Charlotte
Charlotte didn’t know where to go but she knew she couldn’t stay at the house. She couldn’t stand by while Nick just handed over Amelia to a total stranger. A total stranger who had abandoned her baby once before. An addict. A…
It didn’t matter that Jessica was her mother. Not to Charlotte. It took more than blood and DNA to be a mother. And maybe everyone deserved a second chance, but Charlotte could not bring herself to think that way. Not yet. Not like this. Not when it came to Amelia.
She deserved better.
Char drove her car through a veil of tears, down the winding roads. She couldn’t go to her parents or to Jeremy. How could she admit that she’d been so very wrong? She’d basically insisted that they trust her instincts on this, that she was doing the right thing. Her instincts? What a joke. Obviously she couldn’t trust her gut. Not when she’d been so sure that Nick was an amazing father who’d do anything for his little girl.
He wouldn’t protect her now, and she couldn’t stand by and watch it happen.
She’d been so wrong.
The reality of it all hit her like a brick. She’d twisted her entire life up for him. The lying and acting and…falling. She’d totally fallen for him, and none of it had been true. She’d been so stupid to let herself think it could be anything. That it was anything. When obviously he didn’t consider her the same way. Hell, he didn’t consider her at all if he couldn’t be bothered to tell her what was going to happen.
Clearly, she wasn’t nearly as ready to move on from her past as she’d thought. She couldn’t trust her gut then, and it was painfully obvious, she couldn’t trust it now.
She swallowed back another sob.
The pain in her chest was almost too much to bear. A double whammy. She’d fallen in love with both of them—Nick and Amelia. And she’d fallen hard. And now…
Charlotte wasn’t sure where she was going, until she turned down the road that would lead to Lynx Creek.
The cabins.
Surely, Stephanie wouldn’t mind if she stayed for a little bit in one of the cabins. She just needed a bit of time. Some space before going…well, she’d figure that out after.
She drove up the hill, toward the cabin that she’d been working on last. The Lumberjack cabin. It was the most private. She’d be able to cry and feel sorry for herself in peace.
Char ignored her ringing phone as she parked her car behind the little cabin. Whoever it was, she didn’t want to talk to them. She had nothing to say to Nick and everyone else…she didn’t feel like talking. She needed to be left alone so she could pull her thoughts together and figure out what she was going to do and where she was going to go. Her heart hurt way too much to formulate a reasonable thought of any kind. What she really needed was a good cry.
And that’s just what she did. She left her phone in the car, and didn’t even bother opening the front door to the cabin. Instead, she dropped to the porch floor and pulled her legs up into her chest, tucked her head down and cried for everything that had just happened and all the things that she couldn’t even begin to understand.
She’d been so stupid letting her guard down again for Nick.
He was different.
Wrong.
He wasn’t different. He was another man who filled her with lies to get what he wanted from her. He’d used her and worse, he’d made her fall in love with him.
Fall in love.
Shit.
Yes. Love. It was the last thing she’d wanted to happen and the exact opposite of what was supposed to happen. No expectations, right?
So much for that.
She’d fallen hard. Really hard.
And not just for him.
It was too much. She needed to stop thinking. She needed to numb it. Shut it off. She needed—
Alcohol.
There was a bottle of Prosecco in the cabin from when Nick had surprised her the day of the caseworker visit. With everything that had happened, she’d forgotten all about it. She meant to take it back to the house for them to drink there, but she hadn’t gotten around to it.
Perfect.
Slowly, Charlotte pulled herself up from the porch and without bothering to dust herself off, dug the keys out of her pocket.
But the door to the cabin was unlocked. She held her hand on the doorknob for a moment before turning it. Had she left it unlocked the last time she was there?
It had been a few days since she’d been up to the cabin and she couldn’t remember locking the door, but she always did. Maybe Travis had opened it? For the furniture delivery?
Yes. The furniture she’d ordered was supposed to be delivered.
Charlotte shook her head at her own forgetfulness. If she wasn’t careful, she’d lose this job and then she’d really have nothing left. Maybe Nick had turned out to be…well, at least she had her career. That’s what she’d do. Focus on her career. All in. Maybe then she could—
Two steps into the cabin, Charlotte froze.
Someone had been there.
And not to deliver furniture.
The small space was still empty. Almost exactly how she’d left it the last time she’d been there. Almost.
There were dark, muddy footprints on the pine floorboards.
She sucked in a breath and turned slowly.
The bottle of bubbly she’d left on the cupboard had been opened. A paper cup sat next to it. Splashes of wine dotted the countertop.
This is wrong.
She tried not to jump to conclusions, but her instincts knew better. Icy fear ran through her veins and up her spine.
Run, a voice deep inside her screamed at her.
She needed to get out of there. Quickly.
Charlotte darted for the only exit, but it was too late. A man stepped through the door and closed it behind him.
Billy.
Nick
Amelia had stopped crying. Finally.
It had taken Nick over twenty minutes to calm her down after Charlotte left. She was finally bouncing in her play saucer and giggling at the various toys he’d put in place to distract her. Poor kid was no doubt picking up on his tension as well as the fact that a strange woman had been holding her. But she wasn’t a stranger; she was her mother. Nick had to continually remind himself of that.
Jessica was her mother.
He wasn’t even her father.
It ate him up to even think that. But at the same time, it was the only way he was going to be able to do what he knew he had to do.
But it didn’t matter how many times he’d called Chris; that was his professional advice. “If she wants to take the baby, you have to let her, Nick. Legally. We’ll fight it. We’ll do everything we can, but we have to do it by the book.”
By the book.
Nothing about this situation was by the book. They were rewriting the whole goddamned book, and there was nothing he could do.
“I’ve put in a call to your caseworker,” Chris said on their last call. “Susan Johnson. To see if there’s anything else we can do. Something I missed. I’m still waiting for her to call me back. But, Nick? I didn’t miss anything. You’ll have to let her go.”
Finally, he couldn’t put it off any longer. It was getting late. Jessica was getting restless. She was ready to go.
“Don’t do this, Jessica.” He tried one final plea. “Let’s talk about it and—”
“She’s my daughter, Nick. Thank you for taking care of her, but I’m better now and I want her back.”
Want her back? She wasn’t some thing that could be cast aside and called back on a whim. She was a child. This wasn’t right.
Nick bit back his words and swallowed hard.
“There’s a reason you left her with me, Jessica. You know I can give her a good life. I can give her—” His voice cracked with emotion. “Don’t do this.”
She didn’t even have the decency to look remorseful. Instead, she just shook her head sadly. “I’m doing this, Nick. I’m her mother. She belongs with me. Are her things packed?”
“I didn’t have a chance to—”
“Never mind.” Jessica walked past him to where Amelia was playing. As Jessica grew closer, the baby started to fuss. “I’ll get new stuff. I just want to get out of here.” She turned to the little girl. “Come on, kiddo. It’s time to get out of here.”
Panic filled Nick. A helplessness like nothing he’d ever felt before rose up through him. His heart raced. Sweat beaded along his hairline. “Where are you staying? Do you have a place nearby? It’s getting late to go to—”
“I got a place, Nick. It’s fine.”
“Where is it? I can—”
“I told you.” She glared at him. “It’s fine.” She swooped Amelia up out of the play saucer and Amelia started to cry almost at once.
Nick winced and moved to grab the baby. “Just let me—”
Jessica swung around to keep him away. “No.” Her voice was firm, with an edge that hadn’t been there before. “Look, Nick. I know you got attached to her, but she’s not your daughter and you know that. Legally, I can do this. And I’ve been more than patient about it. Let it go.”
Let it go?
He couldn’t just let it go. Let her go.
Amelia’s cries grew louder, as if she sensed that what was about to happen was not okay. It wasn’t. Nothing about it was okay. Jessica pushed past him to the door. It took every bit of self-restraint not to stop her.
It will only make things worse. Play nice.
Nick swallowed hard. He’d do things by the book. He wouldn’t do anything to screw up his chances at getting custody.
He followed her outside. “I’ll fight you, Jessica,” he said as she buckled Amelia into the car seat. His heart was being ripped out of his body with every cry. He clenched each hand into a tight fist and willed himself not to cry. Or throw himself on the car. “I love that little girl, and I will do everything in my power to get her back.”
She finished strapping in the baby and looked Nick in the eye.
“This isn’t over, Jessica.”
She didn’t say a word as she got in the car and drove away with a piece of his heart, crying in the backseat.
Despite his vow, he couldn’t help but feel that he’d been wrong. Because it very much felt over. All of it.