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Grant smiled at her, hoping it would be convincing enough to make her drop the subject. He had already accepted his fate. “Thanks for the pep talk.”
She smiled back. “It’s going to be okay.”
“That’s what everyone keeps telling me.”
“Well, it is.”
She glanced down at where she still held his hand and it was then that he realized just how natural it still felt to be with her. He'd be immensely happy spending the rest of his life in this town, with this woman, raising his son. It was too bad that life never ended up the way he wanted it to.
Bella withdrew her hand and fiddled with her hair. Her eyes darted toward the entrance of the courthouse. She nodded in that direction and he followed her gaze. “Looks like they’re ready for you to go inside.”
Grant’s stomach roiled. He wasn’t ready. He would never be ready for this.
“It’s going to be okay,” she repeated. “You and Nick are meant to be a family. I just know it.”
Grant shot her one last fleeting look. “I’ll see you in there.”
She nodded. “I’ll be right in.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Bella wrung her hands. That conversation had been harder than she’d thought it would be. She couldn’t believe she’d actually allowed herself to talk to him. It had taken every ounce of resolve for her to stop herself from confessing her feelings for him.
Staying apart like this and watching him deal with the trauma of being separated from his son had pushed her to her own realization.
She wanted to be with Grant.
It didn’t matter that he’d kept secrets from her—she’d been guilty of the same thing. It didn’t matter that he was wealthy while she barely made ends meet. Opposites had a tendency to attract.
What mattered was the kind of man he was. She adored the way he treated his son. He’d become a father overnight and had embraced that role. And she was going to lose him permanently if she didn’t do something about it.
There was only one problem. She didn’t know if he wanted her anymore. If she threw herself into the flames and allowed herself to be vulnerable with him, she wasn’t sure she would survive his rejection.
Besides, he was dealing with too much.
Bella wiped her hands down her skirt, but it did nothing to improve the state of her clammy palms. As much as she hoped everything would work out, she had to admit she was terrified that Nick wouldn’t be returned to his father. The whole way back to Tish’s office, Nick had talked about how much he missed his dad and insisted that he didn’t want to live with his grandmother.
He was too young for the court to listen to what he wanted. Usually, a child wanted to go with the most lenient parent. Grant might be Nick’s preference, but he wasn’t lenient in the way the judge would be worried about. Nick was excelling in school. He was fed and taken care of. There should be no question that Grant was capable of taking his son.
And yet she still had doubts.
Charlotte was a woman to be reckoned with. If she wanted something, she would likely get it.
Just as Charlotte filled Bella’s thoughts, the woman arrived in a car with her own legal representation. She marched toward the building, stopping when she noticed Bella.
“Well, good morning, Deputy Whitfield. It’s a beautiful day, isn’t it?”
Bella nodded. “It is.”
Charlotte frowned. “You look worried.”
That was an understatement, but Bella offered the woman a smile anyway. “I’m just worried about Nick. This sort of event can be detrimental to a child his age. I never like taking a child from their parent.”
Charlotte waved a dismissive hand through the air. “Oh, Nick is a strong one. He’s just like his mother. You don’t have to worry about him. And as for Grant, can he really be considered Nick’s father if he was absent for the first six years of his life?”
Bella opened her mouth to object, but Charlotte cut her off.
“Do you know who was there for him in those first six years? Me. I was there helping Dee every step of the way. It isn’t any wonder that she would want me to take care of Nick.”
