Page 16 of Chasing I Do
Gage relaxed slightly, though his expression was the same anguish fueled one he’d worn at the funeral. And Darcy felt a most annoying tug to walk into his arms and talk about how much she missed those days. How much she’d missed him.
That he looked like he could use a hug too didn’t help—not that she planned on giving him one. She was afraid that once she was in his arms she’d let her guard down, hand over some of the stress. And then when he walked, and he would, she’d be right back where she’d been five years ago.
Without a word, he let out a tired breath and turned to look out at the rose garden, taking in their small cottage and the tire swing hanging from the old oak tree. Belle Mont House, with its acres of land, stunning city views, and homey feel was the perfect setting to raise a child, to instill security and confidence, and imagination.
She wondered what Gage saw when he looked out. What he’d think, when he got past the anger, of the life she’d built for herself and for Kylie.
“I get that you were hurt,” he finally said. “But how could you keep her from us? From Kyle?”
“How could I not?” she defended. “Your mother had me arrested, accused me of using Kyle for his money, then sued me for the engagement ring.” She could tell by the look on Gage’s face that he didn’t know about the last part. “Yeah, she had me served at my workplace, in the middle of a corporate event. My boss was not pleased, and I was humiliated.” She shivered at the memory. “I couldn’t bring Kylie into all of that.”
She paused, knowing what she was about to say would hurt, but knowing that the only way to start the healing on both sides was the truth. “Kyle knew I was pregnant. I told him the day I found out. It was why we sped up the wedding date.”
She watched as Gage slowly met her gaze, his own full of disbelief and unprecedented disappointment. He stared at her for a long moment, studying her as if he had something important to say, something that could make it all make sense, but when he opened his mouth, nothing came out.
“He wasn’t ready,” she said quietly
“He told you that?” He sounded so lost Darcy placed a hand on his arm, and this time he didn’t jerk away.
“He showed me,” she said, remembering how he’d promised to stop the cheating, be the kind of husband and dad they deserved. Only he hadn’t broken up with the intern, hadn’t stopped the late nights after, hadn’t lived up to his promise. So Darcy had walked, told him that he blew it as a husband, but he still had a chance to be a great dad, and that maybe they’d be better as co-parents than a couple.
But he’d blown that too.
“He actually said he wasn’t ready to be a dad?” Gage asked, disbelief thick.
“What kind of dad-to-be gets plastered enough to wrap his car around a tree, without a second thought of how it would affect his child?” Darcy said. “I didn’t want that legacy for Kylie. She didn’t deserve to grow up with the aftermath of all of our choices. Her happiness was my number one focus. It always will be.” She looked him dead in the eye. “Which is why I need you to leave.”
“No way.” He stepped back. “You can’t drop all of that on me and then expect to just disappear.”
“I’m not disappearing, Gage. I’m taking my daughter to dance class, and trying to avoid her walking into this.” She gestured to the aggressive stance he’d adopted. “Because that’s what mothers do.”
Chapter 5
“What part of no legal standing, did you misunderstand?”
Gage grabbed a beer from the fridge and shoved Rhett over so he could sit—on his own couch.
He took a long swallow, but it didn’t help. The sharp ache in his chest that had started the moment he’d realized Kylie was his niece, had only increased as the day had gone on. Coming home to find his brothers sprawled out on his couch, drinking his beer, and demanding answers he didn’t have, only made things worse.
He didn’t even want to acknowledge the dog cozied up on his leather recliner, wearing a Seahawks jersey and chewing on a bone twice the size of his head.
“Then let’s talk to another lawyer,” Josh, the oldest brother, and mediator of the family, said. He was dressed in his usual suit and tie, slicked up and looking like he’d just come home from dinner with the mayor—which being Portland’s most influential DA, he probably had. “A better one who will give us some actual answers.”
“I called three of the best family law attorneys in Portland,” Gage said, resting his head against the back of the couch. “Unless the parents are found unfit, they maintain full custody over the child. And since the father is deceased, full custody falls to the mother, who is Darcy.”
“So she can stop us from ever seeing our niece, stop Mom from knowing her only grandchild?” Owen, the hot head of the group asked, pouring himself two fingers of scotch. “That’s bullshit.”
“That’s the law.” Gage grabbed the bottle. “And that had better not be my good stuff.”
Owen took a sip, then leaned back, setting his socked feet on the coffee table. “You mean the one you keep hidden in the laundry room?”
“Dad gave me that.” Gage grabbed the bottle, then shoved his brother’s feet to the floor.
Owen might be the biggest of the brothers, and with his buzzed head and body art, he looked more like a bouncer than an up-scale bar owner, but he was starting to piss Gage off.
“What defines unfit? Because to me she became unfit the second she decided to keep Kyle’s kid from us,” Rhett said.
“She didn’t keep her from us. He’s even listed on the birth certificate as the father,” Gage said, now knowing the truth. He hadn’t just called a lawyer. He’d hired a PI to look into Kylie’s birth. And what he’d uncovered didn’t just leave Gage with more questions, it made him wonder what Kyle had been thinking that night.
