“Yay!” Sylvie beamed. “What should we do?”
“Well, first Nora will need to phone her boss and explain about this mysterious noncontagious illness.”
I shoved him playfully and jumped down off the stool. “Where’s my purse?”
“It’s not even nine o’clock yet. Will she be in?”
“Yup. Leah’s usually at the store by eight thirty.”
The buzzer for the apartment sounded as I found my purse and I looked over at Aidan in surprise. It was a little early for visitors. He frowned as he got off his stool to answer it. “Could be Laine,” he said. “She’s back from that job in Paris.”
I had no idea what job in Paris. I’m sure Aidan had probably mentioned it but I tended to switch off when Laine was mentioned. She still wasn’t forgiven for saying those humiliating things about me.
However, it wasn’t Laine.
“Aidan, it’s Cal,” the masculine voice crackled over the buzzer.
Aidan froze for a second and then reluctantly pressed the entrance button.
“Uncle Aidan, what’s Daddy doing here?” Sylvie said, slipping off the stool and hurrying over to him. Even though she was tall for her age, she’d never looked so young standing there in her Hello Kitty pajamas and slippers with her short hair a mass of tangled, golden silk. Her little face was pinched with worry.
“I don’t know, sweetheart. I guess we’ll find out in a minute.”
After Aidan opened his apartment door, the three of us stood together. It occurred to me we were like soldiers on a front line, awaiting an enemy attack.
It wasn’t how we should have felt about Sylvie’s dad but it was how we’d been made to feel. If he’d only been honest with Aidan from the start, this whole damn thing might not have been so messy. Instead, there was a whole lot of resentment waiting for him in this apartment.
A fist appeared first to knock on the open door, and then Cal stepped inside, his smooth expression tightening as he took us in, standing with our legs braced and our arms crossed over our chests.
Following in behind him was a tall, attractive brunette. She wore an expensive-looking, tailored herringbone coat that fitted her slim figure to perfection, black leather gloves, and black heeled boots. Dangling from the elbow of one arm was a black Kate Spade handbag.
Her striking light gray eyes took us in and her pretty mouth pursed in displeasure.
Cal gave his daughter a weak smile. “Morning, baby doll.”
“Hi, Daddy. What are you doing here?” She looked up at him with too much suspicion and concern for a little girl.
After a moment of uncomfortable silence, Cal cleared his throat and spoke to Aidan, although he didn’t look him in the eye. “We need to talk. In private.”
“About what?”
Cal sighed heavily. “In private, Aidan.”
“And I asked, about what?”
His tone was the equivalent of the patio door sliding open and letting in the October morning chill.
Cal looked down at Sylvie. “Baby doll, why don’t you take Sally and show her your room?”
“No.” Aidan shook his head.
Cal scowled. “Sally, take Sylvie and get her washed and dressed.”
Sally made to move forward but Aidan held up a hand, warding her off. She was smart enough to stop. He spoke without taking his eyes off Cal and his fiancée. “Pixie, you take Sylvie into her room.”
And so I took a reluctant Sylvie away from whatever was happening out there, feeling uneasiness crash over me.
“What’s happening, Nora?” Sylvie’s mouth trembled as she gazed up at me with limpid fear in her eyes.
“I don’t know, sweetie.” My voice shook, probably only intensifying her worries, but I had a horrible feeling in my gut. “Let’s get you dressed.”
I had gotten her into the bathroom and she was brushing her teeth when I heard Aidan yell, “Over my dead body!”
Sylvie whimpered as my eyes grew wide.
What the hell was going on?
“Let’s hurry up, sweetie.”
“Nora?”
“It’s okay.”
“Don’t you fucking dare!” Aidan roared.
“Don’t you talk to her like that!” Cal yelled back.
“This is my home. Get the fuck out!”
“Not without Sylvie.”
I felt her little hand curl around mine, bringing my startled gaze down to her. “Clothes on, Sylvie,” I whispered, hurrying her into clean underwear, jeans, and a sweater.
The yelling continued from the front of the apartment but I couldn’t stay in the bathroom with her forever, and I hated that Aidan was out there with no backup for whatever the hell was going on.
Holding tight to Sylvie’s hand, we hurried back out to them to find Aidan still in a face-off with Cal and Sally. “What is going on?”
Cal turned to me, his expression pleading. “Unfortunately, my new boss wants me over in San Francisco a few weeks earlier than we’d planned. Sally and I are leaving in ten days and that means Sylvie is too. We thought it best to come get her now, so we can adjust as a family for a few days before we head to the States. We have to talk with her school and get her transferred to a local school over there. It makes sense if she’s with us while that all happens. Most of her things can be sent for once we’re over there.”
“No!” Sylvie shouted immediately.
Cal’s face fell. “Baby—”
“No!” She ripped her hand from mine and fled. Her bedroom door slammed shut behind her.
Incredulous and furious, I shot her father the dirtiest look in my repertoire. “Don’t you think a little warning would have been nice?”
“We didn’t get any warning—” Sally began but I cut her off.
“I meant for Aidan and Sylvie. You couldn’t have picked up a phone and called Aidan to explain? I’m assuming you found out about this before this morning?”
He nodded.
“When?” Aidan bit out. The muscles in his biceps bulged with tension as he held them across his chest, as if trying to contain himself.
Again, Cal wouldn’t meet his eyes. “Yesterday morning.”
“You dirty bastard.” Aidan moved for him but I gripped his arm to halt him. “You knew about this at the meeting with our lawyers yesterday?”
When Sylvie’s dad didn’t reply, Sally sighed, as if we were causing a fuss for no reason. “We knew that you would try to stall everything and we don’t have time for that, Aidan. It was best to do it like this.”
“It was callous to do it like this,” I retorted.
“This is really none of your business.”
I glared at her. “This man and that beautiful little girl are my business.”
“Aidan, please,” Cal said, his expression seeming genuinely remorseful. “You’re right. This wasn’t the best way, but none of this is going to be easy on Sylvie. I thought it was better to rip the Band-Aid off. I’ve been weak, too afraid to ask for what’s mine. But she is mine and I want her home with me. Now.”
At Aidan’s continued silence, Sally threw her hands up. “For goodness’ sake, she belongs to Cal. Legally. We will call the police if we have to.”
“Sally,” Cal warned.
She huffed. “It’s true.”
He seemed to plead with her to be quiet. “This is her uncle, not her goddamn kidnapper.”
“Just give me today with her,” Aidan said, the words hoarse. I stepped closer into him, hearing the pain in his voice, even if these selfish assholes were too deaf to hear it.
“I wish I could, I do, but we’ve got too much to get done. And it’ll be hard no matter when we do this. Let’s get it over with. And anyway, you travel all the time to California. You’ll see her soon.”
Fury threatened to explode out of me. “You can’t even give him one day to say goodbye to his kid?”
“Not. His. Kid,” Sally enunciated coldly. “Now move out of our way or,” she held up her phone, “I will call the police.?
??
When Cal didn’t say anything to stop her this time, I reluctantly stepped aside and guided a rigid Aidan out of the way too.
Cal strode by us, his cheeks flushed, whether with embarrassment or anger, I couldn’t say. His bitch of a fiancée marched at his back, throwing me a smug look I wanted to wipe off her face. How could it be that Sylvie was going to be raised by that cow?
Powerlessness held me immobile, unable to say anything to soothe Aidan, who I think had disappeared too deep inside himself for me to reach anyway.
“No!” I heard Sylvie sob. “Daddy, no!”
“Tell me what you want to take with you, darling,” Sally said in a surprisingly placating voice. “You don’t want to leave anything behind you love.”
Uh. What about her uncle, you stupid asshat!
“Daddy, no, let me stay,” she cried so hard. Tears burned my eyes, my throat so tight, it was painful.
A few minutes later Cal walked out of the room with a tearful Sylvie in his arms; a far more subdued Sally followed with a small suitcase of Sylvie’s in hand.
“Uncle Aidan!” Sylvie shrieked and struggled to get out of her dad’s arms. Visibly distressed, Cal lowered her to the ground and she threw herself at her uncle.
Aidan caught her in his arms, holding her so tight, his eyes closed in obvious agony. Sylvie clung on fiercely, begging him not to let her go. “Shhh, baby girl, shhh,” he said, voice trembling. “It’ll be okay.”
But nothing he said could quell her tears and after five minutes of Cal quietly asking her to come back to him, her father lost his patience and hauled her out of Aidan’s arms.
“NO!” she screamed, holding her arms out to Aidan as Cal strode away. “Uncle Aidan! Nora! Uncle Aidan! Nora! NO!”
I sobbed, looking down at my feet, unable to watch, wishing I couldn’t hear that little girl scream all the way out into the hall.
And then to my absolute horror, I heard Aidan cry out and looked up in time to watch his knees give way. I reached for him, falling to my knees too, wrapping my arms around him. He fell against me, one fist curled tight in my shirt, the other in my hair, and I listened to him struggle to breathe through the tears he’d tried so hard to hold back.
I called in sick to work after all, but it wasn’t to spend a bittersweet day with two of my favorite people. It was to take care of one of them.
Devastated was too underwhelming a word for how Aidan felt. I was devastated for him. The remembered sounds of Sylvie’s pleas would pierce through our silence, making me wince every time, and I could only imagine that sound was on a constant loop in Aidan’s mind too. Grief and exhaustion from having so little sleep the night before hit him and he passed out on the couch.
While he was out, I called in sick and set about looking through his fridge and cupboards to see what I could make him to eat when he woke up. Finding the ingredients to make a quick pasta salad, I thought about Sylvie’s bedroom as I worked. All of her things would have to be packed up and I’d rather I be the one to do it than him.
My eyes flew over to him every ten seconds, like I was afraid he’d disappear too. His large, long body was sprawled out on the couch as he slept. A big, strong guy who worked out five days a week and was one of the most potently masculine men I’d ever met.
It gutted me to see him knocked down like this.
As I chopped tomatoes, I began to seethe, wondering what the hell could be wrong with a person that they’d be so selfish as to cause the scene that I’d witnessed this morning. I worried for my sweet girl growing up with a man and woman as selfish as Cal and Sally. It wasn’t that I was blind to the truth. Sylvie was Cal’s daughter and it was his right to raise her. But I hated how it was always on his terms. He was too busy with his career to be around much when she was younger, but now that he’d finally decided to grow up, he demanded his parental rights—to hell with how much of a wrench it would be, not only for Aidan but for Sylvie.
My phone buzzed on the kitchen counter and I hurried to answer it so it wouldn’t wake Aidan. It was Seonaid. “Hey,” I whispered.
“Nora? Why are you whispering?”
“Aidan’s sleeping.”
“Oh.” She sounded sly.
I flinched. “No. Not oh. Something happened.”
“Aye, I popped around Apple Butter to see if you wanted to grab a quick lunch and your nutty boss said you were sick?”
I felt tears choke me and I found I couldn’t quite get the words out.
“Nora? What’s going on?”
“You know how I told you Sylvie’s dad wanted full custody.”
“Yeah.”
“He came and took her this morning. No warning, nothing. Him and his witch of a fiancée barged in here and literally ripped her out of Aidan’s arms. There was nothing he could do.” I sniffled, swiping angrily at my tears. “There was nothing I could do for him.”
“Jesus fuck,” Seonaid bit out. “That’s bloody awful.”
“They’re taking her to the States and they couldn’t even give him a day. One goddamn day to spend with her. What is wrong with these people? And they’re going to be responsible for raising her. I’m so worried for her, Seonaid.”
“Oh, babe, I’m sure her dad will take good care of her. He’s a prick but he’s her dad. And he hasn’t been horrible to her, has he?”
“Other than today? No,” I admitted reluctantly. “He loves her. But he’s so selfish.”
“I’m so sorry, Nora. I’m so sorry for Aidan. Is there anything I can do?”
“Thank you, but no. I’m going to stick around here today, make sure he’s okay.”
“Well, call me if you need me.”
I told her I would and we hung up. Aidan shifted on the couch and I tensed, hoping I hadn’t woken him. He didn’t move again, though, and I continued preparing lunch so it would be ready when he did wake.
A little while later, I was sitting at the counter with a hot mug of tea to warm the chill deep in my bones when Aidan groaned and sat up slowly. I watched him, pretty sure my heart was in my eyes, as he raked his hands through his disheveled hair. Then he rubbed them over his face, his shoulders slumping as if he’d just remembered what he was waking up to.
Sensing my gaze, he glanced over and I tensed at the dull sadness in his eyes.
“I made some lunch for you, if you’re hungry,” I said, my voice sounding small in the large space.
He shook his head. “I’m fine.”
“Aidan …” I bit back tears and he looked away, the muscle in his jaw flexing. “Maybe we should call someone or … I don’t know.”
“There’s nothing to be done,” he said, his tone flat, empty. “Whether it happened today, tomorrow, or a week from now, it wouldn’t have been any easier.”
Anger flashed through me. “But you would have known it was coming. It was despicable the way he did that! For you and Sylvie. God—”
“Nora, please,” he snapped, eyes burning with feeling now. “I was there, for fuck’s sake. I don’t need to relive it.”
Hurt, I clamped my lips closed and reminded myself this man was going through hell. I could forgive him for a bad attitude today of all days.
“What can I do?”
“There’s nothing to do.”
And he meant it.
For the next few hours, Aidan sat looking out his patio door window, his thoughts a million miles away. His body might as well have been too because he was giving off serious stay-back vibes. So I did. A few times his phone beeped and he replied to whoever it was, yet he never said a word.
But I wasn’t leaving him.
Toward dinnertime, I somehow managed to get him to agree to eat the pasta salad I’d whipped up. He was sitting at the counter, eating and staring sullenly at the same kitchen cupboard door when there was a knock at the door. It was a warning knock, not a request for entry, because the next sound was heels on the hardwood floor, and suddenly Laine was standing looking at Aidan.
What was she doing here
?
And then I saw her tortured expression and I knew. She was the one he’d texted earlier. My stomach sank as I wondered if he’d asked her to come. I looked at him and he stared back at Laine with the same empty chill in his eyes he’d given me, which shouldn’t have reassured me but did.
“I know you said not to come,” Laine said softly. “But I had to make sure you were okay. Are you? Okay?”
She didn’t look at me.
Not once.
“Stupid fucking question, no?”
Laine winced. “You know what I meant.” She took off the gray winter coat she had on and walked over to the couch to lay it and her handbag on it. Then to my annoyance, she unzipped her boots and placed them neatly behind the couch. Turning to face us in skinny jeans and a stylish cream sweater that probably cost more than what I made in a month, I felt my insides twist with petty jealousy.
It was wrong, when all that should have mattered was that Aidan was surrounded by people who loved him, but I didn’t like her. Maybe if she hadn’t insulted me in every way possible, I might have grown to get over my jealousy.
Laine looked at Aidan’s back with longing she didn’t even bother to hide.
Yeah … even if she hadn’t been a bitch to me, I probably wouldn’t have been able to get over the fact that she was in love with him. Because clearly, she was. Right?
Finally, unable to avoid my gaze any longer, she looked at me. “You look tired, Nora. Have you been here all day?”
“The three of us fell asleep last night watching movies,” I told her, wanting her to know how close I’d grown to Sylvie and Aidan. “I was here when Cal and Sally came for Sylvie.”
At my visible distress, Laine’s eyes widened with concern. “How is Sylvie?”
Aidan tensed beside me and I placed a comforting hand on his arm. He ignored it. I squeezed him anyway and let go. “We don’t know. She wasn’t good when she left.”
“No, I bloody imagine not. I could kill Cal!” Laine marched past us and into the kitchen. I watched warily as she reached up and pulled open one of the cupboards. Grabbing a bottle of barely touched Macallan whisky, Laine shut the doors, opened the glasses cabinet, pulled out two glasses, and placed them in front of Aidan. He pushed his plate out of the way and waited patiently as Laine poured out two glasses.