Jeremiah
“Brody Pearson was called in today,” Sam announced, sitting across from me at my dining room table. “Is there anything he might tell the Feds that could be a problem for you?”
Brody Pearson was a young, spoiled, entitled brat. The son of a developer, he’d been born with a golden spoon in his mouth. Not even thirty yet and already worth millions, thanks to daddy giving him a job that he otherwise wouldn’t have landed on his own because he was a doofus.
He had no work ethic. Hell, he had no ethics, period.
I shrugged. “Nope. Never dealt with the kid. Can’t stand him. His father isn’t much better, though.”
“Did you meet with either of them?”
I sighed. “I met with them early on, when they first came to town. They asked to meet with me to discuss new development they had planned for Liberty. Once I heard their plans and realized that, like the other developers who caused problems in this town, they wanted the lithium in the ground – well, I told them they could take their pretentious asses right out of Liberty.”
“You didn’t take any bribes to work with them, maybe give them priority over development deals?”
“Hell no. I don’t want that garbage ruining Liberty. Do you really think I’m like that?”
Sam shook his head. “I know, Jeremiah. I know you’re not like that. I just have to ask the questions I’d ask any client.”
One of the babies cried out, giving me a reason to step away. I knew Sam was telling the truth – he had to ask. He couldn’t assume anything. But I hated having my ethics questioned, especially by someone I considered a friend.
I hated that anyone would think I would work with trash like that.
I left the dining room and walked into the nursery. Amelia was sleeping peacefully, in spite of her sister’s cries. I picked up Grace and double-checked Amelia, just to be sure she was fine. Being a new parent was scary, especially when I had no idea what I was doing. She was still breathing, just sleeping deeply. Maybe she was learning to sleep through the noise. If so, that might make things easier for me.
I rocked Grace in my arms, talking to her in soft tones, when Sam’s voice piped up from the doorway.
“Have you thought about who might care for the girls if you do see jail time?”
I cringed. “No, because I’m not going to see jail time.”
As I spoke the words, I knew I needed a plan. Just in case. I had to take care of these girls, no matter what. I had to plan for the worst and hope for the best.
“Do you know-”
“Can we talk about this out there?” I pointed to the hallway.
Amelia was sleeping, Grace was slowly going back to sleep. But it wasn’t just that. I couldn’t bring myself to talk about this in front of my girls. They were still too young to fully understand what was happening, but I still couldn’t do it.
Sam nodded and stepped out into the hallway.
Grace fell back to sleep in my arms, and as much as it pained me to put her down, I knew I had to finish my meeting with Sam.
I had to clear my name. Not just for me, but for them too.
I exited the room and closed the door behind me, meeting Sam back in the dining room.
“You seem distracted today. Is everything okay?”
Is everything okay? Is he fucking serious? Of course it’s not okay, I thought. I’m being accused of crimes I didn’t commit. My good name is being trashed. I might see jail time and lose my girls. And that didn’t even touch on the fact that I was sleeping with my best friend’s daughter. That was my own doing, my own fault – and I found that I felt less and less guilty about it as time passed. But it still weighed on me.
“Yeah, just a lot on my mind,” I answered. “I think that’s to be expected, considering the circumstances.”
Sam didn’t take a seat at the table, so neither did I.
I wasn’t sure there was much more to discuss until we knew more about Brody’s statement. His father had been brought in earlier in the week but hadn’t said much. It would be nice if one of them managed to clear my name, but I wasn’t holding my breath.
“Alright then,” Sam said, picking up his suitcase. “If you need to talk, you know where to find me. And if you figure out who you’d like to appoint as a legal guardian for the
twins, I can draft something up for you.”
I nodded. “Thanks, Sam. I’ll give it some thought.”
There was only one person I could think about that I’d trust with my girls. Someone I knew who would love them the way I did. A lump formed in my throat as I thought about the possibility of leaving them, but it made me feel better to imagine Elle caring for them in my place.
I saw Sam out and returned to the nursery. Both girls were sleeping peacefully now. They were little angels with delicate, pale skin and downy soft hair. They were still so tiny, as most twins are born premature. They weren’t born too early; we were lucky they didn’t have to stay in the hospital too long. Just a few extra days while Grace put some weight on. She was smaller than her sister, but only by a few ounces now.
They grew so fast. And even if I went to jail for only a few months, I’d miss so much. I couldn’t bear to think about it, but I knew I had to make the call.
I stepped out of the nursery and stared at my phone, preparing to dial Elle’s number.
Was I really doing this? Not just asking Elle to care for my girls, but everything else I was doing with her. After she left that morning, I thought about it long and hard.
She was right. We did have something.
I couldn’t resist her; she was everything I wanted in a woman. But she was supposed to be off-limits.
Didn’t mean I could resist her, though. Seeing her all worked up, so passionate to clear my name and do the right thing, I couldn’t stop myself from kissing her. She was wrong about Lauren being involved, but that didn’t matter.
She was doing it all for me. Well, for me and my girls.
Which is why I knew this was the right thing to do.
I dialed the number and pressed the phone to my ear.
She answered on the first ring. “Jeremiah? Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, everything is fine. But we need to talk.”
She was quiet for a second. “Okay… is this about last night?”
“Not really. It’s about my girls. Listen, it’s easier if we talk in person. Do you mind coming over?”
“Not at all. I’ll be right there. I’m just leaving the office now.”
“Perfect. Thank you, Elle.”
We got off the phone, and I went into the living room to wait. I relaxed into the sofa, running a hand across my chin and beard. What are you doing, Jeremiah? Carl would kill you.
Would he though, I wondered? If I treated his daughter well, made sure she was happy and taken care of, would it really matter?
Of course I had no answer for that. Kind of hard to ask a dead man for permission to date his daughter.
Ooo000ooo
Elle was dressed down compared to her usual work attire. A pair of grey dress slacks, a light pink silk top similar to the one from a few days before, but with some lace detail at the collar and sleeves. The same pink and grey scarf was tied around her neck. A light grey wool coat completed the ensemble, along with matching grey hat and gloves since it was pretty cold outside.
“Brr,” she said, stepping into the house. “The snow is really coming down.”
“There’s a fire going,” I told her. “Come on. Let’s get you in the living room.
I helped her out of her jacket, hanging it in the hall closet. She removed her gloves and hat, and even though she’d just been wearing a hat, her blonde hair still looked as flawless as ever. I’m not even sure how she did it, but she never looked not put together.
Except she had bedhead this morning, I remembered. And God, it was so sexy.
I didn’t even scold myself for the thought. Instead, I smiled, and Elle smiled back at me, oblivious to the picture in my head of her naked, in my bed, her hair messed up from the sex we’d had the night before.
Elle took a seat in a chair close to the fire, I sat closer to the babies. I didn’t get them too close to the fire in case it got too warm for them. Elle warmed her hands on the fire.
“So what did you want to talk about?” she asked.
Always straight to the point. I loved it. Most of the time.
“So I was talking to Sam earlier today, and he thinks I need to appoint a guardian for the girls. Just in case I do end up seeing some jail time.”
Elle turned in her chair, no longer facing the fire. She stared at me with a dead serious look on her face. “You’re not going to see jail time, are you?”
“Of course not,” I said, brushing off the concern with a wave of my hand. Amelia dropped her pacifier and fussed, so I plopped it back in her mouth.
The two of them were in bouncy seats, and I’d been playing with them before Elle had arrived. But they felt the tension in me, like she’d told me, and had been fussy on and off all evening. I hated giving them pacifiers, but the little things seemed to calm them. And I wanted to do anything I could to make sure they felt calm and safe.
“So why are you bringing this up?” Elle’s eyes narrowed in on me.
“Just in case, you know. It’s probably a good idea anyway, just in case something happened to me or-”
“Nothing is going to happen to you.” Her voice cracked.
“Elle, we never know what the future holds.”
“I know, but you can’t- I mean, you’re not allowed to-” she stammered. I could see the tears welling in her eyes, imagining the worst.
I rushed to her side, wrapping my arms around her. She’d already lost so much. Her father had died unexpectedly, and he had been so young. It wasn’t right, but those things happened.
And it could happen to me. A lot could happen to me, making it hard to raise my girls.
Elle rested her head against my chest, relaxing into me.
“I just need to make sure my girls are in good hands.
Just in case, Elle.”
She nodded, lifting her head. I wiped the tears from her cheek and stared into those deep, brown eyes. “Where do I come in with all this?”
“Well, if you’d be comfortable with it, I’d like to appoint you their legal guardian. You’re the only person I-”
“Yes, of course,” Elle interrupted, sitting upright to meet my gaze. “Of course, Jeremiah. You know I would do anything for those sweet babies. And you, of course.”
“That’s exactly why I’m asking you. I only trust you.”
I took her hand in mind and gave it a firm squeeze. She turned her attention to the girls. “Here’s hoping it doesn’t come to that, but you can count on me to take care of them.
No matter what.”
“I know you will.”
She turned her face toward me again, and I lowered my mouth to hers, kissing those sweet lips. She kissed me back, and it felt perfect. The warmth of the fire against my back, the warmth of her body to my front, and my girls safe and sound beside us. Everything just felt right.
It was hard to imagine anything could go wrong.
“The roads must be getting pretty bad out there,” I stated.
“They are,” Elle agreed. “And I haven’t seen any salt trucks yet.”
I nodded, smiling sheepishly. “Well, there’s no way I’m going to let you drive in that weather.”
“Are you asking me to stay the night?” A small smiled pulled at her lips.
“I’m not asking, I’m telling you. You’re not leaving tonight, not with weather like that. I need to keep my girls safe. And that means all my girls.”
She hugged me, standing up to wrap herself around me. Her lips pressed against my cheek, then moved to my mouth.
“I need to feed the girls and get them ready for bed,” I told her.
“I can help. Then we can finish what we’ve started.”
I didn’t argue with her. What was the point? We both knew where this was headed, and I decided it was better to not fight it. Not where Elle was concerned. She would get what she wanted.
And I wanted it too.