There with You (Adair Family 2)

“It doesn’t.”

“I still would like you to see someone. I won’t pressure you. You have to make that decision on your own.”

Covering her hand with mine, I nodded. “Then I promise I’ll think about it.”

We fell into silence and sipped our coffees while I pondered the huge conversations that had taken place between us in less than twenty-four hours.

Robyn looked at me. “You’re in love with Thane?”

I grimaced. “I tried not to be.”

She huffed, “Oh, sweetheart, I’ve been there. Those damn Adairs.”

I snorted. “I know, right?”

We shared a commiserating look.

30

Regan

To distract us, Robyn joined me while I went Christmas decoration shopping. I’d discovered Thane put up a real tree every year, and it was a tradition for them all to go pick one. However, I’d also learned that he only had one box of ornaments and another with some knickknacks. It seemed Fran hadn’t been Christmas crazy like I am. But a large house like Thane’s should be covered in festive cheer, so I bought more decorations.

By the time I hauled it all into the house, I was a little worried Thane might be irritated with me for taking it upon myself to buy holiday décor. However, when Thane stormed into the house five minutes after I’d hauled in all my purchases and half an hour before I needed to pick up the kids, it wasn’t me he was angry at.

“What are you doing home early?” I tripped over a bag of tree baubles as I hurried out of the sitting room to meet him in the kitchen.

His scowl was as deep as a scowl could be, and it reminded me so much of Eilidh, I wondered how anyone could think he wasn’t her dad. And then, like he’d plucked the thought from my mind, Thane barked, “Sean has demanded a DNA test.”

Anxiety gripped me. “What?”

Thane waved a piece of paper at me. “From his lawyer. They’re taking me to court to acquire a court-ordered paternity test to determine if Eilidh is his daughter.”

“What?” I yelled now. “After what he did? Are they crazy?”

Thane threw the letter at the island and it fluttered onto the floor. I picked it up, smoothing it out to read the words written by McClintock’s lawyer.

“I spoke with my lawyer on the drive home.” Thane exhaled slowly, his hands to his hips, agitation vibrating from him. “She said that due to Sean’s erratic behavior, it is unlikely Eilidh would ever be taken from my custody in the immediate future.”

“Immediate future?”

That muscle ticked in his jaw as he tried to control his building fury. “Never mind the unbearable fucking idea of losing her later on down the line … what do I tell her now, Regan? She’s five years old—how do I explain this to her? Even if Sean doesn’t get custody, what happens if legally she’s not mine?”

His chest was heaving, and I could see he was panicking.

Our roles had flipped. Over the weekend, he’d calmed me down. Now it was my turn to be cool and collected and support him.

“Hey, hey, hey.” I gripped his arms, forcing him to focus on me. “This will take weeks or even months to get to court, okay, so let’s beat the bastards to it.”

Thane stilled in my hold. “What do you mean?”

“We’ll do it now. Under the radar. We’ll take hair from Eilidh’s hair brush, and we’ll run our own DNA test. The results don’t take long, and finally you’ll know one way or the other and your lawyer will help you with a plan. Grief does not give him the right to come into your lives and hurt this family.”

“No, but being her birth father does.”

“Does it?” I snapped angrily. “Because where was he before this? I am truly devastated for the man that he lost his wife and child. It’s horrifying … but Eilidh isn’t anybody’s replacement. If he wanted her, then he should have tried to claim her long before this. She’s claimed now. She’s a goddamn Adair, and she isn’t going anywhere.”

Thane suddenly broke his hold, but only to haul me against him so he could crush my mouth beneath his in a devastating, hungry kiss. I was breathless when he finally released me. Thane pressed his forehead to mine and said, his voice thick with emotion, “Thank you, mo leannan.”

His kiss, his words of gratitude, made me feel a thousand feet tall.

* * *

All I could think about over the next week was that damn DNA test. Thane had ordered the test online. It arrived the next day, and we’d surreptitiously collected the sample from Eilidh’s hair brush and sent it off, along with Thane’s. My worries about Austin were shoved to the back of my mind, and my plans to tell Thane pushed aside too. He already had too much on his plate. I didn’t want to bother him with this.