He never imagined that a little thing that could fit in his pocket could capture his heart so thoroughly. And it wasn’t because she was Kyle’s. Sure, in the beginning that was what had started his determination to be a part of her life.
But after getting to know her, watching her spin in circles on the grass, experiencing one of her hugs, Gage had fallen. Fallen hard for this tiny thing. He’d fallen for her mom too.
“I’m in,” was all he could manage, and when he looked up at Darcy, she was looking back, tears sparkling in her eyes. She was all in too, she’d told him as much the other night when she’d asked him to make love on her couch.
That’s exactly what it had been. Making love and making promises to each other. Promises he wanted to spend a lifetime keeping. He didn’t just want to sit around that dinner table tomorrow, he wanted to sit around it every night, and then again every morning.
He wanted to spend his Sundays watching his girls play in the garden, while he wrote them love letters. But his love wasn’t singular like his mom’s. His love was big and full, and strong enough for the both of them—and whoever else came along.
Gage’s heart stopped as the realization washed over him. This was real and honest and he felt giddy with joy.
“Ms. Kincaid,” a voice said from behind and Darcy took off her hat.
“Yes?”
Gage turned around to see a man in a suit and tie, with slick shoes and a slick attitude, and an envelope that had the power to destroy everything. But before he could intercept, the man asked, “Darcy Leigh Kincaid?”
“Yes,” she said again, getting ready to sign for a package like this was some check from a client or a shipment of wedding cards.
But there were no cards. Gage had received packages like this before, and had even sent a few over the years. He’d never meant for one to be delivered to Darcy.
“You’ve been served,” Slick said as soon as Darcy’s fingers closed around the envelope.
Her face went from curious to uncertainty. But Gage was certain of exactly what was in there. And who it was from.
“Served?” Darcy opened the envelope. “I don’t understand. By who?”
“I’m just a messenger. Have a good night.” Then Slick disappeared as if he hadn’t just handed them all a sentence.
❀❀❀
Hands shaking, Darcy stared at the letter, unable to make out the words. She could see each symbol, even knew what they were, but she couldn’t put them together to form the actual words. Maybe it was her heart that wouldn’t let her because it was slowly breaking.
“Mommy, what’s wrong?” Kylie asked, wrapping her little arms around Darcy’s leg and resting her head against her hip like she used to. She hadn’t done that since the first day of preschool last year, and Darcy had thought she’d outgrown leg hugs.
But there she was, doing it again, and all Darcy could do was stare at the summons to appear at a hearing. A hearing to discuss custody of Kylie. Her Kylie, who she had raised from birth and never gone a full day without seeing.
Without hugging.
“Don’t worry about this,” Gage said, not sounding surprised.
Why wasn’t he surprised? And why did he look so calm?
It had felt like a one-two-punch to Darcy, the blast so unexpected she wanted to sit down. Right there in the grass. But Kylie was giving her a leg hug, and she didn’t want it to stop.
“Darcy, I will handle this, I promise,” he said, the determination in his voice so fierce she wanted to believe him. But the words she was finally starting to understand said that she couldn’t.
“Why is your mom suing me?” she said, her voice stronger than she felt.
“I don’t know.” He took the paper and read it over. “She’s suing for custody of Kylie?”
“Mommy,” Kylie said, her voice thin, and close to tears. “Sammy said his dad got custody and he has to do sleepovers on some weekends. I don’t want to stay with his daddy on weekends.”
Darcy got down on her knees and took Kylie in her arms. “You’re not going anywhere, honey. I promise you. Now go in the house and see if we have any cupcakes left over for dinner.”
“I don’t want cupcakes.” Her little breath was coming in short bursts. “I want to stay with you.”
“I’ll be right behind you, I just have to go tell that man he delivered the letter to the wrong house.”
“You’ll give it back?” she sniffed.
“I’ll give it back,” Darcy said with a smile, even though it was so tight she was afraid it would crack. But Kylie wasn’t upset about the letter, she didn’t even understand the letter, she was upset because Darcy was upset.
Time to pull it together
. “Now, go on and get those cupcakes ready and maybe we can watch 101 Dalmatians while we eat them.”
“Kay,” she said and walked toward the cottage.
Darcy watched as her daughter trudged up the front steps and into the house, waiting until the door shut, all the while Darcy’s heart was breaking.
“I swear to God, Darcy, I had no idea.”
She spun around, this time not trying to mask her anger. The fear, she hid that, only to be pulled out later tonight when Kylie was asleep and Darcy was alone.
“Then why does it say,” she snatched the summons back, “
Mother is overwhelmed and admitted to struggling to take care of child’s wellbeing
?” She looked back at Gage, everything inside of her willing him to come up with some answer to explain away the hurt. An answer that would make everything okay, and bring them back to how it had been only minutes ago.
But he didn’t explain it away, didn’t tell her it was a misunderstanding. He ran a hand down his face, that beautiful face Darcy had trusted with her kid’s life.
“She twisted my words. I was telling her what a great mom you were, reassuring her that she’d get to meet Kylie and…” he faded off. “I am so fucking sorry.”
“Sorry doesn’t cut it.” She slammed the papers against his chest. “Sorry doesn’t take back these words that are printed, that Kylie could someday find and wonder if they were true. Wonder if she’d somehow done something to overwhelm her mom to the point that she struggled to raise her. Because I know that burden, Gage. And I have worked my ass off so that Kylie would never have to carry that.”
“She doesn’t have a case,” he said as if it made a difference. “This is just her way of, well, being Margo.”
“Do you think I give a shit about this hearing?” Angry tears burned her eyes. “I care that my little girl is upset. I care that the man I trusted used my words against me. Words I said to him in an intimate setting. We were about to make love when I said those words. Or at least that’s what I thought it was.”
He stood there, silent, and she was certain it was because he could see the disappointment tighten around her neck, watch the pain cut right through her chest. Piercing her heart and leaving nothing unmarked.
“I can fix this,” he pleaded, sounding heartbreakingly desperate. “Don’t let her ruin this. Ruin us. I made a mistake.”
“Sometimes things slip, accidents happen. But I was clear up front about my concerns. I thought I had made it so nothing like this could happen again.” She met his gaze, her own so watery he was a blur. “So that you couldn’t possibly let me down.”
“Darcy.” He reached out to touch her and she stepped back.
“I asked you one thing, Gage. Just one.” And It had seemed so simple to her. “To put Kylie first. And you didn’t.” She hated the way her voice cracked. “Tell your mom if she doesn’t drop the suit, she will never see Kylie.” She swallowed. “I think you should go.”
“Please, don’t do this,” he said, and she had to look away because he was starting to cry, and Gage didn’t cry. Ever. Not even at Kyle’s funeral.
Darcy put her hand to her heart, to keep it from shattering to the ground. “I told you before, I choose Kylie. I always will.”
Chapter 14
“You going to get up?” Rhett asked, towering over Gage at the gym, sipping from a water bottle. “Because Fancy wants to know when you’re going to return his Biggest Pussy on Earth sash.”
“Fuck you,” Gage said
“Didn’t you hear? I’m engaged. Plus, hormonal agents aren’t my thing. They mope around all day and leave the seat up.”
Gage kicked out his leg, swiping Rhett’s feet out from beneath him and sending him crashing to the gym mat. Water went everywhere.
“The bigger the asshole, the harder the fall,” Gage said, pushing himself up and off the mat while Rhett brushed the water off his pants. Which only managed to make him look like he wet himself.
Damn, that felt good. First time he’d smiled in days. Too bad it was short lived, because the second his lips twitched, he remembered that he had nothing to smile about. Margo wasn’t dropping the lawsuit, Darcy wasn’t returning his calls, and somehow Rhett still got to walk down the fucking aisle at Belle Mont House.
Not that Darcy would be there. She’d explained to Stephanie that, under the circumstances, she would be taking off a few days before the wedding. She and Kylie were flying down to Disneyland for a long girls’ weekend. And, okay, that made him smile.
Tiny would love meeting the princesses and would buy an autograph book for them to sign. He could picture her twirling down Main Street in one of those costumes they sell in the shops there. She’d probably even get Darcy to wear a matching one.
And Darcy would look sexy as hell.
“You going to Friday night dinner this week?” Rhett asked. Grabbing two towels, he tossed one at Gage, who caught it midair. He used the other one to wipe the sweat off his face.
“Nope.”
“You going tomorrow then?”
“Mom isn’t home on Wednesdays. She has her bridge club meetings.”
Rhett looked up from the towel. “I was talking about Darcy’s hearing.”
Darcy.
Even her name brought on an ache so deep Gage had to check his chest to make sure there wasn’t a hole in it. And he knew what Rhett was talking about.
Margo, who admitted she’d just sent the papers as a warning, refused to drop the suit. Claiming that the family lawyer was certain that, although she wouldn’t get custody, it was likely she would be granted some kind of visitation rights. Or at least it might scare Darcy into caving.
That was the hope.
His mom was a fool to think Darcy would cower when it came to Kylie. She would take on the Taliban if it was for someone she loved. Nope, the only thing this harebrained idea of his mother’s would do was cause Darcy to sever all ties with his family.
With him.
“I called and asked if she wanted me there. She didn’t return my call.” She hadn’t returned any of his six dozen calls. “I took that as a big no.”
At this point, he doubted she’d ever talk to him again. She’d built a great life for her and Kylie, then let him in. And what had he done? Brought the reign of his entire family right into her home and tore it to shreds.
Gage and Rhett walked into the locker room. Gage opened his locker and took out his phone, checking to see if he had any messages.
“So then, that’s it?” Rhett asked. “You’re just going to bail?”
Gage slammed his locker. “I’m not bailing. I am respecting her wishes.”
“Isn’t that pussy for bailing? Because it sounds like it got hard, you fucked up, and now you’re leaving her hanging to deal with the aftermath. And Mom.” Rhett cocked his head, then blinked. “Sorry, man, for a minute there I thought you were Kyle.”
Gage grabbed Rhett and pushed him up against the lockers, a loud bang echoing through the room. “This has nothing to do with Kyle.”
Rhett looked at Gage’s hands, which were fisted in his shirt, and lifted a brow. “Could have fooled me.”
Gage wasn’t so sure anymore either. Kyle was the hot head, the one who acted first and expected someone else to clean up his shit. And that’s what Gage had done his entire life. Clean up after Kyle.
Kyle was gone and Gage was still dealing with his messes.
“Fuck.” Gage let go of Rhett’s shirt, but not before giving his brother a final shove.
“You tore my shirt,” Rhett whined like a little girl. “It’s my favorite.”
“Your dog shit in my car.”
“We’re even on the shirt, but not the cheap shot. You’ve got one coming.”
“Whatever.” Gage sat on the bench and, resting his elbows on his knees, let his head hang. “I’m so tired of all this shit.”
“It’s about time.” Rhett poked at the hole Gage had torn in is shirt, then sat down next to Gage. “I don’t know how it all went down, and I don’t know how you’re going to deal with Mom, but I do know that you’ve waited a long time for her,” Rhett said. “And I would hate for you to miss out again because you were once again too afraid to tell her the truth.”
“I did tell her the truth, then I screwed it all up.” Gage let his head fall against the locker. “All I ever wanted to do was protect her, and somehow I managed to hurt her all over again.”
“Then, fix it,” Rhett said, as if it were that simple.
Nothing about this was simple. Gage could negotiate his way out of a Thai prison if he had to, but he couldn’t figure out how to give Darcy what she wanted and not bring her more grief.