Vindicated (18 page)

When the last person was seated with a steaming plate of food, he pulled her to the side of the room and swept a finger along the side of her face. The eyes staring back at her were dark with sincerity.

“You said you could never repay me for helping you,” he said, “but you just did.”

Chapter 36

Billowing white clouds and gusting winds suggested an early spring was on its way. Karly stood on the doorstep of Mitch’s house, more nervous than she cared to admit. The scent of freshly baked cinnamon and sugar wafted across the porch. Pools of bright sunshine filtered through the trees. While she waited for someone to answer the door, she rubbed her sweaty palms on her jeans and rallied her flagging courage. It had been forever since she’d seen Mitch. She had no idea what to expect but didn’t get her hopes up.

Pilar opened the door. Karly felt a curious mix of jealousy, resentment, and curiosity upon seeing her. This was the mother of Randy’s child, the woman he’d loved, and no wonder. She was tall and slender with luminous eyes, a waterfall of sleek brown hair, and an air of calm reassurance.

“Can I help you?” Pilar asked, her eyes narrowed in suspicion.

Karly drew in a deep breath to quell her anxiety. She had to do this for Emma. “Hi. I’m Karly. Mitch’s sister. Is he home?”

Pilar lifted an eyebrow and dragged her gaze over Karly from head to toe and back again. She cocked her head to the side like a bird, eyes narrowed in speculation. “Why? Is he expecting you?”

“No, but it’s important. I need a minute, please.” She forced a smile to put Pilar at ease.

“Okay. Sure. Come on in.” Pilar opened the door and stepped back in invitation. “He’s upstairs. I’ll go get him.” Pilar turned and trudged up the steps, leaving Karly in the middle of the foyer.

She shifted awkwardly from foot to foot, her gaze roving over the family pictures on the walls. Two of the faces she recognized as her niece and nephew, whom she barely knew. Mitch’s ex-wife lived out of state and the kids only came to visit on holidays and the odd summer vacation. Several pictures of a newborn graced the top of a small table next to the front door. This would be her latest nephew, Mitch and Pilar’s child. A small pang of regret replaced her nervousness. Pushing aside the sadness over her family’s estrangement, her eyes went to the gilt-framed portrait of a little boy with red curls and sparkling, mischievous eyes. The resemblance to Randy caught her off guard. She raised a hand to her mouth in surprise.

“He’ll be down in a minute,” Pilar said, returning. “He’s in the shower. We can go into the kitchen and talk while you wait. Would you like some coffee?” The former suspicion in her tone had been replaced by a note of friendly interest. Her gaze followed Karly’s. “That’s Caleb. He’s the spitting image of Randy, isn’t he?”

“Yes, he is,” Karly replied, finding her voice amid all the shock, and followed Pilar into the kitchen.

“Acts just like him, too. That boy’s going to be the death of me yet,” Pilar said, the corners of her lips curling in amusement. “Stubborn and wild as they come. But then, you probably noticed that about his father too.”

“Yes,” Karly said. “It’s hard to miss.”

The kitchen smelled of comforting things, like cookies and coffee. The décor was warm and inviting. Striped wallpaper and white wainscoting around the walls, a checked green-and-white tablecloth on the small breakfast table, and lacy café curtains on the windows. Toys littered the floor, and a highchair rested at Karly’s elbow. The whole room reeked of family and gave Karly a pang of envy and hope. She wanted these things for herself. If Mitch could overcome their fucked-up childhood to achieve this, then maybe she could, too.

“How do you like your coffee?” Pilar poured rich, aromatic black liquid into Karly’s cup and nodded to a bowl of sugar and creamer in the center of the table.

“Sweet and creamy,” Karly replied.

Pilar slid into the chair across from Karly and stared at her with open curiosity. Karly returned the stare with equal interest and plotted her tactics. Although they were strangers, they shared mutual interests. Neither of them would benefit from a poor relationship. She needed to handle this meeting with diplomacy and tact, two things that normally eluded her.

“It’s nice to finally meet you,” Pilar said. “Mitch talks about you all the time.”

“He does?” Karly sat back in surprise, splashing coffee over the edge of her cup and onto the saucer. She dabbed at it with a paper napkin from the holder in the center of the table.

“Sure. I think he misses you.” A shy smile lit Pilar’s face. She was strikingly beautiful when she smiled.

Karly’s chest tightened with unexpected jealousy. No wonder Randy had hooked up with her. No wonder her brother had trashed his friendship with Randy. She was way out of Mitch’s league.
Stop it, Karly
.
That’s not why you’re here.

“I wanted to call you,” Pilar continued, oblivious to Karly’s inner turmoil. “I’ve asked him a couple of times to invite you over, but he said you two weren’t in a good place right now.”

“You can say that again,” Karly replied before thinking how the comment might sound to an outsider. To cover her slip, she took a drink of coffee, drawing strength from its warmth. She wasn’t sure what she’d expected from Pilar, but it wasn’t this. “Our family is more than a little dysfunctional.”

“Mine, too,” Pilar said with a self-deprecating laugh. An uncomfortable silence stretched between them before she said, “We’re getting married this summer. I’d really like you to be there. It’s just going to be the two of us and a few friends. You’d be the only family there.”

A lump thickened in Karly’s throat. Damn. She’d come here expecting hostility, and now Pilar had thrown her off her game. Two choices loomed in front of her. She could be a bitch, or she could embrace the opportunity to repair her broken family.

“I’d like that,” Karly replied. “But what does Mitch have to say about it?”

“What does Mitch say about what?” Footsteps followed her brother’s voice into the kitchen. With his back to her, he opened the fridge and took out a quart of milk to pour himself a glass. She sat back in her chair and steeled herself for his censure, but it never came. He grabbed a cookie from the plate in front of her and leaned against the counter beside Pilar. He eyed her with familiar eyes, so like her own, yet entirely different in demeanor and character.

“I asked her to come to the wedding,” Pilar said, smiling up at him. The softness in her eyes melted Karly’s heart. “You’re good with it, right?”

“Sure,” he said with a casual shrug. “If she wants to.”

“Mitchell, be nice.” The censure in Pilar’s voice brought a smile to Karly’s lips. Mitch could be such an ass when he wanted. At least Pilar didn’t take any of his shit. She lifted a notch in Karly’s esteem. Mitch straightened and cleared his throat, looking abashed.

“Sorry,” he said. “I’d love it if you came, Karly.” His tone was unreadable, but she was sure a note of sarcasm lurked somewhere in there.

“I’m surprised you want me there,” Karly replied, unable to hold back the bitterness in her voice. “After all the shitty things you said to me the last time we saw each other.”

“I think I’ll go check on the kids. They should be waking up from their naps any minute.” Pilar slid out of her chair and, after one last warning look at Mitch, disappeared, leaving Karly and Mitch alone.

He ate the last bite of his cookie, washed it down with the milk, and crossed his arms over his chest. They glared at each other for another minute before he sighed and took a seat in Pilar’s chair. Milk stained his upper lip, the way it had when they were kids. She tried and failed to hold back a smile.

“What?” He scowled across the table at her. “Why are you laughing?”

She shook her head and handed a napkin to him. “You’ve got milk on your lip. Seriously, Mitchell. You look twelve again.”

He snatched the napkin from her hand and scrubbed the red-gold fuzz over his upper lip. When the milk was gone, his mouth twisted into a reluctant smile. “So what do you want? A loan? I’m broke, Karls.”

“No. I don’t want a loan. Geez, Mitchell. You always expect the worst from people.” Although they shared similar physical features, the disparity in their mental outlook made it difficult to believe they carried the same genes.

“They rarely let me down,” he said with a shrug. “I guess that’s what being a cop has done to me. I see ugliness on a daily basis.”

“I went to see Emma the other day, and she was gone. If you listened to your voicemails or read my texts, you’d know that already.”

“What do you mean,
gone
?” Alarmed, he moved to the edge of his chair and placed both hands on the table between them.

“Just what I said. I got an attorney, and he said Emma’s been put into foster care.” The look of horrified bewilderment on his face softened her animosity. “You mean you didn’t know?”

“How the hell would I know that?” The legs of his chair screeched across the linoleum floor when he stood abruptly. “Are you sure?”

“Well, my attorney seems pretty sure. He also said Dad’s been in and out of jail for writing bad checks. I suppose you didn’t know that either.”

“No. I didn’t.” He began to pace up and down the length of the kitchen. “I’ve been on leave, helping Pilar with the baby.” After a few more exhausting laps of the linoleum, he sank back into his chair and shoved a hand over the bristly top of his head. “Shit, Karls. I had no idea.”

“Well, now you do.” She narrowed her eyes, trying to decide whether or not she should believe him. He was a lot of things, but a liar wasn’t one of them. By the worried lines at the corners of his eyes, his concern was sincere. “I need your help to get Emma back. My attorney seems to have a grip on things a little better than the last one. I think I might have a good chance this time. If you know anything, you need to tell me, Mitch.”

He heaved a sigh and tilted back on the chair legs, staring at her with his “cop face.” She rolled her eyes. That expression might work on his suspects, but it didn’t work on her. She’d been privy to some of his most embarrassing moments in childhood, and it would take more than a menacing scowl to intimidate her.

“Don’t give me that look,” she said. “You better ‘fess up, right now, Mitchell Eriksson.”

“Now, Karls, calm down,” he said. The patronizing tone of his voice only made her angry. “Are you sure you really want to go down this road again? The attorneys, the questioning, all the money… Maybe Emma’s better off with someone else.”

Karly slammed her hand down on the table. Her coffee cup jumped on its saucer. “She’s with strangers, Mitch. We both know how that feels, and I don’t ever want her to feel like someone doesn’t want or love her.”

He blinked at her uncharacteristic vehemence but recovered quickly. “We survived. She’s tougher than you think.”

“Sure, we survived it, but it doesn’t make it right. Not when her mother…” She swallowed hard and said the words she’d been holding back for years. “I’m her mother, Mitch. She belongs with me, and I’ll get her back with or without your help.”

Surprise replaced his hardened expression. He studied her, one hand rubbing the back of his neck. “Okay. I get it. Just tell me what you need, and I’ll see what I can do.”

What? It was her turn to blink back surprise. She’d been expecting his abject refusal and had her arguments lined up for rebuttal. Maybe Pilar and the new baby had softened him up a bit. Was that even possible? Before she could question his motives, a blur of red hair and legs streaked around the table and skidded to a stop at her feet.

Her heart squeezed at the sight of a child who could only belong to Randy. Round eyes blinked up at her from a chubby freckled face surrounded by ringlets of red hair. He smiled at her and placed dimpled hands on her knees, staring expectantly into her face.

“Hi,” he said shyly. His bare feet danced over the floor but his eyes were glued to hers.

“Hello,” she replied and beamed at him, bowled over by his infectious smile.

“Caleb, this is your Aunt Karly,” Mitch said. “She’s my sister.”

“I have a new baby brother,” Caleb said gleefully. “Do you want to see?”

“Yes, actually, I do,” Karly replied. Pilar appeared behind Caleb and placed a gentle hand on the top of his head. “Do you mind?”

“Of course not,” Pilar said, her eyes shining with the excitement of a new mother. “Come with me.”

Chapter 37

“Are you sure you want me to help you?” Karly asked as Randy dropped his backpack on the coffee table in her living room. At well over six and a half feet tall, his head hovered inches from the seven-foot ceiling. “I think maybe you should be helping me instead. You always know the answers whenever Professor Marks calls on you.” Whereas she, on the other hand, looked like a stupid idiot every time.

He shrugged and scratched his stubbled chin. “I’m more of a verbal person. It’s the written part where I suck.” She raised an eyebrow in disbelief. “I had a terrible time with school. I’m dyslexic, you know? The teachers all said I was stupid. By the time I was sixteen, I was fed up with being treated like a moron. So I dropped out.” The cadence of his speech suggested there was much more to the story.