Page 21 of Worthy of Sunsets and Second Chances

Kendra: You just need to show up looking H-O-T

Lainey: Well the outfit you helped me find does look pretty good.

Kendra: Pretty good?! That is blasphemy to the power of my shopping skills and the killer dress we found you.

Kendra: Rem’s tongue is going to be on the floor when he sees you in it.

Lainey: Yeah . . .

Kendra: OMG you already tried it on for him, didn’t you?!

Lainey: Maaaaybe . . .

Kendra: AND he fucked you while you were wearing it!

Lainey: Kendra!

Kendra: Called it, you brat! Well at least I know my powers are still working and I know exactly the right dress to pick that brings a man to his knees. He better have gotten on his knees for you.

Lainey: KENDRA!!!

I cackle, alone in my kitchen, so proud of myself. Another text pings as I wipe a happy tear from the corner of my eye.

Eli: Hey.

What the hell?

Kendra: Yes?

Eli: I’m really sorry to bug you this early, but Wren is super fussy and I need to get ready to go. I have a meeting with my lawyer in an hour.

Kendra: Good luck with that today.

Eli: Kendra, please. Can you come hold Wren while I shower? She won’t let me lay her down.

Eli: I can’t just let her cry. It kills me.

Ugh. Why? Why does he have to be like this? He loves that baby, is so sweet, so naturally paternal with her. To the outside world it seems like he would be the last person that would make a good parent, but I know better.

I wanted to not like Wren. I wanted to feel absolutely nothing when he placed her in my arms the other day. Numb indifference was what I was aiming for—and I failed miserably. Her little body slipped into my hands and into my heart instantly, just like any other baby. I love children, always have. But I knew that I needed to protect myself from getting closer to Wren. Thinking she was cute, playing with her, and holding firm boundaries would be the only way to not carve myself open every time I had to see her.

Eli: Please. I need help.

He’s basically begging me. And how the fuck am I supposed to resist that?

Kendra: I will be there in 5.

Eli: Omg thank you. THANK YOU!

18

Eli

“Well, Mr. Hargrove⁠—”

“Please just call me Eli,” I interrupt.

“Sure. Eli, we need to get a court date in place to get in front of the judge. He will officially sign off to have you placed on Wren’s birth certificate as her father. A home visit will also happen before that with child services. We have your state-run lab DNA tests and the rapid and blood tests from the hospital as evidence of your paternity, so there should not be any contesting the facts,” says Grady Phillips, my lawyer.