Total pages in book: 111
Estimated words: 104448 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 522(@200wpm)___ 418(@250wpm)___ 348(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 104448 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 522(@200wpm)___ 418(@250wpm)___ 348(@300wpm)
What if her adoptive parents didn’t let her wear her elephant pajamas whenever she wanted? What if they insisted on her wearing girly stuff when she wanted to wear something else?
Questions like this were constantly floating around in my mind, keeping me from deep sleep and messing with my head.
Anxiety was my new normal now.
Kenji had scheduled a conference call with my attorneys, including the Texas lawyer Tully had recommended, but there wasn’t much they could do until I was officially served with papers about the custody petition. When I questioned why that hadn’t happened yet—an associate from the same legal firm was sleeping on my sofa, so the Scotts’ attorneys must know where to find me—the lawyers had explained that there would be an “ethical wall” preventing Tully from sharing information with other attorneys at the firm.
I simply had to hope that Tully’s ethical wall was sturdy enough to buy me the time I needed to find a good solution for Lellie.
I’d briefly considered asking one of my polo player friends from New York if he and his wife would be interested in adopting her. They’d talked about starting a family by adopting a child rather than pursuing a pregnancy, so I’d thought of them right away. But then I’d remembered some of their casual comments about forcing their children to play polo “whether they liked it or not.” The other people in the conversation agreed and said that pushing your kids into extracurricular activities was the only way to guarantee them a good future at a good school. The whole conversation had seemed pretentious and stifling.
That wasn’t what I wanted for Lellie, and I knew it wasn’t what Katie would have wanted, either.
But if I intended to micromanage the kind of upbringing Lellie would have, it would make finding the perfect parents even more impossible than it already seemed.
It had been less than a week, and I already felt like giving up. Not only had I racked my brain to come up with people, but I’d also asked the brotherhood to do the same. Zane had mentioned a gay couple he knew in Atlanta who might be a good option, but as soon as he’d opened his mouth to tell me more about them, Kenji had abruptly ended the video call.
The sound of tires on gravel filtered through the open window. I looked out to see Foster’s SUV. Instead of waiting for him to come up, I made my way downstairs and met him out front of the barn.
“Hey,” I said with a smile. His visit would be a good distraction from my stormy mood.
His usual wide smile was noticeably absent. “Unfortunately, I’m here on official business. I need to serve you papers.” He held out an envelope. “The request came into my department a little while ago. I thought I’d bring it out myself instead of sending a deputy.”
Tully came around the side of the barn with Lellie in hand. He seemed to realize what was happening sooner than I did.
I glanced over at him. “Did you know this was coming?”
“I told you they’d filed suit.” His voice carried a tone of defensiveness, but I could hardly blame him.
He was right. He’d warned me. But holding the actual notice made it very real.
I opened the envelope and pulled out several documents. The official petition for guardianship was there, as well as several other documents requesting information.
I bit out a curse under my breath and handed the papers to Tully before leaning down to pick up Lellie. “Did you visit Trigger today?” I asked, shifting her onto my hip.
As I walked toward the paddock to take comfort in my horse, I heard Tully speak in a low voice to Foster.
“This is going to be a hell of a battle, especially if Dev’s not firmly committed. I wonder if he’ll decide to let them have her,” Tully said.
“Like hell he will,” Foster snapped back. “He said the grandparents weren’t a good choice.”
“They’re not ideal, but they’re family. They’ll take care of her and make sure she never lacks for anything. They’ll love her.”
I ground my teeth together and forced myself not to shout at him over my shoulder.
Foster’s low voice was barely intelligible. “Not like he will.”
I closed my eyes and inhaled the familiar, soothing scents of horse and hay. Lellie’s hand had snuck into my hair and clasped a hank in her fist.
Foster was right. I was beginning to realize that no one but Katie could possibly love this precious baby as much as I could.
Because I was falling for her faster than I would have believed.
And giving her up was going to be damned near impossible.
As I greeted Trigger and guided Lellie to feed him some peppermints, I couldn’t help but simmer with anger toward Tully. It was obvious, now that he was ready to take Lellie out of my hands, that he was no longer on my side—if he ever really had been—which meant his fucking “ethical wall” was probably thin as tissue.