And that was how I spent my night—Gideon trying to help me with a project he knew nothing about and me fighting off hishelpfulhints. He distracted me when I got frustrated, looked up cheesy jokes to make me laugh and went and got takeout when my stomach growled. He fell asleep on the couch at three in the morning and I let him stay. I hadn’t had that much fun with a guy, with clothes on, in…years.
And I never let them stay. But him, I did.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Gideon
Cheryl pushed the courthouse’s glass doors open with so much effort they banged against the guardrail on the outside. She threw her hands up in the air, spinning around in a small circle before jumping onto me. I caught her, giving her the biggest hug I could. Pride, joy and a fierceness I didn’t recognize went through me. She’d held her ground—and walked away without having to take anything to court. “Gideon, I’m amped up. Like, I need to fucking buy a lottery ticket or go run three miles. I’m so happy. God.”
The tears started, not that I was surprised. My eyes had stung for a brief second when I’d watched the realization dawn over Cheryl’s face when her lawyer said no custody would be awarded at all. “I’m happy, too. Quinn deserves the best, and Vic is a piece of shit.”
“Sean had a theory that he was only after us to rope money out of you.” She said the words so matter-of-factly that I didn’t have time to digest them. “I’m beyond pissed that any lowlife would do that to Quinn, make her a pawn in a money scheme, but no one messes with my family.”
“We’re a pack of wolves,” I replied with a grin. My cheeks began hurting with all the muscles curving upward. “We can stop to buy some beer, cigarettes or your lottery ticket if you want. You deserve a treat.”
“We should get back to Quinn and Fiona, yeah?”
“I think they can wait a bit more. What do you want, Cheryl?” I sent a quick text to Fiona with an update—We won, but Cheryl needs a well-deserved drink. “Champagne? Tattoos? Drugs?”
She laughed and her long hair shook around her with each chuckle. “I want one glass of Champagne. There’s a place close to here that has great cocktails. You’re right. We deserve one.”
“You do. You’re the best fucking mom I know. Quinn is lucky to have you,” I said and squeezed her shoulder. I didn’t have to say anything more—she knew the words I wanted to say but didn’t.
She nodded and leaned into me as we made the short walk to a dive bar near the courthouse. It had a small sign on the front, but all locals knew about Fritzie’s. A couple of walkers gave me a nod, but not one person had the crazy look. The look where they demanded autographs or selfies. I sent a quick prayer up—this was about Cheryl.
We entered the bar and found a quiet booth in the back. A server appeared in less than a minute and brought out the drinks right after. We clinked the fragile glasses and Cheryl only said two words. “To family.”
I held her gaze, my emotion almost too much to handle. Our unique little trio had somehow survived unthinkable things. The abrupt death of our parents, Quinn’s dad abandoning them after six months and my injury that could’ve ended my career.
But we were still there. “I feel like I’ve lost weight. Like, ten pounds of stress,” Cheryl said after taking another long swig. Thankfully, the glasses weren’t too large and there wasn’t enough in there to get a buzz.
“No more stress. There isn’t anything he can do to try again, right?”
“Not unless he makes up for six years of child support. My bet is he doesn’t. No, not Vic. He couldn’t bring himself to buy diapers for her. He’s not going to weasel his way back into our life. Nope.”
I nodded, making a vow to keep an eye on the asshole. If he came sniffing back around, I’d deal with it. “He sure as shit won’t.”
“Can we head back? I just want to hug my girl.”
“Of course.” I got the bill and we were on our way back in my SUV. The atmosphere differed from the car ride there in every aspect. She chatted almost nonstop about what she and Quinn were going to do and I relished her joy. I didn’t realize how much her stress had wedged itself into my muscles, but now the situation had been dealt with, I felt free.
We parked in the garage and Cheryl didn’t wait a second for me before heading into my house. I’d offered to have Fiona and Quinn stay here, a place they both were familiar with. I ignored the quickening of my pulse at the thought of seeing Fiona. I’d seen her the past three nights, and the past three mornings, but today was different. She’d done me a favor.
“Mommy!” Quinn’s voice carried down the hall and I walked in just as she threw her little body at Cheryl. I instantly sought out Fiona, her blonde hair standing out in the foyer. She had it piled on top of her head in a ridiculous bun and wore tight yoga pants and an old sweatshirt. She had never looked so goddamn beautiful.
“How’d it go?” she asked and played with the end of her sweatshirt. “I’ve been anxious to hear about it. Cheryl looks happy, though.”
“I’ll tell you all about it. Let me get them going,” I replied and reached out for her hand. I squeezed it and enjoyed the slow curve of her lips. It was one of hersweetsmiles, where her skin crinkled around her eyes and a little dent formed beneath the left one. I adored that dent. “Quinn, are you going to give your second-favorite person in the world a hug?”
“Duh!” Cheryl passed her to me and I breathed in her kid-shampoo smell. My heart felt normal again and I gave her a noogie. “Uncle Gid! No! Fiona did my hair!”
“Did she now?” I set her down and raised an eyebrow at Fiona. She pursed her lips, looking way too smug.
“Yup. Come here, QT. I’ll fix it.” She got onto her knees when Quinn walked up to her. Fiona bent low, laughing as she brushed Quinn’s hair out of her face. My entire face got warm, my body tingling at the sight of the two of them. I pulled on the collar of my polo and gulped.Did they turn the heat on too high?
“Thanks, Cool Fiona.”
“You got it, girl. Anytime.” Fiona reached her arms around my niece and her gaze met mine over Quinn’s little shoulder.Fiona would be a great mom.I felt punched in the fucking chest. I blinked and went through the motions of walking Cheryl and Quinn out, taking my time before going in to face Fiona.What the fuck happened? Thoughts of her being a mom?Jesus Christ.
