by Amy Knupp
“Biker girl,” he called as he exited the garage.
Both Andie and Payton turned to him, and Payton ran over, telling him all about the ride, as if he’d missed the whole thing. He picked her up and carried her to the truck, feeling lighter than he had in weeks.
“Climb in and get your seat belt on,” he told her. He shut the door and faced Andie. “She loved it.”
“Hope so. Maybe next time we can inch up to eighteen miles per hour.”
He barely registered her joke, his mind spinning.
“The custody hearing’s the day after tomorrow,” he said. “I was wondering if you would go with me.”
“Uh, Clay? It’s me, Andie. We agreed I wouldn’t do your case any good.”
“This isn’t about helping or hurting the case. You’re important to me, Andie. You’re the one I want sitting there with me.”
She studied him, confused. “I don’t want to cause you and Payton problems. If I cost you custody of her, I couldn’t live with myself.”
“If Lipp wants to use you against me, he’s already got everything he needs. He’s had plenty of time to investigate you, find all your skeletons. He can bring those up if he wants to, but I intend to fight every last negative thing he says about you. And I’d like to do it with you by my side.”
“Why?”
He moved closer to her, lowered his voice. “I happen to care about you. Beyond the other night, beyond the mind-blowing chemistry. You’re important to both of us.”
“Likewise,” she said shyly.
“Thursday’s huge for us. If we win, I want to celebrate with you. If we lose…” It would crush him.
Andie nodded. “I’ll be there if you’re sure I won’t do any harm.”
He grasped her hand, dying to kiss her. But Payton watched them from inside the truck, and he wasn’t sure enough about where they were heading to let her witness that. Not yet.
“Thank you,” he said. “Starts at ten o’clock.”
She smiled and walked to her bike. Clay watched her the whole way, his body reacting to the sway of her hips as always. But it went beyond physical now, and he finally recognized that, embraced it.
Now the question was, could he get her to level with him about whatever she was afraid of? And just as importantly, could he get her to stay?
Chapter Twenty
D-day was here.
Clay jammed his hand into the pocket of his suit jacket and wrenched it, pacing the floor outside of the courtroom. He was painfully early but he hadn’t been able to sit with Payton this morning, trying to act normal. He’d called Bridget and begged her to come immediately.
He couldn’t help glancing around every few minutes in search of Andie. He didn’t doubt that she’d show — Andie did what she said she would. It was more that he’d be able to settle once she got here.
A woman’s shoes clicked rhythmically on the tile floor and Clay whipped around. Instead of Andie, though, it was Robin, her mother, and Morris Lipp. Robin had dressed in what was, for her, a costume — a respectable pair of brown tailored pants and a nondescript white button-down blouse. Modest two-inch pumps, light makeup, and neatly brushed hair completed the disguise.
Clay had hoped to avoid them. He had nothing to say to any of them and it was all he could do to keep his nerves under control. “How’s my daughter?” she asked.
He grasped his keys in his pocket so hard they cut into his skin. “Our daughter is doing well. How’s rehab?”
“Almost over. I’ll be out in another week. I’ll be back home for Payton then.”
“We’ll see what the judge says.” Clay wished he was half as confident as he acted. When he’d talked to Robert Davis, his lawyer, two days ago, they’d run through all the possible speed bumps that might arise during the hearing. Not a lot had changed since the last time Clay had appealed, only that Robin had gone into rehab. Robert had explained before that that could count in her favor. Her lawyer would do everything he could to position it as her overwhelming dedication to changing her life for the better and doing whatever it took to be a better mom.
Total crock of shit, and Clay had faith that Robert would do everything he could to show that.
“We will, at that,” Lipp said smugly. The bastard was doing his best to intimidate him.
The party of three moved down to a bench on the other side of the main atrium of the courthouse.
“Clay.” Robert approached, holding his hand out. “You ready?”
They shook hands. “Ready as I’ll ever be.”
Instead of his usual gravity, the balding fifty-something lawyer smiled, and Clay would even say there was a sparkle in the man’s eye.
“What’s going on, Robert?” Clay asked suspiciously.
“Big arrest last night,” he said. “Remember that character I told you about, Lewis Tober?”
“The guy Robin kept calling from rehab?”
“That’s the one. Suspected dealer.” Robert paused for effect. “He went down last night.”
Clay felt a sliver of newfound hope. “What does this mean, exactly? Spell it out for me.”
“It doesn’t prove anything about Robin outright, but it’ll help us paint her as an unfit mother. Inject some doubt into the judge’s mind about whether this woman is really making all the sacrifices and great efforts to change that we know she’s going to claim.”
Clay nodded, afraid to hope too much but encouraged. “Excellent. Sounds promising.”
“I’m going to go do a final prep down the hall where it’s quiet. I’ll see you in a few minutes.”
Clay nodded and looked nervously at his watch. Twenty-five minutes till ten. He needed to lay eyes on Andie. As Robert strode off, Clay scanned the people around him.
He did a double take.
“Mom? Dad? What are you doing here?”
His mom reached him first and hugged him. “We wanted to be here for you, Clay.”
They’d never come to a hearing before. Of course, previous ones had been up in Corpus, so it would have been an even longer drive for them.
“How’d you know when the hearing was?”
“Your sister told us,” his dad said. “Since you never mentioned it.” His old man’s face hinted at humor.
“Sorry,” Clay said. “I didn’t figure—”
“I’d like to speak to you,” his dad said. “In private.”
Clay went instantly on alert. They hadn’t spoken in private in years. The atrium and hallway of the courthouse had gotten more crowded. He pointed down the hall to a door that led outside. “That might be our best bet.”
“I’ll wait here for you,” Clay’s mom said, lowering herself to a stone bench along the wall.
Clay and his dad walked down the long hall in silence. Once they were outside, they stood side by side, awkwardly, hands in their pockets, watching the traffic drive past.
His dad cleared his throat. “I just wanted to tell you I’m proud of you, son.”
Clay blinked and stared at his father.
The older man swallowed. “You’re doing a good job with Payton. Better than I ever would have guessed.”
Unexpected emotion clogged Clay’s throat, making it difficult to speak.
“There were times when I wondered if you’d ever pull your head out.”
Clay nodded. “I never meant to hurt you or the rest of the family, though I’m sure that was hard to tell.”
“Hard to tell. Yes.” His dad cleared his throat. “You’ve grown up. As soon as you found out you had a daughter, it seemed like something finally clicked inside of you. You’ve become one heck of a father.”
“Thank you, Dad,” Clay managed to say, reeling.
“She’s an amazing child, isn’t she?”
Clay nodded, picturing Payton in the yellow tutu she’d been dancing around in this morning. “That she is. She blows my mind every single day. I just hope she’ll be okay.”
“What’s your lawyer think about your chances today?”
/> Clay told him about the latest discovery and they discussed how the hearing might play out. At a quarter to ten, Clay suggested they head inside. As he turned toward the door, he spotted Evan’s truck pulling up alongside the curb a hundred feet or so away. What was he doing here? Clay paused, watching.
A familiar beautiful brunette head emerged from the back of the extended cab and Clay’s heart pounded. His dad followed his line of sight.
Clay locked his jaw to keep from gaping. Andie looked … amazing. Conservative. Her hair was pulled up on the back of her head, with delicate strands hanging at her temples. She wore black tailored pants with open-toed heels that showed off her long legs and a mint-green sweater with a scarf at her neck. All Clay could do was stare as she bent down and hugged Selena in the front seat, then made her way down the sidewalk toward them.
“Wow,” his dad said.
“Yeah.” Wow was an understatement. “While we’re being so open, Dad, you should probably know that I’m in love with her.”
His dad’s gaze shifted to Clay, who waited tensely for his dad’s verdict.
“She may not be your idea of conventional wife material, but she’s the one for me.”
His dad turned his attention back to Andie. “She know this yet?”
“Not exactly. We have a few things to work out.”
His dad nodded slowly. “She’s the one who called 911 so quickly, right?”
“She’s the one.”
“The Cubs fan?”
“The Cubs fan.”
“I imagine she’s all right.”
“All that’s left is to convince her.”
Which he’d do tonight, regardless of the outcome of the hearing. So much on the line, all in one day. He inhaled nervously and waited for the woman he loved to notice them standing there.
oOo
Andie checked to make sure her hair wasn’t falling out of the clip Selena had loaned her and moistened her lips. Her hands were sweating and her stomach was tied in a knot. Not only was she worried about the hearing and especially about whether she should be there or not, but Selena’s water had broken minutes before they’d left her and Evan’s beach house.
Andie had been ready to call a taxi instead of having the Drakes drop her off, but Selena insisted it would be hours before the baby was born. The courthouse was just blocks from the hospital on the mainland, so she’d finally given in.
Selena, bless her heart, had offered to give Andie full access to her pre-pregnancy wardrobe so she could look presentable at the hearing. Thank God they were almost the same size. Andie didn’t love the idea of wearing someone else’s clothes, but it was that or miss the hearing. Or, God help her, shop. Fortunately, Selena had also lent Andie her fashion expertise because Andie had zero.
Clay stood about twenty feet in front of her, next to the door. Sinfully gorgeous in a black suit. Her mouth went dry as she approached him.
“Hello,” he said, smiling. “You look incredible.”
“I feel like an imposter.”
“You remember my father?” Clay gestured. Andie hadn’t even noticed the man. She’d been too busy staring at Clay.
“Hi, Mr. Marlow. I didn’t realize you’d be here.”
“I didn’t either,” Clay said. His demeanor toward his dad was upbeat, almost warm. A one-eighty from Payton’s birthday.
“Want to be there when my son’s awarded custody.”
Was this an alternate reality?
Andie glanced at Clay, and he nodded minutely.
“I’m going to check on your mother,” Mr. Marlow said.
“We’ll be there in five minutes,” Clay said, opening the door for his dad.
“What happened?” Andie asked as soon as the older Marlow was out of earshot.
Clay leaned against the stone wall as if he’d been bowled over. “He and my mom showed up out of nowhere.” In disbelief, he told her about the conversation they’d finished just before Andie arrived.
She’d never been a hug person but she couldn’t help stepping closer and wrapping her arms around his neck. “I’m so happy for you, Clay. I know how much that’s weighed on you.”
She backed out of the hug quickly because feeling his hands on her sides did things to her, made her think things that shouldn’t be thought in such an official, public place where the stakes were so high for Clay.
“Let’s head to the courtroom,” he said, peering down at her.
As they went inside, he took her hand in his as if it was the most natural thing in the world. He leaned close to her. “You really do look amazing,” he said just loud enough for her to hear. “But you know what?”
“What?”
“I’ll take you in your jeans and tank any day.”
That one little sentence warmed her insides, clear down to her toes.
No matter what happened after this or how hard it would be when she left, Andie was glad she’d come.
Chapter Twenty-One
At the judge’s late-afternoon statement awarding Clay full custody of Payton, Clay’s shoulders relaxed and he closed his eyes, letting the ruling sink in.
The judge had been tough, as he’d been warned, but the news concerning the busted drug dealer and Robin’s ties to him had been pivotal in swaying him, making him doubt her dedication to staying clean.
Robert shook his hand, and the next thing Clay knew, he was surrounded. His mother threw her arms around him wordlessly, tears running down her face. His dad hugged him awkwardly, the first time they’d hugged since Clay had reached puberty. His old man clapped him on the back and told him how happy he was for him.
Clay released him and turned to find Andie, who hung back a couple of feet, as if she thought she didn’t belong. As soon as their eyes met, though, she lunged into his arms and held on tight.
“I’m so, so happy for you and Payton,” she said directly into his ear so he could hear her over the surrounding noise. He kissed the side of her neck and thanked her. As expected, Lipp had painted her as a detrimental influence on Payton, but Robert had done the opposite by showing Andie as a woman who would drop everything and be there for her friends and, the clincher, the woman who’d saved his little girl’s life.
“We’re picking her up and going out to celebrate. The whole family. You in?”
“If you want me there,” she said uncertainly.
“Damn straight. And then afterward, maybe you and I can have some time alone.”
Andie smiled. “Are you sure we can’t just skip the whole family deal?”
“You tempt me, woman.” He kissed her and put space between them. “Later. Right now I need to get my daughter and tell her the news.”
oOo
Clay never thought life could be this good.
He looked around the Italian restaurant’s large circular table at his family.
Bridget and Reid to his left. His mother. Dad. Laurel, Charles, and their three boys. Andie at his right. Payton smack in the center of his lap. Even his other two sisters had called to wish him and Payton well.
Everyone listened to Bridget telling a story about middle-of-the-night cravings for Pop-Tarts and Reid going to the store to get some. Inane topics. Happy topics. Exactly what this evening called for.
The waitress came around and collected empty plates, filled coffee mugs, offered dessert.
“Heck yeah, we need dessert,” Clay said. “What’s everyone want?”
Everybody placed an order except for Andie, and he studied her, the woman he loved, her eyes on his sister as she returned to her story. She was withdrawn, quiet, probably a little overwhelmed by his family.
She didn’t quite look right to him without all the earrings, but she was beautiful, even in her play-nice-for-the-judge persona. He couldn’t wait to get her alone and tell her how much he loved her. How much he wanted them to be a family. He felt confident he could convince her to level with him. That was the only thing standing in their way.
oOo
The promise
of spending time with Clay was all that kept Andie going that evening.
After dinner, they’d driven to the hospital to visit Selena and Evan and their brand-new baby, Christian. Despite Selena’s vow this morning that it would be eons before he was born, he’d shown up just an hour after they’d checked in to the delivery room. Payton had been in quiet awe of the tiny baby, and even Andie had to admit that holding someone so new and helpless had been nothing short of incredible.
Clay and Payton waited in the truck while Andie went inside the Shell Shack to check in before heading home for the night. Kevin, Sean, and Charlotte were closing and they usually handled everything well, but Andie had to make sure they didn’t need anything or have any problems, just to put her mind at ease. She used the side door by the patio, surveying the crowd at the outdoor tables as she passed by. That’s when she spotted him, sitting along the wall by the beach, alone at a table.
Trevor.
He was looking the other direction, so Andie hurried inside, heart pounding, hoping he hadn’t seen her.
Kevin was working the register nearest the door and nodded when he saw her, too occupied with a line of customers to speak. Her vision swimming, she rushed to the back room. Sean was prepping food and greeted her cheerfully, but all Andie could do was search for a place to sit down and convince her legs not to collapse.
She settled for an old milk crate on end against the padlocked door.
“Aren’t you all fancy,” Sean said as he worked.
Andie put her head down on her hands and concentrated on getting air into her lungs. She’d never passed out in her life but figured this must be what it felt like just before you did. She didn’t care for the sensation.
“What’s wrong with you?” Sean said.
She shook her head, still grasping it in her hands. “Overheated.”
The room gradually stopped spinning and breathing became a little easier. The next thing she knew, Sean was holding an icy lemonade in front of her.
