Just a Kiss: The Bradfords, Book 5 (39 page)

Kevin rolled his eyes as they each opened their third. This couldn’t end well.

“I don’t care about her point. My point is more important,” he said firmly.

“She wants to wait until Heather’s home,” Sam said. “Then nothing will be in the way.”

“But I want to show her that I don’t care what’s in the way. I want her no matter what. Right now,” Kevin said.

He was generally the more patient, gentle one of the group but when he needed to be stubborn, he could go toe to toe with any of them.

“Drew needs you, buddy,” Mac said, swallowing a large gulp of soda and grimacing as it went down. “What if the judge says it’s Drew or Eve?”

Kevin’s heart clenched at the thought. His brother needed him. His father and Heather had trusted him to take care of Drew. But… “I think Eve needs me more.”

Dooley lifted an eyebrow. “Yeah? How’s an independent adult woman who runs her own business and has lived on her own for over a decade need you more than an innocent ten year old boy who can’t cook, drive or take care of himself?”

“Drew and I were talking about that and—”

“You’ve talked to Drew about all of this?” Dooley interrupted.

Kevin nodded. The kid amazed him, pure and simple. He’d pointed out that cooking, driving and making sure he brushed his teeth at night were basics that could fall to almost anyone.

“Drew feels secure that he has lots of people who care about him. And I can be there, be around for him, even if he doesn’t live with me. Same for Eve.”

Lacey and Libby had turned into blessings—or rather, they’d always been blessings and Kevin had finally admitted it. Besides helping out with Drew, they’d showed Kevin that he didn’t have to have all the answers or be present twenty-four-seven to be important and influential with Drew.

Plus, Drew had his mother, of course, and Mrs. Rosner who would make sure he was cared for, and dozens of people in Grover who would help out however was needed. Even his own father might come around. Eventually. Maybe.

But no matter who else stepped up—or didn’t—Drew had Kevin and Eve. He might not be able to live with them, but he could count on them to do whatever he needed them to do.

Eve on the other hand…

“Eve doesn’t have people who care about her?” Mac asked.

“Not that can give her the things I can.”

His friends exchanged knowing smiles.

Yeah, okay, that sounded dirty. But he only kind-of meant it
that
way.

Eve needed someone who would love her unconditionally and be there no matter how hard she pushed him away. She had friends, but there was no one who would love her like Kevin did.

“Drew thinks that this is the perfect chance to show Eve that I’m not walking away again. No matter how tough or complicated things get or what she does, or has done, I’ll be there. She needs that.”

The guys didn’t say anything to that. Which was completely out of character. Kevin frowned at them. “What?”

Sam cleared his throat. “I think we all need that.”

“Yeah, go for it, man,” Mac said.

“That kid’s something, isn’t he?” Dooley asked.

“Yes he is.” Kevin wasn’t sure how he would have handled all of this without Drew being cool and loving Eve and wanting her to be happy.

“So, I’m stupid in love like all of you have been,” he said. “What do I do to convince her?”

Sam pushed up from his chair and crossed to the table that sat by the sink in the break room. “We have something to give you,” he said, coming back to Kevin and holding out a folder.

“What’s this?” He didn’t want a copy of Eve’s background check, or a letter from the state of Nebraska telling him the guardianship had been turned down.

“It’s a gift.” Sam reclaimed his seat. “From all of us.”

Kevin opened it up. Sure enough, the letterhead read
State of Nebraska
.

“What—”

“Read it,” Dooley said, nudging his foot.

He did.

By the time he’d flipped to the last page, his eyes were filling with tears. “Really?” he asked, looking up at each of his friends.

“Really,” Sam said, then chugged half his soda.

“But…why? You don’t even know him.”

“We don’t have to know him. We know you and that’s more than enough recommendation for us,” Mac said.

The guys and their wives—fiancé in Dooley’s case—had all submitted applications to the state to become foster parents and written letters to Mrs. Rosner stating that any of them were ready and willing to step in immediately if Drew needed somewhere to go.

Kevin swiped at his eyes, knowing the guys would razz him unmercifully for getting choked up.

But none of them did anything more than meet his gaze when he looked up again. “I don’t know what to say.”

“We don’t think it will be necessary,” Sam said. “But Danika said it would be good to have everything in order just in case. This way you and Eve don’t have to worry about Drew. Like you said, you’ll still be around, with him, all of that. But he can have another place to sleep and eat, if needed.”

“It will be out of his school district and away from everything that’s familiar,” Mac pointed out. “But we’re hoping that will work in
your
favor. That they’ll prefer to leave him with you.”

“But if that doesn’t work, maybe this will.” Dooley handed him one more letter.

It was from Lacey and Libby stating that they were also willing and able to take care of Drew, with Kevin’s support, until Heather was home.

“All of the applications have been approved,” Mac said.

“When did you do this?” Kevin asked. He was sure for couples like these—even Ben and Jessica had applied in spite of having a baby of their own at home—it would be a piece of cake to get approved, but it surely hadn’t happened just since Sunday.

“We talked about it right from the beginning, actually,” Sam said. “Dani came home that night and was telling me about how hard it can be to place kids like Drew and how lucky he was to have you.”

“Then me and the guys were talking about how much you do for all of us,” Dooley said. “And for everyone. And we realized that we wouldn’t mind being more like you.” His voice was a little gruff by the time he finished and he had to clear his throat.

“Yeah. We may not go to church and sing Amazing Grace with you all the time,” Mac said, “but you’ve made an impression. You’re a good man.”

Kevin didn’t know what to say. Which was okay, since he couldn’t speak anyway.

“So even if Drew doesn’t need a place to stay, I think Dani and I are going to do the foster parent thing,” Sam said.

“Yeah, us too,” Mac said.

“Morgan and I are going to talk about it,” Dooley said. “With Dad we don’t have a ton of room, but we could do the emergency thing where kids can come to us for the night or a couple days until they can be placed more permanently.”

Kevin nodded. They were all great people and any kid would be lucky to spend even a few hours with them.

Finally, he coughed and found his voice. “You guys are amazing.”

“Right back at ya,” Sam said, toasting with his fourth Dr. Pepper.

Kevin sat back on the couch, satisfaction seeping through him.

Drew was going to be okay. And Kevin had made an impression. He’d lived a good life, he was an example that others were watching and now repeating. Maybe he was figuring all of this out after all.

He couldn’t ask for more than that.

Well, that and Eve.

But that was just a matter of time. Now she had no more excuses.

It was getting more and more difficult to say no to Kevin. Every morning she had to look into Drew’s eyes to remind herself that waiting was the right thing to do.

But Friday morning it was really easy to resist saying yes.

Because Kevin didn’t ask her to marry him. He didn’t even show up. Neither did Drew.

She must have slammed her tray down loudly one too many times because Monica finally snapped, “Can you say yes already? I’m running out of eggs keeping up with the crowd that shows up every morning to see you get proposed to.”

“I can’t say yes if he doesn’t come in and ask me, can I?” she snapped right back at her partner and friend.

Monica frowned at her. “You really think he’s changed his mind all of a sudden?”

“He isn’t here.”

“Eve,” Monica said, clearly exasperated, “he’s in love with you. That doesn’t change that easily.”

That stopped Eve. She breathed, then asked softly, “You sure?”

Monica put her whisk down and came around the counter. She put her hands on Eve’s face and said gently, “I’m sure. He loves you. You have to trust that. Show him that you trust it.”

Eve knew she was right. Kevin wasn’t her father. Kevin was a great man. Who loved her. And she remembered— “He worked last night. He stayed in Omaha for the meeting with the judge.”

“There you go—”

Eve gasped. “The judge!” She spun toward the door. “Monica, I have to go. I have to be there.”

Monica sighed as Eve tossed her apron to the side and grabbed her purse.

“At least pick up more eggs on your way back, okay?” Monica called after her.

Eve had just run into the courthouse, when her cell phone rang.

“Hello?” She was breathless from jogging across the parking lot and up the steps.

“Eve, it’s Lacey. I’m at the judge’s meeting. I think you should try to get here.”

“I’m here.”

“Oh, then hustle. Judge Henricks.”

Eve headed for the directory, found Judge Henricks in room three twenty-one, then ran for the steps. She was sucking wind by the time she got to the third floor. She found three twenty-one and burst in to find herself face to face with the judge’s secretary.

“Can I help you?”

“I need to…” Eve stopped, bent to brace her hands on her knees and wheezed for a moment. Then she straightened. “I need to get into the hearing.”

“The hearing?” the woman asked.

“With…” She had to stop and breathe again before she could say, “Kevin Campbell. About Drew Dawson.”

“Ah. Room three thirty-two. Go down the hall, take a left.”

The hearing was supposed to start at nine and it was already nine sixteen so Eve jogged once she left the Judge’s office in spite of the fact she was pretty sure she was on the verge of her lungs exploding. She really needed to get on the treadmill more often.

She heard voices on the other side of the door as she approached the court room and she quietly pushed the door open far enough to see inside. Could she sneak in unnoticed?

The door was at the back of the room and all she saw were the backs of people, so she slipped inside and let the door bump gently shut behind her before moving forward. It was a fairly typical looking court room, though smaller than the ones she’d been in.

It took only a second to realize that Kevin was the voice she’d heard from the hallway. He was standing behind the long table in front of the judge.

“All of these people are here on Drew’s behalf, Your Honor,” he was saying. “I think you would agree that he’s well supported.”

“Yes, very impressive Mr. Campbell.”

“I understand that there are some concerns about leaving him in my care, but I want to assure you that Drew is happy, healthy and well-adjusted.”

“Mrs. Rosner’s report suggests the same,” Judge Henricks commented.

Eve slipped into the back row.

“And if there was any reason that Drew should
not
be in my care, I would be the first to be looking for a better placement,” Kevin said.

“You’ve done that as well from the looks of it,” Judge Henricks said. “I can honestly say that I’ve never had a case where there were five excellent options for placement and they all showed up at the hearing.”

Five options? Eve took a seat and more carefully surveyed the room. The guys she’d been sneaking behind were now familiar. They were Kevin’s friends. Including Dooley. Wow. Kevin really did have good friends who would never let him down. They all had women sitting next to them, who she assumed were wives and fiancées, and they all looked serious.

“Yes, sir,” Kevin said. “All of these people have submitted applications and been approved. If Drew needs another place to go, any of them would be an excellent choice.”

Eve frowned. All of his friends were here to offer Drew an option? Wow.

“I understand there were initial concerns with your wife and her involvement,” the judge said.

Eve craned her neck to find Drew. He sat between Kevin and a man in a suit and tie, who sat next to a woman in a suit. Eve had done some research on how this all worked and she assumed one of them was the Guardian Ad Litem, who would have been appointed to be sure that Drew’s best interests were represented, and one was the attorney who had been appointed by the Department of Health and Human Services for Kevin. Mrs. Rosner sat at the other end of the long table.