“Oh.”
“I’ll drive. Add the small amount of wine you’ve had to your emotional roller coaster, and you’re in no shape to get behind the wheel.” Alyssa headed toward the back of the house. “I’ll just tell Penny I’m going out for a bit.”
“Okay. Thank you.” Mazey’s mind spun. That woman had taken her child. How does someone kidnap their own child? And why had she come to Rylan? There was so much she didn’t know. So much she couldn’t understand.
But if Alyssa was right, and Rylan wasn’t married, the boy not his, she owed him an apology. Something she seemed to do a lot of when it came to their relationship.
It had taken one thing for her to jump to conclusions. True, they were valid conclusions with the information given to her, but she’d also had her knowledge of Rylan to point to the possibility of the woman’s words being a lie.
She’d been far too quick to paint him with the same brush as Stuart. If she couldn’t move past what Stuart had done, then she wouldn’t allow the connection between her and Rylan to get any stronger than it already had. And she wasn’t thinking about protecting herself. She owed it to him to come into their relationship with trust, and she hadn’t.
First, she needed to see him.
Needed to hear from him what was going on. Only when this situation with his ex-wife was sorted out could she think about the future, about them.
One thing was certain.
She was having Rylan’s baby, and even if they weren’t together, they would be connected by their child for life.
36
Rylan hung up the phone and stared at the little boy asleep on his bed. His father was about two hours away, and Rylan had no idea what he was going to do when Maddox woke up.
He’d never met the kid. Didn’t know his birthday or what had happened to send his mother off the rails.
Jake had revealed more of the situation, and Grant Malone had added even more.
From what he understood, Renee had started using cocaine, and Jake had been given sole custody when she’d left six-month-old Maddox alone in her apartment for eighteen hours.
He thought she’d left him to be with Jake. She’d all but said that was where she was going the day she’d asked for a divorce and packed her bags.
Rylan expected to get the full story when Jake arrived to take his son home. Grant had pulled some strings so that Maddox didn’t go into the system, so he could stay here for the few hours it took Jake to drive up from Monterey.
He wanted more than anything to go to Mazey, but even with the bad blood between him and Jake, he couldn’t let his ex-friend’s son go to a stranger. Not that Maddox knew who Rylan was. The little guy would probably freak out when he woke, although the paramedic who’d checked him over said he should sleep a couple of hours yet.
One more strike against Renee.
She’d drugged her own child!
Rylan shook his head and moved the pillows surrounding Maddox’s chubby little body closer. He was in the middle of the california king mattress, and it should have given Rylan some comfort that he wouldn’t roll off the edge except he couldn’t seem to take his eyes off the boy. Couldn’t bring himself to leave the room even though Jake had assured him his son would be okay like this.
Scrubbing a hand down his face, Rylan decided he had to trust his ex-friend knew what he was talking about, and it was safe to leave the room.
He could do with a drink, but there was no way he was consuming any alcohol while in charge of Maddox. Besides, he would need all his wits when he finally talked to Mazey. He’d have coffee instead. Brew it extra strong to wake himself up. The day had been exhausting. He never slept well on base even when they didn’t get any calls, so he was running on roughly six hours of sleep.
And the kids from earlier today—god, had that only been today?—had taken more energy than he expected. He hadn’t eaten either, and whatever was in the pot plugged in downstairs on his kitchen counter smelled delicious. Maybe he’d grab some food and coffee and then work out how best to smooth things over with Mazey.
Taking one more glance at the boy, Rylan headed out of his room, leaving the door open so he could hear if Maddox woke up.
He was halfway down the stairs when the front door opened.
Every muscle pulled taut, ready to fight, when Mazey stepped into the house. “Mazey.”
She looked up, her eyes wide and red-rimmed, and he wanted to kick himself for causing her tears. “Hey.” She didn’t smile, and Rylan wondered if he’d ever be lucky enough to draw her smiles again.
“Hey.”
“Um, I still have the key.” She held her hand out, his key in her palm.
