by Cate Cameron
“Couldn’t he just follow me back there?”
“I have a lot of knives by the counter. He won’t follow you anywhere you don’t want him to.”
“I haven’t even met him yet. Don’t stab him until I get to know him.”
“No promises.” Cassidy unlocked the diner’s back door and gave it the hip check it always seemed to need these days before it would swing open. “Next step is yours, honey. You figure out if you’re ready to meet him, and how you want to do it, and I’ll set it up. Okay?”
“Yeah.” Emily dropped her school bag behind the door and lifted her apron off the hook. “But for now, can we make something good for the dinner menu? If I’m here all day, that’s extra time, right? So we can make something extra good?”
“Why are you being vague about it? Why don’t you just say, ‘Aunt Cassidy, I want to make enchiladas for dinner?’”
Emily grinned. “I guess I don’t have to say it if you already know.”
Cassidy resisted the urge to ruffle the girl’s hair. “Check if we have the ingredients. I think we’re okay, but be sure before you start mixing things.”
“Yeah,” Emily said. “Sometimes when you start something in motion, you can’t stop it.”
Cassidy was happy to have her own face covered for a moment while she pulled her apron over her head. “I’m really sorry I didn’t check with you first.”
The hug was more like a tackle, quick and fierce. Emily’s arms wrapped tight around Cassidy’s as the girl said, “You were trying to protect me. I know that. You wanted to get the facts before you got me excited.”
“And now?” Cassidy asked as she bent her arms and tried to at least pat Emily’s back, since she couldn’t get loose enough to return the hug. “Are you excited, or do you wish I’d just left it all alone?”
“I’m nervous.” Emily let go and took a half step backward. “But I’m excited, too. I want to meet him. I just want to know.” She looked thoughtful. “As soon as possible, I think. I mean, there’s no point in putting it off now, is there? We’re not waiting for new information or anything?”
“No. We’re just waiting for you to be comfortable with it.”
“I think I’m as comfortable as I’ll ever be. It’ll just turn into a bigger deal if we wait.”
“Okay.” Cassidy pulled the lawyer’s card out from the pocket of her jeans. “I’m calling,” she said, and Emily’s eyes got wider but she nodded. Cassidy dialed, the lawyer answered by saying his full name the way business people did on TV, and Cassidy said, “It’s Cassidy Frost. I’d like to set up a meeting for Emily and Mr. Connelly. Just Mr. Connelly, not him and a team of lawyers.”
“And you,” Emily stage whispered, and Cassidy nodded her agreement. No way was she leaving Emily alone with that man.
“He’ll need to bring the paperwork with him,” she added. “The test results. We’ll want to look at those.”
“That shouldn’t be a problem,” the lawyer said, still far too smooth for Cassidy’s comfort. “What time is good for you?”
Cassidy tried to think. It was tempting to just close the diner for the day and get this taken care of, but there were hospital bills on top of the regular bills, a roof that needed replacing, people and animals to feed—she really couldn’t afford to lose the income. “This afternoon around two thirty,” she finally said. “At the house. Do you have the address?”
“We do,” the lawyer replied, his tone somehow making her believe that they knew a hell of a lot more about her and Emily than just their address. “This afternoon, two thirty, at your residence. Mr. Connelly will bring the paperwork.”
Cassidy realized that the lawyer was repeating the words for someone else’s benefit, not her own. Connelly was in the room with him, hearing what he said, and apparently agreeing to it. That made it all feel more real than she wanted it to. “Okay. I’ll see him then,” she said, and ended the call. She needed to be the calm one, she reminded herself.
“Nix the enchiladas. We’ll make something simpler so we can skip out for a while,” she told Emily, and made herself smile.
She was ready for the tackle-hug this time and got her arms up so she could hug back. “It’s going to be okay,” she whispered into Emily’s hair. “We’ll make it work.”
Now she just needed to make herself believe it.
…
The house reminded Will of the diner. Small, clean, but a bit ragged. It was set well back off the road, and there was a shed with a fenced area beside the driveway. A nondescript brown horse stood there, watching him approach, and beside the horse stood a goat, also watching. Neither of them looked too impressed with his presence.
And neither did the woman standing on the front porch waiting for him. He found himself a little impressed by her, though. In the newspaper photograph, and even in the diner, somewhat, Cassidy’s lack of style had made her seem plain. She hadn’t done anything to augment herself, and it gave the impression that there was nothing to work with. Here, though, with the forest and the trees and the clear country air, she didn’t seem to lack a damn thing. She had a natural look because she was part of nature.
Just like a mother bear is part of nature, he reminded himself, and he approached her slowly, trying to look non-threatening. It wasn’t that he was afraid of her, of course, but he needed her to not fight him. He needed her to be on his side.
“Thanks for inviting me into your home,” he said when he was close enough.
She nodded cautiously, then stepped off the porch toward him. “We need to have some ground rules,” she said, “so Emily will feel comfortable. That’s the priority here, right? For both of us?”
“Absolutely. I’m sorry if I gave you reason to doubt that before. I am absolutely here to do what’s best for Emily.”
She didn’t look totally convinced, but she nodded. “Okay. We’ll go inside and sit down, and you two can chat a little. If I decide she’s had enough, I’ll say the meeting’s over, and it will be over. Not because I’m power-tripping but because I know her better than you do, so I’ll have a better idea of when she needs a break.”
“Okay,” he said. It wasn’t that hard of a decision. He liked to be in control of things, but deciding to trust experts was the best way to stay in control. He listened to his legal, scientific, and business advisors all the time. Today, he’d listen to his mother-bear advisor.
“And I need to see the test results before we go anywhere,” she said firmly. He handed her the envelope, and she flipped through the pages, and then almost whispered, “I have no idea what I’m looking for.”
He eased around so he could read over her shoulder, trying not to notice the smell of her shampoo or the tantalizing neck close enough to kiss. “Third page,” he said. “There, at the bottom.”
She was quiet for a moment, then nodded and thrust the pages back toward him.
“We can get another test if you want,” he offered. He wanted this to be clean, and he was surprised to realize he wanted her to like him. Not only for strategic reasons but because—well, just because. “Obviously this was a pretty irregular way to do the testing. We might want a more controlled setting. I guess I could have faked this, if I’d really wanted to.”
“Why would you want to, though?” She shook her head. “This is what I hoped for.” It sounded like she was trying to convince herself. “I wanted Em to have another adult in her life, someone she could count on. So this is good. This is good for Emily.”
He felt like there was something else he should say, something about trying to make sure it wasn’t bad for her, either, but while he was trying to find the best way to phrase the sentiment, she turned and started up the steps. After a moment’s hesitation, he followed her.
He was about to meet his daughter. Thirteen years old. Thirteen years without a father. Every milestone he’d missed, she’d missed something, too. Not as much as him, but still, something. Having her father there to watch her take her first steps, speak her first words, go t
o her first dance recital or horse show or whatever the hell it was she did. They’d both missed all that.
He was damn well going to make sure they didn’t miss anything else.
Chapter Four
It had been hard, making herself go to the kitchen the first time, leaving the two of them alone. Cassidy hadn’t done it right away, obviously, but after fifteen minutes of awkward small talk, she’d stepped out to get beverages, and the world hadn’t ended. So she tried it again, this time to make sure the cats had food. Then she went back to the living room and smiled at the two of them.
Connelly was a lot less intimidating when he was so clearly overwhelmed. He spent a fair bit of time just staring at Emily, obviously fascinated and amazed and a little bit freaked out. He was like a man seeing his newborn for the first time, and Cassidy supposed that made sense. This was probably even more intense—at least with a newborn he’d have had nine months of preparation time and wouldn’t have to deal with the child having opinions and a personality.
“But I don’t understand why you’d have a goat if they scare you,” he was saying now. He made it sound as if having unwanted pets was just one more way Emily was charming and delightful.
“We needed somebody to keep Finnegan company,” Em explained. “Horses are herd animals, and when we had to sell Casey, Finnegan was lonesome. So we got Nanny. But she’s creepy.”
“Casey’s a horse?”
Emily nodded, then looked almost guiltily at Cassidy. Good, the girl hadn’t lost all sense. There were some things that shouldn’t be discussed with strangers. “I have to get back to the diner,” Cassidy said. “This has probably been enough of a visit for the first day. Em, do you have a lot of homework, or can you come help out?”
“The best thing about missing school is that I didn’t technically get any homework assigned,” Emily said happily.
On a normal day, Cassidy would have insisted that Emily call a friend and work on getting caught up, but this wasn’t a normal day. “Come with me, then.”
“Would it be okay if I came by for dinner?” Connelly asked.
“We can always use the business.”
“Would we be able to eat together?” He frowned. “No, of course not. You’ll be busy serving everyone. So when do you eat?”
“We close at eight and have dinner then,” Cassidy said. She looked at Emily. How much more father-time did the girl want?
“We’re probably making something boring for the special tonight,” Emily said glumly. “But if you want something boring, you could come by at eight and eat with us.”
“If it’s not a busy night, maybe you could make something special just for us,” Cassidy suggested, and her niece beamed.
“We’ve got a really good chicken enchilada recipe,” Emily told Connelly.
“Sounds delicious,” he said. His smile made her stomach flip. He looked like a different person, less intimidating but still confident. Handsome. “But something else would be fine, too.”
It was too easy. Too cozy, too simple. Cassidy wanted to put her arms out and say Everybody hold it right there, and then she wanted to…she didn’t know. She wanted to make sure Emily stayed happy. That was the most important thing, obviously. So if Em was happy now, what the hell was Cassidy’s problem?
“Okay,” she said. “Dinner around eight, at the diner. We’ll see you there.” They all left together, Connelly heading for his shiny silver Audi, Cassidy and Em climbing into their dusty blue Ford.
“He seems really nice,” Emily said, looking at Cassidy for confirmation.
Cassidy made herself nod. “He seems okay,” she said. But she would damn well keep her eyes open for any signs to the contrary.
…
“She likes math and science best,” Will told Trevor. He’d been talking for a while now and knew he was babbling, could tell Trevor’s polite interest was covering a fair helping of amusement, but that was okay. “Straight As in math and science. Geography, too. Anything concrete. She gets a bit impatient with English, or things that are too nebulous. Just like me!”
“But she still does well in those subjects?” Trevor prompted.
“Bs. So, that’s not great, but it’s probably a question of the teachers as much as it’s about her. They just haven’t found a way to capture her interest. I’ll set up tutors, for as long as she stays in this school. Can you start looking around for private schools, ones with really good programs in math and science? And let’s look for summer camp options, too.” He frowned to himself. “Day camps. Not sleepaway camps. I just met her; I need to spend some time with her.”
“I can find someone to look into all of that for you,” Trevor said. “But as your legal counsel, I have other priorities. I’ve contacted Hannah Mansour, the head of our family law department, to have her look into the guardianship situation. I assume you’ll want custody as soon as possible?”
Custody. Will felt the word like a weight, dragging him down. Not the responsibility of it; he wasn’t afraid of responsibility. But taking custody of Emily… “What would that mean for Cassidy?”
Trevor raised an eyebrow. “What would you like it to mean?” He waited for an uncomfortable moment, then took mercy on Will’s indecision. “Legal custody or physical custody or both? Do you want to have a say in what Emily does, or do you want her to actually live with you? What role do you see her aunt playing in her life? How do you—”
“Wait,” Will interrupted. “Her aunt, now. What happened to all that stuff about Cassidy being like Emily’s mother?”
“Legally, Ms. Frost is the aunt, and we’re talking about legal matters right now. She’s also currently the legal guardian, but that status was obtained based on a fraudulent claim that the father was unknown and unknowable. The courts are supposed to rule in favor of what’s best for the children, but they don’t ignore parental rights, and they don’t condone fraud.”
“She wouldn’t be able to afford good lawyers,” Will said. The words felt dirty in his mouth, but he knew Trevor would understand they had to be said. “We could bulldoze right over her. But that’s not good for Emily.”
“We could offer a cash settlement. Something substantial.”
Millions. Will would pay millions, if he had to. But would Cassidy Frost take the money? He thought of her flashing eyes as she’d stared him down in the diner, ready to do whatever it took to protect her niece. No, money wasn’t going to work. “We need to persuade her,” he said. “We need—no, I need—to make her trust me. To make her want me in Emily’s life.”
“I agree,” Trevor said carefully. “But I feel like there’s another option I need to mention here. Because, really, there’s no need to get too stressed about any of this. We can investigate more and look for ways to make sure we’re monitoring Emily’s progress, and you can set up a trust to pay for her education and whatever else you think is important, and you can stop worrying about all the rest of it. She seems to be doing well with her aunt. If there’s one thing missing, it’s money, and you can help out with that. Otherwise, you don’t actually need to be part of this girl’s daily life. Not if you don’t want to be. You can take her out to lunch a couple times a year, pay her bills, and just go back to your normal life. That’s absolutely an option.”
“No.” Surprising how clear that response was in his mind. “I want to be part of her life. A big part. I want to be Emily’s father.” He’d been raised by two parents who had kept their distance, preferring to live their own glamorous lives rather than settle down with a child, and he knew what that felt like. He wouldn’t let himself repeat the pattern. “Get those experts together. Not Cassidy, yet, just the others. I want to go into this prepared. What are the likely effects of losing a mother at this stage of a girl’s life, how much is she learning at this school, would she be able to go to a better school without a painful transition? Anything like that. And—”
Will wasn’t sure how to phrase the next part. He wasn’t even sure what he was thinking. “You hav
e sisters. Do you know…” He frowned. What was he trying to get at? “Right now, Emily seems really—nice. No attitude or eye rolls or any of the rest of the teenage crap. But she’s thirteen years old, so…”
“How much longer can you expect her to act like a civilized human being?” Trevor asked, and again Will had the distinct feeling he was being laughed at. “I’ll check with the experts, but I think they’ll probably tell me it depends. I’ve heard reports, or legends, maybe, of kids who make it right through their teenage years without turning evil for an extended period. I think it’s theoretically possible.” Trevor sounded slightly more serious when he added, “In a way, though, I think being a cranky teenager is an important thing. I mean, you want them to establish their independence, right? So maybe there’s some degree of boundary testing that’s kind of healthy? And maybe a kid who doesn’t test things is actually feeling a bit insecure?”
There was a pause while they both thought about it, and then Trevor said, “I should make it clear that I am absolutely talking out of my ass. I don’t have kids, and I was out of the house for most of my sisters’ teenage crap. I remember them fighting with my parents, but I didn’t really keep track of it all.”
“Okay. Yeah.” What exactly had Will been looking for with that line of questioning? “I feel like there’s a pretty limited window of opportunity, here. If she starts looking for her independence before she’s even become dependent, I’m in trouble. If it turns out that it is healthy for her to strike out on her own, spend more time with her friends, stop listening to her parents—any of that teenager stuff—I need to have some level of relationship established before that happens. She’s not a cute little toddler who I can take my time getting to know. I need to make this happen. Fast. So get those experts together. In the meantime, though, there are a few other things I want to take care of.”
Chapter Five