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“You’re welcome.”
Voices in the hall startled him. Meredith glanced toward the door just as it flew open and a flock of energetic eight-year-olds came pouring in from their reading class, filling the room with so much noise he could almost convince himself that a very dangerous moment had not just taken place there.
Almost, but not quite.
“KELSEY??
?? Barbie stared out the car window at trees covered with spring blossoms, believing in happiness. She adored these times, when life held promise. When she could feel so good. Kelsey snuggled against her, seeming as happy as she was just to be close. Nothing else had ever felt quite as wonderful as having her little girl’s weight against her.
“Yeah?” Her daughter’s eyes weren’t as easy to read as they’d been when she was five. Or two. But still, as Kelsey tilted her head back to look up, she could see love in the little girl’s eyes.
“I’m sorry about yesterday,” she said. “I’m sorry I called you away from your friend.”
“It’s okay,” Kelsey said. “I get to be with her every day.”
God, that sounded good. Like Kelsey wanted to be with her every day, too.
“I’m sorry I was grouchy.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t want to go to your house, Mom. I will next week, I promise.”
“It’s okay, honey. You just don’t know Don, yet, but when you do, you’ll see that he’s the best. He’ll treat you like a queen.”
She hoped. He was good to her. Understood her. Put up with her even when she was down, without making her feel like a failure. No one had ever done that before.
Except Kelsey.
“I’m thinking about seeing a lawyer,” she said now, her stomach a little tense as she took this chance. What if Kelsey didn’t want to be with her? Barbie could probably still get visitation rights. She was her mother, after all, and had never abused her or done anything to hurt her. Don said she’d have no trouble proving it.
But if Kelsey didn’t want her…
“What for?”
“What would you think about you and me being together, legally?”
Kelsey pulled back, her sweet expression concerned but not appalled. “What about Daddy?”
Barbie almost lost it then, had to count to ten and think about the trees to keep from snapping at her daughter. The thought of Mark Shepherd still did that to her. The man shouldn’t have given up on her. All of this was his fault.
But Don said she wouldn’t have him if Mark hadn’t let her go and he was right about that. Remembering that she’d much rather be with Don allowed her to continue.
“You’ll still live with him, too, of course,” she said. The man was an elementary school principal. And he’d cared for Kelsey when Barbie had fallen apart. They’d never take Kelsey away from him completely.
“But I’d get to see you for real?” Kelsey asked, hope lighting her big, dark eyes.
“Yep.” Barbie’s heart sped up and a sense of almost euphoric well-being replaced the queasy feeling in her stomach.
“No more hiding?”
“Nope.”
“And Daddy would let me?”
“That’s the point of the lawyer, honey. It’ll all get worked out so that everyone is satisfied.”
Or at least Mark would have to pretend to be satisfied.
“Really?” Her daughter’s doubt tore at Barbie, making her more determined than ever to come through for Kelsey again. Just as she had every single minute for the first five years of her life.
