October Snow (37 page)

“Her mother lives in Bedford. That’s it.”

“Friend or foe?”

“I’m managing to keep her on my team. It’s not easy. Samantha got her insanity from her mother.”

He laughed–too loudly, Jack thought, for such a small quip. “I hear you, Jack. Okay, for now, we’ll lay low. If she doesn’t surface soon, we’ll start by tracking her down with one of the investigators I use here, and then writing her a very carefully worded letter.” He gestured again with his pen. “You’ll be the good guy here. You’ll do everything you can to keep it away from an all-out custody battle. Right?” He raised his eyebrows, indicating that Jack needed to agree.

Jack nodded dutifully.

“No doubt she’ll go for free legal advice from Remmond, and if he has any brains at all,” he chuckled sarcastically, “he’ll tell her that she’d better be nice. The system is far more equitable at this point in time, Jack. If you had to be unlucky enough to hook up with this type of girl, at least you’re in a place where she’ll get not a single break from the courts just for being someone’s mother.” He stood, offering his hand. “But the longer we can wait, the better. After the baby is born is best.”

Jack clasped his hand. “I feel much better, Mike. Appreciate it.”

“If you decide you’d like to get a P.I. on this sooner rather than later, just give me a call and we’ll find her. But again, think hard about playing dumb until after the baby comes.”

“I will. Won’t be easy, though. I’d like her to
know
that I know.” About that, he was telling the truth.

“Understandable. But keep in mind, once that kid makes it out of her, you have pretty much nothing but rights.”

Nothing but rights
. Jack resisted an impulse to grab the receptionist and kiss her as he made his way out of the suite of offices. He’d had no idea that the baby he so desperately didn’t want would be the key to a lifetime of power over Samantha. This, he decided, was one of the best days he’d had in a very long time; certainly, the best day he’d had since she landed in the middle of his life. And now, with nothing but rights–and choices–he was going to take his time deciding his next step.

.

chapter 16

J
O MOANED, STILL
mostly asleep as she reached over Daisy, fumbling on the night table for her cell phone. She squinted, reading the time: almost midnight. And the call was restricted again.

She decided to take the call, if for no other reason than to tweak Jack. She had no doubt that it was him. She also had no proof.

She rolled her eyes as she listened to the raspy breathing; then, something faint in the background caught her attention: a crowing rooster. She thought of the clock in Jack’s kitchen–a strange, hokey little country-style clock, with a rooster that sounded off one time for each hour of the day. She counted to twelve, then said, “Look, stupid–if you want to harass me, at least turn off the sound on that clock in your kitchen.”

The line went dead immediately, and Jo smiled. “Jackass,” she mumbled.

She was fully awake now, though, and her mind wandered to the leftover strawberry shortcake in the refrigerator. The temperature outside had dropped, so she wrapped herself in her blanket, then closed the bedroom window before she left the room.

The light was on in Max’s room, and she paused at the door; but as Max often slept with the light on, she decided against knocking. In the darkened kitchen, she kicked one of the metal stools at the counter.

“Well, if she’s awake, that’ll bring her out.” Reaching for the light over the sink, she quickly muffled a shriek before she recognized Max on the deck, just outside the sliding door.

Max turned to look, startled as well. “Hey. Thought you were asleep,” she called through the door. “Come have a cigarette with me.”

Jo sat at the patio table with her, grabbing the pack. “What are you doing up?”

“Ty came in to my room about a half-hour ago, wanted his mom and dad.”

“They aren’t home yet?”

“Nope. Hopefully, they’re halfway to Vegas right now.”

“Think she’ll give in?”

Max shrugged. “I would. I was thinking, if I could find a guy with even a few of Dave’s attributes…”

“Not to mention, one who looks like him…”

“That too,” she grinned, “I’d be married, like,
yesterday
. Hey,” she stood and pushed the chair in, “let’s go have more dessert and play some music.”

“Keep it down, though. Tyler went back to sleep?”

“Pretty quick. He was worn out, all that swimming and everything.”

“He had fun tonight. It was nice, having him around.”

“Yeah,” Max stretched, grimacing, “but the kid killed my back. Must’ve let him dive off of my shoulders twenty times.”

Jo turned toward the deck door. “Did I just hear them come in?”

They met Dave and Sam coming into the kitchen, both of them beaming. Sam walked straight over to give Max a hug, then reached out to pull Jo in. “I need attendants,” she said.

“
Yes
!” Max squealed, pulling away and reaching for Dave, who was watching them affectionately. He opened his arms, laughing as she rocked him back and forth.

Jo put her finger to her lips. “
Tyler
,” she reminded her.

“Yeah, well, he should wake up and be here for this anyway.”

“Maxine…” She sighed. “Whatever. Come here, David.” They stood smiling at each other for a moment before he embraced her. “Good job,” she whispered.

He sighed, relieved. “Let’s get this done quick.”

“Absolutely.” She pulled away, searching through the kitchen drawer for something to write on. “Give me your pen.”

Sam and Max were sitting at the counter. “What’re you doing?” Max asked.

“Planning. There’s going to be a wedding, after all.” She looked up at Sam. “I’m hoping you want to have it here, on the lake?”

Max caught Dave’s expression, seeing something that told her to join them in persuading her. “Ooh, Sammy,” she said, “that would be
so
romantic.”

“Yeah, it would…Really, Jo? Would that be okay? It’s a lot of work.”

“Why? How many people are we talking about?”

Dave took the chair beside Sam. “We decided to keep it small. Just all of us here, my family, Will…”

“And my mom,” Sam added, and Jo looked up sharply.

“Your mom?” Max asked. “You sure?”

Sam nodded.

Dave seemed resigned to it. “She’s not budging on that,” he said, putting his arm around her.

“Okay.” It was decided, and Jo could see that arguing wouldn’t change it. “So, what day is going to be your anniversary?”

Sam looked surprised by the thought, then smiled dreamily. “Anniversary.” She leaned her head on Dave’s shoulder.

He kissed the top of her head. “Next Friday. The twenty-fifth. Can we pull something together by then?”

Jo’s expression said,
Are you kidding
? “Of course. I’ll divvy up the list, and we’ll each take part of it. How much time can you take from work, Dave?”

“I’ll go in Monday and Tuesday–I think Wednesday, at least half a day–get everything set up to take some time off.” He pulled back to look at Sam, still on his shoulder. “I’m probably able to swing only a few days, babe.”

“A few days? That’s
wonderful
. I thought we’d go straight from the ceremony back to Boston.”

“Guess we don’t get to keep you for the summer after all.” Max rested her chin in her hands, pouting. “Gonna miss you, Bim.”

“I’ll be back. I’ll bring Ty up here a few times.”

“I hope so.”

Jo was still writing. “Better get the license, guys. No waiting period in New Hampshire, right?” She looked up at Dave, and he shook his head.

“We can get it when I come up on Wednesday.”

Jo handed him a list. “Here’s your stuff.”

Max got up, coming around the counter to look over Jo’s shoulder. “Where’s your list?”

“I’m supervising. See?” She scrawled something on a scrap of paper, holding it up. It said
Boss
.

“Bimbo.”

Jo grinned at her. “Don’t be bitter, dear.”

“Cute. What am I doing?”

“At the moment, getting something to toast the future Mr. and Mrs. Delaney.” She smiled at them, sliding a list to Sam.

“We took care of that. Wait a minute.” Dave reached down to his side, lifting a bag from the floor. “We stopped on the way home. Got champagne glasses?”

“Oooh,” Max purred, hopping up onto the counter. “He thinks of everything.”

“It was Sammy’s idea.”

He prepared the champagne, and as he poured, asked, “Jo, do you want to do the honors?”

“Sure.” As she considered it for a moment, Max leaned forward, hoping she was up to the task of giving optimistic, happy wishes.

Jo could think of only one thing that would come from her heart. She lifted her glass. “If there’s anything going on in the world that is completely right, and meant to be, it’s this moment right here.” Her smile, Max noted, was real. “You two remind me that there is such a thing as happily-ever-after, and that’s my prayer for you. God bless.”

As the flutes touched all around, Max found herself hoping that Jo believed what she had just said.

Jo padded into the kitchen the next morning to find Dave and Tyler having cereal and toast at the counter. She exaggerated a loud yawn, then planted a kiss on top of Tyler’s head.

“G’ morning, Aunt Josie.”

“Morning, baby.”

Dave poured coffee for her. “Here.”

“You’re an angel. Thanks.” She took a piece of toast from his plate. “Sleep well?”

Tyler nodded as Dave said, “Yeah, actually, I did. Listen, I’m going to head back to Boston today, get some paperwork done, pick up a few new files I need to look over. Ty wants to stay here, but Sammy’s coming with me.”

Jo shrugged. “Leave him here. Max and I are discussing how to hang on to him forever.” She sat beside him, looking at him archly. “What say you, young Tyler? Can we keep you?”

“Sure. Dad doesn’t give me much for allowance.” He grinned at his father.

Surprised, they burst into laughter. “See?” Jo said. “We love this kid. He knows how to roll.”

“Yeah, well, he’s mine.” Dave plopped Tyler’s Red Sox cap onto his head. “You done, Ty?”

“Yup.”

“Okay, go get dressed. And don’t wake your mom.”

When he was gone, Dave sat across from Jo, refilling her cup before he poured coffee for himself. “You awake enough to talk about a few things?”

She nodded.

“On the way back up here, we’re stopping to see Liz. Sammy’s going to come clean about everything.”

“Except the baby, of course.”

“Of course.”

“So what’s the issue?”

“Well, other than the fact that I don’t trust Liz to keep the wedding to herself…”

Jo nodded her agreement. “Nothing you can do about that.”

“I know. But the other thing is, Sammy wants to talk to her by herself.”

Jo was shaking her head before he finished the sentence. “No, no,
no
. You present as a united front, right from the start.”

“That’s what I was thinking. I get the feeling Sammy’s swinging too far in the other direction, trying to be independent–which I understand, but…”

“Some things, you need to do together.”

“Exactly.”

“Just let her do the talking. But be there.”

“That’s a good compromise.”

Jo patted his hand. “She’s trying awfully hard. Has to be tough to keep up with her, though.”

“Nah.” He sighed, seeing from her expression that he was caught. “Okay, sure–my head starts spinning at times. But with Sammy, that’s part of the package.”

“She’s the best, you know. Go try to find someone better.”

“Yeah, no kidding. I keep thinking how different everything was, just a few weeks ago. I’d check in on Ty at night, and just stand there for a minute, hating myself for letting his mother walk away like she did. I was just hopeless.”

“Tell me the truth–what did you think when she told you she never married Car-boy?”

“You know, it’s odd…I was more thrilled than I was surprised. There was always something strange there, between the two of them. I mean, I didn’t know, but it also didn’t shock me when I found out.”

“That’s almost a sad commentary, when you think about it.”

“You’re right.”

Maxine wandered in then, her hair falling into her half-closed eyes. “Coffee,” she muttered, sliding into the seat beside Jo, laying her head on the counter.

“Good morning,” Dave said, reaching for a cup for her.

Jo shook her head. “Don’t bother until she has at least one coffee in her.”

He slid a cup of coffee across the counter, then leaned over to plant a kiss on Max’s cheek. “I’m hitting the shower,” he said to Jo.

Max mumbled something that sounded like, “Thanks for the coffee.”

“What’d she say?”

“Just say ‘you’re welcome.’” Jo bent close to her. “Right, Bim?”

“Mmm.” Then, a minute later, “’Bye, Dave.”

“He’s gone. Come on, drink some coffee.” She pushed the cup against Max’s hand. “We have to get to Rochester, order some flowers, remember?”

Max opened her eyes. “Wedding.”

“Yup. Six days. Now guzzle the coffee and let’s get going.”

“Okay.” She raised her head. “Sammy owes us, you know.”