“That’s definitely an issue but one we can work out. I don’t have a lot of time to discuss this. I have a meeting in Tulsa. Forester Farm Sales is opening a new dealership up here.”
“I can make this quick and easy. I think the best way to work this out is for me to give you full custody of Tori.” Something about the look in her eyes shifted his opinions, made him reconsider his plan of action.
“The truth is, I don’t have a clue what I’m doing. It’s been two weeks, and in that time we’ve been working through paperwork, coming to terms with what has happened and just getting by. My mom helps when she can but she’s busy running the ranch alongside my dad. My sister, Bethany, has helped from time to time but she’s in her last year of nursing school.”
“Ethan, I can’t do this.”
He pushed aside compassion and stood. “I need to run out to the car. Can you hold her?”
She sighed but gave a slight nod. Knowing her the way he did, he recognized the look of longing as she focused on the baby in his arms.
“I can hold her.”
He pushed the bowl of mashed potatoes across the table, then he circled around to her side and placed the groggy little girl in her arms. Tori immediately nestled in. It had been a long day. And Eve’s arms went around her, holding her close.
It was a dirty move on his part. He hadn’t really planned it but he didn’t know what else to do. Eve had been his friend for longer than she’d been the woman he loved. He had thought to find a stranger. Instead he found the girl he used to know. And he could see that she’d lost more than the use of her legs. She’d lost her way.
He didn’t want to care but he had to. For her sake. For Tori’s. So as he walked away from the diner, he told himself he didn’t feel guilty for what he was about to do. He would come back. He wasn’t the one who disappeared without a word to the people in his life.
But today, Eve deserved a lesson.
“He isn’t coming back.” Eve looked from the child in her arms to the friend sitting across from her, a bemused, or maybe amused, look on her face.
“Of course he’s coming back.” Kylie repeated the same answer she’d been giving for the past fifteen minutes, since Ethan had run out to the car.
Eve shook her head, unwilling to be placated. Fear had been growing inside her, or perhaps panic. Ethan had brought a child, dumped said child in her lap and left. One of two things could be happening. Either he wanted to teach her a lesson or he wanted out of the responsibility that had been handed to them.
They were guardians of the little girl she held in her arms. It wasn’t possible. They were the last two people who should be pushed together to care for a child.
“He can’t leave me to take care of this child alone.” She pushed her wheelchair back a foot, trying to see out the window. Tori squirmed and nearly slid off her lap.
Kylie reached to steady the child’s precarious position.
“See, this is why I don’t and won’t have children. I can’t even keep her safely on my lap.”
“There are ways.” Kylie, always the optimist.
“Of course there are ways,” Eve muttered. She didn’t even know what car to look for. “He isn’t coming back.”
“Try the number that called earlier.”
“Oh, good idea. There’s no caller ID but I should be able to call.”
“Is everything okay in here?” Holly asked as she brushed a strand of dark hair back from her face. She took a seat across from Eve.
“Oh, just wonderful.” Eve listened to the voice message of Ethan Forester. “Please leave a message,” it prompted. So she did. “This isn’t fair. You can’t do this to Tori. Call me and please tell me you’re coming back.”
“He got in a Ford truck and scooted on down the street,” Holly said after the call ended. “I’m sorry. I would have stopped him if I’d known he was pulling a fast one on you.”
“Not a fast one, just...” Eve sighed as she glanced down at the sleeping child. Six months old, the child didn’t know much about her life. But she had to know an emptiness where her parents had been. She had to know that everything was topsy-turvy right now.
“She’s beautiful,” Holly cooed, leaning to brush a finger down Tori’s cheek.
“She is,” Kylie agreed. She held Cara, her foster daughter, in her arms.
Eve glanced up at Holly. “You have dark rings under your eyes. You’re obviously not getting enough sleep. Your mom?”
“Off her meds again. It’s a battle.”
“I’m sorry,” Kylie spoke softly from across the table. “Can we do anything to help?”
“No, there’s nothing. It’s been my life for, well, my whole life. You would think I’d be used to it.”
“But you know how life can be when it’s good. I’m sure that makes the turmoil all the more obvious.” Kylie reached for Holly’s hand and gave it a squeeze.
Holly nodded but her attention shifted back to the baby Eve held. “I’m not here to talk about me. It’s obvious Eve has her own drama today. And I’m more than a little curious. So if you really want to take pity on me...”
Eve managed to laugh. “Ex-fiancé.”
Holly’s eyes widened. “Wowza. And you broke it off with him?”
Eve nodded.
“I’m not sure if we can continue to be friends.” Holly laughed as she said it. “He’s tall, dark, beyond handsome, knows how to hold a baby. And you dumped him?”
“She obviously martyred herself,” Kylie offered.
“Not helping.” Eve shot her friend a look.
“Truth hurts,” Kylie shot back.
“The baby is his?” Holly asked.
“No.” Eve glanced down at the sleeping baby girl. “She’s the daughter of our best friends, James and Hanna. They were killed. I guess in an accident. I can’t remember if he told me.”
The grief washed over her again, squeezing her heart until she wanted to beg for mercy. She’d been so selfish. She’d been so focused on her own life. She hadn’t even known. She had no one to blame but herself.
“I can’t believe they’re gone.” Her arms went a little tighter around the sleeping child.
“Wow, that’s tough.” Holly bent to kiss the top of Eve’s head. “I’m sorry, I have to get back to work. Let me know if I can get you anything.”
Thirty minutes had passed since Ethan’s rapid departure. The clock on the wall continued to tick away the seconds, the minutes. She looked at Kylie.
“He’ll be back,” Kylie assured her. “Maybe he needed to hit the gas station. Or rent a hotel room.”
“He isn’t coming back. He would have answered the phone.”
“We can’t stay here all day,” Kylie said. Cara had fallen asleep in her arms. “We should head back to the ranch.”
“To do what? I don’t know the first thing about taking care of a baby.”
“Start by calling her Tori. That’s her name. And she’s precious. Look at her, Eve. Say something to her.”