by Lili Valente
“It’s no miracle.” Bob sounds pleased with himself, as usual. “It’s karma. I told you that rats leave trails, and Liam’s didn’t prove very hard to find.”
“So, what’s next?” Aria asks. “Do we send these over to him, or to his lawyer? Or what?”
“We’ll take the folder to your lawyer as soon as her office opens, and have her send it over, so it’s official. I wouldn’t be surprised if Liam drops his suit by close of business today. After that, we’ll put pressure on him to sign papers giving you sole physical and legal custody of Felicity from here on out.”
“Oh my god, that would be…” Aria’s breath rushes out. “That would be the best thing ever. Thank you, Daddy. Thank you so much.”
Her voice is muffled for a moment. I imagine Aria is probably hugging her dad, and I’m glad. I’m grateful to him for being a good father to her, even if he is a shit to me. And I’m grateful to him for keeping Felicity with us where she belongs.
“You and Felicity back home with us is all the thanks I need,” he says, souring my good will. “Now you’re free to be done with this joke marriage and get on with your life.”
My jaw clenches, my teeth grinding together as I wait for Aria’s response.
This is it, the moment that proves if what we have is real, or if she was using me all along.
“Daddy, I can’t,” she says, not sounding nearly as sure of that as I would like.
“You can, and you will.” A hard note creeps into Bob’s voice as he adds, “Especially if you want me to keep your secret from your mother. The detective I hired said you and Liam were never legally married, Aria Beth. There’s no record of that elopement you talked about ever taking place.”
My brows shoot up.
She and Liam weren’t married?
Why didn’t she tell me that? I actually love the idea of being Aria’s first—and only—husband, but I don’t like being lied to.
It reminds me too much of Rachael and all the other people I should never have trusted.
“Listen, Daddy,” Aria begins, but Bob cuts her off before she can finish.
“You lied to your parents about something as sacred as a marriage. Do you have any idea how that would tear your mother apart?”
Aria sighs. “I felt like I had to, Dad. I wasn’t trying to—”
“You wanted to avoid the embarrassment of telling your parents you’d decided to have a baby out of wedlock,” Bob says. “You were raised better than that, Aria. When I think of all the times I—”
“It wasn’t a decision, Dad,” she says, raising her voice to be heard over her father’s rant. “Liam didn’t want to get married. What was I supposed to do?”
“So, you thought you could trap him into marriage with a baby, is that it?”
“Of course not! God, that’s terrible, Daddy, I would never do something like that,” Aria says, making me proud of her for standing up to the old wretch. “I wasn’t trying to trap, Liam. We didn’t even mean to get pregnant, it just happened. Sometimes babies just happen.”
Bob’s grunt makes it clear what he thinks of that. “Which is exactly why we need to get you away from Nash Geary before it ‘just happens’ again and we’re related by blood to that bunch of trailer trash.”
I almost lose it right then, I almost stand up and shout through the window for Bob to get his ass out of my house and never set foot on my property again, when Aria says—
“You know what you sound like when you talk that way, Dad?” Her words vibrate with anger. “You sound like a nasty, narrow-minded, old bigot. You sound like all the people who make this world a terrible, unfair, shitty place to live.”
“Aria Beth, don’t you—”
“And it breaks my heart,” she says, her voice trembling, “because I know you’re better than that. I know you’re a kind, loving man who is a wonderful father to me and a wonderful grandfather to my baby. But when you act like this… I don’t know who this person is, but I don’t agree with him. And I don’t like him, and I don’t want him hanging around, looking down on the people I love.”
I swallow hard, shame tightening the muscles around my neck. I shouldn’t be spying on Aria. I should have trusted her without needing to sneak around and eavesdrop.
“And that’s why I lied about being married to Liam,” she continues with a sniff that makes me think she’s either crying or trying hard not to. “I didn’t want you looking down on my baby just because I wasn’t married when she was born. There is nothing wrong with Felicity, and there’s nothing wrong with the Geary family, either.”
“I know there’s nothing wrong with Felicity,” Bob says. “Don’t cry, sweetheart, I didn’t mean to upset you.”
“Well you did, Dad. You more than upset me. You made me afraid of what’s going to happen to my family.”
“What do you mean?” Bob asks carefully, sounding as if he’s beginning to realize what a pile he’s stepped in.
“I’m not going to divorce Nash. He’s my husband and I love him,” Aria says, sending another guilt dart cutting straight into my heart. “He’s a good man, and he’s done nothing to deserve the way you look down on him and his family.”
“Nothing?” Bob shouts. “Taking advantage of a fifteen-year-old girl isn’t nothing, it’s—”
“That was over a decade ago, Dad,” Aria shouts back. “It’s time to get the hell over it.”
“I will not get the hell over it! I’m your father. And if you’d been able to see the way you looked standing next to that boy that night…” His breath rushes out. “You were still a baby, sugar. You looked like you were twelve years old, and he was a full-grown man.”
“Dad, please. Nash was only three years older,” Aria says, obviously close to losing her patience. “It doesn’t matter what—”
“It damned well does matter!” Bob is so loud I’m not surprised when, a moment later, Felicity begins to cry out from her bedroom, calling for Mama in a worried voice.
“What the hell was he doing, wanting to sleep with a girl who still looked like a child?” Bob rages on, ignoring Aria’s request that he lower his voice before he scares the baby. “He was a child molester. That’s the only thing I can think of.”
“Daddy!” Aria scolds, the shock and outrage mixing in her tone mirroring the revulsion rising in my chest.
I stand, heading for the back door, no longer caring if Aria or Bob see me coming.
“And for all we know he still is,” Bob says, clearly on a roll and not intending to stop anytime soon. “And I don’t want my baby granddaughter growing up in a house with a man—”
“Get out.” My voice rumbles like thunder through the kitchen, low and ominous, vibrating the paintings on the wall.
I close the door carefully behind me, barely resisting the urge to slam it with the full force of my arm.
I can’t start slamming things. If I do, I have a feeling it won’t be long before I’m slamming a fist into Bob March’s face.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Nash
“Get. Out.” I point a finger at the front door. “Now.”
“Nash, wait.” Aria’s eyes go wide as she positions herself between us. “He didn’t mean that. He’s angry and he always says stupid shit when he’s angry.”
“Don’t tell me what I do and don’t mean.” Bob tries to circle around her, but she grabs his arm and holds on tight, her expression growing progressively frantic as Felicity starts wailing in the other room.
“I’m going to go get the baby,” I say, speaking directly to Aria, refusing to look Bob in his red face. “When I get back, I need him out of the house. For both of our sakes.”
Aria nods too fast. I hate seeing her so upset, but I can’t comfort her now. All I can do is remove myself from the situation before I pop Bob March in his mean little mouth.
I hurry down the hall to Felicity’s room, ignoring Bob’s shouted order not to touch his granddaughter and open the door just as the baby’s tears hit the crescendo poi
nt. As soon as Felicity sees me, she sucks in a breath and reaches out, the relief on her face making me feel like a hero as I cross the room to scoop her into my arms.
This is who I want to be, this little girl’s hero, not a suspicious jerk who spies on my wife.
“It’s okay,” I say, swaying back and forth as Felicity wraps her pudgy arms around my neck and buries her face in my sweat-stained running shirt, not seeming to mind the stink. “Being left in your bed is the worst, huh, Skeeter?”
Felicity snuffles in what sounds like agreement, her sobs already beginning to subside as I rub her back in slow circles.
“I’m sorry,” I say, relieved to hear the front door close and Bob and Aria’s voices move outside. “Mama and I were distracted by a mean guy, but he should be gone soon, and then we can go get your milk.”
“Mik?” Felicity pulls her head from my chest, but keeps her hands fisted in my shirt, as if to make sure I can’t get away. “Mik?”
“Milk.” I grin, realizing Felicity’s added a new word to her repertoire.
“Mik,” she repeats again with a grin.
I laugh. “That’s right. You’re the smartest girl I know.” I give her a squeeze and kiss her pudgy cheek.
Felicity leans in, granting me one of her slobbery, open-mouthed versions of a kiss on my chin in return, breaking my heart in the process. I would never hurt this little girl. I would never hurt any child, and the fact that Bob March dared to say…
That he would even think that I’m the kind of man…
I can’t finish the thought. It’s too repulsive and depraved to let it swim around in my head even for a second.
I take a deep breath, forcing my rage away as I carry Felicity to the changing table for a fresh diaper.
“All right, let’s go get that milk,” I say when we’re done, scooping her back into my arms. “I bet it’s safe out there now.”
I start down the hall and am nearly to the living room when I hear a car start out in the driveway. A second later, Aria slams back inside, making no effort to be gentle with the door closing.
“That man is impossible,” she says through gritted teeth, forcing a tight smile when she sees Felicity. “Good morning, sugar, did you sleep well?”
Felicity holds up a hand and lets forth a stream of babble that sounds so much like conversation, Aria and I both laugh.
“Is that right?” Aria asks, shaking her head. “Well, I’m so sorry about that. We won’t keep you waiting next time.”
“No, we won’t.” Our eyes meet over Felicity’s head, and a silent apology passes between us. But I know we still have to talk later. I have more to apologize for.
“Well, let’s see if milk can still make everything better.” Aria starts toward the kitchen, but stops when Felicity shouts—
“Mik! Mik!”
Aria spins, joy lighting her eyes. “What’s this? A new word?”
“New word,” I confirm. “I told Skeeter she’s the smartest baby ever.”
“Well, she obviously gets it from me.” Aria rolls her eyes. “You won’t believe what my ex has been up to. I mean, I knew he was stupid, but you’re not going to believe—”
“I was listening,” I say as I follow her into the kitchen, needing to get the guilty load off my chest.
“What do you mean?” She opens the refrigerator door, reaching for the milk.
“I was coming back from my run and saw you pull your dad into the house and…” I shift my gaze to Felicity, who is patting my cheek, still babbling in a softer voice, as if encouraging me to man up and get it over with. “I had no idea why he’d be here so early, so I went around to the back window and…listened in.”
“You were spying on me?” Aria asks.
I glance back to see her hands braced on the kitchen counter, the bottle and milk in front of her forgotten.
“I was,” I say, knowing better than to make excuses. “I’m not proud of it, but… I did it. And I’m sorry. I swear to you I’ll never do anything like that again. You deserve my trust, and I mean to give it to you. If you’ll still take it.”
Aria frowns, biting her lip for a long moment before slowly returning to her task. “Okay,” she says, pouring the milk into the bottle and popping it into the microwave. “Thank you for being honest with me.”
“Speaking of honesty,” I say. “I know I’m in no place to talk right now, but I wish you’d told me that you and Liam were never married. I wouldn’t have thought any less of you or Skeeter, I hope you know that.”
Aria shakes the bottle and hands it to Skeeter, who is clearly past ready to have her milk. She pops the bottle in her mouth, leans back in my arms, and goes to work, leaving us to our grown-up talk.
“I know that,” Aria says. “I honestly didn’t even think about it, Nash. I’m so used to lying about it, and… Well, I guess I just knew you wouldn’t care.” She shrugs. “It didn’t seem like something I needed to bring up. Our marriage is the only one that’s been on my mind.”
I take a deeper breath, bracing myself for what has to come next. “I love you, Aria.”
Her gaze softens even as she crosses her arms over her chest. “I love you, too, and I love hearing that. So much. But I don’t like the ‘but’ I’m hearing in there.”
“Me, either. But I’m done with your father,” I say. “I don’t want to be in the same room with him ever again. And I can’t say I’m thrilled to think of Skeeter growing up around a man who thinks people are trash if they don’t have a lot of money or reproduce too frequently for his tastes.”
Aria sighs and rubs at the side of her neck. “But he’s not really like that, Nash. I swear he’s not. He says all that stuff, but he doesn’t mean it. He’d give the shirt off his back to a stranger if they needed it. He’s a good man.”
“He accused me of being a child molester, Aria.” Saying the words out loud is enough to make me want to smash a fist through something all over again. “Do you have any idea how deeply that offends me?”
“I know, it’s horrible. Awful,” she says, her brows pinching together. “But like I said, he doesn’t mean those things, he just—”
“Yes, he does,” I insist, not about to let him off the hook. “The man hates me, and after this morning, I can say without hesitation that the feeling is completely mutual. I’m done with him. If you want to have your sisters or your mother over to our house, that’s fine. Any time. But your father isn’t welcome, and I won’t be joining you and Felicity for BBQs or anything else at Bob’s house.”
Aria’s frown deepens. “Please, Nash. Let’s just get through the rest of this mess with Liam and make sure Felicity is safe, and then we can sort this out with my dad.”
“There’s nothing to sort out.”
“Nash, please,” she begs, a note of desperation entering her voice. “I don’t want to spend our entire lives avoiding my father. He’s my father. Surely, we can find a way to be civil and get by in a normal, dysfunctional sort of way.”
“What if my mother had accused you of being a child molester?” I press, digging my heels in. I try not to be stubborn about stupid things anymore, but this isn’t stupid. Bob went too far to make this better with a handshake and an apology. “How would you feel about making nice with her after something like that?”
“Well, she didn’t call me a child molester, but your mom did accuse me of being a gold digger last night. After she said her son deserved better than a user like me.” Aria shakes her head. “Or maybe before, I forget which insults went where, but I still plan on going back to her place any time you want me there. I’m not going to let one nasty woman ruin—”
“My mother said that?” I ask, stunned. Mom wasn’t warm last night, but she hadn’t seemed aggressive toward Aria, either. “Are you sure you didn’t misunderstand her?”
“Those were her exact words, Nash,” she says in a voice that dares me to challenge her. “That I was using you to help pay for things for my baby until someone better came along. And that y
ou deserved better than a user like me.”
I shake my head, but not because I don’t think Aria’s telling the truth. I can’t believe my mother had the nerve to go behind my back and meddle in my life like that. I’m thirty-one, for God’s sakes.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” I ask. “Why did you lie and say you overhead some woman talking at a wedding instead of telling me that my mother—”
“I was trying to keep the peace,” she says, her breath rushing out. “I know how much you love your mom, and I didn’t want it to come down to some kind of ‘her or me’ situation. And I guess…” She sighs. “I guess I was worried I wouldn’t be the one you’d choose.”
She crosses her arms again, making her breasts swell above the lacy edge of her red pajama top.
She certainly doesn’t look like a child now. To me she never did. That first day at camp, in that crazy dress, with her hair hanging wild to her waist, she’d been the sexiest thing I’d ever seen. But Bob March is never going to understand that I didn’t see Aria the same way a father would, or realize that, for all my size, I’d only been a kid back then, too.
And I can talk to Mom and make it clear she isn’t allowed to speak to my wife that way, but if Mom dislikes Aria that much, I know it will take time—lots of it—for her to warm up to the idea of us together.
If she ever does.
I inherited my ability to hold a grudge from Mom’s side of the family, no doubt about that.
“Aren’t you going to say something?” Aria asks softly.
“I don’t know what to say.” I look down at Felicity, my heart twisting at the thought of losing her or her mama. They’re already such a big part of my life. The best part.
“But you believe me?” she whispers, her voice breaking.
“Of course, I believe you, baby,” I hurry to assure her, not wanting to be responsible for more tears this morning. “I’m sorry. I just got tangled up in my head for a minute.”
Aria’s shoulders slump and her breath rushes out as she nods, making it clear how worried she’d been that I would turn on her. I cross the kitchen, pulling her against my chest with my free arm. In my other, Skeeter coos around her bottle, seeming to approve of the family hug.
