“Undercover?” Adam asked, leaning forward. “Doing what?”
Wyatt took a long pull of beer and wiped his mouth with the back of his forearm. “Can’t tell you.”
“Why? Is it top secret?”
Wyatt grinned. “No. Y’all will make fun of me.”
“Male escort?”
“Stripper?”
“You know what? Forget it.”
“Now you have to tell us,” Scott said. “Or we’ll go with stripper.”
“I’m not going to be done there for another week, so keep your mouths shut. It’s at that cleaning service, the Cleaning Crew. Heard of it?”
“You’re undercover as a maid?” Adam’s laughter echoed back from the marsh.
“I’ve heard of it. Um, Sadie? Martin? She’s the owner, right?” Scott asked.
He ignored Adam and focused on Scott. “Wait, you know her?”
“Well, well,” Adam said in an amused drawl. “Apparently your interest is a little more personal than professional.”
Wyatt felt some heat on his face. Yeah, he was interested, all right. Fat lot of good it was going to do him. “Just curious. She seems like an interesting person.”
“Go for it, dude,” Adam urged.
“Sure. I’ve been lying and spying on her. Most women frown on that kind of behavior.” He turned back to Scott. “So you know her.”
“Not really. I’ve only met her once. She keeps a low public profile, but she’s given a ton of money to a couple of the charities I’m involved with.”
Wyatt went to flip the steaks. Scott was involved in several local charities and all of them served underprivileged children. This news did not surprise him. The way she’d responded to Jules? She had a soft spot for kids. His guilt felt a little bit heavier.
“She hot?” Adam asked Scott.
“Oh, yeah. Beautiful. But really shy, I think. Like I said, she gives a lot of money, but she rarely comes out for events. What are you investigating her for?”
“Guy who runs Happy Housekeepers thinks she’s doing something illegal. But she’s not. Like I said, it’s a waste of time. But he’s holding his relationship with one of my biggest clients over my head. So I’m just going along.”
“Marcus Canard?”
Adam’s tone was scornful and Wyatt raised his eyebrows. “You know him?”
“I know of him. Came out of a pretty poor family. I’d admire what he’s accomplished, but he’s as mean as a snake. Totally vindictive.”
“I don’t doubt it. It’s my understanding his cleaning service is going under.”
“That would hurt him. He branched out into real estate development. Lost a bundle when the bubble burst. Income from his cleaning company is the only thing keeping him out of bankruptcy, if what I hear is true.”
“Huh. Interesting.”
More than interesting. It was the entire reason for his investigation. Marcus was calling in favors to try to bring down a rival. Trying to save his only successful business venture. He was desperate. And men in desperate financial situations often did very stupid things. Hiring a PI must be his Hail Mary pass.
He looked up at the shriek coming from the marsh. It was a happy girl shriek and it made him smile. Jules came sprinting up, jar in hand. He could see the faint glow inside it.
“I caught one! I caught one, Uncle Wyatt!”
She crashed into him and he scooped her up, balancing her on a hip. Barely. Soon she’d be too big for this, and a small part of him was dismayed. He took the jar and held it up. “Good job. Don’t forget to let him go in a few minutes.”
She wiggled down and took the jar. She brought it close to her face to peer at the glowing beetle within. It was flying around the jar, seeking an escape. “Can’t I keep him overnight? For a night-light? I’ll let him go in the morning.”
He hunkered down and looked into the jar with her. “I don’t think he’d like that, Jules. He’s probably a little confused right now, wondering how he ended up in there.”
Zoe, Scott’s daughter, knelt down in the grass beside Jules. “He’s probably missing his friends back there, too. We should let him go soon.”
Jules’s face crumpled and Wyatt’s heart squeezed at the compassion in her expression. “You’re right. I’m going to let him go now.” She ran back to the marsh and her voice drifted back to them. “Bye-bye, firefly. Have fun with your friends.”
The men chuckled and Wyatt put an arm around her shoulders when she came back. “That was very kind of you, Jules.”
“Can we go inside and watch a movie?”
“Sure. Dinner will be ready in a few minutes.”
“You’re a natural at this dad stuff,” Scott said after the girls had gone inside.
“I had to learn fast.” He glanced at the back door, making sure it was shut, and then looked back to Scott. “I have a question for you.”
“Shoot.”
“Could I adopt her?”
“Probably. But you don’t need to. You’re her legal guardian.”
“I know. I... I’ve been thinking about it. Making it a lifetime commitment. I mean, I’m committed. She’s my blood, my only family. But I want to make it more. I don’t know how she’ll feel about it. Just looking at the possibility.”
“That’s awesome, man,” Adam said. “I hear what you’re saying. You know, I thought you might have taken on more than you could handle at first. But when Jake was born, I understood. Your family. Your blood. It means everything.”
“Where’s her father?” Scott asked.
“Don’t know. Maddie never said. I went through all her papers and asked all her friends. Didn’t find a thing.”
“Shouldn’t be a problem. You were approved by the court to be her guardian, so an adoption could be as simple as filling out the paperwork and a court date. Let me know when you’re ready and I’ll give you some names of family practice lawyers.”
“Great. Appreciate it.”
They all stood and Wyatt took the steaks from the grill. Adam hooked an arm over his shoulders and gave him a shake. “Now about this hot woman you’re after...”
“I’m not after her.”
“But you want to be.”
“But I can’t.”
“Why not? Just tell her. After it’s over. Say, hey, business, you know?”
“I don’t know about that.”
But now he was thinking about it. Sadie liked straightforward, no-nonsense. Maybe he could go to her, confess all and plead for forgiveness. What was the worst that could happen?
CHAPTER NINE
IT LOOKED LIKE a perfectly ordinary building. Like a library or a school. Sadie tilted her head to peer out the windshield at the sleek brick building. Live oaks and neat beds of azaleas, recently past prime blooming season, embraced it. The wide, inviting porch led to a pretty wood door. Beyond the door people lay dying. Abuelito lay dying.
She put her forehead to the steering wheel and squeezed her eyes against the burn of unshed tears. She clenched the wheel to stop her hands trembling. She couldn’t do this. She couldn’t walk in there and say goodbye to the first man who’d ever loved her. Loved her like a father should love a child. A tear slid down her cheek as her throat ached. Leave. Call Lena and tell her you can’t do this. She’ll understand. For a brief, blessed moment, the pain and fear went away as the hope of an escape filled her.
She shook her head without lifting it from the steering wheel. No. She’d regret it forever if she didn’t say goodbye. She’d walked away from too many people in her life not to have learned that lesson. Avoiding immediate pain always came with lingering regret and doubt, and the shame never went away. She wasn’t doing it anymore. If anything, she owed him more than any other. He’d shown her what a family was supposed to be. A we
ak, wavering smile trembled on her lips. Una gatita callejero, he’d called her. Literally a street kitten.
She straightened and brought her hands up to press at her eyes, wiping away the wetness she found there. She took a sip of bottled water. Suck it up, Sadie girl. Head up, shoulders back. It’d be an insult to the love and time he gave you to run out on him now. She would go in. As soon as her legs would support her.
Lena waving at her from the sidewalk caught her attention. Sadie waved back. Too late to run now. Lena, as always, was gorgeous and stylish and impeccable. The dark red of the sleeveless linen dress she wore suited her olive complexion. Black strappy three-inch heels still didn’t put her up to Sadie’s height. How she wore linen without it wrinkling was a mystery. Sadie looked down at her own clothing. Jeans. She’d made a concession to the visit by replacing her Crew T-shirt with a blue top. The top, with its twisted knot of fabric at the scooped neckline, was technically a T-shirt, but it was a fancy T-shirt. And she was wearing flats, not running shoes or work boots. Her version of dressing up.
“Are you okay? You’re a little pale.”
“I’m scared.”
“Of Lito?”
“Of goodbye. I don’t know what to say.”
Lena looped a warm arm around Sadie’s waist. “Me, either.”
“Well, that doesn’t help.”
They turned and headed toward the building. “It’s so pretty, isn’t it?” Lena asked. “Like a school or something.”
“I was thinking the same thing.”
The realization that Lena was dreading this as much as her crept up on Sadie and gave her courage. She hooked her arm around Lena’s shoulders. “Anda, hermana. Hagamos esto.”
Come on, sister. Let’s do this.
Lena dropped her arm from Sadie’s waist with a laugh. “Your Spanish still sucks.” They began walking toward the door. “After all these years, you still sound like you’re reading out of a text book.”
“Because the only Spanish you taught me was how to cuss out a man.”
Lena let loose a torrent of Spanish, speaking too quickly for Sadie to even follow. She picked up on a few words. Balls. Dull. Knife.
“And you wonder why you can’t keep a man.”
“They play with fire, they know they might get burned.”
Sadie pulled open the door and the ribbing stopped as they stepped into the cool, hushed reception room. Gooseflesh rose on Sadie’s arms. The room was classic Charleston doctor’s-waiting-room decor: lots of burgundy and green. Palm trees on the upholstery and Jim Booth prints on the wall. Oriental rug on the floor. A pretty young woman smiled at them from a desk with nothing on it but a telephone. Amazing. Sadie hadn’t seen her own desktop in years.
“Hello. How may I help you?”
Lena approached the desk. She answered in a hushed voice that matched the low tones of the receptionist. “We’re here to see our grandfather, Luis Acosta.”
Gooseflesh stirred back to life and Sadie hugged her arms to her belly. What if someone was dying right now? Her mouth went dry and her heart began a sickeningly fast run of beats. What if Abuelito was? What if he didn’t look like himself? What if he was gross and gruesome and... She snapped herself out the thoughts with a physical jerk. Sadie, you are a grown woman, not a child afraid of the boogeyman.
A buzzing noise made her jump. So much for not being a child. Sheesh, it was only the door. The door to the back. Where people are dying.
She pressed her fingers against Lena’s warm palm. Lena squeezed back tight, bolstering Sadie’s courage. The clichéd waiting-room decorations ended at the door. They were in a hospital corridor. The hospital smells, faint as they were, washed over her. Antiseptic and stale, cool air. The silence of the waiting room followed them and their footsteps seemed to crash loudly in her ears. A faint beep, the squeak of a nurse’s shoe on the polished linoleum floor.
“Room fourteen,” Lena murmured. She didn’t let go of Sadie’s hand.
They stopped outside Lito’s room and looked at each other. Lena’s lips trembled as she tried to smile. Sadie suddenly felt ashamed of her selfishness. This was Lena’s beloved grandfather. She’d grown up with him. He was her blood. Her heart had to be breaking harder than Sadie’s. She should be comforting her friend, not the other way around. She lifted a fist to knock on the door.
“Ready?” she whispered. She knocked when Lena nodded.
Lena’s aunt Estrella was sitting with Luis. She kissed Lena on both cheeks and did the same to Sadie. She picked up her purse. “I’m going to take a little walk while you visit,” she said.
Sadie watched her go as Lena crossed the room to kiss Abuelito. When she turned to face the man in the bed, her forced smile faltered a little. She had not known Luis in his prime, but when she’d met him twelve years ago, he’d been a handsome gray-haired man, his body a little thick with age, his hands gnarled from years of manual labor. Now he lay small and wasted, the white sheets showing how pale his usually swarthy complexion had become. On numb feet, she crossed the room to kiss his cheeks. When had this happened? The last time she’d seen him, he wasn’t this pale, tiny little bird of a man.
“Ah, my favorite granddaughters,” he said, and at least his voice was the same, rich and thickly accented.
They sat on either side of the bed. Sadie kept her eyes on his hand, clasped in hers. How many times, she wondered, had his hand snuck a ten-or twenty-dollar bill into her purse or pocket? And once he’d learned her secret vice, how many bags of jelly beans had he hidden in similar fashion? A smile curved her lips and she dared to look up into his face. His eyes were the same, too. Two black pools that could have been hard but never were. Always warm, always kind. She wondered how he managed it in a world that had not always been warm or kind to him. Maybe it was because of his trials that he learned to be kind.
He glanced from Lena to Sadie and back again. “It’s hard for young people to say goodbye.” A small sound escaped from Lena and he turned to her. “No tears, my little Lena. No tears.”
“I can’t help it. I’m going to miss you so much.” Lena bent to press her forehead against his hand.
He squeezed Sadie’s hand and turned to her. “Gatita. Can you give me a minute alone with Magdalena?”
“Sure,” she said through numb lips. A stab of painful jealousy speared her. Tears started in her eyes. She bent her head to kiss his hand before stepping out.
In the hall, she leaned against the wall and covered her eyes. Of course he’d want to talk to Lena. She was his real granddaughter. Who was she? The stray gatita who’d hung around their porch for a few scraps tossed her way. Her throat closed up painfully. She crossed her arms against her chest and lifted her chin. So what, Sadie? Status quo. You knew you weren’t family. You don’t have one. The end. Suck it up and deal with it.
After a few minutes, the door opened and Lena came out, wiping her eyes with a tissue. She handed a clean one to Sadie. “He wants to talk to you now.”
The warmth of the request quickly extinguished the flare of guilt. Why did she always assume the worst? Why couldn’t she fully believe people cared about her? You know why. The whisper came from deep inside the darkest secret of her soul. A secret no one but she knew. She entered the room and he motioned at the chair beside the bed and held out a hand.
“Sit by me, Gatita. I have something to say to you.”
She sat and took his hand in hers. “I want to say something first, please. I never thanked you for what you did for me.”
His free hand squeezed hers with a strength that surprised her. “Look at me, Sadie.”
She met his eyes and the usual warmth there was gone, replaced by a sort of fearful earnestness she’d never seen before.
“Listen to me,” he said. His tone was as urgent as the look in his eyes. “You have done nothing wrong. Your mot
her was a fool not to get you back. I don’t know why she couldn’t keep you, and I don’t care. None of it was your fault. You were a wonderful child. And you’ve become a wonderful woman. She should be ashamed she didn’t try. I would have been proud to call you daughter.”
Sadie pressed her cheek to the top of his hand as a ragged sob ripped from her throat. “Lito,” she whispered. She wanted to give in to the pain his words stirred and cry the hot, hard tears she’d shed so many of in her life, but not now. She had to say these things. She couldn’t let this man die without knowing. “I used to pretend you were my real grandfather and you all were my real family.”
He pulled a hand free to cup her cheek. “We are your real family, Gatita. Real family is bound by love as well as blood. We all love you.”
It took a while for her to get the tears under control. When she did, she lifted her head and scrubbed at her eyes. “Thank you for showing me what a family is. I know Lena’s parents thought I’d be a bad influence on her. I know it was you who made them give me a chance. I was so lost back then. But you showed me how not to be afraid. Thank you.”
“If I’ve done nothing else in this life, then that will be enough for me to enter heaven with a smile. Never be afraid of love, Sadie. You deserve it. You are worthy of it. Don’t let her failure be your legacy.” He caught her chin in his hand and titled her face up to meet his eyes.
“Lito, there’s something else. I need you to tell me what to do. I got a letter from my half brother.”
“What did it say?”
“I don’t know. I’m afraid to read it.”
“Ah, Gatita. He’s your blood. Read it. Give him a chance. Promise me.”
“I promise.”
An easy promise to make to comfort a dying man. But it wasn’t that easy. Because he didn’t know the entire truth. Her mother not only never tried to get her back, but signed away her parental rights so she could go marry a man and have his children. It wasn’t that her mother didn’t want children. She hadn’t wanted Sadie. And she wanted to hate those children. Not be a part of them.
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