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He winks at me as Lily scampers toward us, and I again marvel at the connection the child has not only to Caden, but to all of her guardians.
And I’m part of their inner circle now, too. Lily loves and trusts me. And I think the men do, too…
If only they would open up to me and let me help more.
We have barely entered the backyard when Zoe materializes, her usually mischievous expression grim.
“Aspen, Flint’s looking for you,” she informs me. “And you, too, Doc.”
Caden and I exchange a look.
“That doesn’t sound good,” Caden comments, heading toward the house with Lily in his hand.
“No…” Zoe stops him. “Miss Lily can stay with me.”
Dread twines down my spine as Lily immediately complains. “But I want to go swimming!”
“You still can,” I tell her quickly. “Zoe will help you get into your swimsuit, and I’m sure we won’t be long.”
Caden shakes his head almost unperceivable, as if to tell me not to promise that.
“We’ll be back as soon as we can, Lilbug,” he promises, releasing her hand. “Go with Zoe now.”
I look at the housekeeper, hoping to get some sign of what’s going on, but there’s no expression to give me any clue. My heart is in my stomach as I suspect the worst, and I follow Caden through the back doors and into the kitchen.
“What’s this about now?” I whisper, but he’s just as in the dark as I am.
“Probably something to do with the adoption,” he tells me reassuringly, but I can’t brush off the sense that I’m walking onto a landmine. Or maybe that’s my own guilty conscience talking.
I really have to tell them about my money problems. Maybe this is the time, even with all their other issues. When am I going to have everyone in the same room again?
Biting on my lower lip, I allow Caden to take the lead and open the office doors without knocking. And Julian, the lawyer, leers directly at me, wagging a finger reprovingly.
“You’ve been a naughty girl, Ms. Palco,” he scolds me. “A very naughty girl indeed.”
CHAPTER 19
Flint
At first, I could barely believe what I was staring at, the deplorable number and name attached not making any sense to me.
“Are you sure about this?” I asked Julian when he plonked the page on my desk, a little too gleefully for my liking. That had been fifteen minutes ago, the attorney arriving at the house unannounced.
“Unless this has to do with the adoption going through, Julian, I really don’t have time,” I barked when Zoe led him into my office.
But I see now why the matter couldn’t wait, and my insides are a fusion of anger and sadness as Caden and Aspen enter my office. Pike has already made himself as comfortable as he can make himself at the corner of the settee.
“You’ve been a naughty girl, Ms. Palco,” Julian announces, wagging his finger condescendingly at Aspen. “A very naughty girl indeed.”
“Don’t talk to her like that,” Caden snaps at him, echoing my own thoughts, but I wouldn’t say them even if my housemate had not. I’m too furious with Aspen, too confused to defend her.
“What did I do?” Aspen squeaks, but even as she asks, I can read the naked guilt in her eyes.
She knows! She knows, and she hid it from us!
A smidgen of shame crosses through me, but I dismiss it, reminding myself that our secrets and hers are very different. Her secret has the potential to foil the adoption if what I’m reading is true.
“Close the door,” I order Caden, who scowls at my brusque tone. My phone is going crazy, but I’ve put it on silent. I’m only able to handle one catastrophe at a time.
