by Laurel Kerr
“Sawyer, it’s been twelve years. You signed away all rights. Hell, I was so desperate to get custody of my own kid that I signed every paper that your parents wanted saying that I’d never go after any money from you or them. I agreed to never contact any of you. I don’t care how good your lawyers are. They can’t undo that.”
“It was statutory rape!” Sawyer cried.
Bowie blinked. He had no better response. “I was seventeen when Abby was conceived. Hell, you would’ve probably just turned eighteen since your birthday is before mine.”
Sawyer’s brow furrowed. “No, you weren’t that young. You were held back at least a year or two.”
“No. No, I wasn’t,” Bowie countered. “Hell, Sawyer, don’t you remember I was kicked out of my foster home on my eighteenth birthday? It was right before you found out you were pregnant.”
Sawyer pursed her lips in displeasure. Obviously, she hadn’t remembered. And really, why would she? He had never meant more to her than a good time and a way to rebel. She had found him attractive, but he doubted she had ever cared for him.
Her gaze swept around his office. Then she stood up. Resting her hands on his desk, she leaned over it. “Your dinky zoo is all that you have. I might not win a legal battle, but I can make it long and protracted. I can bleed this little place for all it’s worth.”
Bowie focused his efforts on concealing the fact that her barb had struck him. Although the zoo’s cash flow had increased, he didn’t have the resources to pay for a lawyer and court costs. He might not have footed the bill the last time, but he knew how long Sawyer’s attorneys had dragged out the custody fight.
“What do you think that will do to your precious daughter?” Sawyer asked. “Do you think she’d be happy that you kept her from me?”
“You don’t care about Abby.”
“What if I do?” Sawyer asked. “I am selfish. I will never deny that, but she is still my daughter, and I am still her mother. Doesn’t she deserve a chance to know me?”
Abby deserved a better mother than Sawyer. Unfortunately, Sawyer was the woman who had given birth to her.
“Think about this, Bowie,” Sawyer said. “If you let Rodger and me into Abby’s life, we can introduce her to things that you can’t. Rodger is good with children. He will set up a college fund for her like he has for his boys with his first wife.”
“Sawyer, I’m not letting you take my daughter.”
“If you’d stop arguing, you’d realize that I’m only asking for partial custody. Rodger and I want a chance to spend time with her, but if you deny us that, we will fight you. And I will let Abby know that I am her mother.”
Bowie couldn’t prevent that. He couldn’t get a restraining order. Sawyer might be a pain, but she hadn’t done anything illegal or threatening. Even if Bowie tried to keep her away from Abby, all it would take was one unpreventable meeting in town or even at the zoo.
“Look, you can give me what I want, and Abby will get to know me and Rodger,” Sawyer continued. “We can take her on trips…expose her to culture. Or you can play hardball and make it more difficult on her.”
She straightened and walked to the door. She paused at the threshold. “Rodger and I are going on a two-month trip. He thought it would be best if Abby had some time to adjust to the idea. When we get back, I expect that we will be able to see her. If not, we will begin legal proceedings.”
With that, Sawyer flounced out of Bowie’s office. He dropped his head into his hands and rubbed his eyes. What the hell was he going to do?
One thing, he wouldn’t allow Sawyer to regain any degree of legal custody. Granted their first interaction in twelve years had lasted less than an hour, but she’d acted just like the girl he’d dated in high school. With a couple of cutting words, Sawyer could slice through any of the new self-confidence he and Katie had painstakingly instilled in Abby.
But Bowie couldn’t completely reject everything Sawyer said either. Abby had asked about her mother over the years. How would she feel if he hid this meeting? He had no doubt that Sawyer would carry through with her threat to talk to Abby directly.
Maybe Abby could benefit from small doses of Sawyer. Although he wouldn’t risk his daughter’s emotional well-being for any college fund, he realized that student loans could cripple a person. College was more expensive every year.
Not for the first time, Bowie wished he could just perform a search on the internet and download the perfect course of action. It didn’t exist, though. And that was what sucked about being a single parent. The decision was all on him. Sure, he could discuss this with Lou, but at the end of the day, Bowie was the parent.
His phone rang. The sound almost caused him to jump in his chair. Glancing down, he recognized Katie’s number. On autopilot, he picked it up.
“Hey,” he said.
“It’s Katie,” she said, her voice sounding wonderfully normal to his ears. “Do you mind picking up a pizza on your way over? I can’t find anyone who will deliver out here.”
Pizza. Her house. Right. He was supposed to spend the night with her.
“Uh, yeah,” he said dully. “Sure. Do you want to order, or should I?”
“I’ll call since you’re busy at the zoo. Does Tony’s work for you?”
“That’s fine.”
“Any preferences?”
“Yeah, um, no anchovies, not a big fan of Hawaiian. Other than that, I’m good.”
“Okay,” Katie said. “See you in a bit.”
When Bowie hung up, he sucked in a deep breath, trying to calm his rioting thoughts. A night of hot sex. That’s what he needed. It would help release his edginess. Then tomorrow after he left Katie’s, he could more rationally figure out how to deal with Sawyer’s threats and revelations.
* * *
Fluffy’s nose twitched at the scent of the blond female’s perfume. He did not like it. It overpowered his senses, and he liked being alert.
He was glad he had escaped his enclosure earlier today. He’d rested his food dish on top of his den and grabbed onto an overhead tree branch. He liked climbing the best and hadn’t been able to wait until nightfall for his escape.
He did not want other female humans visiting the Black-Haired One. It interfered with his plans, even if this woman did smell slightly like the Wee One. No, the blond female needed to go.
Immediately.
Fluffy did not have time to develop a cunning scheme. Instead, he went for the crudest but most effective method for getting rid of pesky bipeds. The surprise attack.
As the woman’s high heels clipped past him, Fluffy darted from his hiding place under a bush, snarling fiercely. The woman yelped. Fluffy showed his teeth. Shrieking now, the female human darted around him. He followed. She screamed and walked faster. He easily closed the distance. She began to run. He growled and picked up his speed. When she reached the parking lot, he stopped and watched as she scrambled into her conveyance.
Fluffy smiled. That had been fun. Now it was time to let Frida chase him instead.
* * *
When Katie’s doorbell rang, it took a moment for the sound to register. She’d always had delayed reactions when deep in design work. After saving her artwork for a new menu for the Prairie Dog Café, she stretched. Cracking her neck, Katie padded downstairs to the front door.
She checked the peephole and ascertained that, yes, Bowie stood on her porch. Although she lived directly behind her parents’ house, the family was still on edge, since the police hadn’t yet found Eddie Driver, the ex-con who’d shot Katie’s father. There’d been some unconfirmed sightings of him in the area, so her little brother, the police officer, had insisted on installing security systems in both the old homestead and the geodesic dome where Katie lived.
She pulled open the door. “Hey. How was your da…”
Her words trailed off as she caught sig
ht of Bowie’s face. She couldn’t miss the odd set to his jaw. His body seemed tense, coiled for action.
Quickly, she stepped back to let him into the house. He entered automatically and awkwardly thrust the pizza box in her direction. She took it and studied him closely.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
Bowie shoved his hand in his hair and started to pace. “Sorry about this, Katie, but I don’t think I’ll be good company tonight. We should probably do a rain check.”
Okay, now she was worried. Bowie never acted oddly. In fact, he always seemed in control of the situation, whether kissing red river hogs or shooting YouTube videos in a poet shirt and an eye patch.
“Bowie, I’m okay if you need to cancel tonight, but can you tell me what’s bothering you? Is everything okay? Abby and Lou are fine, right? There are no problems at the zoo?”
He blew out a long, frustrated breath. He stared at her for a moment and must have noticed her concern. Dropping his hand from his head, he turned to face her squarely.
“Sawyer showed up at the zoo office today,” he said.
Okay, Katie hadn’t expected that answer.
Bowie gave a short, bitter laugh. “Yeah, you look as stunned as I feel. The woman abandons her daughter for twelve years, and she thinks she can blithely announce that she’s ready for motherhood and step right in.”
“She wants custody?” Katie asked in surprise. Sawyer didn’t seem like the maternal type, but heck, Katie hadn’t talked to the woman for twelve years.
“I don’t know exactly what she wants,” Bowie snapped, but Katie realized his ire wasn’t directed at her. “She’s not dumb, so she knows she can’t just take my kid away from me, but she wants a relationship with Abby.”
“I’m pretty sure she couldn’t legally force you to do that,” Katie said.
Bowie grimaced. “Yeah, but she can drag it out and bury me with attorney fees. Plus, she’s going to tell Abby who she is. I can’t stop that. Then there’s her husband. The guy would set up a college fund for Abby. Do I have a right to keep this from my daughter?”
His conflicted expression tugged at Katie’s heart. He clearly loved his kid and wanted to make the right decision. Unfortunately, given the situation, Katie doubted that the perfect solution would present itself. If she had a child of her own, she would want to wrestle with the options. Either way, Abby could end up hurt.
“Do you want to come in and talk about it?” Katie asked.
“Yes. No. Maybe. Ah, hell.” He jammed his hand in his hair again. “I know Sawyer was never your favorite person. Are you sure you want to hear about this?”
Katie closed the front door and gestured to her living room. “At least you know my prejudices. Besides, you look like you need someone to unload on, and I’m actually pretty good at listening.”
Bowie regarded her for a moment, his gray eyes suddenly warm. “Thanks, Katie. You don’t know how much I need this right now.”
Katie shrugged, suddenly feeling uncomfortable with the intimacy that threatened all her dating rules. “No problem.”
She turned and led him to the wide-open main room. Although she laid the pizza box on the counter that separated the kitchen area from the living space, Bowie didn’t touch it.
“So what happened?” she asked as she settled down beside him on the IKEA couch that she’d brought from her apartment in Minnesota.
When Bowie recapped Sawyer’s unexpected visit, disgust filled Katie. She couldn’t comprehend how Sawyer thought she could appear unannounced in Bowie’s office after twelve years and demand time with her daughter. Then again, Sawyer had always possessed a singular talent for viewing the world through the microscope of her needs. If reality didn’t suit Sawyer, she just ignored it and fabricated her own.
“Why do you think she’s reappeared?” Katie asked after Bowie had finished. “Is she serious about having a relationship with Abby, or is she after something?”
“There’s definitely something in it for her,” he said. “Sawyer’s not the self-sacrificing type. I think her marriage is on the rocks, and she believes this will help patch things up. It sounds like her husband has a soft spot for kids. But I also can’t say for certain that she doesn’t have some desire to be a mother. You knew Sawyer in high school. Do you think she would want to be a mom?”
Katie blew out a long breath, wishing he hadn’t asked her opinion. “Bowie, you know my history with Sawyer. Honestly, I never saw any redeeming qualities, but I’m biased, and I haven’t seen her for over a decade. I wouldn’t have guessed you’d be a good father, but you’re a really great one.”
He rewarded her with a hesitant smile. As if of its own volition, her hand reached out and rested on his jean-clad leg. “Trust your judgment, Bowie.”
“What if…” He hesitated, then plunged forward. “What if I want Sawyer to be undeserving of my daughter? What if deep down, I don’t want to share Abby, and that’s coloring my perspective?”
Katie could feel her expression soften. Her whole body might have just melted. “Bowie, the fact that you would even think to ask that question proves it isn’t the case. You’re not thinking of yourself. You’re thinking of Abby. If I were in your position, I’d be ripping Sawyer apart, but you’re not. You’re focused on protecting your daughter.”
Bowie laid his hand over Katie’s and laced their fingers together. Then he turned to gaze at her, his look earnest. “You really think that?”
Katie nodded, an odd tightness banded around her throat. “Yeah, I do. And you’re going to figure out the right way to handle this.”
He turned her hand over in his, then stared down for a moment, drawing his thumb over the back of her knuckles. Pleasant energy rippled through Katie’s nerve endings, but she kept her focus on Bowie.
“I wish I knew how to keep Abby from getting hurt, but I don’t know if that is possible.”
Katie frowned. “Do you think Sawyer would hurt her?”
Bowie shrugged. “Not intentionally. I don’t think she’s cruel enough to purposely belittle her daughter, but she might accidentally. You know what she said when she saw Abby’s picture on my desk? That Abby obviously needed a makeover. Her tone indicated she’d be embarrassed to call Abby her daughter until she ‘fixed’ her looks.”
“I think I might have physically attacked her.”
Bowie gave a half smile. “Unfortunately, that wasn’t an option for me.” The grin fled. “What if she says something like that in front of Abby?”
“Then we’ll be there to tell her how wrong Sawyer is.”
Bowie’s gaze jerked toward hers. “We?”
Feeling slightly uncomfortable, Katie nodded. “I care about your daughter, Bowie. You know that. I don’t want Sawyer ever making another little girl feel…well, like she made me feel.”
“I’m sorry I was a part of that, Katie.”
She gave a quick shake of her head as she fought an unexpected wave of tears. Thankfully, Bowie didn’t appear to notice.
“This isn’t about me,” she said. “It’s just that I’ll be there. I can help Abby get through it. Heck, it’s not like I can’t commiserate. Maybe it won’t come to that. Maybe Sawyer will be a halfway decent mom, or maybe you’ll decide not to have them meet.”
“Unfortunately, deciding they shouldn’t meet isn’t an option. Sawyer will corner Abby. I don’t have any choice but to tell her what’s going on.”
“Has she ever asked about her birth mom?”
“A couple times. I told her that her mother loved her very much but was just a girl herself and wasn’t ready to be a mom.”
Bowie had been just a kid too, but Abby wouldn’t realize that yet. To her, an eighteen-year-old probably epitomized the peak of sophistication.
“Do you think she’ll want to meet Sawyer?” Katie asked.
“Honestly, I don’t know. Sh
e’s never expressed any longing for a mother, just curiosity about why she didn’t have one. But all kids want their parents to love them…even if they have crappy ones.”
“Are you going to let Sawyer meet Abby?”
Bowie paused, clearly thinking it over. His haunted look started to fade as he took a breath. “I think I am…as long as Abby wants to meet her. That way, I can control it. My time. My turf. Not Sawyer’s. If it goes well, I can consider if I’ll let Sawyer and her husband spend more time with Abby. If I think it won’t be healthy for Abby, or if she doesn’t want anything more to do with them, then Sawyer can sue me. Literally. I’ll figure out a way to find the money to fight her.”
“You know,” Katie said slowly, “my brother Luke is one of the best family law attorneys in town.”
Bowie gave a lopsided grin. “Then he’s probably out of my price range.”
“I could get him to do it pro bono.”
Bowie’s jaw hardened. “I don’t want charity, Katie.”
“It’s not charity,” she said, “and it would be for Abby. It’s not fair to either of you that Sawyer is putting you through this again. My brother can help level the playing field.”
“I’m not sure.”
Katie resettled on the couch so that she could fully face Bowie. “He occasionally takes pro bono cases, and he’ll do this as a favor for me. He owes me big. I quit my job to help out Mom and Dad after the shooting since he and my other brothers couldn’t handle the drama. Besides, if I tell him what Sawyer did to me in school, it will be his pleasure to eviscerate her case.”
“If you don’t tell him my part,” Bowie grumbled, but she could sense his resistance disintegrating.
“Luke’s very good at his job, and he’s got a great reputation. There’s a good chance he can get this case squelched right at the beginning.”
“Do you really think he’ll do it?” Bowie asked.
“Yes, I do,” Katie told him truthfully. “He’s a father himself. He went to law school to litigate cases like yours. He’d probably represent you pro bono even if you didn’t know me.”