Chapter 40
Kace
Madi is with me and Dani. Just found her. She's been hiding at Bronwyn's. Come alone. She doesn't believe Pam agreed to guardianship and is afraid it's a trick. She's terrified her mom will take Dani to punish you for helping her.
The moment Lindsey's text comes in, I want to shout in relief but can't. Because Mads has a point. Until Pam signs those papers, she can change her mind.
I lift my gaze from the phone to where my sister sits at the kitchen table going over the guardianship terms with Adam Shipley.
We'd both suggested she get an attorney of her own, but Pam being Pam, she didn't want to spend the money.
So long as she's able to visit Madi and call, she says she's okay.
And so am I. Or I will be once this is done.
I will enforce guardianship. The moment those papers are signed, I'm taking Mads to get her license so she establishes her home address as mine.
Between being enrolled in school and a license, plus her job at the bookstore and doc appointments, I'm hoping it's enough that any judge can see Madi is where she wants to be, should Pam try to protest later.
I don't respond to the text other than to hit thumbs up, acknowledging receipt and that I got the message loud and clear.
I do, however, flip over to another text thread, letting the guys know the search is over.
I also ask Gabe to contact the police and let them know the paperwork is being signed at this very moment.
I watch as Pam scrawls her name across the bottom and dates it. Adam has his paralegal sign as a witness before sliding it over to Sully to do the same.
I close my eyes and breathe a sigh of relief, feeling as though a weight has been lifted from my shoulders.
Pam's been quiet since our talk, and I think it's finally hit home that it's time to grow up and show up for her child. To be a parent looking out for Madi's best interest for a change.
Adam and his assistant don't linger. They shake hands with Pam and wish her well.
I see the moment Sully reads the text I sent out. His head jerks up from his phone, and he meets my gaze, one eyebrow high in question. I shake my head, and thankfully he stays quiet until the men are out the door.
Madi doesn't need her mom right now. She needs to know she's safe. Loved. Wanted. There's time for Pam to make her excuses later, if she must.
"Madi's safe," I tell her once we're alone. "Sully and I are going to go pick her up and talk."
"What? Where is she? I want to come, too."
"No. Not tonight. This time she is obviously the one who needs some space."
She huffs out a sound. "I knew it. I knew you'd keep her from me the moment you got your way."
"I'm doing nothing of the sort. Pam, you can see her. Just not today. She needs to feel safe. Not be worried you're going to guilt her into changing her mind about staying with me."
Pam paces the kitchen floor several trips before stopping to glare again.
"Did you know where she was this whole time? Did you?"
"Are you kidding me?" Sully says. "He's worried himself to death all night while we were out looking for her. Did you even try to find her after she ran, or did you just come back here to wait it out?"
The two glare daggers at each other, and I let them, too tired to intervene. "I got the message after you agreed to give me custody."
"But you didn’t tell me," she says, scoffing.
"No, I didn’t. Pam, Madi's been gone all night, and I have no idea how she managed to make it to where she is now. Shouldn't you be glad she's been found and in one piece instead of upset?"
Once again, her expression changes to one of guilt and regret, and I wonder if she's that clueless when it comes to emotions. That removed. It doesn't matter. I don't want to waste time here arguing with Pam. I want to see Mads. Make sure she's okay.
And then… talk to Lindsey about what she'd said in her text this morning.
"Fine. Have it your way. I'll just wait here while you go get her."
Sully holds out one of his big hands. "Keys."
"What?" Pam asks.
"Give me your keys, or I take them," Sully adds. "You're not following us and stirring things up."
"You're unbelievable."
"So I've been told."
"Recently?" I ask, curious as to who he referred to. I might have been extra moody at the wedding yesterday, but I'd seen Sully and Violet talking, and things had looked a bit heated.
Sully shoots me a glare before turning back to my sister. When she doesn't budge, he grabs her bag and digs inside, fisting her keys and holding them away from her while she curses him.
I grab my crutches and stand. "Be back later. Don't burn the house down."
Sully follows me out the door while Pam's still going on about overbearing jerks along with a few other descriptive words.
We climb back into Sully's truck and as he pulls out of the driveway, he asks where we're heading.
"The bookstore."
"For real?"
"Yeah. Apparently she made it back to Bronwyn's and let herself in."
"The one place we didn't think to look. Smart girl."
"Yeah." Smart. Vulnerable. And now mine.
Sully takes the side streets to get us there, and we park behind Lindsey's car. I see the lights on in Bronwyn's loft, and when we get out of the truck, I hear Dani coming down the stairs to the gate.
"Daddy!"
"Hey, Dani-girl. I've missed you."
"I've missed you, Daddy."
"Hey, what about me?" Sully asks, reaching out to tug on her hair.
"I missed you, too." She lowers her voice. "But do you know the secret?"
Sully and I chuckle at Dani's question. "Yeah, baby girl, we do. You going to let us in?"
Dani opens the gate, and Sully swoops Dani up, swinging her around a few times and getting some giggles before he sets her down, and the three of us make our way upstairs.
I see Lindsey and Madi through the glass door. Madi looks pale and tired, her arms hugging her front as Lindsey talks to her. They both turn to look our way as Sully opens the sliding door, and Dani darts in ahead of us.
I lock eyes with Lindsey and force myself to look away. "Mads, you okay? Are you hurt?"
"No. I'm okay. Is it true?"
I swing myself over and eye Bronwyn's sturdy coffee table before lowering myself onto it facing Madi. "Yeah, honey, it's true. I'm now your legal guardian."
The words settle between us, heavy and almost holy.
Not temporary. Not a lie or false promise. She's officially mine to protect, to show up for and to be the parent that her mother's never been.
"I don't want to see her," Mads says. "If you knew what all she said about you before I could get away from her, you wouldn't want to talk to her, either."
I can only imagine. But one of us had to be the bigger person. "Mads, one of the conditions of guardianship is that she can visit and call you."
"She said she'd take Dani if I didn't go with her. How are you okay with that?"
"I'm not. Do I look okay with that?" I toss the crutches toward the couch beside Mads and lean forward, elbows digging into my knees. "But as a parent, I understand why she said it. Believe it or not, she loves you."
"She has a funny way of showing it."
I nod at that. "I know. I agree with you. But in her own way, she does. Look, being a parent isn't easy. We screw up a lot—but all we can do is keep moving forward and hope for grace."
"She left me. Then she threatened Dani, and now she's leaving again like nothing's happened. And I know it's messed up that I'm mad because I want to stay here with you and Dani, but—she just gave me away. My own mom. Who does that? How's that okay?"
I lean forward and tug her into a hug. "She didn't give you away. She gave you to me knowing I won't ever let anything happen to you."
I hear Madi sniffle, and in a small voice, she asks, "How do I know you won't get tired of me, too?"
"Because we love you, Madi," Dani says in her little-girl voice. "Don't we, Daddy?"
I kiss the top of Mads's head and nod, releasing her so I can stare into her eyes as I say, "That's right, Dani-girl, we do.
Mads, you will always have a home with us.
And maybe one day you and your mom can come to terms and sort things out.
But until then, you've got a safe place with us.
You hear me? No more running away. You got a problem with me or Dani?
We talk about it. No excuses. Are we straight? "
Tears brighten her eyes but don't fall as she nods.
I wink at her. "Good. Because if you ever pull a stunt like this again ,you're going to be grounded until you're thirty."
A laugh bursts out of her, and I shake my head. "Not kidding, Mads. You've taken ten years off my life."
"I'm sorry. I had to go with her, or Dani— And then I had to take off when she stopped, and I knew I couldn't go back to your house because she'd go there looking for me."
"Do I want to know how you got back to the island to Bronwyn's?"
"I…got a ride."
"You hitchhiked?" I ask. "Do you know how dangerous that is?"
"I didn't. I…I saw Violet and Jasmine. They were gassing up the van and picking up ice, and I…kind of snuck on board because I knew they were heading back to the island."
"What did they do when they realized you were inside the van?"
"They didn't? At least I don't think they did. I waited until they parked and went into a house before I got out and then walked the rest of the way to Bronwyn's. What? It's better than hitchhiking with strangers."
"Yeah, it is," Sully says from Bronwyn's kitchen.
I look over, and Sully's elbow deep in a bag of chips. "Seriously? Help yourself there, Sully."
Lindsey laughs when she gets a look, and Dani giggles when Sully makes a goofy face at her. I shake my head at all of them.
"Don't encourage him."
"Bronwyn won't mind," Lindsey says. "And they do look good. Dani and I haven't eaten yet. Madi, are you hungry?"
"I am," Sully says around a handful of chips.
"Me, too. You up for it?" I ask Madi.
She shrugs and nods. "Yeah, sure."
"I know where we can go," Sully says.
"We're not taking my girls to the Pelican," I growl. "It's a bar."
"Hey, they've got food. And I need to check on something," Sully says.
"Don't you mean someone?" I counter.
Sully crumples the now-empty bag and tosses it toward the trash. "Fine. You guys go. I'm going to bow out."
"Tell Violet we said thank you."
Sully grins on his way across the room. "I plan to, along with a piece of my mind for not being more aware of who might be in her truck," he says in a dark tone.
"Mads, glad you're back and okay. But do it again and you're going to have a long line of pseudodads grounding you until you're forty. Don't ever do that again."
Madi's safe. Mine. Here. For the first time in days, I should feel relief. But all I can think is that my family is still broken.