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“Not a funny one.” Their father turned his attention back to Ryder. “You’re doing the right thing. Taking care of your son—both of your boys—takes precedence above everything else.”
“It does?” Brandon asked.
At the same time, Ryder agreed, “It does.”
“Yes.” Chandler gave a decisive nod. “I’m proud of you for having your priorities straight,” he continued. “The company will be here when you get back, and nothing will be decided about my position until that time.” He glanced at Brandon. “Don’t be in too much of a hurry to kick me to the curb, son.”
“I’m not,” Brandon mumbled, obviously chastised.
“Thank you, Dad.” Ryder stood and tried not to gape as the older man came around the side of the desk and offered a fierce—if formal—hug. This wasn’t how he’d expected the meeting to go, but he’d take a win wherever he could get it at the moment. He wanted to believe his father’s support indicated a positive outcome overall. He needed to believe in something.
“That was fast,” Esme said as she opened the door a half hour later. “How was the meeting?”
Bea stood glaring at her from the other side, hands on hips as she tapped an impatient booted toe against the concrete porch. “I sure hope you don’t think my interview with a potential chef for the Cowgirl Café went well. All I could think about was whether my sister had been chopped into a million pieces and shoved into her freezer by her baby’s biological father.”
“Wow,” Esme murmured as she stepped back to allow her sister into the house. “Somebody has been listening to too many true crime podcasts.”
“Well, what am I supposed to think?” Bea demanded, her voice rising in obvious frustration.
Esme made a hushing sound. “I just got the boys down for a nap. They need some rest.”
“The boys plural?” Bea spun on her heel. “Are you telling me you have both babies here? Esme, what in the world happened today?”
“My life changed,” Esme answered, then sighed, feeling suddenly exhausted. She’d been running on nothing but emotions and adrenaline since reading the 411 Me report yesterday. Now the reality of what she’d agreed to slammed into her like a bassinet full of concrete blocks.
“So Ryder Hayes just gave you his baby?” Bea looked flabbergasted. “I knew the guy was a player, but I didn’t realize he was a heartless cad. What about his wife or girlfriend?”
“He didn’t give Noah to me,” Esme answered in a stage whisper. How could her sister suggest such a thing? “His girlfriend died in a car accident shortly after giving birth.”
Bea’s big eyes widened even more. “That’s awful.”
“I know.” Esme swallowed, then said, “We’re going to raise the boys together.”
“Okay, that’s preposterous.”
“It’s unconventional, but I love Chase even though we don’t share DNA. As soon as I held Noah, I knew he belonged with me. Ryder feels the same way.”
“Oh, yeah?” Bea made a point of glancing around the empty living room. “Then where is this paragon of fatherhood?”
“He had some things to take care of at his company.”
“Right,” her sister said slowly. “How convenient for him to just dump his baby with you. Is he going out for drinks with his womanizing brother? I’ve seen one of them around town with a different lady on his arm every time.”
“Ryder isn’t like that.”
“How do you know?”
Esme didn’t know, but she wanted to trust him. After everything she’d been through, she needed to believe she wasn’t alone in all of this.
“Come on,” Bea coaxed. “Use your head, Es. I know how big your heart is, and you’ve always put too much stock in fairy tales. I don’t want to see you get hurt the way you did with Seth. You need to be real.”
Biting down on the inside of her cheek to keep from screaming, Esme gathered the shreds of her tattered composure and nodded. “Trust me. This situation is as real as it gets, and I still have trouble believing it’s happening to me. I’m not giving up a chance to raise the two children I love. Raising them with Ryder—who wants to be a good dad—is the best thing I can do.”
The doorbell rang, interrupting her tirade, and she stalked toward the door, flinging it open to find Ryder on the other side, holding a large brown takeout bag in his hand. “Sorry it took me so long. I stopped to pick up dinner from Herv’s BBQ. I realized I haven’t eaten a thing all day, and I’m guessing you might be in the same situation with two babies to look after.”
He looked past her to where Bea was staring at the two of them. “Hi.” He held up his free hand to wave.
“Come in,” Esme told him. “This is my sister, Bea.”
