And then the door slammed shut again and Aubrey’s cry followed. Nolan stared, at first unable to make sense of what Shannon had said and then an awful feeling came over him as he put two and two together. Fuck. He scrubbed his hands over his face and fought the urge to bust down the door, if only to explain but what could he say? He’d screwed up. He knew he should’ve listened to his instincts and stayed at the hotel. Damn you, Vince for convincing me otherwise. No, damn himself for not listening to that little voice he could only assume had been his good sense.
He took a minute to calm down but he was rapidly losing his ability to think rationally, mostly because he knew she was right. He hated that he’d screwed up so royally and this was the first time his money couldn’t save him because Shannon didn’t care about his money. “Shannon, at least take the car,” he managed to bite out. “Your car isn’t safe. I don’t want Aubrey in that piece of junk you call a vehicle.”
“I had it returned.”
“I know that,” he said, glowering. “If you don’t like it, pick out something else. Bottom line, it’s paid for and you need something more reliable when you’re driving my daughter around.”
“I don’t want anything from you, go away!”
Nolan’s mouth compressed to a fine line. She wanted to play with lawyers? Fine. Let’s see how her lawyer stacked up against his team of lawyers. By the time he was finished with her, she’d be lucky to see Aubrey on weekends for supervised visitation.
“See you court, babe,” he called out caustically and spun on his heel.
Shannon would find he made a terrible adversary — Buchanans made it a point to never lose.
Ever.
-9-
Shannon wept for days. Or at least it’d felt like days. CeCe had agreed to take over her duties while she sorted things out with Nolan and she was grateful for the intern’s help, although she’d never realized how competent CeCe was until this crisis had arisen. It made Shannon feel guilty for not giving her more responsibility but Shannon had taken one look at CeCe and worried mostly about her sleeping with half the team before her internship was finished.
How could Shannon have fallen so quickly and so hard for Nolan Buchanan when she’d only truly known him for such a short time? And given the circumstances, it was apparent, she’d never truly known him at all.
She stared dully at the paternity results, not surprised that Nolan’s paternity had been confirmed. Likely, Nolan had the results as well as they were each mailed the results. It was a formality insisted upon by the court and her attorney said it was necessary to establish child support. She’d balked. “I don’t want his money. I want him out of our lives.”
The lawyer looked at Shannon with exasperation. “It doesn’t work that way. He’s the father; he should pay. Technically, you’re considered low-income so any money the state has already paid for Aubrey will be docked from his paycheck. The money will be paid one way or another. Besides, you’re angry right now; when you come to your senses, you’re going to want him to help with expenses for the baby.”
But Shannon didn’t want Nolan to have any reasonable justification for being around Aubrey. He wasn’t father material in any way shape or form and she’d pointed that out to the lawyer.
“Is he abusive?”
“No,” Shannon answered, frowning.
“Is he a danger to the child?”
“No, of course not. He’s very good with Aubrey.”
“Then you’ve got no leg to stand on in court. You will be awarded 50-50 joint custody,” she’d said. “I suggest you get used to it.”
Hot tears burned under her lids. She felt helpless to stop what was happening and she was getting sick at the thought of handing over her daughter when the time came. She was down $5,000 and, just as the lawyer had told her, nothing had changed. The fact was, it didn’t matter if Nolan was a total lying, womanizing bastard, because he looked good on paper.
Oh, who was she kidding? He looked good, period. That was the problem. His handsome face and loose morals — bad combination!
A knock at the door sounded and she glanced up from her sodden pillow, tempted to ignore whoever it was. Aubrey was still taking a nap and thus Shannon had tried to do the same but sleep had eluded her just as it had been avoiding her at night, too. The knock sounded again and Shannon reluctantly climbed to her feet and hastily wiped the tears from her face before opening the door. A heavily pregnant brunette with cheeks pinked from the exertion of climbing the stairs smiled at her but placed her hand on her back with a wince, saying, “Are you Shannon Garrity?”
“Y-yes?”
“Oh good,” the woman breathed in relief. “I didn’t want to think I’d climbed those awful stairs for nothing. Would you mind inviting me in for a cool glass of water?”
“Who are you?” Shannon asked, moving aside with uncertainty. “Do I know you?”
“Not at all,” she answered with good cheer and settling into the sofa with a groan. “But I think you’re going to want to hear what I have to say.”
“And why is that?”
“Because I’m Penny Buchanan — Nolan’s sister-in-law — and you and I have a lot to talk about.”
Buchanan? Shannon couldn’t help the scowl that followed. “My lawyer says-“
“Let’s leave the lawyers out of this for now. I want to talk to you woman-to-woman because whenever men are involved, chances are they’ve screwed it up somehow.”
Wasn’t that the truth, Shannon thought wryly with a grudging sense of appreciation for the woman’s style. “About that water though…”
“Oh! I’m sorry,” Shannon jumped up to get some water. She returned and handed a bottled water to Penny, taking in the woman’s obviously pregnant belly and plump features. There was something about Penny that Shannon liked, even though she probably shouldn’t. Penny was obvious on Team Buchanan and not likely to side with Shannon but she was curious as to what Penny had to say. “So, why are you here?”
“Because I knew Nolan was probably screwing everything up and I wasn’t wrong. My husband thinks I’m out shopping for baby things but I took a drive instead. He’d have a fit if he knew.” She giggled for a second as if she were pleased to be pulling one over on her husband, then continued more seriously, “It wasn’t hard to find your address after I did a little snooping around – which, I might add, is a safety hazard. You need better security.”
“Well, to be fair, this is the first time I’ve been stalked by a wealthy family,” Shannon quipped darkly. “I’ll know to go off the grid next time.”
“Listen, I want to tell you about the Buchanans. I will be upfront and honest with you about anything you want to know but I want you to listen with an open heart. The Buchanans are good men but they’re covered in a layer of hard stone as a protection mechanism. You see, they had terrible childhoods. Their father — well, I would never speak ill of the dead but it’s probably a safe bet that he’s not up in heaven chasing butterflies — and they’ve had to deal with a lot. They all made some really bad decisions but deep down, they are very good men. I promise you that.”
“How do you know them so well?”
“Oh, I’ve slept with all three of them,” she admitted cheerily, shocking the hell out of Shannon.
“Excuse me?”
“Yes, it’s a sordid story and one that shamed me for a long time until I realized that if things hadn’t unfolded the way they did I wouldn’t have met the love of my life — Nolan’s oldest brother, Dillon. And I wouldn’t have this beautiful bundle growing in my belly right now. I have no regrets. Not one. But if I had listened to my anger and hurt rather than my heart, I never would’ve known true happiness was just around the corner.” Shannon peered at the lush, curvy woman and blushed at the thoughts running through her mind but Penny smiled graciously. “Shannon…love can change a person. I know you’re wondering if it’s possible for Nolan to change and I can tell you, without a doubt: yes. And Nolan has definitely changed.”
> “He had oral sex with my intern,” Shannon said flatly. “That doesn’t sound as if he’s changed much to me.”
“Yes, he told me.”
“He told you?” Shannon was aghast. “Why?”
“Because he didn’t know who else to talk to. He wanted to talk to you,” she added gently. “But you wouldn’t take his calls.”
This was true. “What did he say?” she asked, curious in spite of herself. “Not that it matters. Can’t change what happened.”
“He screwed up, plain and simple but big change doesn’t happen without a little backsliding. The fact is, he wants to be the man you and Aubrey deserve but without a little guidance, he has no clue where to start.”
“So you think I should just forgive him?”
“I’m sharing information — what you do with it is your business. I’ve said my piece and that’s all I’ll say. I wanted you to hear a different perspective before you made a permanent decision that you can’t take back.”
“You think Nolan will make a good father?”
“I think he’s going to do his damnedest to try and honestly, what more can you ask for? Did you know you would be a good mother before the baby arrived?”
Fair point. Shannon hated the clear logic because it pierced through the emotional haze clouding her vision.