Her now-late ex-husband, Jim, had shattered her by suddenly leaving their marriage for reasons that had taken her years to fully understand. Even now, she sometimes still thought about that time and tried to see warning signs that hadn’t been there.
“I’m sorry to still be weird about that even after all this time, when you’ve given me no reason at all to be insecure.”
“It’s okay. I get it. When it happens once, why wouldn’t it happen again? Any time you feel worried, you let me know, and I’ll remind you of how obsessed I am with you.”
A tiny squeak came from Adrian’s bassinet.
“I’ll get him,” Blaine said. “Hey, little man, how was your nap?” The rapturous look on his handsome face as he picked up his son made Tiffany fall in love with him all over again. “Did you have some sweet dreams?” Blaine put him on the changing table and unsnapped the sleeper to get to his diaper.
“Don’t forget?—”
“Oh shit, he nailed me.” Blaine grinned as baby pee ran down his face. “You were saying?”
“Don’t forget to cover the package.”
Blaine used a towel to wipe his face. “Did you just pee on your daddy?” he asked as he nibbled playfully on baby toes. “I don’t think he’s one bit sorry.”
“The things babies get away with before they’re old enough to know better is legendary. Ashleigh once loudly loaded her diaper while she was sitting on my mother’s lap.”
“That must’ve been funny.”
“We laughed about it for months.”
Blaine handed the baby to her for feeding and then sat next to her to watch. “I never get tired of seeing you feeding our babies. You’re never more beautiful than you are in Mom mode.”
“Even when I’m huge?”
“You’re not huge. You just gave birth to our son. Be nice to my wife. She’s the most precious thing in the world to me.”
“He’s so handsome, like his daddy.”
“He looks like you.”
“No way. He’s all you. Even your mom says so. She says he looks just like you did as a baby.”
“Poor guy.”
“Oh hush. His daddy is the sexiest man alive.”
Blaine snorted with laughter. “Whatever you say, babe.”
* * *
The next day, Kendall arrived at Jared and Lizzie’s at eight thirty, a half hour before Violet’s father was due to arrive with his attorney on the eight o’clock boat from the mainland.
She’d done a deep dive on Brooks Ward online and found him to be an accomplished student, a star lacrosse and soccer player and a well-regarded colleague and friend. In short, there was nothing about him not to like—at least on paper, that was. She was reserving judgment until she met the man in person.
Jared and Lizzie moved like survivors of an apocalypse or something, going through the motions of coffee and breakfast for Violet, who was thankfully unaware of the drama playing out around her. She banged her spoon on her high-chair tray, laughing at the sound it made as her parents watched with none of the usual delight for everything she did, as if they were already preparing themselves to have her ripped from their lives.
That couldn’t happen.
She was surprised when Dan Torrington walked in, looking every bit the part of one of the most successful attorneys in the country. Dan knew she could handle this meeting, but he also understood that his presence would be intimidating to opposing counsel.
“Thanks for coming,” she said when he sat next to her at Jared’s table.
“No problem. How’re they doing?”
“Terrible.”
