to address. “Rudy Harrison. The father who raised me. They’ve been off on a wild-goose chase trying to find Thomas.”
“And this is bad because...?”
Peyton sighed. “I guess we really haven’t talked a lot about this. But there’s not much more to the story. Big E is convinced, and apparently my father is, too, that Thomas is still alive and out there somewhere. He wants us all to reunite in a big family shindig.” She rolled her eyes. “After all these years, if Thomas hasn’t been seen or found, it’s not going to happen.”
“Is that what you know?” Matteo asked. “Or are you trying not to get your hopes up?”
All humor faded from her face. “That’s...an interesting question.”
“I’m full of them.” Matteo reached out, stroked a finger down the side of her face. “You have a big heart, Peyton. You don’t let a lot of people see it often, but it’s there. And it’s been broken. Not getting your hopes up about your real dad is one thing you can do to try to protect yourself.”
“I wouldn’t even know what to say to him if I ever saw him again.” She shook her head, the confusion marring her face scraping against his heart.
He took a deep breath, looked up into the pristine night sky, lost himself for a moment in the faint lights of the universe winking at them. “All my life, I dreamed about belonging to someone. Anyone. To know who I came from. My parents. Mom, Dad. Grandparents. Siblings. Cousins.” He glanced over to where his son circled Big E as the older man climbed out of the RV, followed by another man who looked a bit shell-shocked by the scene surrounding them. “Don’t be afraid of what might be and forget to see what is, Peyton. These people, they’re your family. And there are so, so many of us who have never been, will never be, that lucky.”
“Matteo.” Peyton reached up and caught his face in her hands. “You are lucky. You can be. Maybe we...”
His cell phone vibrated in his back pocket. He held up a finger. “Hold that thought.” He pressed his mouth to hers for a long moment before he checked his screen. Knots that had loosened days before tightened in his chest. “It’s Sylvia.”
“Oh.” She frowned. “Are you going to answer it?”
“Yeah. This is the first time she’s called me back. Do you... I’m sorry.”
“No, don’t apologize.” She pointed toward the cupcakes as if trying to distract herself. “I haven’t tried every flavor yet, and I’m planning to get my fill before I head home the day after tomorrow.”
He nodded absently, wanting to answer the call before Sylvia changed her mind and hung up without leaving a message. He moved off toward the cabin and away from the partygoers and noise. “Sylvia. This is a surprise.”
“Matteo, hi. Yes, I know. I’m sorry I didn’t get back to you sooner.” She sounded breathless, a bit anxious, something he’d never known his ex-wife to be.
“Is everything okay? With the baby?”
“Oh, he’s fine,” Sylvia said. “I’m sorry. I just got the best news and I wanted to... Well, there’s this huge deal that came our way a few days ago. Like life-changing, it’s-going-to-get-me-my-promotion kind of deal. Major distribution worldwide with serious backing and capital.”
“Congratulations.” What else was he going to say. “I thought maybe you were calling about Gino. About me calling you the other day to ask if he’d ever been tested for a learning difference.” Temper, he reminded himself. Keep it under control.
“Oh, that. Right. Slipped my mind. No, I don’t remember his teachers saying anything about it, but here’s the real reason I’m calling. This new promotion means I’m going to be doing a lot of traveling. All over the world this time, not just between the States and Japan. Jiro’s not crazy about the idea, but it’s not something I can pass up. The thing is...and I hope you can tell Gino for me. I’m not going to fight your claim for full custody, Matteo. I think it’ll be better for him, for all of us, if he stays with you.”
Matteo’s head went light. He grabbed hold of the paddock fence to stay on his feet. “Say that again?” The bubble of pressure that had settled in his chest two years before stretched to the point of bursting.
“I’m relinquishing custody to you, effective immediately. It just makes sense, Matteo. For all of us.”
So she kept saying. “Just like that. You aren’t going to come out and say goodbye or help him get settled here?”
“I honestly don’t know when I’ll find the time. You know what? I’ll give him a call next week, and we’ll video chat. Just like you used to. You do still want full custody, don’t you?”
“Certainly.” He just wasn’t expecting her to give up. And that’s exactly what it sounded like she was doing. But why? Why now? What had changed her mind? It couldn’t be the new baby. “I’ll have my lawyer draw up the documents.”
“No need. I had them drawn up and sent copies to you and your lawyer. They should be waiting for you when you get back from Montana.”
“Right.” He nodded, trying to clear the fog in his brain. “Okay. I’ll look them over as soon as I get home. Sylvia?”
“Yeah?”
“Thank you.” He didn’t know what else to say. “Just...thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Oh, and do me one favor? Thank Peyton for me? Her stepping in to help make this deal come together changed everything. My bosses are so excited to be working with Electryone, and they’re giving me the credit. Next stop, CEO. Talk later. Bye.”
The farewell stuck in his throat. He lowered his hand, stared at the screen. “Thank Peyton?”
“Thank Peyton for what?” Peyton ran up behind him, held out a cake pop decorated like a pumpkin. “Eat one of these. They’re fab. So, what did she say?”
“Who?” Matteo couldn’t quite process everything he’d heard.
“Who?” She hip-bumped him and laughed. “Sylvia. Why did she call?”
Matteo stared into her eyes and looked for even a hint of surprise or curiosity or...confusion. But there wasn’t anything like that. Because she already knew. “She gave me full custody of Gino.”
Her smile seemed genuine enough, but he thought he also saw relief on her face. “Congratulations, Daddy. I knew it would work out. We should go tell Gino he doesn’t have to go to boarding school.” She darted away, but he reached out and caught her arm, pulled her back. “What? Don’t you want to tell—”
“What did you do, Peyton?”
“Do?” Her eyebrows shot up, but once again, the surprise wasn’t there. She was a good liar, except with him. “Do about what?”
“Sylvia said to thank you for helping make this deal of hers happen. What deal?”
Peyton scrunched her nose. “She wasn’t supposed to say anything about that. I didn’t think she would. I didn’t want to share the credit.”
“What. Did. You. Do?”
Now the shock appeared as she twisted her arm free. “I did my research. I looked into her. Her business dealings, her résumé and business portfolio. I did an analysis of what she
was probably looking to do with her career. Where she wanted to go. I found we had some mutual interests and connections. So, I reached out, and it ended up that there were benefits for both companies, mine and hers, to doing a deal together.”
“Why?” It didn’t make sense. “Why would you try to help my ex-wife?”
“Because after reading about her, I felt as if I understood her. I hedged my bets in assuming that job was more important to her than keeping custody of your son. I was right.”
“You were right.” Could she hear herself? “You blackmailed my ex-wife into giving me custody?”
Her gaze sharpened. “It wasn’t blackmail. No one mentioned Gino,” she snapped. “Or where he’d be better off. It was a business negotiation. It’s what I do for a living. I find what works to my company’s advantage, and I do what’s necessary to get the deal done. Only, in this case, you were the company. I don’t understand—”
“No, I can see you don’t.” Matteo began to pace, shoved his hands into his hair and knocked off his hat. It fell to the ground with a dull plop. “You didn’t even give me the chance to fight for him. Instead you just made it all happen.”
“I guess this means I won’t be getting a thank-you?”
“You want me to thank you for bribing my ex-wife into giving me our son. Tell me something, Peyton. And please, take a moment to think about this.” The anger he’d felt toward Sylvia paled in comparison to what raged through him now. “What happens in, say, five or ten years, when Gino’s older, and Sylvia, in Sylvia’s loose-tongued, callous way, lets slip the fact that she got her fancy new job by giving up her son? That she threw him away in exchange for a payday?”
Peyton’s eyes went cold. “Even if she did do that, you have your son with you. He’ll be loved, and he’ll know he’s wanted. He won’t be left behind. You won’t leave him behind.”
The light dawned. Even as he connected the dots, the anger remained. “I am not your father, Peyton. I am not Thomas Blackwell, and you know what? Neither is Sylvia. You can’t fix what’s wrong with your own life by trying to fix mine.”
“That isn’t what I was doing.” But he could see it in her eyes. The question. The doubt. “I wanted Gino safe. That kid deserves the entire universe, and he was never going to get it with her. She was shipping him off to a boarding school he didn’t want to go to that may or may not have clued into the help Gino needs. That light he has inside of him.” Her breath caught. “That light inside of him would have gone out, and no one would have been there to see it.”
“You didn’t even give me the chance to try.” He shook his head. “Peyton. You didn’t even give me the chance.”
“Some risks aren’t worth taking,” Peyton said.
“Everything’s a deal to you, isn’t it? A business opportunity. A chance to advance. Tell me, did you talk Ty into those new solar panels? You know, during those days you were hiding out here from a stalker?”
“Gabriel was only stalking me to scare me off my job,” she said through tight lips. “And yes, Ty and Hadley let me know this morning they’re going to move ahead with the panels once the Olwen deal is...done.” She trailed off, as if realizing his question had been rhetorical. “This is done, isn’t it?” She whispered, blinking so fast he couldn’t see her eyes any longer. “This...whatever it was between us. It’s done.”
“You went behind my back, Peyton. You could have said something, anything to me about this. We could have found a way to approach Sylvia without you having to buy her off. What if she changes her mind one day about Gino’s custody and sues me after all? She’s got my...” His what? What was Peyton to him? His girlfriend? The woman he loved? The woman he’d fallen hard and fast for, despite all his reservations. “She’s got my client doing my dirty work.”
“She won’t do that,” Peyton said. “She’s making her arrangements with you all legal and aboveboard. Presumably she could change her mind at a point down the road, but by then Gino will be happy and used to being with you, and no judge would change that arrangement, surely.”
He let out a harsh breath. “You thought of everything, didn’t you?”
“Yes.” She inched up her chin. “I did. And I won’t apologize for making sure your son gets to stay with you, where he’s safe and protected and cared for. I am sorry you can’t see it for what it was.”
“And what was it?”
“Love, Matteo.” Her voice broke, but the tears shimmering in her eyes against the moonlight didn’t fall. “It was all done for love.”
With that, she turned her back on him and walked away.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
“I WISH YOU were staying longer.” Lily gave Peyton a hard hug and rocked her back and forth. “You don’t have to go back yet. I thought Vilette gave you more days.”
“She did.” Peyton offered a tight smile when her sister stepped back. “I need to get things back in order before I resume life at the office.” She cast her gaze to the cabin where Matteo stood by the door, arms folded, watching her. “It’s just better this way, Lil.”
“Better for who?” Lily challenged. “You’re both miserable. I don’t remember the last time I heard you cry in the night over a boy.”
Offended, Peyton balked. “I never did that.”
“You did last night. I heard you, Peyton.”
Peyton smoothed a hand down the dark, tailored suit pants and matching charcoal blouse she’d donned this morning. She’d gathered all her things from her cabin last night before hiding out in Lily’s, pretending to be asleep when her sister returned from the Halloween party. Clearly she hadn’t been successful. “Things between me and Matteo are complicated,” she said when Lily silently pressed her for more comment. “Please just let this go. I have to keep it together a little while longer at least.”
“Going to cry yourself to sleep on the plane home, then?”
“Nah.” She patted her bulging briefcase. “I’ve got work to do.”
Lily sighed. “Some things never change. You aren’t going to leave him without saying goodbye, are you?”
“I can’t talk to Matteo—”
“Not Matteo, Gino.” Her sister looked disappointed in her. A look she was becoming all too familiar with. Apparently she was doomed to let everyone she cared about down. “You of all people know how much damage is done by a parent leaving without a goodbye.”
“I’m not his mother,” Peyton whispered around her too-tight throat. “I shouldn’t matter.”
“Well, you do.” She pointed to where Gino was standing up on the fence rail, cheering on Izzy and two of the horses in the paddock. “We all forgave you for you lying to us all these years, Peyton. But you will never forgive yourself if you walk away from that child without saying goodbye. And neither will I.”
“Lily.”
Lily backed away toward the RV where Rudy was enjoying his morning cup of coffee. Peyton had seen him earlier when she’d packed and brought her bags to the guest lodge before she left for good. Their conversation had been short and sweet when she’d told Rudy that she loved him to the moon and back, but he was to keep his nose out of her private life from now on. He’d agreed, probably, she suspected, because he’d already moved on to Fiona or Georgie as his next target to see happy and settled.
“One thing you’ve never been, Peyton Harrison Blackwell,” Lily called, “is a coward. Don’t disappoint me by turning into one now.”
Her sister was right. How could she have even contemplated leaving without talking to Gino one more time? Peyton set her briefcase and suit jacket down, then carefully walked over to the fence where Gino stood. She’d switched back to heels, and had left her muddy cowboy boots for Lily in her cabin.
“Peyton, where have you been?” Gino spun and jumped down, threw himself into her arms. “Did Dad tell you? I’m going to live with him forever and ever. I can still see Mom, but she won’t mind
me being with Dad. And I won’t have to go to boarding school, just like you promised.”
Peyton clung to him, tears burning her eyes as she pushed her face into the side of his neck and inhaled that little-boy smell she’d come to love. “That’s wonderful news, little man. I’m so happy for you and your dad.”
“Where were you at breakfast?” Gino stepped back. “I was going to have pancakes, but then I decided not to because I don’t want to ever puke again.” He seemed to see her for the first time. “Aren’t you going riding with us?”
“No, I’m not.” She touched his face. “I’m going home.”
“No, you’re not. We’re leaving tomorrow. Dad said.”
“You are. But I’m going home today. I need...” She had to clear her throat. “I need to get back to work. Playtime’s over.”
All the happiness on his face faded. “But you can’t go. We’re happy here. And you and Daddy, you like each other. And you both like me. You do like me, don’t you, Peyton?” He blinked, and two huge tears plopped onto his round cheeks.
“I don’t just like you, Gino. I love you.”
“Then, why can’t you stay with us?”
“I just can’t. Sometimes problems between adults are just too big to get over. I want you to do me a favor, though, okay? I want you to take good care of your dad. I know you don’t need me to tell you that because you already do, but just in case.” She straightened and spotted Matteo heading their way. “Bye, Gino.” She hurried off, ignoring Matteo’s voice calling to her.
“Dad, make her stop! No, Dad, she can’t go! No!”
She climbed into the SUV, tears blurring her vision as she pulled on her sunglasses.
“You sure you want to do this?” Ty asked as he started the engine. “It’s not too late to change your mind.”
She looked out to where Matteo held a struggling Gino in his arms. The expression on his face was unreadable. The pain and hurt on Gino’s heartbreaking. “I’m afraid it is too late, Ty.” She squeezed her eyes shut, and the first tears fell. “Please drive.”
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