3. Easton
Easton
Uncle Easton?
Vivi is right. The only females who call me uncle are under the age of six and not likely to be pulling a stunt like?—
“Wait. This is a prank, isn’t it?” I glance at the baby in my arms. It’s the only explanation. “The guys are pulling a prank, right?”
“Ah…no?” Vivi gets a thoughtful look and I can tell that big brain of hers is trying to find any information she has about the baby I’m holding. She shakes her head. “If they are, I’m unaware of it.”
“Shit.” There’s no way Vivi is lying to me. And I’m sure if the guys were pulling something this elaborate, Laney and Hadley would know about it and there is no way they wouldn’t tell Vivi. “Okay. Who’s the letter from then?”
“Lisa.”
“Lisa? Just Lisa? No last name?”
She nods. “Lisa.”
“I don’t know anyone named Lisa.”
“If you read what she wrote, something could trigger a memory and you might be able to work out who she is.”
“Read it to me.”
“Are you sure? It could say something you don’t want?—”
“Just read it, Vivi.”
“All right.”
Dear Uncle Easton,
When I found out I was pregnant I thought I could do it, be a mom to my baby, and Momma said she’d help. She was disappointed, as you can imagine she never wanted me to end up like her. Anyway, Momma can’t help like she promised because she died three months ago.
Now it’s just me.
And him.
I know you haven’t seen me in years, and you don’t owe me anything, but you told Momma if she ever needed anything she should come to you.
She’d want me to do the same.
So this is me, coming to you.
Please, take care of him. I don’t want to give him up but I can’t raise him. I have no job and the money Momma left isn’t going to last long if I can’t work.
I know you can give him what I can’t.
Maybe one day, when he’s older, if he wants to, I could come see him. For now it’s best if we don’t see each other.
I know I’m asking a lot, but I need to know he’s taken care of. I know you’ll do that. As hard as this is, don’t try to find me, I won’t change my mind.
This is for the best. For both of us.
Lisa
When Vivi finishes reading I murmur, “We assumed right. Blue means boy.”
“Did anything help you figure out who she is?”
“No.” I shake my head. “If she’d mentioned her mother’s name, maybe.”
“Let me see what the other paper is.”
I watch Vivi pick up the other sheet from the plastic sleeve wishing with everything in me I could remember who Lisa is.
“It’s a legal document.” Vivi’s eyes meet mine. “She’s signed the baby over to you.”
“What’s his name?”
“He doesn’t have one.”
“How can she sign him over without a name?”
“I don’t know. All it has is her first name, and baby of Lisa.”
“That can’t be legal.”
“It looks legal.” Her gaze lowers to the paper in her hand. “Firm out of Atlanta.”
“Too late to call.”
“Definitely. And I doubt anyone will be in their office until Monday.”
“So we’re taking care of him until then.”
“I thought you were taking care of him until you found his mother.”
“Yeah, that’s the plan.”
“She doesn’t want you to look for her.”
“I have to.”
“Why?”
“Because the way she’s done this can’t be legal and if I’m taking on a baby, I’m doing it right so no one can take him away. I’m not going through what Vail did with Van.” The thought makes me hold the little guy tighter.
“Oh.”
“Does anything say how old he is?”
“No.” She studies the legal document, front and back. “I think this might have been done before he was born.”
“How the hell is that possible?”
“I don’t know, I’m not a lawyer.”
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to jump on you. I know you’re as clueless as me right now.”
I can’t afford to alienate Vivi. She’s my ticket to finding Lisa, taking care of the baby. And I haven’t given up on having a relationship with her.
Although if I’m now a dad…
“Fucking hell. How am I going to raise a kid on my own?”
“It’s not that hard. You’ve got money, hire a nanny. Or three.”
“I don’t want some stranger raising my kid.”
She arches an eyebrow at me, her mouth tipping up in a little smirk. “Feeling a little paternal, are we?”
I’m not sure what I’m feeling. The evening started with excitement and pleasure at finally being on a date with Vivi, then confusion and fear when my security system pinged and I saw the baby on my?—
“The video!”
“What?”
“Fuck. I need two hands.” Spinning around, I look for a place to put the baby and come up with nothing. Every flat surface I could lay him on seems like a dangerous option. Turning back, I step in front of Vivi. “Here. Hold him for me.”
I don’t give her an option to argue, just press the baby against her chest and when her reflexes kick in and she wraps her arms around him, I let go and head for my office.
“Where are you going?”
She’s right behind me but I don’t answer. I’m a man with a solution to a problem.
“E, talk to me.”
“The security footage. I can replay every camera angle and see if we can get a good look at our baby mama.”
“I already looked at the feed.”
Stopping in my tracks, I glance over my shoulder. “What do you mean you already looked?”
“Ah, well, I, um…”
Turning to face her, I cross my arms. “Please. Do not tell me you hacked into my system.”
“Okay.”
“Okay? Okay what? You did? You didn’t?”
“You said not to tell you.”
“Fucking hell. You did.” I scrub a hand over my face and sigh. “Vivian.”
My use of her full name has her taking a step back.
“If you get caught again, they’ll put you in jail.”
“It’s not that bad, and the important words there are ‘get caught’.”
“Viv!”
“E!”
“For fuck’s sake.” Tipping my head back, I stare at the ceiling. “I don’t want you to do it again.”
“How am I going to help you find Lisa if I can’t do what I do?”
“I...” I snap my mouth shut because she’s hit on something I hadn’t even realized I’d done. I’d assumed she’d help me by using her hacking skills. Knowing full well if she gets caught, she’ll probably go to jail.
“It isn’t hacking if you give me access.”
My gaze moves back to her. “No. It wouldn’t be.”
“Then we’re good.”
“Are we?”
“Yes. Remember when I first arrived in Love Beach and you were having this place painted?” At my nod she goes on. “You had me and Laney monitoring the work.”
“And that gave you access to my security system?”
“Yeah. Which reminds me. You shouldn’t leave the code taped to the bottom of your keyboard.”
“Taped to…” I shake my head on a laugh. “The code isn’t taped to my keyboard.”
“It isn’t now. I removed and destroyed it for you, you’re welcome,” she says with a grin.
Damn. She thinks of everything. “Is this how you’ve stayed off the radar until Van?”
“Yes.”
“You risked a lot for him.”
“Yes.”
“It could have been bad for you.”
“It could. But it was the right thing to do. I would have blown up the radar if it meant keeping him safe.”
“I’m sure Vail has said it, but I’ll say it too. Thank you.”
“No thanks necessary. If I had to lay low somewhere, Love Beach is a great place to do it.”
“You’ve been here for months.”
“I know.”
“You don’t want to go home?”
“To a teeny studio apartment in the middle of the city?” Shaking her head, she says, “Hell no.”
Her words have me thinking. “Where’s all your stuff?”
“In boxes at Vail and Laney’s place.”
“So you’re homeless?” An idea is forming but I need to tread carefully because this woman is smart. Way smarter than me.
“I wouldn’t say I’m homeless, just between places.”
“Then moving in here, where you have five bedrooms to choose from and an office you can set your gear up in, would work for you right now.”
“I see what you’re doing.”
“Oh?”
“You’re making moving in about me and not the baby I’m holding.”
“Well, he’s another bonus, right?” I grin. “Cute baby to play with when you want.”
“You should stop talking now.”
“Okay.” I mime zipping my mouth.
“Funny man,” she says with a roll of her eyes. “Come on. This guy needs a bum change.”
“How do you know?” I eye the little guy. He hasn’t made a peep. Hasn’t squirmed.
“He stinks.”
“Oh.”
“Yep. And guess what, Daddy ?”
Is it wrong I like her calling me daddy? Giving myself a mental shake, I ask, “What?”
“You’re getting a lesson in diaper changing.”
“From you?”
“Nope. From Daddy YouTube.”
“You don’t know how to change a diaper?”
“Should I?”
“Ah, um.” I’m sure there’s a trap here…
“Just because I’ve got boobs doesn’t mean I know how to take care of a baby any more than you and your penis do.”
Fuck .
Daddy rolling off her lips is one thing, but hearing her say penis does things to my penis not appropriate for the situation.
Dead fish. I need to think about dead, smelly fish.
“What are you doing?”
My eyes pop open. When did I close them? “Ah…”
“C’mon, he’s probably getting hungry too and we need to work out how to make him a bottle.”
She turns away and I breathe a sigh of relief. That is until I get a look at her ass encased in the tight jeans she wore for our date.
Motherfuckingfucker .
My dick is hard as stone now.
I’m going to need to get a handle—or a hand—on myself, or Vivi moving in is going to be as painful as it is helpful.