“Hey, why don’t you see if your mom will watch Savannah next Friday? Come to The Blue Cactus with us?”
“Third wheel? Um, no.”
“You won’t be third wheel. Aiden knows this guy—”
“No way, Linds. I don’t do blind dates.”
“You don’t date at all,” she playfully challenged.
“Is there a law against not wanting to go out?”
“At least go out once, with me. Once. Come on.”
“You’re worse than Savannah when she wants one more cookie.”
“Going out occasionally doesn’t make you a bad mom. Hell, it’s been over a year since you’ve gone out and had any adult fun, and the only party you’ve attended was a tea party where you wore a crown, sat at a preschool-sized table, and sipped white grape juice from a plastic pink cup.”
“I’ll think about it. That’s as real as it gets right now.” I gave her the look, the one that said, Get off my ass.
As I pulled into my driveway, my phone rang and my dad’s name lit the screen.
“Hey Dad.” It was always so good to hear from my rock.
“Avery, he knows. Stone knows about Savannah—”
“Did you tell him?” I shouted into the speaker as I slammed the gearshift into park. Lindsey turned sideways in her seat, keeping her eyes on me and her shoulder close.
“You know better than that. That’s never been my decision to make.” He sighed in my ear. “He stopped by. Stone decided to come see me and your mom. He came to apologize, Avery, to ask us for our forgiveness, even though he never did anything wrong. Stone saw her pictures on the foyer wall. One look and he knew.”
“When did he leave?”
“Ten minutes ago.”
The world as I knew it was never going to be the same. Stone was coming, and he was coming with a vengeance. He was a Mitchell, and family was everything to them, just like it was to me and mine.
I lay the phone on the console between me and Lindsey, not caring that I pressed end without saying goodbye. Leaning forward, I pressed my forehead against the steering wheel. My parents lived just over an hour away, which meant I needed to get my shit together.
“He’ll be here. Today, Lindsey, he’s coming.”
She reached over, clasping my hand, squeezing tight. “I’ll take Savannah with me in case he shows up.”
“There’s no in case. He’ll be here.” I peeked over at her. “Thanks, Linds. I appreciate you so much.”
“You know I’m always here, and don’t forget, you call the shots until there’s something legal in place.”
“I should have told him. I shouldn’t have let this get so out of hand.”
“Honey, you only just found out this whole thing was a setup. You would have. When the time was right, you would have.”
We shuffled the girls inside Lindsey’s house and held up our hands in our usual goodbye peace-out signs before I scurried across the lawn with a troubled heart.
Thirty-eight minutes later, the doorbell chimed. I’d paced the entire time, certain I’d trampled a trail into the rug. My pulse kicked up its pace and my heart welled up in my throat.
I looked through the peephole, and enraged didn’t come close to describing the expression he wore. Waves of nausea rolled through my stomach at his stance. Powerful. Furious. Unafraid. Dark. And sexy as hell. With all the turbulent emotions storming within me, I couldn’t help but let myself get a little lost in his beautiful icy eyes.
Swallowing hard, I wiped my clammy hands down my denim shorts. Taking a deep breath, I muttered, “You can do this.”
Opening the door, I knew that was a joke. I didn’t think for a minute that I could do this.
“Stone.” My anxiety multiplied by ten at the sight of the ruthless, unyielding man I’d once known to be caring, gracious, and warmhearted.
He held up his hand, silencing anything I had to say. Without waiting for an invitation, he barged inside. “Where is she?”
“We need to talk,” I pleaded.
“A little late, Avery. Don’t you think we should have talked long before now?” He slammed his hand against the wall in the foyer.
“Stone, please listen—”
“No! You fucking listen. A lot of shit happened between us, a lot of bad shit, and because of it, I’ve missed out on meeting my daughter. Savannah, is it? I missed her birth. Her first birthday. First crawl. First steps.” He angrily raked his hand through his hair. “Now where the fuck is she?”
I sucked in a deep breath, unable to fathom his hurt. I’d had front row seats to every accomplishment Savannah had made on the growth chart. I had her first lock of hair secured to a page in her baby book. Pictures of her learning to eat from a spoon. Records of all her immunizations. His bitter words stabbed my conscience, penetrating through the core of what I’d known to be wrong all along.
“Please, Stone. Let’s sit down.”
He headed through the foyer, scanning every inch, looking for her. His eyes faltered at my favorite picture of Savannah hanging on the wall. Dressed in an aqua ruffled tutu dress and matching bow, she sat perched on a soft pink stool at a matching baby grand piano. Her small hands rested on the keys and her infectious smile showed off her tiny pearly teeth. A polka-dotted smash cake sat in the center of the piano, topped with a candle in the shape of the number one.
“I should have told you. At the beach house, I should have come clean. But I…I wasn’t…” I stumbled on my words, knowing there was no way to make this easier. “This wasn’t about me, and I—”
“You did the most selfish thing a person could do. You stole my child from me, and you denied her right to have a father. Where the fuck is she, Avery? I want to see her now.”
I slammed the door and became the lioness, a fighting mama defending against a predator intent on hurting my cub. “She’s not here! If you’ve ever done one thing decent in your life, do it now. I won’t have it any other way! She has epilepsy, Stone, and I won’t allow your presence to add stress to her in any way.”
His jaw ticked, lines furrowing across his forehead and at the edges of his eyes. “Why? What causes them?”
“Even with great insurance and a wonderful neurologist at the pediatric hospital, the best research hasn’t figured it out. She started having them just before her second birthday. Medication keeps them controlled, and her doctor is hopeful that by the time she’s around ten or so, she may start showing signs of outgrowing them. Studies have shown that some kids just stop having them. When I came to the beach, she was at a camp with other children who live with epilepsy.” My eyes watered. “I know you had the right to know, your entire family did, but how exactly, when my baby daddy was also my mother’s ‘lover’?” I made quotation marks in the air with my fingers.
“How often does she have them?”
“It’s been a while now since the last one, about six months.”
“Where is she right now?”
“Safe.” I didn’t budge.
“Ave, don’t make this harder than it has to be. I’m not leaving until I at least see her.”
“That’s not going to happen tonight. I’ll come up with a way to introduce you.” My vision became blurry with tears threatening to spill. “I was scared and didn’t know what to do—”
“When you took a test and got two blue stripes or whatever the hell tells you it’s positive, you should have sucked it up and contacted me. I had that right, and so did she. It wasn’t your decision to let her grow up without a dad.” He folded his arms across chest. “I’m going to see her. Tonight. I’m going to meet her. I’m going to be in her life. I’m going to spend the rest of my life making up for not being there for the first five years. Don’t be stupid. A judge won’t side with you, so don’t make this any nastier than it already it is. Now sit the fuck down and let’s come up with a solution.”
I wanted to throw him out on his ass for ordering me around, but he’d used the word that scared the hell out of me—judge.
“Stone, I swear I’ll tell her. I’ll give it to her sugarcoated, and by tomorrow, she’ll know who you are. How about you come for dinner? We can…have pizza, take her to the park, or simply stay here.”
“Not acceptable. Tonight, Avery. I need to at least see her tonight, and tomorrow, we do pizza.”
I dropped my shoulders in defeat. “What do you want? Me to go get her, bring her inside, and say, Hey look, Savannah, your daddy stopped by! Don’t you think that’s going to be a little more than confusing for her? Or are you so consumed with what you want, you’re not thinking rationally? My God, she could have a seizure. Is that what you want?”
He studied me long and hard. “She’s going to be confused, regardless of whether it’s tonight or tomorrow. She can thank you for that.”
“You’re an asshole. While you lived a jock slash frat boy’s life, I became a single mother. I watched my parents accept and love a baby girl whose father had a hand in destroying everything—or so everyone, including yourself, thought. I did what I thought was best for her. If you think for one second I’m proud of any of this, think again. I know she needed a father, but not one who slept with her grandmother! She’s a happy child, full of life, character, and laughter. She didn’t deserve to be surrounded by the hate between us. I did that for her. I kept her away from anything ugly that could take away a slice of her happiness.”
He glared furiously as I brushed the streaming tears from my face. New ones trailed down, one after the other, faster than I could wipe them away. I hadn’t cried that much since Savannah experienced her first seizure.
“I don’t know how you expect me to feel. Did you think I’d waltz in here and not be the least bit pissed that you made the wrong decision about our daughter?” He brushed his thumb over the wetness against my cheek. “I’ve never been able to stand to see you cry, but damn Avery, you brought this on yourself.”
“She’s at my best friend’s playing with Kaylee, a little girl her same age. I’ll go get her after we reach an agreement on a few terms.”
Maybe it was because he softened. Maybe I relented because I knew Stone. I knew what a great guy he was underneath all the arrogance. One gesture—wiping the tears from my face—and he had me.
He cocked an eyebrow upward, tilted his head to the side. “I’ll set out the terms.”
“No. First, regardless of how you feel about me, you will not express your thoughts to her. We will not ever speak derogatorily against each other to her. Second, we will set up several times for you to be here at our house until she is comfortable with you before you can take her on your own. There will be no overnight stays until I know she is okay with it.” He glared. “Stone, this is not up for negotiation. You have to be eased into her life.”
“Let’s see how this afternoon goes, then we take it one day at a time. I would never speak ill of you in her presence—you should know me better than that.”
“I don’t know you at all, not anymore.”
“What do you want to know? I live in Houston and drive down to the beach house every opportunity I can. I own hotels all over the country and have two international prospects. I’ve never married—and speaking of which, where’s your significant other? Or did you lie about that too?”
I shook my head. “I just said that to make you back off.” Dipping my head down in shame, I admitted the truth. “If I hadn’t pushed you away, I wouldn’t have stopped.”
For a brief second, he allowed me to get a glimpse of the old Stone in his warm, sky blue eyes. “What’s her full name? How much did she weigh?”
“Savannah Faith Anderson. She was premature, and made her appearance weighing three pounds and fourteen ounces.”
“When the dust has settled, she’ll be a Mitchell in the legal system. She’ll have my name. Avery, I’ll be a good father. She’s the one thing in life that I don’t deserve, but I’ll spend every day of my life thanking God for her.”
Tears welled in my eyes as I nodded in acceptance. “Wait here while I go next door and get her. Without any theatrics, we’ll gently tell her the truth. She’ll warm up to you, and you’ll charm her like you’ve always charmed the girls. She’s going to love you, Stone.”
Chapter 6
“Sweetheart, we have company.” I caressed Savannah’s hand where it was folded inside mine as we walked down the sidewalk from Lindsey’s. “His name is Stone Mitchell and he’s…he’s been my friend since I was a little girl like you.” I forced a smile even though every nerve in my body bunched as if ready to explode.
“Kaylee’s my friend.” Dimples adorned her sweet cheeks as she smiled.
I gently squeezed her hand. “Yes, she is.”
As soon as we rounded the corner from the foyer, Stone stood from the rocker. He froze, feet planted in place, seeing his spitting image. She looked exactly like him, except for the dimples; those belonged to my mother. Mist filled his eyes, and genuine happiness turned up the corners of his lips.
“You must be Savannah,” he said, just a little louder than a whisper.
Savannah stared up at Stone like she was fascinated by the total stranger before looking back at me innocently. “You kissed him.”
My eyes widened in pure shock. “What?”
“In the picture. You kissed him.”
My thoughts faltered, yet I knew she was right…somehow. I squatted down to her level, holding both of her hands. “Where did you see a picture?”
“In your room.” She glanced back and forth between Stone and me.
The box.
She’d found the wicker hatbox I’d tried so many times to burn, but could never bring myself to actually destroy. I never opened it because of what hid beneath the lid—the story of us. A diary filled with all the things young girls doodled onto paper. Stone and Avery 4-ever, scribbles of Mrs. Avery Mitchell, and Do you love me? Circle yes or no. Pictures of when we were happy and inseparable, and letters…hundreds of them. We may have been a summer, holidays, and occasional weekends couple, but we’d made up for it with love letters all the other days in between. Not daring to look, I felt the heat from Stone’s glare. I cleared my throat, forced my lips into a fake smile, and trained my full attention on Savannah. “That was a long time ago.”
“Are you going to kiss him again?” Her honest eyes sparkled.
Someone might as well have knocked me over the head with a wooden bat. Wide-eyed, my mouth formed a perfect O.
So much for making this easy, kiddo!
Stone let out a chuckle before stooping down to her level. “I’ve known your mom since I was about your age. She used to take me for rides in her pink Barbie car. Sometimes, she even let me drive.”
Her eyes widened and she beamed. “I have a pink Barbie Jeep outside!”
“Sweetheart, I bet he’d love to see it. I’ll make some grilled cheese sandwiches while you show him how great you drive.”
He glanced my way, silently thanking me and swallowing hard. “I’d love that.”
As soon as they stepped outside onto the limestone patio and closed the door behind them, my legs turned to Jello and I caved. Tears streamed down my face as I bit back sobs.
I cried for everything lost.
I cried for being caught up in tangled lies that destroyed what should have been our happy world—mine, Stone’s, and Savannah’s.
I cried for what could have been, and I cried for happiness, because I may have lost out on the greatest love, but my daughter hadn’t.
Peering through the white wooden blinds, I saw him fasten the seatbelt around her and check it twice before allowing her to take off in the battery-operated Jeep. Warmth radiated from him as he watched her every move. She made a figure eight around the swing set and sandbox before returning to hi
m.
Looking through the window and watching them laugh brought a sense of joy to my heart. Whatever was said made him shuffle his hand through her curly chestnut hair. Contempt washed over me, giving me the courage to pull away from the window, to give them time to get to know one another without me lurking in the background. I rushed to the bathroom, splashed water on my face, powdered my nose, and applied a little mascara. Satisfied that almost all the traces of my breakdown were gone, I pointed at my image. “It’s going to be okay. It has to be.”
While I prepared the sandwiches, my dad called, and relief filled his voice after I told him how things were going. Before we hung up, I promised to call him later if I needed anything, even just to talk.
Tapping on the window, I motioned them in for dinner. Like always, Savannah bounced inside, and Stone followed.
“Hope you don’t mind paper plates. Sugar, wash your hands and come to the table.”
Once she was out of hearing range, he asked, “Did you really keep a picture of us?”
“Yes,” I whispered, though I hated to admit it.
“I’m not gonna lie, Avery, I’m still pissed. It’s hard for me to believe you kept her from me. After she falls asleep, we have a lot to talk about.”
I simply nodded. In his shoes, I would be beyond angry. I would feel cheated and betrayed by the stolen time. There was still much to say between us.
The three of us ate grilled cheese with chips and pickles. She told him all about the animals at the zoo, the candy store, and her new stuffed pink monkey. Laughter came easily, and enjoying her lit-up face was a delight. Stone told the story about the last time he’d gone to the zoo, how a monkey had wanted his cap. I swallowed hard, because it was a trip we’d shared when we were teenagers.
After sitting at the dining room table for almost an hour, Savannah scurried to her room to play before bath time. She hadn’t probed further about the kiss picture or tossed out any awkward questions and I sighed, thankful that Stone had given it a rest.
“If you want to stay on her good side, that’s her favorite meal.” I pointed toward her empty plate.
Chasing Wicked (The Mitchell Brothers - Wicked Series Book 1) Page 4