Page 87 of One Kind Goal

Chapter Fourteen

After Morgan left the cottage, Sawyer sat in that chair, waiting for the call with Lawrence and Austin’s agent, Cody. Figuring out a way to contain this mess was not what he wanted to be doing today. He wanted to be planning something fun to do with Nia and Morgan. He wanted more of what the three of them had enjoyed since coming to Maplehaven. He wanted the life he’d begun to think was possible.

His gaze landed on the Pegasus in the corner of the room. That winged horse had made Nia so happy. Morgan had given it up for his daughter, going so far as to buy it for her. The fact that she’d do that showed the media’s speculation about her being Nia’s mother wasn’t that far off the mark. Everything Morgan had been doing since meeting Nia had been done with a mother’s touch. Finding things to do that a kid would like. Making a swimsuit for Nia from a tank top and sleep shorts. Reading books to her. Buying her an Anchors shirt.

Looking as devastated as Sawyer when Carina took Nia away.

Morgan’s actions had clearly demonstrated her ability to play the part of a mother. No wonder Carina was so mad. Carina had spent the last four years of her life caring for Nia and the internet had decided Nia belonged to someone else with a few seconds of video footage. What a slap in the face. Especially because Morgan had only been in Nia’s life for a few days.

But full custody? Sawyer couldn’t stand by and let that happen. Not after knowing what spending solid blocks of time with his daughter was like. Not after being able to play with her, eat with her, read with her, ice skate with her, ride in a helicopter with her, cheer at a hockey game with her . . . no, he couldn’t give all that up. Not now.

His phone buzzed in his lap and he hit the speaker button. “Hello.”

“Hi, this is Cody Kirkland, Austin Rayhill’s agent.”

“Sawyer Lundin.” He should probably say nice to meet you, but the circumstances weren’t nice. “Let me conference in Lawrence, the Anchors publicity person.” He found Lawrence’s contact and hit it.

“Hey, Sawyer,” Lawrence said.

“Hey. Mr. Kirkland is on the line as well,” Sawyer said.

“Please call me Cody,” Austin’s agent said. “I’ve reviewed the bulk of what’s online about yesterday’s debacle and from what I can see, we can totally spin this to pin it on the fan.”

“Agreed,” Lawrence said. “Unfortunately there’s no footage of that fan bumping into Miss Rayhill or pushing Mr. Rayhill, but I did come across a clip of him punching you, Sawyer.”

“You did?” Not that he was thrilled to have that out there for public viewing.

“Yes. It shows you looking back. Then he takes advantage of your split attention and pow. Right to your jaw,” Lawrence said. “Is your jaw bruised today?”

“It is.”

“So is Austin’s cheek,” Cody said. “He looks as if he’s in makeup for a fight scene in one of his movies.”

Sawyer squeezed his eyes shut. “Sorry that happened to Austin. What makes me really mad is that asshole fan walked away without a single scratch on him.”

“No, no,” Lawrence said. “It’s good that he did. We can use the fact that you and Austin didn’t rough him up even though he hit you.”

“Doesn’t that make us look weak?” Sawyer asked.

“Not if we play up the Being the Bigger Man angle,” Cody said. “By the time we’re done retelling this story, that fan will look like the hugest asshole in history and you and Austin will look like heroes who didn’t want to fight in front of women and children.”

“Speaking of children,” Sawyer said, “my biggest concern is that my daughter, Nia, was caught on film and in photos.”

“And the web thinks Miss Rayhill is the mother,” Lawrence added.

“We can clarify that,” Cody said. “We’ll put up pics of Morgan, state she’s Austin’s sister. We can leave it there if you don’t want her identified as your girlfriend, Sawyer.”

Sawyer chewed on his bottom lip, trying to think what would anger Carina the least. “Yeah, don’t say we’re together.” That hurt his chest to say that. “And can you make it clear she is not Nia’s mother?”

“Sure,” Cody said. “Why don’t we play up the angle that you and Austin are friends? Two stars out to a hockey game together as buddies. Austin brought his wife and his sister. You brought your kid who you’ve been spending time with now that you’re on the injured list.”

“That’s good,” Lawrence said. “It softens your image, Sawyer, if you didn’t fight because you wanted to be a good example for your daughter.”

This was all starting to feel a little slimy. As if it was staged or something, but Sawyer supposed it was the only way to get the internet to shut the fuck up.

And to get Carina to calm down.

“Do you want Nia’s mother identified?” Cody asked.