Sealing the Deal (23 page)

Kelly kept shifting her gaze between Emma and Darren. “We’re taking her home, right? That’s what you said, bunny.”

Ice water ran through Beth’s veins. Fear raced roughshod over her with such intensity she almost doubled over in pain.

After jumping to his feet, Robert turned his back to Darren as though he could shield Emma exactly as Beth had wanted. He glared at Darren over his shoulder. “You’re not taking my daughter anywhere.”

Darren narrowed his eyes. “She’s my daughter, and I can take her home if I damn well want to.”

Rising, Alexis said, “Gentlemen, please.” She strode between the two men. “Losing your tempers won’t help the situation.” She directed her gaze at Darren. “Mr. Brown, I understand your desire to be with your daughter—”

“She’s m-my daughter,” Robert muttered loud enough it was obvious he intended to be heard. His eyes fell on Beth. “I knew this was going to happen.”

The accusatory tone hurt. Beth wanted to shout at him that it wasn’t her fault and that he should settle down. Unfortunately, that would only aggravate the escalating situation. She knew Robert well enough to understand he was lashing out because he was hurting at the thought of losing Emma, exactly like she was. She could easily forgive him, but they had a bigger problem on their hands.

Alexis gave Robert a censuring look. “As I was saying… we sympathize with the situation you’re in, Mr. Brown. However, we should all get a strong hand on our emotions and discuss both the legal ramifications of the DNA test results as well as what decisions are in Emma’s best interests. I can guarantee you, those will be the only factors a judge and a guardian ad litem will consider.”

Emma clung to Robert in a manner rivaling the most tenacious ivy. Her bottom lip quivered, making Beth reach for the diaper bag to fetch the blanket Emma dragged with her everywhere. Beth handed it to Emma, who snatched it out of her hands, held it against the side of her face, and stuck her thumb back in her mouth.

“That’s really bad for her teeth, you know,” Kelly scolded, sounding a lot like Betty Boop.

Beth wanted to snap back that it wasn’t any of Kelly’s business what Emma did or didn’t do, but that might not be true. Kelly could very well become one of Emma’s caregivers.

Tears threatened. Beth swallowed hard and forced them back. Her heart feared her worst nightmare was playing out right before her eyes and there was nothing she could do to stop it.

“Legally,” Alexis said, “Emma must stay with the Ashfords. Beth was appointed her guardian and has control over all decisions where Emma is concerned.”

Darren jumped to his feet. “That’s bullshit!”

“No,” Alex countered, “it’s merely the law. I’m sure the Ashfords would be glad to have you come and visit Emma. I assure you, they don’t want to keep you away from her, but they’re the only family she’s ever known. You can’t expect—”

“I’ll get a lawyer,” Darren insisted, his face turning ruddier by the minute.

“You have every right to do so, but do you truly want to spend the kind of money it would take to wage a court battle over Emma?”

Darren scoffed. “I’ll do what I have to do for my daughter. Money’s no object.”

“Just look at her.” Alexis swept her hand toward where Robert held the baby against his chest, gently stroking her dark curls. “Do you want to put that innocent child in the middle of what could turn into an ugly tug-of-war?”

Moving to Darren’s side, Kelly took his hand. Although she didn’t say anything, there was a note of worry in her eyes, almost fear.

What did she—or Darren—have to hide?

“The Ashfords are quite willing to offer liberal visitation rights,” Alexis assured.

Beth nodded, hoping Robert wouldn’t ruin the progress Alexis might be making by contradicting her.

“They can visit. At our home,” Robert insisted. “She’s n-never out of our sight.”

“Robert.” Alexis put a gentle hand on his arm. “Please.” She didn’t need to say anything more. Robert had to understand the lawyer’s plea for his silence. “Mr. Brown, we can assure you—”

“Don’t bother!” Darren gripped Kelly’s hand tight enough his knuckles whitened. “Your assurances obviously don’t mean shit.” He tossed his head in Robert’s direction. “That man seems to think he needs to protect my daughter from her own father.” His hand trembled as he stabbed his fingers through his hair; then he put his hands on his hips. “If any of you think I’m just gonna walk away from my own kid, my own flesh and blood, you’re fucking crazy. I’m going home and hiring a lawyer—the best shark I can afford. C’mon, Kel. We’re getting outta here. I’ve got phone calls to make.” He stomped out of the office just as Emma let out a shrill scream.

Kelly dropped Darren’s hand and cautiously approached Robert. “Is she okay?”

When she reached out and patted Emma’s back, Emma screamed again. “Bobber!”

She wanted her father, the only father she’d ever known, to protect her from a stranger.

Withdrawing her hand, Kelly sighed.

“Kel!” Darren shouted. “Now!”

She left without another word.

Silence reigned. Robert had calmed Emma simply by holding her close and rubbing her back.

The moments ticked by slowly until Alexis sighed, sat back down, and picked up her coffee cup. After taking a sip, she let out a rueful chuckle. “Gee, that went well.”

God help her, Beth laughed.

Chapter Twenty-One

Robert gave up trying to get Beth to listen to him a couple hours after they got home.

The woman was a pro at giving someone the silent treatment. Although he’d trailed after her like a faithful puppy, apologizing, promising to hold his temper next time, and telling her how much he loved her, Beth had stoically gone about her chores. Feeding the family. Folding some laundry. Even emptying the dishwasher, which she’d probably done simply to get to him since it was normally his job.

Now she sat quietly rocking Emma to sleep, another task that usually fell to him. Robert didn’t even consider stepping in. Beth probably needed to hold Emma. He understood because right now he wanted to hold his daughter close and never let her go.

He’d fucked up. Royally. Instead of letting his protective instincts prod him into antagonizing Darren Brown, he should’ve tried a little empathy. It was what his mother always told other kids whenever they’d teased him about his youthful stutter.

Put yourself in his shoes
.

Robert hadn’t even tried to understand Darren. For God’s sake, the man just found out he’d fathered a child he hadn’t even been told about. He’d already missed so much. Watching her birth. Hearing Emma’s first cries. Seeing her open her eyes to a brand-new world. Choosing her name. Seeing her roll over or crawl for the first time. Her first word had been another man’s name.

At that moment, he felt like the biggest jerk in the whole world.

No matter how much they wanted to keep Emma to themselves, he and Beth needed to realize that Darren was going to be a part of her life. Working together, they could make that a good thing. Two sets of adults to give her love and to watch over her as she grew.

Life nowadays was tough—tougher than it had been when he grew up. There were so many temptations being tossed into kids’ paths. Easy sex. Drugs. Violence. They could turn Darren and Kelly into allies to help guide Emma through that obstacle course. Instead, Robert had all but turned them into enemies.

He had to fix this somehow.

With a heavy heart, he went to the bedroom, stripped down to his boxers and T-shirt, and stretched out on the bed. It seemed like forever until he was able to find something decent to watch on TV, and he grumbled to himself about how much he paid for satellite and how it sure wasn’t worth it considering the shitty choices of programs. After settling on a sitcom he didn’t care about, he waited for his wife to join him. Then they could finally talk.

Beth sitting on the side of the bed woke him, which came as a surprise. Since they’d begun sharing a bed, he had difficulty falling asleep unless he was pressed against her back or she was snuggled up to his side. Blinking the sleep from his eyes, he tried to gather his thoughts so they could address the fiasco that had been meeting Darren Brown. Every night, he held her in his arms and they shared the ups and downs of their day. He needed her.

“Hey, B.” Robert flipped off the TV, dropped the remote on the nightstand, and held up the covers. “It’s been a rough day. Why don’t you turn out the light and come to bed?”

She sat there with her back to him and shook her head. It wasn’t until he saw her shoulders shaking that he realized she was crying.

He immediately crawled across the mattress. When he sat beside her and tried to wrap his arms around her waist, she pushed him away. “B?”

“I warned you, Robert. Before we left, I
warned
you to keep your temper.” Beth stood and started pacing.

Another nervous pacer. He’d never noticed that about her before. Or perhaps he’d just never seen her this upset.

“Darren was trying to be nice,” she went on. “No wonder he wants a darn lawyer now. The poor guy probably feels like we’re keeping him away from his own kid.”

Unfortunately, that was exactly what Robert wanted to do, schmuck that he was. He loved Emma so much, and the notion of sharing her affections with Darren cut him to the bone. Sure it wasn’t fair to the guy. But no matter how hard Robert tried to make himself feel bad about that, he couldn’t.

Right now, though, he had a bigger problem. His wife looked mad enough to pick up something heavy and start beating him over the head with it. “I t-told you I was sorry.”

Beth shot him a piercing glare. “Being sorry doesn’t change anything. You know what he’s probably doing right now?”

“I dunno… calling a lawyer?” He sounded like an idiot.

“Exactly. And he’s going to do everything he flippin’ can to take Emma away from us.”

“Alexis said—”

“Alexis can say anything she wants, but she doesn’t know Darren. I do. He’s like a pit bull when he wants something. Look how he turned his life around to try to win Tiffany back. He went from nothing to a successful businessman. He’s tenacious when he sets his mind to it. Thanks to you, he wants Emma.”

“That’s an awful lot to p-put on my shoulders,” Robert insisted. “He wanted her before I lost my temper. Remember what Kelly said?”

“Like I could forget.” Her sarcastic tone was a one-eighty from the Beth he knew. “They thought they’d waltz out of there with my daughter.” She sniffed hard. “You didn’t help one bit.”

While all he wanted to do was gather her in his arms and soothe away the hurt, he couldn’t. He was the one who’d ruffled her feathers. That anger, added to her fear for the future, probably meant he’d be sleeping on the couch tonight.

Then he realized exactly what was happening. A fight. They were having a fight, and Beth was still being polite and holding her tongue. Darn, not damn. Flippin’, not fuckin’. It was so quaint and so… funny. No matter how hard he tried to push it down, a laugh slipped out.

Beth clenched her hands into fists and stared at him openmouthed. “You’re laughing about this?”

Holding up one hand, he put the other over his mouth, trying to stop himself from laughing again. It didn’t work.

“You… you… jerk!” She stomped her foot.

“I’m t-trying to stop.”

The fact that this was their first fight wasn’t even that funny, but ever since he’d been a kid, he’d had this problem. If he tried to keep too tight a rein on his feelings, something would “set him off,” as his mother used to say. He’d start laughing and simply couldn’t stop himself, like some valve had been opened and couldn’t be shut again until the pressure had been released.

Although he wanted to apologize, Robert couldn’t catch his breath. He was laughing so hard his side hurt.

Beth stomped back to the bed, holding up her fists as though she was ready to deck him. Instead, she grabbed her pillow, tucked it under her arm, and stomped out of the bedroom. She slammed the door behind her.

* * *

“Jerk,” Beth said as she pulled the fuzzy blanket over her. “Stupid butthole.”

She’d bedded down in the soft chair she’d chosen when she’d decorated Emma’s room. It was large enough that when Emma grew, she could still sit next to whoever was reading to her. At least it made a good makeshift bed. Beth had curled up on the chair sideways, drawing her knees up and leaning against the back. Although she was comfortable, there was no way she was going to be able to sleep. Not for a long time.

After punching her pillow again, she finally laid her head down. Thankfully Emma hadn’t awakened when Beth slammed the master bedroom door. She hadn’t even stirred when Beth came into the room, fumbling around to make herself a place to sleep. Emma slept peacefully, giving a sleepy sigh from time to time and looking like an absolute angel.

The guest room had a perfectly comfortable bed, but Beth had needed to see Emma before going to bed. Her gaze had settled on the big chair, and she’d curled up on it without another thought. The fuzzy blanket that always lay over the chair offered more than enough warmth.

The only light came from the small night-light and the touch of moonlight that slid through the slats of the wooden blinds. The nursery had an ethereal glow, the toys looking as though they were various shades of gray and blue. Even Emma seemed supernatural in the low light.

Beth watched her daughter sleep, wondering if she could survive losing her. In a short time, Emma had permanently planted herself in Beth’s heart. Her eyes filled with tears again, but she took a few deep breaths to banish them. Not only did she hate the idea of waking up Emma, but she wasn’t one to wallow in self-pity.

But the reality of the situation refused to let up, weighing on her as though she were Atlas trying to hold up the whole stupid world. While she was sitting there, wondering whether Darren was going to swoop in like a thief and steal her daughter, where was Robert?

Laughing his butt off.

What exactly was so darn funny?

Anger accomplished what fear hadn’t by making a few tears spill over her lashes. Her heart was wounded, but she couldn’t seem to indulge in a cathartic cry. She flipped the pillow over to the cool side, punched it again because it felt good to do so, then laid her head back down. Closing her eyes, she let her exhaustion scatter her thoughts until Robert’s face sabotaged them.