Chapter 24 #2
Janey’s eyes watered as she nodded. “They’re my stupid brothers, and I love every one of them. The minute I see them, I plan to smack the crap out of them for putting me through this.”
Behind her, Joe smiled. “I’ll help you.”
They wandered off to talk to her parents, and Tiffany sat next to Kara. “How’re you holding up?”
Kara shrugged. “All I can think about is what an awful bitch I was to him this morning.”
“This morning, huh? Does that mean the date went well?”
“You could say that. He loved the dress.” Kara wiped away more tears that seemed to keep coming almost against her will.
“Now all I can think about is what if I never see him again and the last thing I said to him was that I didn’t want to see him anymore when that isn’t even true?
I certainly got my wish.” She dropped her head to her folded arms, her shoulders shaking with sobs.
Tiffany ran her hand over Kara’s back, trying to think of something she could say.
“He’s so annoyingly persistent, you know?”
“He must really like you.”
“I think he does, and I was so mean to him because he freaks me out with how into me he is. What if he’s… God, I can’t even say it.”
“As hard as it is, try not to think the worst until we know more.”
“I’m trying, but I’m not succeeding.”
Tiffany drew Kara into a hug.
“Thank you,” Kara said when she drew back. “You’re a good friend.”
Warmed by the compliment, Tiffany said, “Will you let me know if there’s anything I can do for you?”
Kara nodded and used her sleeve to wipe her face. “I was so mean to him.”
“He’s a big boy, and he doesn’t give up easily.”
“No, he certainly doesn’t,” Kara said with a small laugh.
A quick glance around the room indicated the tension was wearing on everyone, and since Maddie had received good news, Tiffany decided it was time to take Ashleigh home.
With Ashleigh sleeping in his arms, Blaine watched Tiffany come toward them.
“Is she asleep?”
“Has been for a while.”
“I should take her home.”
“I’ll drive you.”
“That’s okay. I can get a ride.”
Blaine wanted to scream. “I said I’d drive you.”
“And I said I don’t want you to. I wouldn’t want you to find some other reason to cite me. Maybe my trash cans are too close to the neighbor’s house or something.”
God, she could be infuriating. “You didn’t give me any choice.”
“We all have choices.”
He glowered at her, holding back a retort that would only make things worse.
“Thank you for watching Ashleigh.” She held out her arms. “Could I please have my daughter?”
“Not unless I can drive you both home.”
“Fine, but you’re not coming in.”
“Who said I wanted to?” Keeping a tight grip on Ashleigh, he stood and gestured for Tiffany to lead the way. She let Maddie know they were going, and as they went through the door, Tiffany stopped short. “What’re you doing here?”
Blaine glanced around her to see Jim staring daggers at him.
“I came to get my daughter,” he said.
“Why?” Tiffany asked. “It’s my night with her.”
“I figured you might be preoccupied with your precious sister and her latest crisis.”
“Watch your mouth, Sturgil,” Blaine said.
“What’s it to you, Chief?”
Before Blaine could fire off a reply, Tiffany said, “Ashleigh is fine. We’re taking her home to bed now.”
“We’re taking her home? What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Exactly what I said. Blaine and I are taking Ashleigh home.”
Jim looked from Tiffany to Blaine and then back to her, his expression stormy. “You two are together?”
“What’s it to you?” Blaine asked, throwing Jim’s words back at him.
“That didn’t take long,” Jim said.
“We’d been waiting,” Tiffany said.
Blaine bit back a laugh and wanted to give her a high five for her audaciousness. She was truly magnificent.
“Waiting for what?” Jim asked.
“Waiting for our divorce—one of the best things to ever happen to me, by the way. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate you leaving me and giving me the chance to discover what a real relationship ought to be like.”
Blaine felt like he’d been electrocuted. He wished he knew if she was just saying that to piss off Jim or because it was true.
“Not to mention,” Tiffany added, lowering her voice, “discovering what I was missing in the bedroom.”
Jim’s eyes bugged, and his face turned a worrisome shade of red. For a brief second, Blaine feared he might strike his ex-wife. Time to get her out of there.
“Come on, Tiff,” Blaine said. “Let’s get Ashleigh home to bed.”
Jim grabbed Blaine’s arm. “Wait just a minute!”
Blaine looked down at Jim’s hand on his arm and then at Jim’s face, using his most intimidating cop glare. “You have one second to get your hand off me.”
Jim wisely pulled back his hand. “You can’t leave with my family—”
“Tiffany’s not your family anymore,” Blaine said. “You saw to that. You got exactly what you wanted, and now I’ve got exactly what I want. I’d encourage you to keep your distance from her unless you want to deal with me.”
“That’s my daughter you’ve got in your arms.”
“And tonight is her mother’s night with her, which means you’ve got no business here.”
Jim glared at Tiffany for a charged moment before he turned and stormed off.
“Thank you,” she said softly.
Blaine’s heart ached at the defeat he heard in her tone. Only because Ashleigh had slept through the ugly encounter, Blaine said, “I don’t know what you ever saw in that guy.”
“I don’t know anymore, either.”
“Everything all right, you guys?” Maddie asked.
“It is now,” Tiffany said, smiling up at Blaine. “We’ll see you tomorrow. Give Mac and the others our love.”
“I will.”
Keeping one arm around Ashleigh, Blaine put a hand on Tiffany’s back and guided her to his truck. “Shit,” he said.
“What?”
“I don’t have a car seat.” He’d have to rectify that soon. He wanted to be able to drive Tiffany and her daughter anywhere they needed to go.
“I’ll borrow Maddie’s. Be right back.”
Blaine leaned against the truck and stared into the relentless fog until Tiffany returned with the seat.
On the way to her house, Blaine took a call from Linc. “What’ve you got, Cap?”
“We found the other two—hypothermic but alive. Torrington broke his arm and a couple of ribs. Apparently, Grant McCarthy saved his life by keeping him conscious and alert all day while they clung to seat cushions from the boat.”
“Wow, that’s incredible,” Blaine said. He held the phone to the side and filled in Tiffany.
“Oh, thank God,” she said.
“Can you help me round up some EMS support to meet us at the town pier?” Linc asked. “We’re on our way in. Mac and Evan seem fine, but Grant and Dan were in the water a lot longer and need a doctor.”