Kitabı oku: «The Marriage Bargain», sayfa 2
Chapter Two
Cam stepped out of the rental car and squinted up at the house he’d come to see. He’d called a real estate agent about looking at some properties. Jules had said last night that the girls needed someone who would stick around.
He’d spent his entire adult life traveling from one exotic locale to the next, moving on just when things started to get real. He was good at short-term relationships, sliding in and out of other cultures with ease.
It was the long-term ones that gave him pause. But that would have to change if he wanted a relationship with his nieces.
Tires crunched on the driveway behind him and he turned to see a patrol car cruising toward him. Perfect. Just what he wanted to do today: deal with a cop who wanted to bust his chops for no reason.
A muscular man with short-clipped hair and mirrored aviator glasses stepped out of car. “Cameron Quinn?”
“That’s me.” He walked closer to the huge cop, eyes on the hand closest to the service weapon still snapped in the guy’s holster. Cam was a black man on someone else’s property and, like it or not, that made him a target. “Can I help you?”
The hand slowly extended and a smile spread across the cop’s face. “You don’t remember me, do you? Joe Sheehan. We were in the same class in the fourth grade.”
Cam gripped Joe’s hand, hyperawareness slipping away as he laughed. “Oh, yeah, it’s been a while. I’m not sure you had those biceps in the fourth grade.”
Joe chuckled. “No, I was pretty hungry in those days. I heard you were back in town. Planning to stay awhile?”
“Thinking about it. My nieces are here.”
Joe nodded. “I know. They live with my sister.”
“I forget just how small small towns are.”
The cop laughed again. “Yeah, I moved back a couple of years ago and it was definitely an adjustment. Fortunately, there are some advantages to everyone knowing everyone else, especially if you have teenage kids. Ours can’t do anything without their mom and me hearing about it.”
“I guess that would be an advantage...if you’re the parent.”
Joe’s rolling laugh bounced off the house behind them as a black sedan pulled into the driveway. The real estate agent, Cam assumed.
“So, you interested in this place?”
“I haven’t looked at it yet.” Cam glanced again at the house behind him. “I guess we’ll see.”
“Well, it’s a beautiful place. Good luck...and welcome back to town, however long you decide to stay.” Joe backed toward his patrol car. “If you’re around on Saturday afternoon, some friends and I play a pickup game of soccer down at the park. And tell my sister I said to bring you to Sunday lunch at the farm.”
“Thanks, I will.”
The real estate agent walked up to Cameron and held out a hand. “You must be Mr. Quinn. Hey, Chief.”
“Marjorie Ann, good to see you. I was just leaving. Nice to see you again, Cam.”
The agent, an older lady with a short white bob, had a perky smile on her face. “Shall we?”
“Sure.” Cam followed her through the front door. He’d asked for something near his nieces—which the agent had delivered—but this house was massive.
“The whole estate’s in perfect condition and it comes with the furnishings. Everything’s included, right down to the dishes in the cabinets. I know you said you have young nieces. There’s even a beautiful nursery and a playroom.” She walked toward a wide bank of windows and pulled open the curtains.
It was definitely way more house than he needed. When she’d emailed him the possibilities, he’d almost rejected the property without looking at it because of its size, but wow—that view made him glad he’d reconsidered.
Rolling pastures stretched out behind the house, swirling fog still lingering. A clear blue pond reflected the slightly rosy sky. In that second, he could see two little girls cartwheeling on the lawn. “It’s very nice.”
The agent’s heels tapped across the wide pine plank floor. Her thick Southern drawl drifted back from the kitchen. “Gourmet eat-in kitchen. Top-of-the-line appliances. Fully stocked with anything you might need, except the food, of course.”
He followed her into the expansive room. Once again his eyes were drawn to the windows and the large farm table in front of them. A family could sit and linger around that table. “And that building down the hill, that’s the barn?”
“Yes. There’s a small apartment on the second floor. Any questions so far?”
“Do you think it would it be possible for me to rent the place until the closing date if I make an acceptable offer?”
The older lady turned to him, a delighted expression on her face. “Why, yes. I think that could be arranged. I don’t believe the owner has any interest in the property at this point.”
“Write it up at full price. It’s worth that, probably more.” He could see the dollar signs like stars in her eyes and smothered a laugh. “Let’s try and get this done today. I’ll come by your office in an hour or so to sign the paperwork.”
That brought an instantaneous furrowed brow. “That timeline’ll be pushing it, but I’ll do my best. Feel free to look around. I’ll just head back to the office and get started.”
He walked her out before turning back to the great room to look around. The space had warm wood tones and comfortable furniture. He envisioned a puzzle on the round table in the corner and a cozy fire burning in the fireplace. Laughter echoing off the vaulted ceiling.
Half-embarrassed, he shook off the thoughts. He couldn’t shake off the longing as easily.
Cam tried out the word: home.
He’d been traveling for more years than he could count. A few months here and a few months there. He’d had all kinds of adventures all over the world and people paid him to write about them.
Was it possible that he could build a life here? Have family nearby? He wouldn’t have considered it until he’d seen the faces of those little girls, seen their beautiful eyes full of sass and darkened with sorrow.
He wasn’t a family man, but with that first glimpse of his nieces came a rush of love and a desire he’d squashed for years. He wanted roots. He wanted...
Home.
* * *
“So he just knocked on the door and introduced himself?” Juliet’s older sister, Wynn, sat on a stool beside the frosting station in the kitchen of the bakery, her eleven-month-old baby sleeping in a stroller beside them. “Girl, that is gutsy.”
Juliet looked up from the tray of doughnuts she was filling with pastry cream. “I know. I wanted to hate him, but I couldn’t. It was obvious that he was blown away by the girls.”
“Of course he was. We’ve all fallen in love with them.”
Jules paused in her work to glance at her phone. Nothing.
“It must’ve been hard to come back here after what happened with his mom and stepdad. It was hard for me and I had you guys.” Wynn paused. “Jules, what’s going on with you? I’ve never seen you so tied to your phone. You’ve checked it at least six times since I’ve been sitting here.”
“It’s the girls’ first day at day care. I’m a nervous wreck. It’s only been a few weeks. What if I’m pushing them too hard?”
Wynn shrugged, but Jules noticed she glanced over at the stroller, where Addie Jane lay sleeping. “You have a business. You can’t take off forever. Did they fuss, going in?”
“Not really. Eleanor saw a friend from church and she was excited to play. She’s outgoing like her mom.”
“See? It’s going to be fine. What about Emma?”
“Stuck her bottom lip out, but didn’t cry. The ladies in the baby room are sweet. They’ve already sent me one picture of her, playing with blocks on the floor.” Jules slid a doughnut over to Wynn and twisted the pastry bag to keep the pressure on the tip as she continued.
“Thanks. I’m glad you’re testing the waters before I have to put A.J. in there.” Wynn glanced at the baby again. “She looks angelic when she’s sleeping, doesn’t she?”
Jules laughed. “Yeah. It’s when she’s awake that’s the problem.”
“No kidding.” Wynn paused in the act of taking a bite, doughnut in midair. “How are you sleeping?”
Jules slid the tray of doughnuts into the waiting rack, pulled out a tray of vanilla cupcakes and picked up a different piping bag. “Sleep? I don’t sleep. It’s my first day back at work and already I feel like I’m failing them.”
“I know this is going to be difficult to hear, Jules, but you’re not perfect—and that’s okay.”
“I like being good at things.” She paused in making her signature frosting swoops on the cupcakes as Wynn snorted. “Stop it. I’m being serious. Besides, this is important. Glory left the children with me, but she didn’t really give me any advice on how to deal with her mother, who’s drunk texting me all the time, or...whatever.”
“Whatever, like Glory’s brother showing up?” Wynn licked her finger and grabbed a napkin from the table.
“Yeah, exactly.”
“What does he look like?” Wynn tapped on her cell phone’s keyboard.
“You know the biracial doctor on Grey’s Anatomy? Like that, but with more intense eyes.”
“Whoa.” Wynn turned the phone around to show Jules the picture she’d pulled up from Cam’s author website.
“Yep, that’s him.” Jules sighed. “So if the situation’s not awkward enough, I’m also tongue-tied because he’s that good-looking.”
“That’s so rough.” Wynn’s words were compassionate, but the laughter behind them gave her away.
Jules rolled her eyes. “Thanks for the sympathy.”
“Anytime. So have you heard from Garrett about a court date for finalizing the guardianship?”
“No, but he said when he gets word from the clerk, he’ll let me know as soon as possible.”
The baby stirred and Wynn jumped up with a panicked look on her face. “Uh-oh. I better get back to the office. I know you’re anxious to get all this finalized, but don’t worry. Garrett knows this stuff inside and out.”
“I know.” Wynn’s law partner was well-known for his skills in family court. But Jules wouldn’t breathe a sigh of relief until the legal papers were signed by the judge.
She picked up the piping bag again. She had two more trays of cupcakes to frost and then she was going to check on her babies at preschool. Maybe that made her a helicopter mom, but she didn’t really care. There wasn’t anything she wouldn’t do for those girls.
* * *
An hour later, Cam pushed open the door to Take the Cake, which he found on Main Street next door to the Hilltop Café. He hadn’t been in Juliet’s business before, but he was impressed. It had a charming homey feel, with some reclaimed architectural pieces on the walls and a couple of tables that looked like they came out of someone’s barn. However, even those tables were glossy, and the glimmer of glass from the bakery case gave the whole place a polished, intentional look.
The door from the kitchen swung open and Juliet came into the customer area with Emma in some kind of contraption strapped to her chest. She stopped short when she saw him. A hesitant smile curved her lips, lighting her eyes. “Oh. Hi.”
He smiled back. “Looks like you have company today.”
Jules crossed her arms around the sleeping baby. “She... I went by to check on her and the day care workers said she was having a hard time going down for a nap, so I brought her back with me. I know it’s probably not the right thing to do, but she just lost her mom and she’s had so many changes—”
“Jules, you’re not gonna get any judgment from me. I think it’s fine.”
“You do? Okay.” She took a deep breath. “Sorry, still new at this mom thing. Can I get you something?”
“I didn’t have breakfast. How about a cup of coffee and some kind of pastry?”
“Wintertime, I always have pumpkin bread. I serve it with homemade whipped cream. I also have apple Danish.”
“Can I have whipped cream with apple Danish?”
“Now you’re talking.”
Today she was dressed all in black, which just made her blue eyes look more intense. Her hair was pulled back in a low bun. When she looked up with a smile, he said, “I bought a house.”
“What? That’s great! Congratulations!”
“Thanks. I’ve never bought a house before. I mostly live out of suitcases and overnight delivery boxes.” He’d never really thought about how pathetic that sounded.
“With your job, I guess you haven’t been in one place long enough to settle down before.” She slid a piece of apple Danish from the bakery case onto a plate. A squirt of homemade whipped cream from a stainless steel dispenser and a sprinkle of cinnamon topped it off. It looked amazing. “One second.”
Jules disappeared into the back and reappeared a few seconds later with a candle, which she stuck into the pastry and lit. “Now. A piece of Danish worthy of your celebration.”
“Can you join me?”
She hesitated, glancing behind her at the kitchen, but picked up a bottle of water and eased into the chair across from him, her hand keeping the baby in place.
Cam blew out the candle with a smile and cut a piece of Danish with his fork, but set it down again. “I didn’t have anyone to tell about my new house...so I came here. Thanks for being happy for me.”
She smiled, but her lip trembled. “You’re welcome. I wish Glory was here to see this.”
“Me, too.” He took a bite of his Danish and groaned. “Jules, this is good.”
“Thanks.” She patted Emma’s little back. “I’m just getting back to work, but luckily I have an awesome assistant who’s been with me awhile. So, you just went out this morning and bought a house?”
“Technically, I made an offer and they accepted, but yeah.”
“Where?”
“Now, that’s the best part. It’s next door.”
Her eyes widened. “To what?”
Feeling really satisfied from the apple Danish he’d just inhaled, he grinned at her. “To you. And the girls.”
“Oh. Wow.” She paused. “The Grayton house?”
“I’m not sure I heard it called that. Supposedly some country star built a house down here and didn’t realize it would be quite so quiet living in the ‘middle of nowhere,’ as the agent put it.”
“That’s it. Abbie Grayton built it. I think she was here for about two weeks before she went back to Nashville.”
“It’s a beautiful house with a pool and a pond. I think I got a little caught up in the idea of taking the girls fishing when they get older.”
“You fish?”
He laughed. “I’m an adventure writer. Of course I know how to fish.”
“When do you move in?”
“I already did. Or I will, I guess, when I take my suitcase in. I bought the place furnished, and arranged to rent for the month or so until closing.”
“Wow,” she said again, but she looked a little disconcerted.
“Jules, when I said I wanted to be a part of the girls’ lives, I meant it. I’ve been on my own a long time. I waited too long to come back, and missed having a relationship with my sister. I don’t want to make the same mistake with the girls.”
He paused and looked out the window to the street lined with flower boxes of pansies. He’d been away a long time. If he didn’t know homes like the one he grew up in existed in this small town, he wouldn’t believe it.
Maybe it was time he reclaimed his past and brought it into the future, where he could make peace with what happened to him. “Look, I know I messed up with Glory—believe me, I get that. But please, give me a chance with her girls.”
Jules put her hand on his and he felt a jolt of recognition. Kindness. He’d found it in every corner of the world in one way or another. It was more than he deserved.
She drew in a long breath and smiled. “Why don’t I bring Emma and Eleanor by tonight to see the house? I know they’ll love it.”
Undeserved kindness.
He cleared his throat and nodded. “I’ll be there.”
Chapter Three
A few hours later, Jules’s bakery assistant, April, stuck her head in the door. “Hey, Garrett Cole is here for you.”
“Thanks. You can send him back here.” She checked the supply of chocolate chips, last on her list, and stepped out of the walk-in pantry just in time to see Garrett push open the door. “I think my pulse rate jumped through the roof when I heard your name.”
Garrett chuckled. “I get that a lot unfortunately.”
“So what brings you by? I assume if it was good news, you would’ve just called.”
He took a deep breath. “No easy way to say this, Jules. One of the family members filed for custody.”
Her stomach plummeted. She wanted to scream and fought to keep her violent disappointment in check. “I was so afraid Cameron was going to do something like this.”
“It’s not entirely unex—” He narrowed his eyes. “Who’s Cameron?”
“Glory’s older brother. He showed up at my house to see the girls a couple of days ago. But if he’s not the one who filed for custody, then who?”
“Victoria Porter.” Garrett pulled a sheaf of papers out of his leather case and handed them to her.
She reached for the papers with one hand and the edge of the counter with the other. “Glory’s mother.”
“Yeah. I’m so sorry. I know if the children’s grandmother had been a good plan for the children, Glory would’ve stipulated that in her will.”
“She and her mom didn’t get along. Vicky didn’t kick Glory out, like she did Cam, but she is the most selfish person I’ve ever met. If she’s filing for custody, there’s a reason, and it doesn’t have anything to do with what’s best for the girls.” Jules paused, tugged her bottom lip between her teeth. She didn’t want to say this out loud, but she had to ask, “Does—does she have a chance?”
Garrett waved the stack of papers away when she tried to hand it back. “That’s your copy. And the answer to your question is I don’t know. We got assigned Judge Walker and he’s known to prefer biological family for child placement.”
“Even if the biological family isn’t suitable? And Glory named me as guardian in the will?”
“Well, your definition of suitable and the judge’s might be a little different. Once custody becomes an issue, the parents’ wishes are considered, but aren’t always followed. It doesn’t make sense, but that’s the way it is.”
She stood and walked to the window that overlooked the street behind the bakery. “I can’t believe this.”
“You mentioned the children’s uncle? If you can get him to testify that the children would be better off with you, it might help.”
“What if he sees this as an opportunity and decides to file for custody, too? I really could lose them.” Her voice broke and she cleared her throat, desperately trying to hang onto her composure. These past few weeks had been the hardest of her life. She wasn’t sure how much more she could take.
Garrett shook his head. “I don’t know, Jules. I want to tell you everything’s going to be okay, but this case just got a whole lot more complicated. Once custody proceedings start, it’s really hard to know what the judge will do. This one prefers biological family. He also prefers married couples over singles trying to adopt. I’ve been in his courtroom a lot and he’s very unpredictable.”
She shoved her fingers into her hair, resting her palms over her eyes, willing herself not to break down in front of her lawyer. “This is horrible. Those girls have already been through so much.”
Garrett put his hand on her shoulder. “We’re going to do everything in our power to make sure they stay with you. In the meantime, make friends with Glory’s brother.”
Jules nodded. “We’re visiting him tonight. Hopefully, he’ll see us as a family—that the girls are meant to be with me.”
“Good. I’ll let you know if I hear anything else.”
She watched through a blur of tears as Garrett walked back out through the door. The girls were her responsibility now. Glory and her brother had both suffered at the hands of a mom too interested in her own comfort to put them first. Jules would never let that happen to Eleanor and Emma—no matter what she had to do.
* * *
Cam placed the few items he’d picked up at the grocery store into his giant Sub-Zero refrigerator. He put a cartridge in his single-cup coffee brewer and looked out the window as the steaming hot liquid hissed into his mug.
It seemed impossible that he’d bought a house—not just because he was back here in his hometown, but because he was making plans to stay. But when he looked out those big windows at the stretch of green and the glimmer of water, it felt right. It felt like possibility.
The sun dipped behind the trees, sending long shadows across the pasture. He glanced at his watch. He’d expected Jules to be here by now, but she must’ve gotten held up.
He picked up his coffee and walked through the French doors onto the wide porch beyond the kitchen, fatigue settling in his shoulders. He didn’t often second-guess decisions. His success and reputation depended on a certain amount of creative bravado. Making a decision to buy this huge house? That was out of the norm, but surprisingly, he didn’t feel regret. He felt...hope.
When he’d seen his niece standing in the doorway of Juliet’s house that first night, it all clicked. It seemed so simple. Yes, he was taking a big risk moving to Alabama, but so what? He’d built a writing career out of being a risk taker. And he’d turn the world inside out if he had to, for Emma and Eleanor.
He glanced at his watch again: 5:30 p.m. and no sign of Jules. Maybe she forgot? He didn’t want the girls to go to bed without him at least hearing how their day went. He grabbed his keys off the counter.
A couple minutes later he was standing on her front porch, his hand raised to knock, when he saw water pouring out from under the closed door. Uh-oh.
He reached for the knob, pushed open the door and stepped into chaos. Water dripped from the ceiling, seeming to come from everywhere. Emma was screaming from the portable crib, her little face red and tear streaked.
Eleanor jumped up and down, making water splash, soaking her clothes and her hot-pink Mary Janes. “Hey, guess what? It’s raining in the house!”
“I see that.” He picked the damp baby up from the crib, putting her on his shoulder. Her little body curved into his, trembling and needy. He held her close, this tiny innocent sweetheart, patting her back as Jules came through the hall door with an armload of towels, her cell phone tucked next to her ear. Her hair hung in wet ropes around her shoulders, jeans rolled up to midcalf.
She came to a hard stop when she saw him. Cam froze, glancing up at the ceiling as a fat drop of cold water landed on his forehead. “So...what happened?”
She tossed towels on the hardwood floor in a haphazard pattern, words spilling out in a rush. “The water heater’s in the attic and I guess it exploded. Water just started pouring out of the ceiling. The ceiling in the entire house is soaked and dripping.”
He couldn’t tell if she was crying or if it was just the water tracking down her cheeks. “Oh, boy. Okay, so why don’t I get the girls out of here? I’ll take them next door and get them dry and fed. When you get things settled, come over.”
Cam could literally see the thoughts churning in her mind as she tried to figure a way out of letting him leave with the girls. He should probably be offended, but he did appreciate that she was so protective of his nieces—even when the one she was protecting them from was him. “I’ll take good care of them, Jules, I promise.”
“I know.” She looked around her ruined home with a sigh, but her fingers were still clenched into a fist. “The water mitigation team should be here within the hour.”
Cam wasn’t sure anything could be done to save the wood flooring, and the ceiling was definitely a total loss. He wasn’t an expert—by far—but it looked to him like it was going to take a while, maybe months, to fix this kind of damage. “Got it. Okay. Come over after you’re done with the workers and we can talk some more.”
“I will.”
He turned to where Eleanor was tap-dancing in a puddle on the rug. “Come on, splash princess, we’re going to my house.”
Eleanor started toward him but looked back at Jules, green eyes darkening with fear.
Juliet dropped to her knees on the watery floor in front of the three-year-old, who’d known so much loss and change in the past few weeks. She gripped one little water-pruned hand. “It’s okay, Eleanor. You go with Uncle Cam and I’ll see you in just a little while.”
Eleanor hugged Jules, arms cinching around her neck in a death grip before she let go.
Jules picked her up and followed Cam into the kitchen. She unhooked the diaper bag and Eleanor’s backpack from their place by the back door. “You’re going to need these. There’s a change of clothes for each of them and Emma’s due for a bottle at six.”
As he grasped the bags, she held on a second too long. “Cam. Take care of them—I’m trusting you.”
“Should I send my résumé over for you to check out?”
He was joking, but Jules tilted her head and smiled. “No, that’s okay. My brother Joe is the police chief here and I already had him run a background check on you.”
Cam was still laughing as he opened the front door of his new home. He’d worried, a little, about whether Juliet was the right person to raise his nieces, when he’d met her the other night. He wasn’t worried about that now.
She had grit. And there was nothing more he admired than a little grit.
* * *
Juliet tiptoed out of the nursery in Cam’s new house. It was ridiculous how perfect it was. Layers of white and pale gray and texture everywhere, from a faux fur throw on the floor to the bedside table made from a tree trunk. It was precious and both girls were sound asleep. She pulled the door almost closed and sagged against the wall next to it.
What a night. If any sense of reaching for perfection had remained before this debacle, and she would’ve guaranteed that it didn’t, it was gone now.
The ceiling had literally come crashing down.
She shivered. She wasn’t sure she’d ever be warm again after being soaked to the skin for so long, but when she walked into the great room, Cam had a roaring fire going in the fireplace and a plate of food on a tray waiting for her.
“I hope you’re okay with pad thai. It’s my go-to when I need a quick dinner.” He glanced up with a smile and her stomach did a crazy loop-de-loop.
“It’s hot and I’m hungry. Thank you.” She sat on the edge of the hearth with her back to the fire and took a bite. “Cameron, this is so good. I guess you learned to make it in Thailand.”
He laughed. “No, actually, Brooklyn. There’s a little hole-in-the-wall restaurant that has the best Thai food this side of the ocean and a little Thai grandma who took a starving kid under her wing.”
After inhaling an entire plate of food, she put the tray down and leaned back into the warmth of the fire. “I’m starting to feel like a human again. Thank you.”
“My pleasure.”
“This house is great.” She wanted to be kind and act normal, but in her mind, she was reeling. The first blow had been the custody suit. One thing she’d had going for her was a stable home and business. Business was decent, but faltering without her daily presence.
And now her home was in a shambles for who knew how long. She had to do something to keep the girls safe and with her, even if it meant doing something drastic. And drastic was definitely the word for the germ of an idea starting to form in her mind.
“I like it even more than I thought I would,” Cam answered. “I spent all afternoon roaming through the house and the grounds and I still don’t think I’ve seen it all.”
“You decided to stay because of the girls?” Her voice quivered and she hated it, but she had to know where he was coming from. She remembered the beautiful, perfect nursery down the hall.
Was he doing all this so he could get custody, or did he have another motivation in mind?
“Yes. I’m not sure I would’ve ever come back to Red Hill Springs if they weren’t here, but they are. And now, so am I.” His face softened as he mentioned the girls, but still, she needed to know he would fight for them.
She tried to make the question light, but couldn’t pull it off. “Have you seen your mother since you’ve been in town?”
The mention of his mom was like slamming into a wall of ice. He stopped smiling. “I wouldn’t say I have a mother. So, no. Why would you ask me that?”
“She filed for custody of Emma and Eleanor. My lawyer brought me a copy of the paperwork this afternoon.”
Cam shot to his feet and walked to the wide windows. She could see his reflection, muscles tensing as he fought for control. When he turned back, his face was calm. “Glory and Sam listed you as the guardian for the girls. She can’t get them. Right?”
“Glory and Sam wanted the girls with me, yes, but the judge won’t grant me guardianship as long as there’s an open custody petition.”
“Has she even seen them since the funeral?” He walked closer and his smooth grace reminded her of a caged tiger, pent-up energy and a hint of tightly leashed rage.
“No. She’s been messed up for a long time. I’m not sure why she thinks she can raise two girls and I don’t know why the judge would believe it, but I’ve asked around. The judge we pulled is unpredictable and he favors biological family.”
“There’s gotta be a reason. She doesn’t want to raise them. She didn’t want to be a mother to her own two children. There’s gotta be a reason she’s trying to get custody.” He sat beside her on the hearth, close enough that she could feel the heat radiating from him.
“They have life insurance money from Glory and Sam. Quite a bit of money, actually, that hasn’t been released yet. But when it is, it will go directly into a trust for the kids, for college.”
His eyes narrowed on hers. “It will go into a trust automatically? Or that’s your plan for the money?”
“Oh, I see your point. You think she wants custody so she can get the life insurance money? That’s...” She floundered, searching for the right word. “There’s not even a word for how despicable that is.”
