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Savannah seemed to have found her outside voice and let out a screech that cut through some of the tension. Gabe chuckled and reached over to fluff the dark curly hair on her head before twirling another bite of spaghetti onto his fork. “Nine a.m.” He chewed and swallowed, then frowned into his bottle of beer. “Speaking of that, I have something to ask you.”
For a second, my nerves flared. I wasn’t sure why, but I had the feeling that whatever he was going to ask me would change my life forever. There’d been a lot of that lately, it seemed. “Sure,” I said, wiping my mouth with a napkin. “What do you need?”
He didn’t answer right away, taking more interest than was necessary in his food. Finally, he took a deep breath and met my gaze, his own intense enough to make my pulse kick higher. “I want to ask if you’ll be Savannah’s legal guardian. Just until she’s old enough to be in school. Then I can have her with me on base.” I must’ve given him a strange look, because he added, “They’re very safe places for kids, but I’m not exactly in a position career-wise to take her with me now. I mean, the places I’m sent on missions aren’t exactly spots where you can have family with you. In a few years, maybe I can get a promotion, a desk job at the Pentagon or something, but right now, it’s just not feasible.”
I blinked at him as my mind worked through it all.
“I know you love her,” he said, when I didn’t respond right away. “And I can’t imagine anyone I’d trust more to keep her safe.”
Honored. Shocked. Terrified. Thrilled. The emotions flooded through me as I tried to figure out how to answer him. I absolutely loved Savannah like she was my own child. I’d do anything for that kid. I’d never turn her away. But being her guardian felt an awful lot like being her mom, and…
No. Don’t go there.
Then it hit me.
Gabe was asking me to raise Savannahforhim, notwithhim.
As much as it pained me to admit that fact, it wasn’t like I could say no to him.
He watched me from across the table. Still intense, still gorgeous, still Gabe in all his earnest, heartfelt glory. And damn. How could I turn him down?
I couldn’t.
“Okay. Yes.” I exhaled slowly. “I’d be honored to be Savannah’s guardian.”
His smile, slow and sweet, made my breath catch. “Thank you.”
Then he was leaning across the table and kissing me, and that was all that mattered.
* * *
I arrived at the Jefferson County Courthouse at 8:45 a.m. sharp the next morning, with Charlotte by my side. Having her agree to be Savannah’s guardian had been a huge relief and supplied the final piece of the plan I’d been constructing for weeks to present to the judge.
My pulse was racing, and I was already sweating from nerves, despite the cool day outside. The social worker, Mrs. Thompson, had assured us that this should be nothing more than a formality, since Alexis was dead and the DNA results proved I was Savannah’s father, but I was still afraid I’d screw it up somehow.
“Relax,” Charlotte said, nudging me with her shoulder. “You look like a dead man walking.”
Faking a smile, I let go of her hand to carry Savannah through the metal detector at the entrance to the courthouse lobby, then waited while Charlotte was screened. On top of the stress of the hearing, being in that courthouse was bringing back memories
I’d thought I’d locked away a long time ago. Memories of being a grieving teenager dealing with the court system in the aftermath of the accident. There’d been wills and probate and judges deciding the best place for me to live until I turned eighteen. Some of it was a blur. Some of it lived on in the sick twisting my gut was doing right now.
At least Savannah was young enough that she wouldn’t remember any of this stuff. I kissed her hair and adjusted her in my right arm, the file of paperwork I’d completed tucked under the left.
“Come on.” I waited as Charlotte grabbed the diaper bag off the X-ray conveyor belt and slung it over her shoulder. I was so grateful to have her with me today, and not just because she was an extra set of hands to help care for Savannah during all this. I’d only been home a short time, a few weeks, and yet somehow in that time, Charlotte had become my rock: the person I looked forward to seeing first thing in the morning and the last person I wanted to see at night. We talked, laughed, and comforted each other… and the sex was amazing. I didn’t want to read too much into any of that, but I couldn’t imagine going through any of this without her.
We walked through the lobby, past office doors lining either side of the space, our footsteps echoing off the marble floor. The murmur of voices filled the air, and in the distance, through a set of open double doors, I saw the grand courtroom, a huge, airy space with a large circular chandelier hanging over the center and the judge’s bench at the end of it all.
Thankfully, my hearing wasn’t going to be in there. We were going to the judge’s chambers, since it was just me who needed to present my case, with Elijah Harris having dropped his petition.
Just the thought of that asshole had my blood pressure rising. I had no proof that he’d been the one trying to run me off the road yesterday. The cops hadn’t found anything yet, but it would be a hell of a coincidence if Harris wasn’t involved somehow. And I didn’t believe in coincidences.
Out of habit, I scanned the faces of the people around us as we headed for the elevators to the second floor. My training was instinctual, and I was always aware of my surroundings right off—the exits, the entrances, any potential threats. And Elijah Harris was definitely a threat.
Even though I had no evidence he’d been following us, with his law enforcement background, it was a good possibility. If I’d been in his position, that’s what I’d do. And while the courthouse had good security, I wasn’t taking any chances with Savannah’s or Charlotte’s life.
Luckily, I didn’t see any sign of Harris. I jammed the elevator button, then bounced my daughter in my arms while we waited. A few minutes later, we stood outside a door marked with the nameJudge Franklin Mayhew, and my chest squeezed tight.
“This is it,” I said, a trickle of perspiration running down the back of my neck.
