A Daughter's Trust

“Not really,” she said. “We’ll only be granting placement with one of you. Obviously, it’s not the best solution for the baby to live in a split home, since we can avoid it. But maybe you can work out something similar to the state’s standard visitation order….”

He was shaking his head before she had half the sentence out. “I don’t think so.” He tried to temper his tone. “First and foremost, because I wouldn’t be able to believe or trust any agreement my mother made. And, unlike you, I’m not willing to take any more chances on her.”

“Very well, Mr. Kraynick, I really do understand. And thank you. As I said, no decision has been made at this time. If anything changes for you, please let me know. And in the meantime, we’ll continue to monitor visitations. I’ll be in touch….”

Rick pushed the end button on his phone and stood there, cell clutched in his fist, until he figured out the only solution.

BECAUSE THE BABIES WERE particularly easy on Wednesday, Sue prepared one of Grandma Sarah’s favorite dishes—chicken breasts wrapped with bacon and cooked with a chipped beef, cream cheese and mushroom soup sauce, served over rice—to offer Rick after that evening’s visitation.

She wasn’t domesticating. But other than a couple of late nights when he’d called and she’d invited him over, she’d seen almost nothing of him other than Carrie’s visitations. She missed him.

And she’d heard from Sonia today.

Rick still wasn’t budging about his mother.

Which wasn’t Sue’s problem. On this issue, Carrie’s best placement could be her only concern. Not helping Rick. Or worrying about him.

So how did she stand back and watch her lover get hurt?

CHAPTER NINETEEN

SUE SPOONED mushroom and cream cheese sauce over the chicken and rice later that night. She’d caught Rick watching her several times during his hour with Carrie.

And he’d seemed relieved when she’d invited him for dinner.

He hadn’t said a word about Sonia. But then, neither of them had mentioned his mother, or Carrie’s placement, since the break-in.

“We’re going to have to talk about it, you know,” she said as she laid a plate in front of him and sat down.

“Talk about what?”

“Everything we’ve been avoiding. Your mother. Carrie. You and me. Whatever it is that’s got us here…together…it’s not going to make the rest of the world disappear. And neither is running away.

We’ve got serious issues between us.”

Rick took a bite, his left hand limp in his lap. His shoulder must hurt. He’d probably overdone it with Carrie. “This is delicious,” he said simply.

“Thank you.” She waited.

He cleared his plate without another word. Sue barely made inroads on hers.

And when the dishes were done he took her hand, leading her into the living room. She was glad she hadn’t eaten much. Her stomach was in knots.

Rick took off his suit coat, laying it over the back of a chair before he joined her on the couch. “I heard from Sonia today,” he said.

Sue wasn’t ready. She’d asked for this, and she wasn’t ready. She was going to lose him. Tucking her bare feet beneath her, she picked at a string in the seam of her jeans. “I know. I did, too.”

Eyes narrowed, he watched her, the six inches between them seeming more like six miles. “So you know no decision has been made yet?” he asked slowly.

“Yes. But they’re getting close. You scored well.”

“Based on what Sonia said to me, there seems to be only one solution to this mess.”

That his mother get custody and he agree to court-sanctioned visitations that would guarantee him the same rights as a divorced father—every other weekend and one night during the week, without being required to pay support.

Sue’s heart ached for him.

Suddenly exhausted, she wanted to go to bed. To lose herself in Rick’s arms. And then wake up and take care of her charges.