Page 95 of You Know You Wanna

A sharp pang shot through me at the question, yet another reminder that he hadn’t suddenly decided to uproot their lives and move here so he and I could be together. Well, there goes that idea.

I sighed and shrugged in response. “I don’t know. They might insist on adult supervision for a flight, but you should really talk to them about that.”

And then, eventually, you’re going to have to talk to me about flights too. Unless your ex was right and I’m nothing more than a quick lay. In which case, I really need to un-involve myself before I get in so deep that I don’t know how to get out anymore.

49

REMINGTON

While Declan and I were working on the investment for Blue Pines Resort, he suddenly looked up at me and sighed. “Okay, man. Just tell me what’s going on. What did Jacqueline do this time? You’ve barely said two words that aren’t related to this deal since we sat down.”

“She hasn’t done anything, which is why I’m going to have to,” I said. “I was hoping she’d agree to let Lulu stay with me for the year if I offered her the money she wanted, but she’s still thinking and I’m running out of time.”

“Time for what?”

“To get sole custody before the end of the summer,” I said. “I figured that if she agreed to leave Laurene here for this year, I’d have the entire next year to fight for custody, but it doesn’t look like it’s going to work out that way.”

Declan arched both eyebrows at me. “Sole custody? Are you sure?”

“Yes.” I leaned back in my chair, knowing that this decision would affect him as well. “I have missed most of her life and I won’t miss another day, so I’m going to be making some changes.”

He held my gaze for a long beat, then grinned and clapped me on the shoulder. “Good call, bud. I’d say it’s about time, but better late than never. Fight for her, and if there’s anything I can do to help, let me know. Lulu might be your kid, but she’s the closest thing I’ve got, and no one is taking her away from us.”

His reaction made me feel relief. Nodding slowly, I grinned and shoved my chair back. “I’ve got to call my lawyer. You know what to do with all this, right?”

I motioned at the paperwork on the table and he rolled his eyes at me. “Same amount of experience as you, bro. Go call Janice. I’ll take care of this.”

When I’d told Jacqueline I still had my lawyer on speed dial, I hadn’t been exaggerating. Less than a minute later, I had her on the phone and I’d given her all the new, salient facts. Since she’d known exactly where we’d been before, it didn’t take long to catch her up, but the first advice she gave made me realize that I’d really just jumped back into the fire.

“I’ll need to meet with you about it this week,” Janice said. “You have a good case for sole custody, especially since it would be in Laurene’s best interest and because Jacqueline only came up with the boarding school idea after you agreed to joint custody, but we’d need to deal with it now. The sooner you can come in, the better.”

“I’m, uh, I’m in the Smoky Mountains right now,” I said. “Any chance we can get the ball rolling over the phone?”

She didn’t even pause. “No. You’re going to have to get back to New York. It’s going to take me a day or two to draw up the necessary papers, but once they’re ready, you’ll need to be here.”

“Okay,” I agreed, not hesitating even if it meant my time at the resort would be coming to an end sooner than I’d thought. “Call me when you’re almost ready and I’ll be there. I just have a few things I need to wrap up here.”

“See you soon, Mr. Ford.” She hung up.

Declan looked at me expectantly, clearly waiting for an answer. I dragged a hand through my hair and huffed out a breath. “I’m going to need to get back.”

“I thought you might,” he replied. “I’m happy to stay here and finish up with Alan. You should go.”

“Yeah. Yeah. Okay.” I slid my phone back into my pocket and headed for the door. “I need to go talk to Birdie about it. Call if you need me.”

“I won’t, but I will,” he said, chuckling, and I shut the door behind me.

As I walked to Birdie’s cabin, I took a good look around, taking my time to soak in the rustling of the wind through the leaves and the incredibly blue sky. I tried, but right now, I just couldn’t picture being back in New York in just a couple days, surrounded by skyscrapers and smog.

Okay, so it’s not so bad, but in comparison to here?

I shook my head at myself. In comparison to here, Manhattan was a concrete jungle, but it was also my home. Just last week, I told my daughter that we couldn’t move to every place we went to on vacation. It was about time I reminded myself of that same thing.

We’d had a great time this summer, but like all the other tourists, we had to head home soon. In my case, I’d be leaving behind more than just natural beauty, though. I’d be leaving behind a girl I hadn’t meant to get involved with but now couldn’t imagine living without.

I knocked on her door and waited until she called to come in. I pushed it open. Birdie stood in her kitchen, reading the instructions on the back of a package of something. She smiled when she saw me, set it down, and came over to wind her arms around my neck.

“This is a surprise,” she said. “I thought you were busy with Declan all night.”