Chapter 20
D-day was here.
Clay jammed his hand into the pocket of his suit jacket and wrenched it, pacing the floor outside of the courtroom. He was painfully early but he hadn’t been able to sit with Payton this morning, trying to act normal. He’d called Bridget and begged her to come immediately.
He couldn’t help glancing around every few minutes in search of Andie. He didn’t doubt that she’d show—Andie did what she said she would. It was more that he’d be able to settle once she got here.
A woman’s shoes clicked rhythmically on the tile floor and Clay whipped around.
Instead of Andie, though, it was Robin, her mother, and Morris Lipp.
Robin had dressed in what was, for her, a costume—a respectable pair of brown tailored pants and a nondescript white button-down blouse.
Modest two-inch pumps, light makeup, and neatly brushed hair completed the disguise.
Clay had hoped to avoid them. He had nothing to say to any of them and it was all he could do to keep his nerves under control. “How’s my daughter?” she asked.
He grasped his keys in his pocket so hard they cut into his skin. “Our daughter is doing well. How’s rehab?”
“Almost over. I’ll be out in another week. I’ll be back home for Payton then.”
“We’ll see what the judge says.” Clay wished he was half as confident as he acted.
When he’d talked to Robert Davis, his lawyer, two days ago, they’d run through all the possible speed bumps that might arise during the hearing.
Not a lot had changed since the last time Clay had appealed, only that Robin had gone into rehab.
Robert had explained before that that could count in her favor.
Her lawyer would do everything he could to position it as her overwhelming dedication to changing her life for the better and doing whatever it took to be a better mom.
Total crock of shit, and Clay had faith that Robert would do everything he could to show that.
“We will, at that,” Lipp said smugly. The bastard was doing his best to intimidate him.
The party of three moved down to a bench on the other side of the main atrium of the courthouse.
“Clay.” Robert approached, holding his hand out. “You ready?”
They shook hands. “Ready as I’ll ever be.”
Instead of his usual gravity, the balding fifty-something lawyer smiled, and Clay would even say there was a sparkle in the man’s eye.
“What’s going on, Robert?” Clay asked suspiciously.
“Big arrest last night,” he said. “Remember that character I told you about, Lewis Tober?”
“The guy Robin kept calling from rehab?”
“That’s the one. Suspected dealer.” Robert paused for effect. “He went down last night.”
Clay felt a sliver of newfound hope. “What does this mean, exactly? Spell it out for me.”
“It doesn’t prove anything about Robin outright, but it’ll help us paint her as an unfit mother. Inject some doubt into the judge’s mind about whether this woman is really making all the sacrifices and great efforts to change that we know she’s going to claim.”
Clay nodded, afraid to hope too much but encouraged. “Excellent. Sounds promising.”
“I’m going to go do a final prep down the hall where it’s quiet. I’ll see you in a few minutes.”
Clay nodded and looked nervously at his watch. Twenty-five minutes till ten. He needed to lay eyes on Andie. As Robert strode off, Clay scanned the people around him.
He did a double take.
“Mom? Dad? What are you doing here?”
His mom reached him first and hugged him. “We wanted to be here for you, Clay.”
They’d never come to a hearing before. Of course, previous ones had been up in Corpus, so it would have been an even longer drive for them.
“How’d you know when the hearing was?”
“Your sister told us,” his dad said. “Since you never mentioned it.” His old man’s face hinted at humor.
“Sorry,” Clay said. “I didn’t figure—”
“I’d like to speak to you,” his dad said. “In private.”
Clay went instantly on alert. They hadn’t spoken in private in years. The atrium and hallway of the courthouse had gotten more crowded. He pointed down the hall to a door that led outside. “That might be our best bet.”
“I’ll wait here for you,” Clay’s mom said, lowering herself to a stone bench along the wall.
Clay and his dad walked down the long hall in silence. Once they were outside, they stood side by side, awkwardly, hands in their pockets, watching the traffic drive past.
His dad cleared his throat. “I just wanted to tell you I’m proud of you, son.”
Clay blinked and stared at his father.
The older man swallowed. “You’re doing a good job with Payton. Better than I ever would have guessed.”
Unexpected emotion clogged Clay’s throat, making it difficult to speak.
“There were times when I wondered if you’d ever pull your head out.”
Clay nodded. “I never meant to hurt you or the rest of the family, though I’m sure that was hard to tell.”
“Hard to tell. Yes.” His dad cleared his throat. “You’ve grown up. As soon as you found out you had a daughter, it seemed like something finally clicked inside of you. You’ve become one heck of a father.”
“Thank you, Dad,” Clay managed to say, reeling.
“She’s an amazing child, isn’t she?”
Clay nodded, picturing Payton in the yellow tutu she’d been dancing around in this morning. “That she is. She blows my mind every single day. I just hope she’ll be okay.”
“What’s your lawyer think about your chances today?”
Clay told him about the latest discovery and they discussed how the hearing might play out.
At a quarter to ten, Clay suggested they head inside.
As he turned toward the door, he spotted Evan’s truck pulling up alongside the curb a hundred feet or so away.
What was he doing here? Clay paused, watching.
A familiar beautiful brunette head emerged from the back of the extended cab and Clay’s heart pounded. His dad followed his line of sight.
Clay locked his jaw to keep from gaping.
Andie looked…amazing. Conservative. Her hair was pulled up on the back of her head, with delicate strands hanging at her temples.
She wore black tailored pants with open-toed heels that showed off her long legs and a mint-green sweater with a scarf at her neck.
All Clay could do was stare as she bent down and hugged Selena in the front seat, then made her way down the sidewalk toward them.
“Wow,” his dad said.
“Yeah.” Wow was an understatement. “While we’re being so open, Dad, you should probably know that I’m in love with her.”
His dad’s gaze shifted to Clay, who waited tensely for his dad’s verdict.
“She may not be your idea of conventional wife material, but she’s the one for me.”
His dad turned his attention back to Andie. “She know this yet?”
“Not exactly. We have a few things to work out.”
His dad nodded slowly. “She’s the one who called 911 so quickly, right?”
“She’s the one.”
“The Cubs fan?”
“The Cubs fan.”
“I imagine she’s all right.”
“All that’s left is to convince her.”
Which he’d do tonight, regardless of the outcome of the hearing. So much on the line, all in one day. He inhaled nervously and waited for the woman he loved to notice them standing there.
Andie checked to make sure her hair wasn’t falling out of the clip Selena had loaned her and moistened her lips.
Her hands were sweating and her stomach was tied in a knot.
Not only was she worried about the hearing and especially about whether she should be there or not, but Selena’s water had broken minutes before they’d left her and Evan’s beach house.
Andie had been ready to call a taxi instead of having the Drakes drop her off, but Selena insisted it would be hours before the baby was born. The courthouse was just blocks from the hospital on the mainland, so she’d finally given in.
Selena, bless her heart, had offered to give Andie full access to her pre-pregnancy wardrobe so she could look presentable at the hearing.
Thank God they were almost the same size.
Andie didn’t love the idea of wearing someone else’s clothes, but it was that or miss the hearing.
Or, God help her, shop. Fortunately, Selena had also lent Andie her fashion expertise because Andie had zero.
Clay stood about twenty feet in front of her, next to the door. Sinfully gorgeous in a black suit. Her mouth went dry as she approached him.
“Hello,” he said, smiling. “You look incredible.”
“I feel like an imposter.”
“You remember my father?” Clay gestured. Andie hadn’t even noticed the man. She’d been too busy staring at Clay.
“Hi, Mr. Marlow. I didn’t realize you’d be here.”
“I didn’t either,” Clay said. His demeanor toward his dad was upbeat, almost warm. A one-eighty from Payton’s birthday.
“Want to be there when my son’s awarded custody.”
Was this an alternate reality?
Andie glanced at Clay, and he nodded minutely.
“I’m going to check on your mother,” Mr. Marlow said.
“We’ll be there in five minutes,” Clay said, opening the door for his dad.
“What happened?” Andie asked as soon as the older Marlow was out of earshot.
Clay leaned against the stone wall as if he’d been bowled over. “He and my mom showed up out of nowhere.” In disbelief, he told her about the conversation they’d finished just before Andie arrived.
She’d never been a hug person but she couldn’t help stepping closer and wrapping her arms around his neck. “I’m so happy for you, Clay. I know how much that’s weighed on you.”
She backed out of the hug quickly because feeling his hands on her sides did things to her, made her think things that shouldn’t be thought in such an official, public place where the stakes were so high for Clay.
“Let’s head to the courtroom,” he said, peering down at her.
As they went inside, he took her hand in his as if it was the most natural thing in the world. He leaned close to her. “You really do look amazing,” he said just loud enough for her to hear. “But you know what?”
“What?”
“I’ll take you in your jeans and tank any day.”
That one little sentence warmed her insides, clear down to her toes.
No matter what happened after this or how hard it would be when she left, Andie was glad she’d come.