But she was more than a broken heart. She had to be more. Had to be better for her daughter.
She was a mom now. And moms raised strong children only by being strong.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
ONE WEEK AFTER his hearing, one week after he’d lost Molly and one week back in his old life, Drew stood at the wall of windows in his office at Capstone Keyes and watched the city wake up. Each bus that pulled to the nearby stop off-loaded more and more people, clutching briefcases, coffee tumblers and newspapers. The line at Roasted Vibes Café down the street started to extend onto the sidewalk. Lights turned on in the office high-rises surrounding the Capstone Keyes’ top floor suite.
He’d arrived at work early, as was his long-standing habit. He was often the first one to his desk and the last one to leave. That routine had served him well for years. He’d thrived on work. Been content devoting his life to it. Until recently.
Staring out at the city wasn’t productive. Drew turned his back on the view and he hoped on the discontent simmering beneath his skin. He had work to accomplish. Time to get to it.
He draped his suit jacket over one of the empty chairs at the small conference table and rolled the sleeves of his dress shirt to his elbows. As if his suit were responsible for his discontent. Once he dove into his research, he’d lose himself in the work again. Find his balance and his satisfaction.
“So, this is the view from the thirtieth floor.” Brad walked into Drew’s office and stood beside him at the windows. “Views all the way to the bay. Nice. I can see why you’re distracted.”
“I’m collecting my thoughts.” Drew tugged on his sleeve, pulling the material into perfect folds. He recognized how irritable he sounded.
“Care to share any of your thoughts?” Meanwhile, his brother’s voice sounded mild and compassionate.
Curiosity poked at Drew, turning him cranky. “Shouldn’t you be at home with Sophie and the twins? And Ella.”
“Ella had to be at school early for a student council meeting.” Brad slapped Drew on the shoulder as if stamping his good humor onto Drew. “The twins and Sophie are asleep. I’m all yours for the next two hours.”
No. Drew wasn’t entertaining company. He was working. Or he was supposed to be. “I have research to do. My first case for the firm.”
Brad rubbed his hands together and sat down at the conference table. “I can help.”
Drew set his hands on his hips. “You’re here to escape crying babies, aren’t you?” He should take pity on his brother, but he couldn’t find any empathy.
“I’m here to check on my brother.”
“Really?” Drew challenged. He didn’t need anyone to check on him. He was back in his old life. Everything was perfect. The lie caught like an animal trapped in a snare. “Ella told me the boys are hearty criers.”
“They are. In stereo.” Brad laughed. “I wouldn’t change it.”
“You’re lying.” His brother wanted something to change. Everyone wanted change. “Ella asked if she could move in with me.”
Brad sobered. “That’s not happening.”
Drew crossed his arms over his chest. His voice defensive. “I’d be happy to take great care of her. She’s my niece.”
“I know you would.” Love and warmth tracked across Brad’s face and into his words. “But I’m her Dad. It’s my job.”
Dad. The word settled inside Drew’s chest. Ella wasn’t Brad’s biological daughter. But he was her dad in every way that mattered. The same as Hazel wasn’t Drew’s. And yet he cared about the little girl like... He sideswiped that thought. “You’re good at the whole family thing. The dad thing.”
“You would be too if you let yourself,” Brad offered.
Drew moved to the conference table, rolled out a chair and sat. “This is about you, not me.”
“You shut Molly out, didn’t you?” Brad braced his hands on the chair across the table and shook his head at Drew. “That’s why you two aren’t together.”
“Molly was my legal counsel.” His voice was monotone like a prerecorded message. No surprise. He’d been repeating those same words to himself for the past week. “The hearing is over.” Now Molly and he were too.
“Your relationship was much more than professional.” Brad stood and wandered around Drew’s office, eventually stopping at the floor-to-ceiling built-in shelves covering the back wall.
Drew had unpacked his office boxes last week. Filled the shelves with his legal texts. The scales of justice paperweight waited on his desk. The executive pen set he’d placed in a desk drawer. The hourglass and antique mantel clock waited on another shelf. He hadn’t even wound the clock or set it to the correct time. As for the coffee mug from Ella, that Drew had left at home. On his bedside table. But that wasn’t anything he needed to share or explain.
Brad turned the hourglass over and set it on a different shelf.
Drew rose. “What are you doing?”
“It’s all very impersonal in here.” Brad waved his hand at the shelves and then moved the mantel clock.
“Moving it doesn’t change things.” No matter where Drew moved the picture of Molly and him with Santa, he still returned it to the coffee mug beside his bed. Preferring that picture to be the first thing he saw in the morning. Drew returned the clock to its original place. “I prefer it this way.”
“You prefer things as they are?” Brad studied Drew. His gaze clear and entirely too perceptive. “Exactly like this?”
Drew held his brother’s stare, refused to blink and nodded. Although the doubt he ignored.
“Now who’s lying?” Brad shoved him on the shoulder and dropped into one of the leather chairs reserved for clients as if he intended to spend the day in Drew’s office.
“I got exactly what I wanted.” Drew rose and sat in the chair across from his brother. “I’m good.”
Perhaps not completely good. But he would be. In time. He had to settle into his office and his new cases. Meet his new clients. Learn the rhythm of his peers and the partners. It would be fine.
He’d been more than fine with Molly. More than happy to learn everything he could about her. More than willing to spend as much time with her and Hazel as he could. But that fun reprieve was over.
“Yes, brooding and gloomy are definitely a good look on you.” Brad’s stale tone dropped on the table like a brick.
“This is how I look at work.” Drew straightened a stack of papers. “If it bothers you, you can always leave.”
“You can’t do it, can you?” Wonder entered Brad’s gaze.
“What?” Drew knew he sounded defensive.
“Admit you miss Molly.” Brad leaned forward. “Admit she was the best person in your life. Admit you want her back.”
“Fine.” Drew threw his hands up in the air. “I miss her. That work?”
Brad shook his head. “What’s the but?”
“But we aren’t good together.” There he’d said it out loud.
“Because she challenged you. Showed you a world outside work.” Brad motioned over his head. “Showed you a world outside this four-walled room. Helped you reconnect with friends and family.”
“I don’t need Molly to stay connected to my friends and family.”
Brad’s mouth twisted into a sneer. “When was the last time you saw the twins?”
He hadn’t seen the twins since Sophie and the boys had returned home. “I was giving you guys time to adjust and get into a routine. Spend quality time together.”
“Don’t even.” Brad frowned. “You’re hiding again. In your work and your office. Behind your excuses, valid though they may be sometimes.”
“This is who I am,” Drew countered. Who he’d always been. His family, especially his own brother, knew that.
“But is it who you really want to be.” Brad stacked his hands behind his head
and considered Drew. “You were just looking for reasons not to trust Molly. It’s what you always do.”
“What I always do...” Drew folded his hands together and set them on the table, he was slightly interested, but more irritated by his brother’s comment. His brother was supposed to be here for his own reasons; he wasn’t supposed to be there to pick apart Drew’s failings and toss them out like key evidence.
“You never trusted your exes. Not one of them,” Brad continued, unaware or uncaring that his brother wasn’t fully engaged in the assessment. “You only ever trust in your work.”
Until his work had betrayed him. And Drew had needed Molly’s help to exonerate him. “I trusted Molly with my case.”
“But you didn’t trust her with what really counted between the two of you,” Brad said.
Drew rolled his chair away from the table as if that would help him avoid the truth. The one he knew was coming. “Like what exactly?”
Brad lowered his arms and leaned forward. “Like your heart.”
Drew shoved out of his chair and paced his office. His gaze scanned the shelves, filled with legal texts. No inspirational quotes added dimension to the austere lineup. No artwork added any visual appeal or personal touches. No family photographs filled the space and hinted that Drew had more than his life at the office. He rubbed his forehead. “Why are we discussing this?”
“Because it’s time for you to hear the truth,” Brad said.
“What truth is that?” Drew rounded on his brother. “That I have trust issues. Or that I can’t love.”
Brad walked over to him and set his finger over Drew’s heart. “The truth is that you can’t give your heart to Molly because you’d have to accept hers in return.”
Now they were discussing Molly’s heart? He knocked his brother’s arm away. But those fears resurfaced. Demanded to be heard. Demanded a voice. “You think I can’t love her? That I’m incapable of loving Molly.”
“I think you don’t believe you can love her right.” No judgment, only a bit of thoughtful wisdom.
Drew couldn’t fight, didn’t want to fight it any longer. He wanted Molly and Hazel in his life permanently. “What if I fail her? We’re talking about love...”
“The most precious gift anyone can give or receive.” Brad held his arms out. “It’s utterly terrifying.”
“And yet, you’re in love,” Drew said. “No qualms. No hesitation. No doubts.”
“Because love, when it’s right, is what makes life worthwhile.” Brad touched Drew’s shoulder, his grip and face earnest. “Love gives everything meaning.”
“If my boys are going to talk about love, I’d like to be included.” Nancy Harrington smiled from the doorway of Drew’s office. “I feel as though I know something about the topic.”
“Mom.” Drew straightened and shot an accusing glance at Brad. “What brings you here?”
Brad laughed. “I didn’t know she was coming here. Promise.”
“Why can’t I pay my son a visit in his new business environment?” His mother strolled into his office and set a gift bag on his desk. “I haven’t seen you in days, not even at Sophie and Brad’s house.”
Her words carried a direct shot of guilt. Brad lifted his eyebrows in an I-told-you-so way. Drew cleared his throat. “I’ve been busy here.”
“You should never be too busy for family.” A warning recognized. “I’d hoped you’d realized that with Molly the past few weeks.”
Brad quickly covered his grin with his hand.
“Are you here to tell me that Molly is the best person for me too?” Drew charged.
His mother eyed him, her mouth pursed. “I came to give you a gift and a reminder that family is the reason for everything.”
“What are you saying?” Drew asked. “That you and Dad dedicated your lives to your careers for your family?”
“Your dad and I are dedicated to each other first,” she said. “It’s that love and devotion that gave us both the strength and courage to dedicate ourselves to our careers. We had a family at home to celebrate the ups and downs with. To have faith in us when we lost it in ourselves. And to always be our foundation.”
“No matter what, your family is always there for you,” Brad added. “Your family is your safe place if you let them be there for you.”
Brad meant if Drew opened his heart and let them in. If Drew only trusted. In love and in himself. “I have you guys.”
His mother walked over and grabbed his hand. “And you always will. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t room for more.”
Molly and Hazel. Could he trust his heart? Could he risk? “Okay. I got it. Now I need to analyze some case files. Really.”
“Then my purpose for being here is done.” His mother kissed his cheek. “I’m off to pick up supplies at The Pampered Pooch and deliver more welcome gifts.”
“Welcome gifts for who?” Brad asked.
“Molly found a new office space. Delightful historic spot a few blocks from the pet store. Lots of character. Good bones.” His mother smiled. “She and Gina are moving in today.”
“Gina Hahn?” Drew was confused.
“That’s the only Gina I know.” His mother waved from the doorway. “I know that young woman is going to be a terrific legal assistant for Molly.”
With that final prediction, his mother disappeared down the hallway. Drew glanced at Brad.
His brother shrugged. “I’ve been busy with the twins. They really do need me. I have to get home.”
Brad slipped out of the office as silently as he’d arrived. Except his family had left behind more than a gift bag and a good-morning greeting.
Drew picked up the colorful bag from his mother and pulled out a tabletop fountain shaped like a wishing well. On a card attached to the box, she’d written, Wishes are good. But the real joy and the true fun is in the wishing. In the living. Don’t ever forget to live.
The fun at the park, tossing pennies into the fountain with Hazel and Molly, hadn’t come from the many wishes made that afternoon. The joy had been simply being there with them. Spending time, not on his phone and checking emails, but rather being fully present in the moment with Molly and Hazel. The fun had been the volleyball games, the s’mores eating and the laughter.
The living had been sharing time with Molly. Sharing pizza, sharing a bottle of wine and sharing secrets. The same as they’d done that Thanksgiving week so long ago. It had always been Molly.
His heart had always known. His past relationships hadn’t worked out, not because he couldn’t love but because he already loved. Loved Molly McKinney.
Always had. Always would.
And that fear—the one that urged him to hide in his work—shifted directions like a weather vane in a gust of wind. He’d spent years running, believing love was only a burden to bear. Now he wanted to run to Molly. And not spend another day without her beside him.
Because love...love was a gift. It needed to be treasured and valued...and celebrated.
Drew grabbed his suit coat and rushed from his office. His assistant stopped him on his way to the elevators. She smiled. “You’re in a hurry. Late for an important meeting?”
“Yes.” He was late getting his life started. Late embracing his feelings. But he hoped he wasn’t too late to change Molly’s mind. He grinned at his assistant. “I’m going to get my family back.”
Her eyebrows pulled together, and confusion wavered across her smile. “I feel like I should wish you good luck then.”
Drew and Molly had never wished each other good luck. Good luck implied there was something beyond hard work and diligence that controlled their achievements. They both believed in making their own luck through persistence, dedication and devotion.
Yet, Drew readily accepted his assistant’s wish for good luck.
And then he gave a silent plea for
every unseen force in the universe to be on his side. For the first time ever, Drew needed love to win.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
LATE MONDAY MORNING and Molly sat on the stairs inside her new law office. Her laptop perched on her legs and her legal assistant bustling around her. Today was move-in day. Or more precisely, delivery day. A couch and carpet would arrive within the hour for the upstairs break room/playroom.
Molly had chosen the two-story office space for its versatility. There were two offices, a small conference room and reception space on the first floor. On the second, there was a large open space Gina and Molly had designated for personal use. Whether Hazel or Gina’s daughter was there to play, or Gina wanted to practice yoga on her break, the room would be ready and available.
“You need to go home.” Gina eased around her on the stairs.
“We have too much going on today.” Furniture deliveries from four different retail stores. Internet and phone service installers, a plumber and an electrician had appointments scheduled too. If no unforeseen problems popped up, Molly’s new office would be open and fully functional on Wednesday. State filings had already been processed and her new practice was registered with the State Bar. “I should be here to help.”
“You should be at home preparing for your custody hearing tomorrow.” Gina wrote Molly’s office supplies in a black marker across the top of the box and reached for another. “I can handle this.”
“What if you have questions?” Molly asked.
“I have a phone to call you.” Gina tapped the marker against the box. “And we already mapped out where we want the furniture. Where we need more outlets and what we envision for the kitchenette upstairs.”
Gina had recreated the entire office layout on paper and included room dimensions. Then she’d added cutout paper furniture with exact dimensions to create a full visual for Molly. It took the women less than half a day to arrange the paper cutouts to their satisfaction. “You’re very good at design.”
“My mother and my aunt studied the art of feng shui for the restaurant and their houses.” Gina shrugged. “I got to tag along on their shopping trips, and I paid attention.”
Three Makes a Family--A Clean Romance Page 21