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“There was a fire and—”
“Arson, you mean.” Stacie wasted no time correcting him. “And I know this is because of your house guest.”
“Right on both counts,” he said.
The line went dead silent.
Then she said, “You have to choose between her and the girls.”
He didn’t like the demanding tone she used or the not-so-subtle threat. “Says who?”
“My parents, for one,” Stacie returned. “And me.”
“You?”
“Yes,” she said with a little more fire in her tone this time.
“What do you have to do with it?” he asked.
“Darren, I don’t think I’ve been secretive in telling you that I’m the best replacement for my sister.” She’d said it like it was a job and she was the best candidate.
For this, he left the room and headed into the office. “We’re not talking about a nanny job here.”
“No,” she replied. “We aren’t. But you and I dated once. We had a spark and I think we can build something real on it.”
There’d been no real attraction on his side. She was nice. They’d dated once to test the waters. “I appreciate how much you want to do what’s best for the girls.”
“And for us,” Stacie interjected. “Hazel was always the fun one between the two of us, but I’m stable and won’t aban—”
“Hazel’s death was an accident,” he warned. “So, I’m going to stop you right there before you say something you’ll regret.”
“She was reckless riding those ATVs and pushing the speed, Darren. We both know it.”
“I’m about to end this call,” he said. “Call back when you get your head on straight again. Okay?” He couldn’t afford to anger the whole family, but this was out of line. “I’m about to hang up now if you don’t say something.”
“Are you sure you won’t reconsider?” she asked. “Am I so horrific you can’t see yourself with me. Ever?”
Again, he wasn’t touching that statement.
“It’s not about that,” he said. “I was married to your sister, and we had these two lovely girls. It doesn’t sit right with me to move on to my dead wife’s sister.”
“Well, putting it like that makes it sound different than I intended,” she whined. “We would be two people committing to a life together. Two people who love those girls more than anything else.”
“They’re beyond lucky to have an aunt who is willing to sacrifice real love to make sure they’re okay,” he said, hoping it was enough to deflect this conversation for good. He had a sneaky suspicion it might come up again and he was already dreading the day. “And I appreciate the sacrifices you are willing to make for them.”
Again, the line went quiet. Stacie didn’t like what she was hearing but she wasn’t rushing to respond.
“Keep me in mind,” she finally said with an unusual calm. “It might be the best way for you to keep custody of the girls.”
“Are you threatening me?” Darren didn’t bother to hide the indignation in his tone.
“It’s just my parents are, well...let’s just say that I could tip the scale in your favor if we were together,” she said.
Hell’s bells. What was he supposed to say to that?
Rather than get worked up, he thanked her for the heads-up, and then ended the call. Were his former in-laws ready to fight? If it came down to a contest of who had more money, they would win.
The thought of losing his girls shook him to the core.
