Jesse nodded, wrapping both arms around the little girl again. At least she’d stopped crying, although she sniffled occasionally in his arms.
“Is Mommy fighting with everyone?” Laurel softly asked.
“I don’t know, sweetheart.”
“She won’t make me go with Gramma and Grampa, will she? They looked angry. I don’t like that. I want to stay here with you and Daddy. I don’t want to leave Daddy here alone. Daddy said I’m not allowed to ever go anywhere with them alone.”
That was news to Jesse, but he’d deal with it later. “I’ll do my best, sweetheart.” He hated like hell that he couldn’t promise the little girl more than that. Legally, he knew he had no leg to stand on if Eva wanted to take her from him.
Twenty minutes later, the group in the conference room was still arguing in voices loud enough to be heard in the waiting room when an older man walked in. He wore shorts, a T-shirt, and flip-flops, and carried a laptop case slung over his shoulder. His hair was disheveled and he looked like he’d been rolled out of bed.
Tony got up and intercepted him, leading him to the consultation room and letting him in. When Tony returned to his seat across from Jesse, he wore a beaming grin.
“What?” Jesse noticed the voices in the consultation room had gone completely quiet, except for one man talking, but he couldn’t make out the words.
“Don’t worry,” Tony assured him. “This is about to get settled right now.”
“Why? Who was that?”
“You haven’t met him yet, but that is Pat Donnelly.”
Jesse was at the end of his patience. “Please, just tell me who he is.”
Loren giggled. “He’s better known as the Honorable Patrick Donnelly, seated family court judge for Sarasota County. Coincidentally, he’s also the judge handling…” She hesitated, pointed at Laurel, then pointed at her own wedding band.
Ah. The judge handling Leo’s divorce. Jesse nodded that he understood.
“He’s also…a friend in common,” Loren added.
Jesse closed his eyes and fought the urge to burst out laughing. He knew if he did, it’d quickly turn into relieved tears.
The door to the consultation room opened fifteen minutes later. Eva’s parents stormed out, leaving the waiting room without so much as a look in Laurel’s direction.
The security guards followed Eva’s parents out.
Then Landry, Tilly, and Eva emerged. Eva was crying, but she also appeared to be leaning on Tilly, who had an arm draped around Eva’s shoulders on one side. Landry had his arm around Eva’s waist on the other. The doctor also emerged, talking with Ed, Ross, and the judge.
The doctor headed back into the medical unit, and the judge shook hands with Ed and Ross before leaving.
Laurel shifted enough in Jesse’s arms that she could see her mom as Landry and Tilly walked her over and got her seated next to Jesse, Tilly on her far side, with her arm still around Eva’s shoulders.
Ed and Ross walked over, Ed crooking his finger at Jesse. Jesse wasn’t sure what to do, because Laurel didn’t want to let go of him.
“Honey,” he said, “how about you sit in Mommy’s lap for a little while?”
“Please don’t make me go with Gramma and Grampa,” Laurel begged. “Daddy said I can’t.”
Now Jesse really wanted to hear this story at some point.
“You won’t, honey,” Eva sniffled, reaching for her hand. “I promise. You’re staying right here with me and Uncle Jesse and…everyone else. I promise.”
“Where are you going, Uncle Jesse?”
Eva spoke up. “Uncle Jesse needs to talk to those men for a moment. It’s okay. He’ll be right back. I promise.”
Reluctantly, Laurel let them move her to her mom’s lap. Jesse didn’t miss how Laurel reached out and grabbed Tilly’s hand, too, holding on as if afraid she’d be spirited away.
Damn.
Jesse got up and followed Ed and Ross into the consultation room. He waited until the door was closed to speak.
“What happened? Where did Eva’s parents go?”
“Restraining order,” Ed said. “They had to leave.”
“Restraining order?”
“They threatened to file for custody of Laurel.”
“What? Oh, hell, no! They—”
“Eva shut them down,” Ed said, calming him. “Don’t worry. She’s the one who asked Pat for the restraining order.”
“Eva did?” The attorneys nodded. “Then what’s this about?”
Ross and Ed exchanged a knowing glance. “Eva waived all rights to an attorney, appeared pro se, dropped all her pending motions to delay the divorce, and made a formal petition to the court to deliver a final and immediate ruling on the dissolution of their marriage.”
Jesse had to sit. “She…what?”
Ross nodded. “It’s highly irregular, but Ed dropped a legal tactical nuke by getting Pat here. Leo is Laurel’s designated custodial parent, and they’re officially divorced. You, however, are now Laurel’s legal guardian, for as long as Leo is incapacitated. And here’s the kicker—that’s at Eva’s request.”
His head spun. “What? How is that even legal?”
“Pat’s a judge,” Ed said. “And he’s a friend. We recorded everything on video on Pat’s laptop for a transcript. Before he got here, I warned Eva if she tried any bullshit, to take custody of Laurel away from Leo, that I would make sure she would get tied up in court for years. And that I would work for you and Leo for free, and I would run up hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal bills for her and cost her the house and everything. Plus I would make sure Leo went for and obtained full custody. That I would make her and turning her life miserable my hobby.”
Jesse was stunned into silence. “What?” he finally managed.
“She could possibly have the ruling overturned on appeal,” Ross said, “and claim duress, but we offered her an out. That she can have the house and full, unlimited visitation with Laurel, but she needed to agree to an immediate dissolution, now, and that Leo gets primary custody. She is the one who insisted that you be named Laurel’s legal guardian.”
“Leo can’t afford to pay for the house.”
“He doesn’t have to,” Ed said. “We’re going to do a quit-claim over to Eva.”
“She can’t afford the house by herself.”
“Taken care of,” Ross said. “We have friends who will be on the phone first thing tomorrow morning to buy the note from the bank and hold it.”
“Who?”
“Leigh and Lucas,” Ed said. “Tilly called them. Before she could even get everything out, they okayed it as a ‘real estate investment.’”
“Is that legal?”
“Sure,” Ross said. “Banks sell mortgages all the time. You don’t think a cash buyer offers them more than the note’s value that they won’t hand it over? Think again.”
“So…”
“So,” Ed said, “it means that even if Eva can’t afford the house, she’ll never lose it, and she’ll be able to live there, with Laurel, and not have to sell it. And it won’t cost Leo anything.”
“You’re just making this shit up, right?”
Ed smiled. “This isn’t the craziest thing I’ve seen in my career, believe me, but it’s pretty damn close. She agreed to it and signed off on it, and Pat ruled on it. And we got it all on video.”
“What about Leo?” he asked. “Who decides his care?”
“You do,” Ed said. “You already had that power, even though Eva didn’t know it. The last time he came in, he asked me to draw up a power of attorney for you and he signed it, and I notarized it. It’s legal. He was going to get you in to have you do one, too.”
Jesse felt dizzy. “I’m really lost here, guys. What are you telling me?”
Ross knelt in front of him. “You are in charge, here. Yes, Eva could petition a different judge tomorrow to overturn this on the basis of duress, and she still might, for all we know. Hopefully not. But we need you to
step up, for Laurel, for Leo, and for Eva. Her parents basically disowned her just now. They wanted her to order you and all of us out of here and give them Laurel, and she refused to do that. Believe it or not, she admitted to us that when Leo brought Laurel back to her tonight, she’d told him that she was dropping all her motions to delay the divorce. That made her parents go screaming batshit, and that’s when the worst of the yelling in here began.”
“She…she did?”
“Her parents went absolutely nuts when she told us that,” Ross said. “They wanted her to go for full custody, to get an emergency motion to make her the primary custodial parent and cut you and Leo off from all contact with Laurel. Everything.” He smiled. “Well, they got an emergency motion, all right. Just not anything close to the one they wanted.”
“I don’t want to force her to do this.”
“See,” Ed said, “that’s the funny thing. Eva is the one who asked me about finalizing the divorce after I threatened her about not cutting you out of the process. Ross and Tilly came up with the house thing, which pissed her parents off even more when Eva immediately agreed to it, and the custody arrangement. Wow, they are a piece of work.”
“But,” Ross said, “you should be magnanimous. Technically, you could order Eva out of here right now and prevent her from taking Laurel with her. Unless Eva files for an emergency stay and appeal, you are Laurel’s legal custodial guardian.”
Jesse shook his head. “No. Absolutely not. I won’t do that to her.”
“Good,” Ross said. “For the record, Eva told us she didn’t call her parents. She didn’t even want them here. Her sister called them after Eva called her, and Eva couldn’t talk them out of coming.” He sadly shook his head. “There’s a story there, apparently, but she wouldn’t go into it with her parents sitting right there. She was, however, strangely adamant that you be named Laurel’s guardian in Leo’s stead.”
“Frankly,” Ed said, “I get the impression she’s scared of her parents. So what’s your next step?”
What, indeed?
Jesse took a deep breath and stood, leaving the consultation room.
Eva sat with her head resting against Tilly’s shoulder, eyes closed, tears running down her cheeks. Laurel sat in her lap, still holding Tilly’s hand.
Jesse walked over and sat down next to them.
Then he put his arm around Eva’s shoulders. At first she tensed, but then she leaned toward him, into him, away from Tilly, her sobs renewing as Jesse put both arms around her and held her, gently rocking her, Laurel snugly nestled between them.
“I’m so scared, Jesse,” Eva whispered. “I don’t want us to lose him.”
He tightened his embrace around her. “Me, too,” he whispered, nuzzling her head with his. “I’m scared, too. I promise you, we’ll work together. No matter what. Okay?”
“Okay.”
Hell, even Tilly reached for a tissue from the box of them offered by Landry.
Jesse closed his eyes. “We’re a family,” he said. “All four of us. Okay? We’re always a family.”
“Okay.”
“Just like in Lilo and Stitch,” Laurel said between them.
That drew tearful laughter from Eva and Jesse. They sat back and stared into each other’s eyes. “Just like in Lilo and Stitch,” Jesse agreed.
Eva nodded.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Jesse lost track of time and the cups of coffee he consumed. Leo was moved from the recovery unit to a bed in the surgical ICU, which shared the same waiting room, at least.
There was no change in Leo’s condition, which wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t good, either. He was maintaining steady vital signs, which Tilly assured them was the best they could hope for short-term.
Eva took care of calling Leo’s parents for Jesse. They would come to the hospital sometime tomorrow, since there was nothing either of them could do that night, and neither of them were good night-drivers at their ages.
Tilly tried to get Jesse and Eva to go home, but neither of them wanted to leave. So Tilly settled in to wait with them, maintaining the vigil.
Someone had found a pillow and blanket for Laurel, and she was now sound asleep in a recliner, her face looking pinched and sad, even while at rest.
From the moment the official truce had been declared, Eva had clung to Jesse, and he didn’t mind.
He clung to her just as much as she did to him. He knew he’d have to talk to her at some point, find out why the hell she’d demanded he be named Laurel’s guardian—and why Leo had told Laurel she couldn’t go with her own grandparents—but not now.
Especially not with Laurel right there, asleep or not.
Friends rotated in and out all night, but Tilly and Ed stayed with them, until Ed had to leave at six that morning to go home, shower, and change for work.
At one point before seven in the morning, while Tilly was in the bathroom and it was just Eva, Jesse, and Laurel, Eva softly spoke to Jesse.
“Can I admit something and you not hate me for it?”
Jesse’s eyes were closed, but he wasn’t sleeping. “I’m so exhausted, honestly, I don’t think I could even muster the energy to feel much more than irritation at Hitler right now. Shoot.”
“I was really jealous of you when Leo first started dating you. Laurel didn’t just happen to call him on the off weekend, or at night, or whenever.”
He opened his eyes as he chuckled and kissed the top of her head. “I know. It’s okay.” He resisted the urge to add a playful snark about her being as hard to see through as a clean window, but knew it might come out wrong, so he left that alone.
“No, it’s not okay. I’m sorry. I know you love him and he loves you. I’m just trying to come to grips with the fact that someone loves him as much as I do. I don’t hate you. I’ve never hated you. I hated this situation, but not you. I hope that makes sense.”
“It does. And it’s okay.”
“You’re a good man. I’m glad Laurel loves you, too. And thank you for loving her.”
“You’re a good woman. Don’t worry, we’ll find the right guy for you. I promise.”
“You can’t make me a promise like that.”
“Oh, don’t count on it. Our friends are matchmakers.” He belatedly realized his exhaustion had loosened his tongue a little.
Again.
“Is that how you guys met?”
“Yeah. Some of the very people here tonight. Including Tilly.”
She went quiet for a moment. “Can I admit something else while I’m confessing?”
“Sure.”
“I’m not proud of myself…but I snooped. One time when you guys were gone during the day and Laurel was in school, I went to the apartment and went through your stuff.”
Normally, he knew he would muster anger. Rage, even, at the violation of their privacy. Demand the return of the key—which wouldn’t matter because they’d need to get the lock changed anyway.
Not today. Not now.
All that didn’t mean jack shit when Leo was lying in a hospital bed with his future uncertain. It also sounded like she wasn’t quite through with her confessions.
Jesse let out a sigh. “And the point of admitting that was…what?”
“Can I ask something?”
“I’m exhausted, not dead, but I am hitting my limit. What is it?”
“Are you and Leo…kinky?”
There was no use denying it. “He’s my Master, and I’m his slave.”
It was several long moments before she responded. “Okay.”
He sat up and stared down at her. “Is that a problem? What we do, we keep it away from Laurel. We don’t ever get sexual or anything like that around her. Hell, usually when she’s with us, we don’t even have sex. We’re too afraid of her hearing anything. The worst she’s seen us do is kiss. That’s it, I swear.”
“No…I know. I didn’t mean it like that. So…Tilly…?”
“Tilly is a Domme, yes. Sort of. Mostly. Usually.”
“Those two men who brought her clothes earlier?”
“Landry’s her husband, and Cris is…Well, it’s complicated. They’re a poly triad. Cris is Landry’s slave and partner, and Tilly switches and sort of does her thing with both of them. She used to top me just as a friend before I met Leo.”
“Is she really a nurse?”
“Yes. Landry came into her life when he had cancer, and she took care of him during his treatments.”
“I promise I won’t snoop again but if you want to take away my key, I understand.”
“That’s the only skeleton in our closet.”
She snuggled against him. Despite her admissions, his perspective had been forcibly ratcheted into a different viewpoint and he couldn’t hate her for the privacy violation.
Because he knew Leo wouldn’t hate Eva. Leo would always frame his interactions with Eva in terms of his guilt over having to end their marriage.
And Jesse strongly suspected that guilt had something to do with whatever spurred the panicked desperation that had made Eva declare Jesse Laurel’s guardian.
He kept her tucked close against his side.
“I don’t suppose you’re into girls, are you?” she asked.
“Sorry.” He rested her head against hers. “We’ll find you a guy. We’ll sic Tilly on it.”
“Sic me on what?”
He’d been so tired that he’d missed her return from the bathroom. “Our secret’s out, sensei,” he said to her as she walked around the group of seats and back in front of them.
“Huh?”
He patted his throat, mimicking a collar and knowing Tilly would get it. “She knows. She asked, and I just told her.”
“Oh.” Tilly sat in a chair across from them. “Well, now.” She smiled, but he didn’t miss how exhausted it looked. “Ask now, or forever hold your peace.”
Eva’s voice sounded nothing like the woman he’d gotten to know—a little—over the past few months. She sounded defeated, shredded, lost. “When…when we get through all of this, can you play matchmaker for me, too?”
Tilly froze. Jesse was afraid she was going to blow up but then she threw her head back and laughed, clapping a hand over her mouth to stifle the sound so she didn’t awaken Laurel or get hauled out of there by the psychiatric department for observation.
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