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“Darcy.” She ran her fingers through her blonde pixie hair. “What was she thinking giving me guardianship of her kids?”
“Not just you. You and Boxer.”
“Boxer makes sense. Boxer is Lily’s favorite person. But me?” She shook her head. “I’m not maternal. I work sixty-hour weeks. I love my career.”
She looked at the ground. “I’m not ready to be a mom. And now I’m responsible for two kids. Two amazing kids who lost their parents, and now they’re stuck with me. Darcy—she makes—made—Lily’s ballet tutus. I sew skin for a living. I can’t sew tulle. And Cam? He needed a very complex surgery on his leg. He loves to play soccer. What if he’ll never be able to run as fast again? What if it bothers him the rest of his life? What if…”
Her hand crept across her stomach and rested there.
It clicked immediately.
“What if,” I said quietly, “they think they don’t belong in your family because of the new baby?”
Her head whipped to mine and her sharp gaze softened. She swallowed. “Yes. That.”
I took her free hand and gave it a squeeze. “If there’s anything I learned about the people at this funeral, it’s that they’re family. You’re not alone. And you won’t have to do this alone.”
“I’m good at being a doctor. What if it’s the only thing I’m good at?”
“It’s not. You’ll figure it out, Doc. You don’t have to make Lily’s tutus. You’re never going to be Darcy. You’re never going to replace her. But you can be their…Doc. And you can be there for those kids the way they need someone now. Darcy chose you for a reason, remember that. She knew if anything happened, you’d be there for them. She chose you.”
She shot me a look and smiled. “Yeah. I can be there for them.”
Chapter 37
“An anonymous donor bought the seat next to yours,” Mom said over the phone.
I held in a smile. “Oh yeah? That’s fascinating.”
“I hope he’s a handsome billionaire who sweeps you off your feet.”
“He’s not a billionaire, but he is handsome,” I replied.
Bones sat next to me on the couch, his hand settled on my thigh while I spoke to my mother. He grinned and shook his head.
“You know who it is, don’t you?” she asked.
“Of course I know who it is,” I said. “I’m the one who bought the seat.”
She paused. “Oh my God, you’re bringing a date.”
“Yes, Mom. I’m bringing a date.”
“Well, tell me everything about him! Who is he? What’s his?—”
“You’ll meet him tomorrow night—like everyone else.”
“You mean you don’t want to give me his name so I won’t have time to find out all I can about him.”
If my mother knew Bones’ real name, she’d take it to my stepfather, who would then do a background check. It was going to be enough of a shock for me to show up to a charity gala on Bones’ arm. What would my mother do when she found out he was a biker?
“Tell you what,” I said. “You’ll meet him tomorrow night at the gala and then we’ll have Sunday dinner with you. You can quiz him to your heart’s content, in person.”
“I won’t quiz.”
“Hmm. Right.”
“No wonder you said no to Walker. You were dating someone all this time, weren’t you?”
