He tips his chin to Xena, grabs his coffee, and heads out the door.
“See? Told you he would do it.”
I laugh. “You didn’t tell me you would use my son to guilt him into it.”
She shrugs. “Meh. I know his weaknesses and exploit them at my leisure. You have siblings. I’m sure you know what it’s like.”
Speaking of siblings, didn’t Charlie say she was coming to work? I haven’t seen her since I came in.
“Where’s Charlie?”
Xena looks puzzled for a moment before she forces a smile onto her face. “Oh, yeah. I, umm, I sent her out to run some errands for the store. Some days I hate doing the shopping, you know?”
I nod, a barely perceptible slow up and down of my chin. I know she’s lying, but I don’t know why. You can bet I’ll figure it out, though, just as soon as this business with Lincoln’s dad is finished. Because no matter how much I want to know why my sister is lying to me, Lincoln is more important. Always.
“Now. What are you going to do if he wants to get custody?”
I spin my head to where Devon is now standing, apparently having snuck up on me when he finished with his phone call. He puts his coffee down and turns a chair around to straddle it.
“What do you mean?” I’m imagining the sound of panic tinging my voice, right?
“Well, if he wants to be involved, it’s not out of the question that he would want to have some sort of custody arrangement, right? If it were my kid, I’d want to have a formal agreement in place.” He shrugs. “It’s a litigious world, I’m afraid. Do you have a lawyer? Now that you’re on the Sleeping Dogs payroll, I’m sure Denise wouldn’t mind putting you in contact with one of ours.”
I knew I’d need a lawyer, but I naively thought I had time before I’d need to talk to one. Surely Archer doesn’t plan on trying for custody. That would be silly. I can’t imagine a court granting custody to a seasonal Santa Claus impersonator and occasional toy store worker. So I’m safe. Especially now that I’m back to work doing the media management for Sleeping Dogs.
“That’s probably a good idea, but I’m sure I can find a lawyer. I don’t want to put Denise out.”
Devon leans forward, crossing his arms on the back of the chair. “You need to get on it, then, darlin’. Because I’m sure this guy’s already thought of it.”
“Oh, okay.” Shit. That doesn’t sound good. My heart beats faster at the thought of having to share Lincoln. I’m not sure why I didn’t consider the possibility that he may want an official custody agreement. Did I think he’d be happy with the occasional visit? I’m beginning to second-guess my decision to find Lincoln’s father. At the very least, I should have been more prepared before I came here to track him down.
Stupid, Phoebe. So stupid.
“Oh, and Phoebe? I found out one more thing.” Devon passes me a slip of paper with the words Fade Toys and an address written on it. “This Archer guy? He doesn’t work at the toy factory. He owns it.”
Fuck. I guess he’s more than a seasonal Santa Claus and occasional toy store worker. He owns the damn factory. Maybe I should call Denise about a lawyer, after all.
Chapter 17
Special Delivery
Archer
“Okay,thanks,Mark.Bye.”
I slump back into my chair and run my hands through my hair
Phoebe was right. Not that I thought she was lying to me, especially not after getting to know her a little better during lunch. Something told me she wasn’t the type of person who would lie about this.
And the results from the paternity test have proved it.
I’m a dad.
I have a kid.
No.
I have a baby.
