Welcome to Pembrooke: The Complete Pembrooke Series

by Jessica Prince

  “Oh please! Your eyes are totally screaming, ‘I told you so.’”

  “Yeah, well, that doesn’t count.”

  “Does too!”

  Pulling his hand out of his pocket he wrapped it around me and pulled me in for a quick kiss. “Are we really standing here arguing over stupid bullshit? My daughter is psyched and thinks you’re the coolest. Let’s celebrate that.”

  I melted into him. “You’re right.”

  Another kiss, then he smirked. “Told you so.”

  “Asshole!”

  The weekend had been great so far. Eliza and I had painted each other’s nails. I taught her how to French braid. We went to Ethan’s football game Friday night, and took her over to meet Lucy during the day on Saturday. Other than Noah’s surprised choke of laughter, there hadn’t been any awkwardness when she looked up at the little bundle she’d been holding and asked when Derrick and I would give her a little sister.

  We watched a ton of girly movies and gave Derrick shit whenever he started to complain. He wasn’t used to being outnumbered so it was fun to mess with him whenever we got the chance.

  I’d been in the best mood when I woke Sunday morning, only somewhat dimmed by the fact that Eliza would be going back to her mother’s later that day. But I was determined to make the most out of every single second I had with her.

  “Chloe?” That was another thing that had changed. Since announcing that her dad and I were dating, she’d taken to calling me just Chloe, dropping the Miss all together. I loved that she was comfortable enough with me that there was no need for the formality any longer.

  “Yeah?” I looked over to where she stood by the kitchen island, face a mask of concentration as she worked to pipe frosting onto the marble swirl cupcakes we’d baked together.

  “Thank you for doing all this stuff with me this weekend.”

  I put down my own piping bag and turned full toward her. Derrick had been called in to the station unexpectedly earlier that morning, giving Eliza and me a chance for some solid girl time. The kitchen counters were lined with all kinds of sweets that he’d undoubtedly enjoy once he got home.

  “Of course, honey. I had a blast with you. I always do.”

  She moved on to the next cupcake, but I could tell there was something weighing heavily on her mind. When she spoke again, my heart broke into a million pieces.

  “I’ve never had anything like this before. My mom…” she trailed off and swallowed so hard I could see her throat bob up and down. “She doesn’t really do this stuff with me. She says she’s always too busy.”

  “Oh, sweetheart,” I said in the most soothing voice I could muster, while inside, my blood boiled, “I’m sure she’d love to paint your nails and stuff if she had the time.”

  Eliza shrugged, refusing to meet my eyes. “I guess. She’s always going out with her friends. Before her and Harold broke up she was always leaving me with my Aunt Lilith or calling Dad to watch me so they could take trips together and stuff. I didn’t really like Harold…” another shrug, “…I don’t really like Aunt Lilith either. She’s always mean to me and doesn’t let me come out of my room when I have to stay over there.”

  My stomach bottomed out and the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end. “Eliza… does your aunt… does she ever hit you?”

  “No.” My shoulders slumped on a heavy sigh of relief. I don’t know what I would have done had she said yes. I’d have told Derrick, most definitely, but murder wasn’t totally out of the question, either. “She’s just mean. And her and Mom are always saying nasty things about Dad. I don’t like it.”

  I didn’t know what to say. There was nothing I could tell her that would make her feel any better about her own mother’s neglect, so I did the only thing I could think of. I closed the distance between us and hugged her tightly, holding my breath until her little arms wrapped around me in return.

  “It’ll be okay, honey,” I whispered, praying to God I wasn’t lying.

  She pulled back and I caught her wiping a tear from her cheek. It killed. I felt my own eyes welling up as I watched her. “Do you think — can you talk to my dad about me living here with him? I want to stay here. I don’t want to have to go back. Will you talk to him for me, Chloe? Please?”

  At the desperation in her tone, the wide, solemn look in her eyes, I lost the battle to keep my emotions in check. Tears began pouring down my cheeks, unchecked as I dropped to my knees and pulled her to me. I don’t know how long we stood there, just holding each other, but I refused to move until she was all cried out, her little body trembling as she cried into my shirt.

  “I know your dad wants you here with him, sweetie, and I know he’s doing everything in his power to make that happen. But it won’t happen overnight. We just need you to be brave for a little while longer, okay? Can you do that for me?”

  She nodded against my neck and I never wanted to let her go.

  “Just a little while longer,” I whispered, but I wasn’t sure who I was trying to convince: her or me.

  Trying to take her mind off the heavy burden she was carrying, I placed my hands on her upper arms and pushed her back so she could see my face. “Hey, I have an idea. Why don’t we pack some of these sweets up and go surprise your dad at work? We can even stop and get him lunch too. I bet he’d love that. What do you think?”

  She only nodded, but she did it with a grin. That had to count for something.

  Right?

  23

  Derrick

  As I pulled my ringing phone from the pocket of my work pants and looked at the screen, the first thought that crossed my mind was I am not dealing with this shit. It was bad enough I was at work on a Sunday. A Sunday when I had my daughter, but I’d be damned if I was going to be put in a bad mood on top of that.

  It had been two weeks of bliss with Chloe. She’d had a meeting with her employees and was now only going in before sunup three days a week, splitting the days with her other pastry chef. That meant extra hours where I kept her in my bed and under my body.

  Pure Heaven.

  She eased some of the worry I carried over Eliza. She made me laugh more than I had in years, and she turned me on like no woman ever had before. Being with her was like a balm for my soul. And my daughter was absolutely in love with her and the idea of us being together.

  So seeing that particular name flashing on the screen of my phone was a very unwanted interruption to the bubble I’d been living in.

  “What do you want, Layla?” I said in place of a typical hello. I leaned back in my chair and propped my feet on the desk in front of me. “I’m at work and I don’t have time to deal with your shit, so if you’re calling to start drama do yourself a favor and hang up now.”

  Her response of, “I need to see you,” put me even further on edge. I could feel the muscle in my jaw ticking.

  “You’ll see me when you come to pick up Eliza in a few hours.”

  “I need to see you now,” she demanded, ever the entitled brat.

  “That’s not happening. I’m hanging up now.”

  Just as I pulled the phone from my ear, I heard her frantic voice carrying through the speaker. “It’s about custody!”

  My hand holding the phone paused. I sucked in a deep breath, holding the air in my lungs as I tried to calm myself before finally releasing it in a slow whoosh, dropping my feet to the floor and sitting up straight. “What about custody?” I asked once I’d brought the phone back to my ear.

  “Look, I’m already in Pembrooke, okay? Can we please just meet somewhere and talk? It can even be public! I don’t care. I just need to talk to you in person about this.”

  Did I trust Layla? No fucking way in Hell, but I couldn’t tell if the tears in her voice were real or fake, and when it came to my daughter’s welfare, I’d made myself completely clear. I wanted to believe that she wasn’t callous enough to actually cross me, especially after my threat, where our daughter was concerned. There was still a part of me that wanted to b
elieve that somewhere, deep inside her, she loved Eliza.

  It was for those reasons alone that I agreed to meet her.

  “Fine. I’m about to take my lunch break. I’ll meet you at the Moose in ten, but I swear to God, Layla, if you’re fucking with me, that’s it. I’m contacting a lawyer and doing what I have to in order to get Eliza away from you.”

  “I’m not, I swear! I’ll meet you in ten minutes. Thank you so much, Derrick.”

  I disconnected the call feeling unsettled but not exactly sure why, other than being in the same room with Layla gave me hives. I stood from my desk and slipped my phone back in my pocket before heading out of the station.

  Might as well get it over with. That way I could finish up my shift and get back home to my girls. That thought put a smile on my face. As I made my way down Main, walking the few blocks it took to get from the station to the Moose, I was determined not to let whatever conversation I was about to have effect my day.

  I had too much to look forward to.

  Nothing could touch that.

  By the time I pushed through the door of the Moose, our local restaurant/bar/hangout, Layla was already sitting at a table, twirling a glass of water between her palms nervously.

  She smiled shyly and slid a glass in front of me as I took a seat across from her. “I got you an iced tea. I remember you always ordered tea when we went out.”

  For the love of God, I’d probably ordered tea maybe twice in all the years we’d been together. Just went to show how self-involved she was. “You have ten minutes,” was my only reply.

  “But I thought you said you were on your lunch break.”

  “I am,” I answered flatly. “And while I agreed to talk with you face to face, I’m not too thrilled with the idea of breaking bread with you. I’ll get something to eat once we’re done here.”

  Her face got soft, a look I was pretty sure I’d never seen on her before, as she said, “Derrick, don’t be ridiculous. Surely a conversation about our daughter would take longer than ten minutes, and I’d hate for you to have to go back to work on an empty stomach because you didn’t have time to eat anything.”

  Before I could pass on her offer, a waitress suddenly appeared at our table. “Hey, there. Are you ready to order or do you need a few more minutes?”

  “Nothing for—”

  Layla interrupted. “I’ll have the Cobb salad, dressing on the side, no bacon, egg or avocado, (basically all the things that made it more than just lettuce) and he’ll have the turkey club.” She moved her smile from the waitress back to me and my back went stiff.

  “What the hell are you playing at?” I asked in a low voice once our server had moved off to place our orders.

  Her eyes went wide, the picture of innocence that I didn’t buy for a second. “Nothing! I just didn’t want you to go hungry. And I remembered the turkey club was your favorite.”

  “Cut the shit,” I hissed. “I don’t like tea, the turkey club has never been my fucking favorite, and you’re not a nice person. So whatever the hell this is,” I waved a finger between the two of us, “it’s done. Got it? I came because you said you wanted to discuss the custody arrangement we have. That’s all I’m talking about. Either get on with it or I’m gone.”

  “Fine,” she whispered. Her shoulders slumped as a sad expression moved across her face. “I was just trying to make things more… peaceful between us.”

  “Time for that was years ago, Layla.”

  “You’re right,” she sighed with defeat and looked up at me, one lone tear trailing down her cheek before she brushed it away. “I’ve made a lot of mistakes, Derrick, I know that now. And if I could go back in time and change things, I swear I would.” Her hand came across the table and rested on mine for a moment before I pulled back.

  “What’s that have to do with custody?”

  “You’re a great father. And a good man,” she continued, still not getting to the topic at hand. “Believe me, I know what I lost and not a day goes by that I don’t regret how I treated you. I hate to admit it, but it took seeing you with someone else to realize…” she trailed off and pulled in a lungful of air, more tears fell from her eyes, “that you’re the love of my life. I’ll do anything to get you back, baby. Anything. Please just give us another chance,” she ended on a whisper.

  I don’t know how long I sat there, my mouth hanging open in shock before I was finally able to move, and when I could, I shot to my feet yelling, “You are un-fucking-believable! You know that? Jesus Christ! This is an all-time low, Layla, even for you. I’m leaving.”

  Her eyes darted from me to the door and back again before she stood in a hurry and did something so unexpected, so bewildering, I froze. In the blink of an eye, her arms were wrapped around my neck, her chest plastered to mine, and she’d yanked my head down in a kiss so hard I automatically tasted blood from where my lip cut on my teeth.

  After a few seconds, my stupor wore off and I reached up, grabbing her arms with every intension of shoving her away, when I heard a voice speak one word that chilled me to my bones.

  “Daddy?”

  I spun around to find Eliza standing in the doorway of the Moose, hand-in-hand with Chloe, both of them wearing equal expressions of dismay at the sight of me and Layla kissing.

  “Oops,” Layla said, a smile in her evil voice. “Looks like your little girlfriend caught us, Derrick.”

  I rushed over to them both, afraid if I let loose on Layla, they’d somehow manage to escape before I could explain. “It’s not what it looked like,” I said, desperation laced through my words as I frantically searched Chloe’s face for any hint that she believed me. “I swear to God, baby. It’s not what you think. I’ll explain everything, I promise, but I need you to take Eliza out of here. Can you do that? Just go outside and wait for me. I’ll be there in just a minute.”

  Chloe blinked, her gorgeous green eyes still clouded with disbelief.

  “Daddy,” Eliza’s distressed voice called my attention to her.

  “It’ll be okay, baby girl, just go outside with Chloe for a minute. I’ll be right there. I promise.”

  I turned back to Chloe to see her nod in agreement. The relief that flooded me with just that one simple nod was so overwhelming I couldn’t help myself, I leaned into her and pressed my lips against hers, only to have her pull away and wipe at her mouth.

  “Her lipstick,” she whispered at my worried expression. “It’s still on your face.”

  “I’m sorry,” I said on a ragged whisper.

  “Do what you have to do. We’ll wait outside. Then we’ll talk.”

  With that, she turned around and led Eliza out of the restaurant. And I looked back at the bane of my existence, hate turning my vision red.

  “You,” I said in a low, menacing voice as I stalked toward her, “just fucked up. You think you’ve seen me angry before? That was fucking nothing compared to what I feel now.” The self-satisfied smile that she’d been wearing slowly fell as she grew pale. “You’re fucked, sweetheart. From here on out all communication will be made through lawyers, so I suggest you do whatever you have to in order to hire one, because I’m about to make your life a goddamned nightmare.”

  Her throat bobbed up and down as she swallowed audibly. “Derrick—”

  “Shut up,” I gritted out. “Pick up and drop off of Eliza will be at the Sheriff’s station from here on out. You’re not to set foot on my property, you understand me? If you do, I’ll have you arrested. You just used our daughter in your fucking twisted game for the last time. This evening will be the last time you ever take her away from me.”

  “Are you-are you threatening me?”

  “That was a fucking promise, sweetheart.”

  Without another word, I turned and stormed out of the Moose. My eyes frantically scanned the sidewalks outside until they landed on my girls about a yard away, sitting on a wooden bench outside the hardware store.

  “You stayed,” I breathed as soon as I got close.


  “We said we would,” Chloe stated flatly, her eyes focused over my shoulder. I looked back to see what had her attention, only to find Layla had just sauntered out of the restaurant and was heading for her car.

  I turned back. “Don’t look at her, look at me.”

  Her gaze snapped to mine before lowering down to look at a rattled Eliza, taking my attention with her.

  “Hey, baby girl,” I said, lowering down to my haunches so we were eye level with one another, trying my best to infuse a smile in my words. “You okay?”

  “Are you… are you and Mommy getting back together?”

  “No honey, we’re not.” At my answer she visibly relaxed. “Then why were you kissing her?”

  A quick glance back at Chloe showed she had one eyebrow cocked, clearly as eager for my answer as Eliza.

  “Your mom did something she shouldn’t have and kissed me when I didn’t want her to. What you saw was her making a bad choice. We’re not getting back together. I’m with Chloe and she makes me really happy, honey.”

  She nodded seriously. “Good. She makes me happy, too.”

  “I need to talk to Chloe in private for a second, baby girl,” I said as I stood to my full height and pulled my wallet from my back pocket. “There’s an ice cream place right there.” I pointed to Blizzard Bob’s which was just two doors down from where we were and handed her a ten. “We’ll be done talking by the time you get back.”

  “Can I get two scoops?”

  I narrowed my eyes at her sudden smile. “You can have one.”

  She let out a huff and hopped off the bench. “Fine. Be right back.” Then she was gone. Once I saw her walk safely through the door, I looked back down at Chloe, who still sat on the bench.

  “Bribing your daughter with ice cream. That’s a new one for you.”

  I rubbed the back of my neck uncomfortably. “These were extenuating circumstances.”

  She uncrossed her legs and stood up. “I bet. You know she totally got two scoops, right?”