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“They’re the ones financing everything. And they decided to pull the pin.”
Mom was screeching, despite the judge calling everyone to order. And when she lunged for me, Constantine shot up, half carrying her out of the courtroom.
Lenny had enough of sitting still and got up, running back to us. I stood, meeting him halfway. “What’s going on?” he asked.
Pulling him into a hug, I laughed. “You can stay with me.” I leaned back, my arms still around him. “Guess you won’t get rid of me after all.”
Strong arms pulled us into a hard chest. “Group hug.” Lenny laughed, and Jude held on tighter. “Pizza to celebrate?”
Lenny managed to get free and pumped his arm in the air. “Hell yes.”
“Language,” I chastised with a smile in my voice.
Jude put his arm around me, walking me to where the Olysses family was waiting, big smiles on their faces. Lenny had already made his way to Althea’s side, their heads bent together, no doubt talking about food.
“Excuse me.” A crisp voice stopped me from joining them.
I turned, coming face-to-face with my grandparents. “Ergh, hi.”
“Ariel. I’m Tom, and this is Meryl.” My grandfather cleared his throat. “We’re your grandparents.”
Raising a brow, I crossed my arms in front of my body, leaning into Jude, who provided silent support. “I’m aware.”
Another throat clearing. “We were hoping we could talk.”
“Now’s not the best time. Why don’t you call me?”
Tom barked out a laugh. “We both know you wouldn’t answer the phone if we called. And we don’t blame you. But we’d like to see you and Lenny. Outside of the courtroom.”
Seeing their expensive jewelry and designer clothes, I couldn't help but feel resentful and angry. They could have helped me and Lenny. But instead, they’d turned their back on their only child and their grandkids.
“I’ll think about it.”
He handed me a gold-engraved card. “This is our number. Please, call us. We didn’t know we had grandkids until a few months ago. And Heather made it look like you’d run off with Lenny. We wanted to talk to you outside the courtroom, but our lawyers advised against it. I’m truly sorry for everything that’s happened.”
I gripped the car with a shaking hand, my anger going up in smoke. “You didn’t know about us?”
He shook his head. “Heather refused to talk to us after we cut her off. We were happy when she called us a few months ago. We’d thought she’d changed and wanted to reconnect. We offered to help after she told us you’d taken Lenny. We felt this was our chance to repair our relationship. I’m truly sorry for all the pain we’ve caused.” He took his wife’s hand and they turned toward the exit. “I truly hope you’ll call us.”
Too stunned to answer I watched them walk out, tightly holding the card in my hand.
Jude steered me in the direction of his family. “You going to call them?”
“I think so. They seemed genuine.”
“Want me to do a background check on them?”
I hummed noncommittally, knowing he’d have already done one. But I didn’t want to start what would hopefully be a relationship with my grandparents by having to tell them that I knew everything there was to know about them from a background check.
And then all I could do was brace because every Olysses surrounded us, offering their congratulations and hugging us. Who would have thought I’d find a new family who made me feel more at home than my own ever had?
Jude pressed his lips to mine, ignoring the chaos around us. “I love you.”
Putting my hands around his neck, nearly clocking him in the head with my cast, I pulled him down to me again, pressing a kiss to his lips. “I love you too.”
A pinch in my side made me yelp. “Why are we all still standing around? Let’s get food. I’m hungry.”
Everyone laughed at Lenny, and we made our way back to our cars.
