A Family Come True (26 page)

After a long moment, Cady leaned forward and took Xander’s hands.

“That’s right,” Xander breathed. “That’s my girl. Come to Daddy.”

This was what was best for Cady. Wasn’t it?

Cady’s feet hit the ground. Xander maneuvered himself behind her and let her grip his fingers while she slapped one foot in front of the other. The wonder on his face made Darcy feel small and churlish.

“You kids have fun,” Xander called over his shoulder as Cady veered toward a stand of trees.

“Make sure she stays in sight,” Darcy called. “Just so, you know, she doesn’t freak if she looks for me and I’m not there.”

Ian’s arm slipped around her waist. She leaned into him, grateful for his soft kiss at her temple. “You okay?”

“I’ve been better.” She forced herself to smile up at him. “But I have to do this. It’s only for a few days every once in a while, right? And if he wants to be her father, I have to let him.”

He kissed her again, a little longer, a little deeper. Okay. Maybe there were
some
advantages to having someone else around to look after Cady once in a while.

Silver linings, right?

“Come on.” He took her hand and led her toward the curved walls. “Time for your local history lesson.”

“I remember some. This park is filled with things from the Lost Villages, right? The towns that were destroyed when the Seaway was being built.”

“Right. Everything had to go.” He tugged her off the grass and onto the paved circle within the embrace of the walls. Too late she realized that when he said everything, he really meant
everything
.

“Uh, Ian?” She gripped his hand a little tighter. “Are those
tombstones
in the walls?”

“Yep.”

“So much for those tourist brochures that make this place sound like the home of sweetness and light.”

“Are you kidding? Come here for Pirate Days sometime.”

“Why, Mr. North. Is that an invitation to walk your plank?”

He probably was embarrassed by how easily she could make him blush, but she thought it was one of the most adorable things she had seen in ages.

“So anyway,” he continued rather desperately, she thought. “All the buildings had to go. Some were moved. The rest were bulldozed, then everything was flooded. There are still some places where you can go out in a boat and see old roads under the water.”

“That’s creepy. So that’s why this is called Memorial Park. Because of the villages?”

“Right. There are bits and pieces of the different towns all through the park. The flagpole came from Moulinette, the benches were from Mille Roches and I think that—” he pointed to a statue of a soldier on horseback “—was brought here from Woodlands.”

She peeked over the low wall at first the statue, then at Xander duck-walking with Cady toward the slide. She bit her lip for a second before straightening her shoulders.

“You’re lucky Comeback Cove wasn’t lost, too.”

“Part of it was. Not too much, maybe a block or two. Those buildings were all moved back. Kind of flipped the town around, Moxie says.”

“This happened during her lifetime?”

“Oh, yeah. It was in the late ’50s. If you ask her, she’ll tell you some wild stories about watching houses being moved down the street, and all the dust and the mud and the noise. Just make sure you really want to hear it before you ask. And make sure you have plenty of time.”

“Duly noted.”

She drifted away, kneeling to read the inscription on one of the stones.

“I wonder how they did it,” she said softly.

“Did what?”

“Stand by while everything changed. See the town you called home be wiped off the map, all in the name of progress.” She traced a letter on the stone. “I wonder how they stood back and let things happen, knowing they had to make the best of it. Knowing they had absolutely no other choice.”

He knelt beside her. “We still talking about the villages, Darce?”

“That obvious, huh?”

She tried to smile, but wasn’t sure she pulled it off.

“All I want is to keep things steady for her. To give her a home where she can count on being surrounded by people who love her. A real family, you know? Like mine used to be.” Though after Robert’s stories even that didn’t feel as solid as it once had. “Like yours always has been.”

The lift of his eyebrows reminded her that his own family wasn’t all sweetness and light all the time, either. But, smart man, he chose to ignore that. “She’s going to have that.”

“Is she? I’m doing my best, but I keep remembering what it was like for me after my dad died, when there was always some new boyfriend we had to work around.” She kicked at a tuft of grass. “That does things to a kid.”

“Darce. As long as she has you in her corner, and sees that you and Xander both want what’s best for her, she’s going to be fine.”

“I don’t know. Everything’s been tilted sideways, with Xander showing up and you getting ready to move and us coming here and—”

He touched the end of her nose. “May I remind you that some of those changes have been a long time coming? And frickin’ amazing, to boot.”

Now it was her turn to blush.

“You know, this might be a good time to start getting Helene more involved. To give Cady that feeling of continuity and family, I mean.”

She couldn’t hold back the snort. “Nonny made her disapproval obvious when I told her I was pregnant. You really think it will help to pull her in now that Cady’s ex-con father is in the picture?”

“Darce,” he began. “Did you ever think that maybe—”

“Hey, Darcy!”

She jerked back, swiveling to see Xander jogging toward them, reassured by the sight of Cady bouncing softly in his arms.

What now?

Xander halted before them. “Good news.”

She seriously doubted it.

“I didn’t want to say anything before in case it didn’t work out, but once I found out about Cady, I started talking to folks to see if I could change the plan. It took some convincing and pleading, but I just got the official word.” He tossed his hair from his eyes. “Long story short, that job I lined up in cottage country? Not happening. Instead, I’ve got the official go-ahead to set up permanent camp in Stratford.”

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

T
HE RIDE BACK
to the house was a lot quieter than Ian would have predicted just two minutes before Xander dropped his bomb. Sure, Cady laughed in the back while Xander played peekaboo with her, and Lulu barked every time they slowed for a turn, but in the front seat, silence was the name of the game.

Xander was staying in Stratford.

This wasn’t going to be something confined and convenient, emails and Skype and occasional visits. This was going to be everyday life. Regular time together. Two bedrooms for Cady, two parents to share in her care and go to teacher conferences and cheer at her soccer games.

It was the kind of family that worked for a lot of folks. But it wasn’t what Darcy wanted.

He hit the stoplight in front of the strip mall, swallowed down the sour taste in his mouth and checked on her. One hand reached back through the seats and gripped Cady’s foot. She stared out the window, but he was pretty sure that this time around she wasn’t seeing a thing. All he wanted was to make this easier for her, but, God, how?

The light turned green. He pulled forward and tried to think about what lay ahead. The details of integrating Xander into Cady’s life—that, he knew, she could manage. There were airlines that could take scheduling lessons from her. It would take time, but she would find the right balance for all of them.

But emotionally...

“You guys okay up there?” Xander interrupted his game of backseat peekaboo to lean forward. “You’re mighty quiet all of a sudden.”

“Fine.” This wasn’t Xander’s fault. For the love of Pete, the guy hadn’t done anything wrong. Well, other than his little dance with felons, but when it came to stepping up, meeting the unexpected twist of instant parenthood, anyone would have to admit that Xander was behaving way above expectations.

Anyone except Darcy.

Xander wasn’t going to be like those guys who had wandered in and out of Sylvie’s life. He probably wasn’t going to be the parental paragon Darcy thought her dad had been, but the more Ian saw, the more he believed that Xander would do right by Cady.

What wasn’t going to help would be if Darcy continued to pay lip service to integrating Xander into Cady’s life.

I keep remembering what it was like for me after my dad died, when there was always some new boyfriend we had to work around.

Unless—

Unless he himself was the one who might be in the way.

* * *

A
S SOON AS
they pulled into the driveway, Darcy said something about a diaper, grabbed Cady and headed inside. Away from the drama and the worry and the reminder, each time Xander spoke, that everything was spinning away from her.

Away from everyone.

Alone in the bedroom, she locked the door and dropped to the bed. Cady, blissfully oblivious, let loose with a giggle as they bounced on the mattress. That small sound of delight was Darcy’s undoing. She rolled to her back, Cady tight against her chest.

“You’re mine,” she whispered against the blond wisps that had escaped from Cady’s hot-pink barrette.
“Mine.”

As if to make a lie of her mother’s words, Cady wriggled against the tight embrace. Darcy loosened her grip just enough for Cady to rise up on her elbows with a drooly grin.

“I grew you.” Darcy traced a line down Cady’s nose. “I carried you and felt you kick and ate all that yucky kale to make sure you turned out perfect. I’m the one who went through labor and made milk for you and rearranged my whole life, and I would do it again, every single day, if it would keep him from...”

Stratford.
Permanent.

She lifted Cady in the air, high above her. “Maybe we could run away,” she whispered. “He probably can’t leave the country, but we could still go somewhere, right? And come back for visits, because I don’t want to keep you away from him totally. Well, I kind of do, but then the lawyers would get mad at me.”

She curled up to kiss one chubby hand, dangling above her like the most delicious apple ever grown.

“What do you say we go to London, huh? My mom took me there a lot. She has a flat there. We could probably stay in it. Kick Matteo the boy toy to the curb and move in, just us. I could show you Winnie the Pooh’s house, and we could watch the horses go
clop clop clop
when they change the guard.” She emphasized the clopping with some extra bounces that made Cady giggle hard, the chortling kind of laugh that took over her whole body and made it shake.

“Okay. It’s decided. London it is. We’ll run away, just us, you and me and—”

Ian.

“Just us. No fathers who show up out of the blue and expect to be part of your everyday life.” She bounced Cady up and down, pulling forth a squeal. “Ooh, hold on, turbulence! And don’t give me that look. I know I’m not being fair. But this...” She swallowed. “We had such a good thing, Bug. You. Me. Ian. And now it’s going to be all messed up, and Ian will be here most of the time, and Xander is going to be there all the time, and, damn it, sweetie. Why didn’t I wait one more night to go knocking on Ian’s door?”

Her voice finally gave out. So did her arms. She lowered Cady to her chest and wrapped her arms around her little girl and held on tight.

* * *

I
AN PAUSED AT
the edge of the passageway and listened to the soft voice coming from the bedroom, his heart twisting. Finding the main door locked hadn’t been as much of a surprise as he should have expected. Finding the door to the nursery open was like being handed a second chance.

He’d been braced for ranting. Wailing. Anything other than these small hiccuping sounds that sounded so goddamned alone.

“Hey.” He spoke softly as he entered. The last thing she needed now was to have the crap scared out of her. “Want some company?”

She didn’t say anything. He was on the verge of retreating when one hand lifted from Cady’s back and reached for his.

In an instant he was on the bed beside her, kissing her forehead and whispering encouragement and gently prying her arms from a squawking Cady.

“Shh,” he said when she started to protest. “I’m not taking her away from you, babe. Just making sure you don’t squeeze the breath out of her.”

With that she let go. He
whooshed
Cady to the ground and helped her balance against the bed.

“There you go, Bug. Do some laps, okay? And here.” He pulled his phone from his pocket, powered it down and handed it over. “Go wild.”

Trusting that the phone would keep her occupied for a minute or so, he turned back to Darcy. She had pushed upright and watched him with an expression he couldn’t read—maybe because he got the feeling she didn’t want him to see what she was feeling.

“I thought I locked the door.” Her voice was quiet but steady.

“You did. But the nursery was open.” He made himself ask the follow-up question. “Do you want me to leave?”

“No.”

The answer would have been a lot more reassuring if it hadn’t been so slow in coming.

I keep remembering what it was like for me after my dad died, when there was always some new boyfriend we had to work around.

“You okay?”

She stopped herself in mid-head-shake. “Does it matter?”

Hell yes, it mattered. Everything about her mattered to him.

He laced his fingers through hers. “Will it help if I tell you I know you’ll be able to do this?”

She shook her head.

“How about if I remind you that Cady is as much yours as his? And that right now, even if he’s in the same town, he’s in no position to ask for more than regular visits at your place?”

“You can’t know that.” But she sounded a little less lost.

“You’re right. I’m no lawyer, and for that, I thank God every day.”

Her tiny smile encouraged him.

“Darce. Babe. Think. Is this worse than when you found out you were pregnant?”