“Yell if you need something.” He tipped his head toward the office. “Right this way.”
They walked together and he opened the door. She went in. “Joyce is off with her sister, I take it?”
“Soon to be. Beryl gets in around seven. I hired a car to pick her up from the airport and bring her straight here. Joyce is at her place, putting the last-minute touches on everything, I imagine.” He closed the door. “She did a lot of extra work today, what with Kyle and Ruthie showing up.”
“Did you know they were coming?” She shook her head. “I feel like you would have mentioned that.”
“I didn’t. Joyce didn’t, either, although she told me she’d been emailing Kyle, trying to get him to talk to me.”
Harper lifted her brows. “I’d say she did that and then some.”
Mitch laughed. “That’s for sure. Come on, let’s sit.”
She took one end of the couch, he took the other. “You never mentioned Ruthie.”
His eyes widened in emphasis. “I didn’t know about her. Until today.” He explained what Kyle had told him about Addison not wanting the baby, how Kyle had persuaded her to have it, then how Addison had asked them to leave.
Harper sat listening, mouth open in shock. “What kind of a mother…”
“I know,” Mitch said. “But they’re here now and everything’s going to be fine. Kyle and I talked a lot today. We’ve forgiven each other and we’re moving on. It’s what Jeanie would want. Especially with Ruthie in the picture.”
“She’s precious.”
Mitch’s wide smile returned. “She’s the most perfect child I’ve ever seen. I know Kyle was a baby, too, but I was stupidly not as involved with all of that as I should have been. That’s going to be different.” He lifted his chin slightly. “I already changed a diaper.”
“Did you?” Harper tried not to laugh. “And you lived to tell about it?”
Mitch rolled his eyes at her. “I also helped Joyce give Ruthie a bath. I am going to be fully involved. As much as Kyle will let me.”
“So they’re going to be staying here.”
“That’s the plan. This is their home as much as it is mine. Kyle’s back in his old room and we’ve got Ruthie set up in the guest room.”
“I guess you won’t be adopting a dog, then.”
“Actually, I still want to do that. I think it would be great for Ruthie to grow up with an animal. Kyle loves the idea. And why not? There’s room. And money’s not an issue.”
“Then I’ll keep researching. By the way, I won’t be around tomorrow. The three of us are driving up to Jekyll Island to meet Buck. Frankie’s and my biological father.”
His brows lifted. “Big day.”
She nodded. “Not as big as yours, but yes. I have a good feeling about him, but that might just be projection. I really want this meeting to go well, for Frankie’s sake.”
“Because of Sharlene.”
“Exactly.”
“I hope it goes well, too.” He glanced at the door. “Having Kyle home is really good. Finding out about Ruthie feels like this unexpected blessing I didn’t know I needed. I can’t express how much I love that child and I’ve known her for less than a day.”
Harper smiled. “I get it. I felt that way about Willa when she was born, and then Jason, her brother. But I can see it in you, too. There is something new and bright about you. It’s wonderful.”
“I would die for that little girl. I mean that. I feel that fiercely protective of her.”
“She’s a lucky baby to have you for a grandfather.”
He laughed, sniffing softly and staring at his hands. “Kyle and I put a crib together today. It’s the first time we’ve done something as father and son in more years than I can tell you. It was nice.”
“I bet it was. Was it his old crib?”
