Tanya pointed to three plates of scrambled eggs on the table in the dining room of the café. She was perfecting the breakfast and brunch catering menus and wanted Bea’s opinion. “The first plate is just eggs, butter, salt, and pepper. The second batch has cream added to it. The third has eggs, milk, butter, salt and pepper, and cheddar cheese.”
“They all look good.” Bea picked up her fork.
She tasted the food samples, but her thoughts felt as scrambled as the eggs on the plates. As much as she wanted to focus on this Wednesday-morning taste test, that past weekend and the last couple of days with Devin kept playing through her mind.
Since Saturday, he’d been distant and preoccupied. And his afternoon walks this week with Francis hadn’t included a stop by the café. Although he had said he was coming by that afternoon. But when they did talk, the conversation always veered away from them toward the newspaper or issues with Lauren.
“So what do you think?” Tanya asked.
Bea brought her thoughts back to the task at hand, and she sampled the last plate. “I like plate number one and number three.”
“Perfect.” Tanya smiled as she got up. “Those two are the most popular with everyone who’s tasted them, and they were my choice, too. The catering menu should be finalized in a few days. And the Belgian waffle makers I ordered are on the way. You know, chicken and waffles might be something to add to the dinner menu in the future.”
“I like that possibility. We’ll revisit that when the time comes.” Bea added it to the notes on her digital tablet. Chicken and waffles wasn’t an entrée her mom had made, but being open to new things would keep the menu fresh and interesting.
Bea returned to her office.
She and Tanya had also finished the new shelf diagrams for how the food should be organized in the walk-ins. They needed to be printed out. But her printer was out of paper, and the stash in her desk was gone, too.
Bea searched the storage room down the hall where they kept office supplies. But she didn’t see a box of printer paper or reams stacked on the shelf. They couldn’t have used all of the paper that fast. As she stepped back for a wider view, she spotted the packages on the top shelf out of reach.
Really? Bea let out a long breath. Putting the paper on a lower shelf made more sense, especially since they used it on a regular basis.
As she made a mental note to mention this to the stock person, Bea grabbed the small stepladder in the corner. After setting it up near the shelf, she climbed up, but she couldn’t quite reach the copy paper.
A taller stepladder was in the dining room storage closet, but she just needed one package.
Raising up onto her toes, she reached up, and her fingertips grazed the side of one of the packs, knocking it askew. Almost got it... She stretched her arm higher and slid it out a bit further.
But instead of just one, a domino of reams broke free.
“No!” A package started falling toward her head, and when she ducked out of the way, her foot slipped off the stepladder.
As she landed hard on the floor, horror consumed her mind. The baby...!
Devin sat with Quinn in his office. He’d asked her to do some research on the Wells family, but the results were less than promising.
“It’s like they disappeared.” Quinn shrugged. “I searched birth and death announcements, real estate purchases, old addresses. Nothing is coming up for Clint Wells’s family in the surrounding area. Do you want me to widen the search?”
Did he want to keep digging for answers? Devin was tempted, but the rabbit hole of searching for answers about the miners seemed endless. And the one person who probably knew the truth—Wendell Fortune—wasn’t talking.
Devin shook his head. “We’re going to have to press the pause button on this story for now.”
She stood. “I don’t blame the West family for disappearing after all they went through. If I were them, I would have gotten as far as possible from Texas and never looked back.”
As Quinn left, Devin studied the document on his desktop screen listing the leads he and his assistant had checked into. All of them were dead ends. And maybe that’s the way it should be...
That was what he’d told Bea. Quinn not finding anything could be a sign to follow that advice.
Devin closed the file on the Fortunes’ silver mine, then opened the one he’d created with the co-parenting plan documents. He hadn’t downloaded the newborn-essentials checklist and the parenting questionnaire Bea had sent him, but he still had plenty of time to get them done.
The checklist would be easy. He’d make sure Bea had whatever she wanted for the baby. And the questionnaire probably resembled the one he and Lauren had filled out regarding Carly during their divorce mediation.
It had questions like, who would be your primary-care physician? Carly’s pediatric physician was great. That would be his recommendation. Healthcare and medical expenses? Again, that was easy. He could take care of it all, or if Bea wanted to split the responsibilities, he wouldn’t object. Which parent would be the child’s “home base?” That was the most important question on that list.
A vision of him, Bea, the baby, and Carly living together as a family came into his mind. The possibility of that made him smile.
Carly and Bea had gotten along well making the tartlets for the bake sale. Maybe, despite his lingering doubts, his vision of a family wasn’t as far off as it seemed.
A text from his ex-wife dinged on his phone.
Can we meet at my house in an hour?
Devin glanced at the clock on the screen. He’d left Francis at home today, but he’d told Bea he would stop by later that afternoon. Whatever it was, he could probably meet Lauren and make it back in time.
A follow-up text appeared on the screen.
It’s important.
When wasn’t it important with Lauren?
Meet you there.
Unease and frustration accompanied him on the drive. He had no idea what Lauren had to tell him, but he sensed it wasn’t going to be good.
When he arrived at the house and walked inside, Lauren’s stubborn expression confirmed it.
Carly was at school, and the house was quiet.
The taps of his ex-wife’s heels echoed as they walked into the kitchen and seemed magnified in the silence. Her keys, phone, and business tote were on the counter. From the looks of things, she’d come from work.
She faced him. “There’s no easy way to say this, so I’ll just be direct. They need me in Corpus Christi sooner. I wanted to work out a custody arrangement with you through a mediator, but I don’t see the point under the circumstances.”
He crossed his arms over his chest. “No, a change in your timetable doesn’t change the circumstances of us coming to an agreement.”
“That’s not the circumstance I’m talking about. You’re about to have a baby with another woman. It’s a new responsibility.”
“That has nothing to do with me taking care of Carly.”
“It does. You can barely make time for her now. I have to fill in the gaps.”
Devin’s frustration broke through. “That’s bullshit. You were gone practically a whole week, and we did just fine. In fact, Carly and I have done just fine anytime you’ve left town. You’re just trying to come up with excuses for why you should take her to Corpus Christi.”
“I don’t need an excuse. And I think a judge will agree with me.”
“A judge?” Disbelief made him pause.
His phone rang, and he took it from his pocket.
“See what I mean?” Lauren pointed at him. “You can’t even focus on a conversation about our daughter without distractions.”
Not recognizing the number on the screen, he ignored the call, put the phone on silent, and tossed it onto the counter next to hers.
Irritation and calmness brewed inside of him. “You want to see me focused. I can build just as strong of a case. You’ll be a single parent with a new job in a new city. You talk about filling in the gaps? Who are you going to call in Corpus Christi when you can’t pick Carly up from an afterschool event or when you have to go away on a business trip?”
Lauren advanced on him. “You—”
“Stop fighting!” Carly screamed.
Startled, he and Lauren both looked toward the living room where their daughter stood.
Her face was pale, and her eyes were wide.
Devin’s stomach plummeted. What was she doing home? Had she been here the entire time?
“Sweetie.” Lauren rushed from the kitchen, and he wasn’t far behind. “It’s not what you think—”
Carly backed away from her mom. “We’re moving? Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I was waiting for the right time,” Lauren began.
“So that’s it?” Tears sprang from the teen’s eyes. “You get to decide everything? What about what I want?”
Devin stepped ahead of Lauren “We know this is a surprise for you, but we just—”
“You and mom don’t know anything!” Carly stormed past them to the back sliding door and left the house.
Devin looked at Lauren.
As she pressed her hands to her cheeks, she looked as stricken as he felt. “I didn’t see her. I didn’t look. I just assumed she was at school. She should be at school.”
An accusation almost slipped out of him. Devin released a harsh breath as he massaged his neck. He couldn’t find fault with Lauren’s actions. He should have paid better attention when he’d walked into the house. They both should have—instead of going at each other.
“Her skipping school is the least of our worries,” he said wearily. “We should go talk to her.”
Lauren stalled him with a raised hand. “I can fix this now. I’ll just turn down the job.”
He was tempted to agree but knew that wouldn’t be fair. “Taking away her right to decide by making a choice you don’t want won’t fix this situation. We need to listen to what she has to say.”
They went outside.
Carly sat on the edge of the pool with her feet in the water.
Devin took off his boots and socks, rolled up his jeans, and Lauren kicked off her heels and rolled up her pant legs.
He sat on one side of Carly and put his feet in the water, and Lauren did the same on the other side of her.
Carly kicked up the water, soaking their legs.
As the long seconds passed, memories of playing games in the pool with Carly when she’d been younger, and of her infectious laughter floated through his thoughts.
“I’m sorry,” Lauren said softly. “We should have told you. We were just trying to work things out with a mediator first.”
Carly kicked the water harder. “You said you were going to a judge.”
Lauren looked to him for help.
Devin replied, “That was something that came up today, but we started working with a mediator last Monday. He wanted me and your mom to make up schedules and parenting plans for either choice—if you stayed here with me or went with your mom to Corpus Christi.”
She turned to Lauren. “You think Corpus Christi is better for me even though my friends are here?”
“I just want you to experience more opportunities. A bigger school with more activities would do that. But I can understand if you don’t want to leave your friends.”
Carly looked to Devin. “And you think I should stay here instead of doing new things?”
“No. I want you to try new things. But I know you were looking forward to going to high school here and playing volleyball or maybe joining the cheerleading squad. I didn’t want you to miss out on that.”
“Would the choice have been mine?”
Devin glanced at Lauren. From the look in her eyes, they were on the same page. “It is starting now. What do you want to do? Stay here, or go to Corpus Christi?”
Carly stared down at the water, then said, “And whatever I choose, you won’t be mad at me?”
As Lauren wrapped an arm around her, she blinked back tears. “Of course not. Your dad and I love you.” Resignation was in her eyes as she glanced over at Devin. And in that moment, he knew she wouldn’t fight him about Carly staying in Chatelaine.
He nudged Carly’s shoulder with his. “Your mom’s right. We love you and we only want the best for you, whatever that may be.”
Carly nodded. “Okay.” She looked up and met his gaze. “I want to go to Corpus Christi.”
Lauren’s mouth dropped open in surprise.
Disappointment and disbelief pushed a sharp exhale out of him. He quickly recovered and forced a smile. “Then Corpus Christi it is.”
“But I still get to come home and see you, right?”
Home... The reassurance that one word gave choked him up for a few long seconds. “Yeah, definitely. We’ll figure it out.”
“Can we talk about it now?” Carly asked.
“Sure. Just let me call Quinn and let her know I’m not coming back to the office.”
Devin walked inside the house. Mixed emotions sat heavy in his chest. In the kitchen, he closed his eyes and breathed.
Lauren joined him. “I don’t know what to say...”
“There’s nothing to say. I just want Carly to be happy. And if that’s in Corpus Christi with you, I can live with that.” He picked up his phone. Noticing the missed voice mail, he listened to it.
“Devin, it’s Freya Fortune. There was an accident at the café...”