Andrea grinned. “I wish I could bottle all that positivity and take it home. I haven’t seen the boys move so fast in ages.”
“All it takes is two dogs and the promise of a walk around the lake.”
“I’ll have to remember that. Be good for Diana, Charlie and Andy. I’ll pick you up as soon as I can.”
“There’s no rush,” Diana assured her. “If you get held up, give me a call. Ethan’s working late, so I’m staying at The Lakeside Inn tonight. We have some spare beds the boys can use.”
“That’s really sweet, but I’ll pick them up tonight.” Andrea stood and gave her sons a big hug. “Enjoy your walk.”
“We will,” Charlie said as he followed Diana and Andy out of the clinic.
She sat on the black plastic chair and sighed. “It’s been a long day.”
David held her hand. “How was your meeting with Scotty?”
“It was okay. The boys needed to hear the truth from him and I think they got it.”
“That’s good. I tried to call you, but I had to leave messages on your voicemail.”
Andrea frowned. “That’s funny. My phone was turned on all afternoon.” She bit her bottom lip and pulled out her cell phone. “I know what’s wrong.” She showed David the screen. “I had it on silent mode. I didn’t want any calls interrupting the meeting with Scotty.”
As soon as the ‘do not disturb’ setting was turned off, her phone let out a series of beeps.
David smiled. “It sounds as though I wasn’t the only person trying to get hold of you.”
Quickly, she checked the numbers that had called her. “I’ll just check I didn’t miss any calls from the café.” With a relieved sigh, she sat back in the chair. “Rosalie and Vanessa must have been okay.”
“They’re great workers.”
Andrea nodded. “I’m really pleased Pastor John recommended them. I can’t imagine running the café without their help.”
“How did you end up at the medical center with Kylie?”
“I took the boys to The Christmas Shop after we saw Scotty. Kylie was there with Nate. She thought she was having false labor pains, but it seemed worse than that. When they became really painful, I called Zac and he told us to come into the clinic.”
“She was lucky you were there.”
“Nate would have brought her into the clinic, but it was great the two of us could help her.”
“Is Scotty still going home tomorrow?”
Diana nodded. For her own sanity, she didn’t want Scotty staying in Sapphire Bay any longer than he had to. Once he was gone, she could breathe easier knowing she and the boys were safe. “He leaves on the ten o’clock flight from Kalispell. He’s filled out the forms to waive his parental rights. They should already be with the lawyers representing me and the boys.”
“How do you feel about that?”
“Honestly, I don’t know. I won’t have to worry about sharing custody with him and the boys won’t have to travel all the way to San Diego. But I’m worried about what they’ll say in a few years’ time.”
“Will Scotty tell you if he moves?”
“He said he will. He’s hoping Andy and Charlie will want to see him when they’re older. At the moment, they don’t want to spend any time with him. They don’t trust him.”
“I don’t blame them.”
“Neither do I. I asked him how he found us. He saw a Facebook post about the opening of the café. All it took was someone mentioning my name in the comments and he knew where we’d gone.” David’s hand tightened on hers and she sent him a reassuring smile. “Maybe Scotty finding us was for the best.”
“It can’t be any worse than what you’ve been through.”
“That’s true.” She looked down the corridor where Kylie, Ben, and Zac had gone. “It only seems like yesterday the boys were born. I hope Kylie’s okay.”
