Liars (Licking Thicket 2)

Daddy.

I put my face in Mari’s hot neck and let more tears come. Could this be right? And where the hell was Parrish?

Ava’s cool hand landed on the back of my neck again and squeezed. “I’m so freaking happy for you.” Her voice was choked with emotion.

Brooks and Mal came up to clap me softly on the shoulder. “Miss Sara made the right decision.”

I glanced over at Judge Kelly, wondering why she hadn’t said anything about all of the fake plans we’d had, all the lies we’d told. She came out from around the dais and murmured something to the Kensingtons before approaching me.

“Before you ask, there was no conflict of interest for me, just because I knew Parrish. In cases like these, the goal is to place the child in the right home, and because you’re Marigold’s blood relative, that was always going to be you unless we’d found a compelling reason to nullify Beth’s will.” She smiled. “There wasn’t ever a question in my mind you were the right choice for Marigold, Diesel. Reading Beth’s letter cemented it for me. I’ve watched you since you were an angry teen who’d gotten a crappy deal. You worked hard to make something of yourself, and you never, ever stopped thinking of others along the way. Marigold is lucky to have you.” She met my eye. “And so is Parrish,” she added with a wink. “Speaking of which, bring yourselves by the bed-and-breakfast tomorrow. I’ve got butter cake with frosting and nobody to eat it. Besides, I got awful fond of the way that boy talks.

“Now,” she said a little louder. “I think it would be nice to give the Kensingtons a few minutes to say goodbye to Marigold, and hopefully you can exchange contact information and set up some visits. Keep in mind, however, it’s not mandatory. Just a suggestion.”

“Thank you,” I croaked. “Thank you so much.”

She reached out to smooth a hand over Mari’s dark curls. “You will come to me when you need help, do you understand? You are not in this alone.”

I swallowed around a huge lump in my throat. “Yes, ma’am.”

After she stepped to the side to catch up with Ian, I made my way over to the Kensingtons. “I’m sorry,” I said, mostly because I wasn’t sure what else to say. “Do you want to hold her for a minute?”

I could tell neither one of them wanted to say a damned word to me, but they also didn’t want to give up a chance to get their hands on Mari. Right when I handed her to Brenda, the courtroom doors clattered open noisily.

“Here! I’m here! Oh my God, I’m so sorry, I—” Parrish’s shout was followed by the loud clopping sound of dress shoes as two uniformed security guards chased his ass down the aisle toward me.

He stopped as he saw me handing over the baby.

“No,” he whimpered. “No, please. No.”

His eyes filled and he looked at me in desperation. He was covered head to toe in grime, and his hair stood out in messy chunks. His suit looked like it had been half mauled off his body, and he was missing a shoe.

“They decided,” Wade said helpfully. “Miss Sara from the bed-and-breakfast was the judge. Can you believe it?”

He had no idea what he’d just done. Parrish met my eyes, and in that split second, I saw all of the horrible devastation that I’d been feeling earlier pass across his face.

“Oh God,” he breathed. “I ruined everything.”

I finished giving Mari to Brenda and reached for Parrish. “You ruined nothing. She’s ours. Marigold’s ours, baby.”

“What?” He looked at me with a pale, shocked face. “What? How? What?”

I cupped his cheeks. “Are you okay? What happened?”

He shook his head. “No, you. You, what happened?”

Poor, sweet Parrish was out of it. Someone had called off the security guards, but they were still eyeing him suspiciously. I could hardly blame them. He looked like an escaped convict from a chain gang.

“We won,” I said, leaning in to press my forehead to his. “We’re taking home our daughter today.”

“But how? Miss Sara…”

I shook my head. There was plenty of time for me to explain everything he’d missed, but I had something to say that couldn’t wait a minute longer. I leaned in and pressed a long kiss to his lips. “I love you,” I said against his soft mouth. “I love you so much.”

When I pulled back, he looked dazed. “You do?”

I nodded. “When I didn’t hear from you, I assumed the worst—”

He opened his mouth to explain, but I shut it with a finger.

I continued. “And my first thought in that moment was that you might be hurt somewhere and not know how much I loved you.”

He pulled my hand down so he could speak. “Oh, God. I love you too. So much. And I…” His voice broke. “I was so afraid you’d think I’d bailed on you and Marigold.”