“Stay in bed,” Amy murmured.
“I have a meeting,” I told her. “You can go back to sleep.”
“Not after that,” she said, flopping back onto the pillows.
I went into the bathroom and turned on the water. I had stepped under the spray and was washing my hair when the door opened. I let the water run over my face then peered through the glass shower wall.
Amy was sitting on the counter, wearing my dress shirt and eating a huge piece of chocolate cake.
“Just enjoying the show!” she said and blew me a kiss when I poked my head out of the shower.
I wished I could have stayed in with her the whole morning. But I had a meeting.
I stepped out of the shower, wrapped her in my wet arms, and kissed her.
She shrieked.
“Am I making you all wet?” I growled.
“Absolutely,” she purred. She tasted like raspberries and chocolate cake.
She padded after me and jumped onto the bed while I dressed.
“Best view in the house,” Amy said, rolling over onto her stomach and kicking her feet. “You sure you can’t stay? It’s awfully early to go to work.”
I gave her one more kiss and fastened my tie. “Something’s come up. I had to schedule an early meeting,” I said, not wanting to delve into the ins and outs of my shit show of a family. I still had my doubts that our relationship would work out, and I didn’t want my life to become a horror story that she told on other dates.
I had tried to keep the story about my father’s last wedding as light and funny as possible.
Really, though, it had been horrific. The wedding had occurred right as my brother was undergoing treatment. I didn’t want to take him to the wedding, but he had been looking forward to it. Then his mother showed up, crashed the wedding, and screamed about how my father had ruined her life and stolen her kid. Then she tried to kidnap Alfie. All that was going on while my father was banging one of the servers.
“I will tell the doorman to have a car waiting for you whenever you’re ready.” I hesitated in the doorway. “I suppose I’ll see you back in Harrogate.”
“Yes,” she said, deflating slightly. “I guess you will.”
* * *
I feltguilty and shitty just leaving Amy like that.
But my brother was more important. He had to be more important.
“Tell me some good news,” I said to Josh and Eric when they showed me into their office in the Svensson Investment tower.
They looked at each other then back at me.
“We’re going to do the best that we can, but the law is not in your favor,” Eric said gently. “It’s pretty clear that guardianship can be revoked at any time.”
My vision swam. “But my father has never even been there. I took care of Alfie. I was there for him when he was sick. My father didn’t even pay child support.”
“And that is a big point in your favor,” Josh said. “We’re going to go with the child-abandonment angle. We’ll involve Child Protective Services and try to remove your dad’s custody. The fact that his mom has a felony and fled the country also works in your favor.” He flipped through the paperwork I had assembled.
“We’ll start working on a case,” Eric assured me. “In the meantime, just keep playing nice with your family. Don’t go overboard, but don’t start acting like you’re denying Alfie the right to see his father.”
I scowled. “That’s exactly what my father said.”
“He probably already talked to a lawyer,” Josh told me. “We’ll do our best. Leave the hard work to us. That’s what you’re paying us for!”
Eric patted me on the back. “The flower festival is this weekend, and Meg wants Hunter to enter. I’m sure misery would like some company. It will help take your mind off things.”
