Expecting a fortune, p.15
Expecting a Fortune, page 15
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...”
Chapter Twenty
“I’m fine.” Bea looked at Freya standing next to the bed in the treatment bay at the emergency room. “I stumbled off the step stool and twisted my ankle. That’s all.”
When she’d first landed on the ground, she’d been more afraid for the baby. But after a moment or two, she’d realized everything was probably okay with the pregnancy and that she’d just hurt herself.
“But you also bumped the back of your head on the shelf.” Genuine concern filled Freya’s expression. “It could be more serious than you think.”
One of the kitchen staff had heard the commotion in the storeroom and found Bea sprawled on the floor. She’d convinced everyone not to call an ambulance, but the older woman had insisted on driving her to the county hospital.
The curtain opened, and the emergency room physician came in carrying an electronic tablet. “Hello. I’m Doctor Hanson. You’re Bea Fortune?”
“Yes.”
The dark-haired woman wearing a white hospital coat turned to Freya. “And you are?”
“I’m her aunt. And I’m not going anywhere.” The look on her face dared anyone to tell her otherwise.
“As long as it’s okay with Ms. Fortune.”
Bea nodded. “She can stay.”
Dr. Hanson consulted the tablet. “It says here that you experienced a fall in your restaurant and hurt your left ankle?”
“And she hit her head,” Freya chimed in.
“But not that hard,” Bea objected. As the doctor examined her ankle, she winced. “It’s a little tender.”
Dr. Hanson checked the back of Bea’s head. “Have you felt dizzy or disoriented since the fall?”
“No. Nothing like that. Not even a headache.”
The doctor took a pen light from the pocket of her coat. “Follow my finger.”
Bea complied, looking left to right then up and down.
“If you’re head does start to hurt or you feel dizzy, let us know.” Dr. Hansen pointed to Bea’s ankle. “Most likely you suffered a sprain. But I would like to take a couple of quick X-rays to be sure.”
Alarm ran through Bea, and she placed her hand over her abdomen. “You can’t.”
“Don’t be so stubborn.” Freya scoffed. “It’s a precaution. Why not be sure?”
“I’m not being stubborn. And I am being cautious.” This wasn’t the way Bea wanted to announce the news, but... “I’m pregnant.”
Freya’s eyes widened.
Dr. Hanson scrolled through information on her screen. “I was just about to ask you if you were. You didn’t indicate yes or no on your form.”
“In the midst of everything... I must have missed the question.” Embarrassment sent a rush of heat into Bea’s face. Did that make her a bad mom?
“How far along are you?” Dr. Hanson asked.
“Less than a month. I had a blood test to confirm it a couple of weeks ago.”
An understanding expression crossed the doctor’s face. “Have you set up an appointment to start prenatal care?”
“Yes.”
“Good.” She gave Bea a reassuring smile. “As long as we stay away from the abdominal region, we can safely take a few X-rays.”
The doctor left, and Freya looked to Bea. “Does Devin know about the baby?”
He had become a part of her life lately, so it made sense Freya would make the correlation. “Yes. We wanted to wait at least another month before telling anyone. Something happened, and we had to tell his ex-wife and his daughter. Otherwise they wouldn’t know, either.”
As a hospital aid arrived with a wheelchair, a thought popped into Bea’s head. She grasped Freya’s arm. “Were you able to get ahold of Devin?”
Bea’s phone was back at the café. Earlier, before she’d been caught up in the admission process when they’d first arrived at the emergency room, she’d asked her aunt to reach out to him.
“I took care of it.” Freya waved her on. “Now you just focus on looking after yourself and my great-niece or nephew.”
On the way to get the X-ray, a small bit of anxiety gripped Bea. The fall hadn’t hurt the baby, and the doctor hadn’t been concerned. But what if she had? This visit to the hospital would have had an entirely different outcome.
Closing her eyes, she wished for Devin. Freya had called him. Undoubtedly, he was on his way. Surprisingly, tears threatened to well up as a sense of relief came over her.
Her climbing stepladders would now be added to the list of things he worried about along with her getting enough sleep and not skipping meals. And right then, she didn’t care if Devin gave her a mini lecture when he arrived about taking better care of herself. She just looked forward to the hug and kiss he would give her afterwards.
Once the X-ray was done, she was wheeled back downstairs and taken to a curtained-off patient bay adjacent to the emergency area.
Freya wasn’t there. Maybe she was outside meeting Devin?
A moment later, her great-aunt came into the patient bay alone. “There you are. It took two people to tell me where to find you.”
“Hopefully Devin, won’t have the same problem. I’m surprised he’s not here yet.”
“Oh, when I called the paper, he wasn’t there. I had to convince them to give me his number. He didn’t answer his phone, but I left him a message.” She patted Bea’s arm. “I’m sure he’s on his way.”
So Freya hadn’t actually spoken to him? Had he gotten the message? But even if he hadn’t, if he’d stopped by the café, someone would have told him what happened to her. Shouldn’t he have already reached out to Freya?
Or had he lost track of time while caught up in a story with his phone off, again? Lauren had said when he was chasing a story, he shut everything out because nothing else mattered.
Bea closed her eyes, trying to erase doubt. But what Lauren and Carly had said about Devin loomed in her mind.
Dr. Hanson came into the patient bay. “Sorry for the delay. But I have good news—you’re in the clear. You just have a small bump on the head, no concussion. As far as the ankle, you don’t have any joint instability or serious bruising. The pain and swelling should resolve in one to three weeks. Rest, ice, compression, and elevation are all you need. Someone will be in shortly to wrap that ankle for you, and then you’re free to go.”
“Thank you,” Bea said.
A short time later, as they prepared to leave the patient bay, she stood by the bed trying to find her balance with a pair of crutches. Her thoughts about Devin were just as shaky and unsure.
As if reading her mind, Freya gave her an empathetic look. “Should I try to reach Devin again?”
“No.”
“Are you sure?” Freya took her phone from her purse. “He’s probably worried about you.”
“If he was, he would have called—”
The curtain opened, and Devin rushed in. Concern filled his face as he went to Bea. “Are you okay?”
Instead of relief, despair assaulted her. She wasn’t okay, and she got the sense nothing would be for a while. But she couldn’t just ignore reality.
She sat back down on the bed and propped the crutches beside her. “Freya, would you mind giving us a minute?”
Her aunt gave a quick smile. “I’ll be in the waiting room.”
After she left, Bea responded to his question. “I’m okay, and so is our baby. Where were you? Freya called the office and your phone?”
“Something happened with Carly. My phone rang but I put it on silent to focus on the situation.”
“Is she all right?”
“She overheard me and Lauren arguing about the co-parenting agreement and the move.” As Devin stood in front of her, he took hold of her hands. “But right now my focus is you.
