The discovery of sedatives in the little boy’s system, along with the numerous other drugs found in her stepsister’s hotel room had led to more charges and her stepsister wouldn’t be seeing the outside of a jail anytime soon.
As far as Mallory was concerned that was good and good riddance. She’d never gotten along with Renee. At thirteen years her senior, Renee had been an adult long before Donna had married Mallory’s father. And from what she knew, Renee had always been a problem child.
Apparently one who had never grown out of her destructive, manipulative ways.
Unfortunately, there was no predicting how Maddox’s father, Jacob Conners, would react to herself or Donna making contact. It was Mallory’s job to figure that out and then decide on the best way to make an introduction. She was resigned to the fact it was unlikely either of them would receive an open arms welcome.
Not that she could blame the man. She didn’t have all the details, although the PI had managed to get some surprisingly in-depth knowledge of the situation between Renee, her ex-husband Rylan—who was not the father of her child—and the man who’d been her long-term boyfriend before her marriage.
It was all rather complicated and twisted and definitely made sense when it came to Renee.
Mallory hadn’t been surprised at all to discover her stepsister had married the best friend of the man she’d dated for years. It seemed like a typical move for Renee. She’d probably spent years playing the two men off each other.
And finding out Maddox’s father was Jacob Conners, not Rylan Conners, seemed completely logical when Mallory thought about Renee’s penchant for causing trouble.
Yeah, her stepsister was a piece of work and put the fairytale Cindy’s stepsisters to shame and there had been two of them. If it wasn’t for Donna’s overwhelming capacity for love and forgiveness, or her relentless need to help her daughter, they never would have known about Maddox.
Because of Donna’s unfailing love and support, Renee had absolute confidence her mother would give her whatever she asked for. Which was why her stepsister had gotten in contact with Donna and written the lies that had led Mallory to Sunnyville the first time.
The one good thing to come out of this situation was that Donna had finally given up on saving her daughter. After the letter Renee sent full of her fictional life here had resulted in Mallory’s failed trip to find her, then the truth the PI had uncovered, Donna had vowed to cut her daughter off. And so far, she’d held true to her word.
Mallory wasn’t convinced though. She hoped they could establish a relationship with Maddox—and Jacob Conners—before Renee got in contact with Donna again. Because she would.
Experience showed Donna would hear from her daughter in a few years at most, but Mallory suspected it would more likely be months.
From what she knew, Renee was appealing her conviction and sentence. Which was why Mallory had an appointment at the Sunnyville police station first thing tomorrow morning.
Once she’d established the facts of her stepsister’s arrest and hopefully gotten the names of the people Renee had associated with during the three weeks she’d stayed here, Mallory would know what her next move would be.
She needed to know the full extent of the damage Renee had caused, because it was guaranteed she had; she spent her life leaving a trail of destruction in her wake. And forewarned was forearmed. The last thing Mallory wanted was to be blindsided by anything Renee might have done while in Sunnyville.
What she’d done to her son, his father, and her ex-husband was bad enough, except Mallory knew Renee was capable of more. She could only hope there wasn’t any, even if that hope was futile.
She’d like to go up to the front door of Jacob Conners’ house and introduce herself except the broken nose from when he slammed the door in her face didn’t appeal. And he would slam that door. She had no doubt about that.
Which was why she needed to take her time, find out all the details of Renee’s arrest, and why she’d come to Sunnyville after taking Maddox. Once she knew all that, then she would find a way to meet Jacob Conners on neutral ground.
All her information led her to believe he was currently living with Rylan Conners and his pregnant wife, Mazey. The exact opposite of neutral territory.
In this case, two was definitely not better than one. Facing two possibly hostile men didn’t appeal any more than having a door slammed in her face. And the last thing she wanted to do was cause either man more trouble.
Both appeared to have put their involvement with Renee behind them. At least Rylan had. He’d gotten remarried and was expecting his first child.
According to the PI’s report, it would be a boy and due any day now.
Mallory did not want to know how the investigator had ferreted out that information.
The giggle of a young child pulled her from her thoughts and turned her head, drawing her gaze down the sidewalk.
Three cars from where she stood, a tall man bent over a stroller, his large hands tickling a little boy’s belly while he unbuckled his safety harness. The high pitched giggles and squirming body made her smile. She couldn’t see either of their faces from this angle, just a broad back and the truck—
She sucked in a breath, stumbling back a half step.
She knew the vehicle the man stood next to. She might not be able to see faces but she knew who she was looking at.
Jacob and Maddox Conners.
Running into them on the street hadn’t been in the plan. It was definitely the neutral ground she wanted but she wasn’t ready to face either of them yet. She should turn and walk away before Jacob saw her except…she couldn’t.
