“Um, girls, I need to speak with Cori and Daxton. Can you give us some privacy?” Leander looks more nervous than usual. “In fact, can you two go sit with Annette until I get home? She would love the company.”
Eden cranes her neck and says, “You want us to stay, Cori?”
“It’s okay. Mom loves spending time with you two.” Cori looks into my eyes as if she’s asking me for answers, but all I do is shrug.
“Don’t mind me. I have things to do upstairs. I’ll see you girls out.” Mom gestures for Eden and Selene to follow her toward the front door. I put Ruby on the couch on the other side of the room, and Finch sits in front of her, as if to offer her protection if she needs it.
We stare at Leander and wait to hear what he has to say.
“Devin joined the military.” He hasn’t told me anything I don’t already know. I planned on telling Cori tonight, but he beat me to it.
“What?” my wife asks.
“He joined the army. He’s waiting for a date to report to boot camp.”
“What about his daughter?” My wife asks the obvious question. I know that’s why Leander is here.
“That’s why I’m here. I need you both to help. Your mother is not well, and can’t handle the constant demands of a baby. I can’t do it. I have obligations to Shadow Cove, and your mother’s medical treatment is another job.” He sighs and rubs the bridge of his nose. “Truth is, your mother and I are too old. We raised our kids. We want to be grandparents, not parents again at our age.”
“I don’t know what you want us to do. I already told you I’m not taking care of Devin’s child.” Cori eyes her father before she takes my hand. Her attempts to pull me away are in vain. “What about Ruby’s mother’s family?”
“Absolutely, not.” Leander shakes his head. “Her other grandfather is a registered sex offender. Her uncle is a felon, and her grandmother has addiction issues. She can’t go to them.”
“I didn’t know any of that. You’re right,” my wife concedes. “I guess this will fall on you and Mom then.”
“Cori—”
“No, Dad. Absolutely not. After the different ways you treated us, you expect me to—”
“I never mistreated you. I love you. You’re my daughter. Maybe I did depend on you more, but that’s not because I love you less.”
“It doesn’t matter. The answer is no.” Cori starts to walk away, but then turns back to face her father. “You think I’m going to take Ruby so Devin can show up in a few years and get in her head. And you and Mom will let him walk right back in and let him do whatever he wants, at my expense.”
I rub between her shoulders.
“Calm down.” I don’t say more. The only other people she told about her pregnancy are Selene and Eden. She won’t tell anyone else until she’s in the second trimester.
“Cori, it’s not like that. I won’t do that. You—”
“You will do that. That’s what you’ve always done. You took money from me, gave it to him, and told him to keep it quiet. You demanded that I put off school, and you did everything to make sure Devin went. Own it.” Leander takes a step back as if she just slapped him. “I said own it. Own it or leave.” Cori gestures to the door.
“I’m sorry.” Leander hangs his head. There’s a heavy silence in the shop. He eyes me, and I think he’s waiting for me to speak, but I remain quiet. Cori starts to walk toward the door. “I own it, Cori. We treated you differently. I didn’t see it then, but we love you. We always have.”
“You just love Devin more.” The sadness in my wife’s voice guts me. I extend my hand to her, and she takes it.
“That’s not true. I don’t love him more. This won’t make you feel any better, but I knew I could count on you and not him. He can’t even take care of his child, Cori. Do you feel better now? I’m a shit parent. I admit it. All I ask is that you don’t punish Ruby because of it.”
“I have no intentions of punishing anyone. Ruby is not my responsibility. She’s Devin’s. He abandoned her, and now you’re here to dump her on me.” My wife looks around the room before pointing at her father. “Just as I predicted all along. And I told you repeatedly that I would not lift a finger, but here you are.”
Leander finally looks up. He stands as a man who has the world on his shoulders. He sighs and runs his hand over his head.
“Cori,I—"
“Stop,” I order, and for once, he shuts up. “I want to talk to my wife alone.” I cradle the back of her neck. “Let’s go into your office.”
We leave her father and Ruby and almost collide with my nosy mother. She doesn’t even pretend that she didn’t hear the conversation. In fact, she follows us into Cori’s office.
“Sweetheart, I understand how you feel.” I pull her into my arms, and she melts. I catch my mother’s eye and will her to understand that I need her help.
