Page 98 of Worthy of Sunsets and Second Chances

“NO!” I whip my head up, instantly feeling nauseous and dizzy. I squeeze my eyes closed to try and halt the spinning sensation.

“Why not?” Lainey asks calmly.

“Skylar . . . Wren’s mom, her birth mother, I mean. She . . . is in . . . Candace’s fucking chair . . . right freaking now,” I croak.

“Holy shit,” Antonio says. “Do you know why she’s in town?”

I sip the water, trying to slow my breaths. “No. But it sounded like she is here to see a lawyer . . . and Eli. So, I think he might already know. Why, why wouldn’t he tell me?” I look at Lainey, tears in my eyes.

“I don’t know, babe. But I’m sure it will be okay.” She sits next to me and hugs me.

“What if I lose Wren?” I cry.

“You won’t!” Antonio says fiercely.

“I’m not legally on anything, you guys. Eli says I’m her mom in my heart. As nice as that is, the law doesn’t care about feelings over facts. If that woman comes back around and wants to be a big part of Wren’s life, she has rights and can fight for them.” I hug Lainey and cry.

“No matter what happens, or what the law says, Kendra, you are Wren’s mom. We all know that. And so does Eli.” Lainey holds me tightly as I feel like my world is falling apart.

72

Eli

“This was not part of the plan.” I cross my arms in my lawyer’s office.

Grady says, “No, it wasn’t. The private investigator found Skylar in Las Vegas. She was working at a club, not even close to any interior design work you said she told you about on—the night.”

“Why is she here?”

“I don’t know yet, Eli. Our guy delivered those papers to her and she read them over. He told her that she just needed to sign them and he could bring them back, but she refused. Said she needed to think about it first. He couldn’t just wait around forever, so he had to leave the papers there with her, I’m sorry. Skylar assured him that she would get them back to me.” Grady rubs his jaw in thought.

“Once we finally found her, I thought this fucking nightmare would be over, Grady. It took us months! Months to track her down. She already gave Wren to me once, with the letter and everything. How is this any different?” I pace his small downtown office like a caged animal.

“It’s different, Eli, because once she does this it’s truly final. There’s no going back.”

I glare at him. “Like there would be a chance after leaving her and then taking off to Vegas doing God knows what? Fuck that. Wren is mine. Mine and Kendra’s.”

“She has my contact information, not yours, so she can’t just call you. That’s why Skylar had to get in touch with me first. Do you want to meet with her?” Grady leans back in his leather chair, making it squeak.

“We don’t have a choice, do we? How else are we going to get her to sign the goddamn papers, Grady?” I sink into the chair across from him.

“Alright, I will reach out to her again. She hasn’t answered my return calls yet. I’ll let you know what she wants, and I will try and set up a time for us all to meet here.”

“Thanks, man. I have to get back to the station. The guys were all covering so I could run over here to meet with you.” I shake his hand and head out the door, praying that all my plans aren’t about to be ruined by the reappearance of someone I thought I’d never see again.

Warm spring air comes through the open bay doors while we organize the trucks and check inventory. I have to recount everything multiple times because my mind has been so distracted since I got back from Grady’s office.

“I’m gonna make you enchiladas tonight,” Garcia says, slapping me on the back. “You need some comfort food.”

“Thanks, man,” I chuckle. “You know the way to my heart.”

“Have to keep our station daddy happy, we don’t like seeing that frown.” He elbows me and grabs a hose down to unroll it so we can check it over and roll it back up again.

“Honestly, I’m so worried.” Ryder and Rem come up, followed by Chief.

“Grady will figure it out,” Chief tries to reassure me.

“This was one of the biggest steps of my plan . . . the secret step I have been working on for months. Finding Skylar was a pain in the ass and cost me a ton of money for the private investigator.” I look at the men in front of me, my brothers, my family.