Page 62 of Fallout
God. She hated Renee for what she’d done to Maddox and Jacob. What she’d done to Rylan and Mazey. Hated her for everything she’d put her own mother through over the years.
She couldn’t hate Donna in spite of what had happened today. She felt sorry for her. The woman Mallory had loved as a mother for more than half her life had just ruined any remaining hope that Mallory could have everything she longed for. And yet, she’d done it out of love.
Mallory could see that. They’d both done what they’d done with the best of intentions.
Then again, her father used to say the road to hell was paved with good intentions.
She could see now that she’d handled this all wrong. They should have been direct with Jacob. Possibly even made the first contact through lawyers. Ensuring the trust waiting for Maddox went to him was the most important thing in all of this. With that money he could have a wonderful life and be kept safe from his mother.
That had been Mallory’s aim when she’d first agreed to go to Sunnyville. That and fostering a relationship between grandmother and grandson.
The point where it had all gone wrong was that first sighting. That first in-person meeting. Even without speaking to Jacob, a connection had formed and she’d been powerless to break it.
She knew what it was. It had taken barely minutes, sitting on a rug beneath an old oak tree, to fall for Maddox. And Jacob? Maybe she’d fallen for him then too. Everything she’d done since then had been with a subconscious need to be closer, to get to know them, to spend time with them.
There had been no need for her to help find a nanny for Maddox. Jacob was smart enough to work it out on his own. Instead she’d stepped in and all but done the job for him. And look how that had turned out. One more disaster in a long line of them.
No. As much as other people were involved in the fallout of her coming to Sunnyville, she had no one to blame but herself.
She’d reached for something that wasn’t hers and now she was forced to leave that bright, hopeful future in the dust behind her.
If she were lucky, she might get to see them again. Although she wasn’t going to hold her breath on that one. She’d live with the ache, the heartbreak, and remember those brief moments where she got to spend time with a gorgeous man and his equally gorgeous son.
The best thing she could do for them now was to make sure Renee—and Donna—didn’t harm either of them in their singleminded pursuit of money and family. Donna didn’t care about money. She had more than she’d ever need or be able to spend. Mallory’s father had seen to that.
And Renee would find a way to leech off her mother for the rest of her life. It would be her only recourse after what Mallory and the estate lawyers had uncovered.
Her stepsister would be charged with multiple counts of fraud against Jeffery Dawson’s estate. The money she coveted that was designated as Maddox’s would remain his; she’d be unable to touch it in any way. It had taken a while but Clark and Davis had helped her find the way to cutting her stepsister off for good.
They had the proof. But there was one more thing Mallory could do for Jacob. She could get Renee to sign away her parental rights. Both Clark and Davis had argued against her plan, but now that things had gone the way they had between her and Jacob, she owed it to man and child to see them set free.
Free of the past and all the pain associated with it.
Taking a deep breath, she wiped her face of any tears that remained and checked the time. She had another hour before she reached the city. Then she had to navigate to the house Clark had rented for them to use while they made sure Maddox was well protected from his mother and Renee didn’t get out of jail.
Her meager belongings were still in the back of her SUV. She’d brought very little with her when she’d come to Sunnyville and even though she had planned to return today, she’d packed everything she owned last Friday before heading to San Francisco to meet Donna.
Had she subconsciously known there would be no going back after that trip?
It seemed so. She’d even taken a leave from work. By the end of next week Mallory would have all the time in the world to see to her plans. And this time she wouldn’t be going behind anyone’s back. She’d leave all the sneaking around to the private investigators and police.
From now on she’d be what her father had expect her to be all along.
She would sit on the board of her family’s foundation and use the money her father had left her to help others like Maddox. Other children whose parents couldn’t or wouldn’t care for them.
Hollowness filled her belly when she thought about children of her own. It was unlikely, not impossible, but with her medical history and falling in love with a man who no longer wanted to see her face…
Mallory pulled in a breath, fighting the tears that threatened. It wasn’t something to worry about now. She had a little boy to protect, others whom she didn’t know who no doubt needed her help and protection too, and a stepsister she needed to see punished for all the horrible things she’d done.
She would do what she could, what was necessary, and if she got caught in any more fallout from going after Renee, she’d push through and remember she had so much more that others didn’t.
Besides, nothing could be worse than the loss of Jacob and Maddox. The gaping hole their absence left in her heart would hurt forever but she’d live with the reminder and be grateful, because it was worth the pain to have the memories of all the days and weeks she’d gotten to be part of their lives.
19
Jake leaned in to Keaton. “I don’t understand why we’re here,” he whispered.
“It will be explained in a minute. We’re waiting for someone else to get here.”
