“Walk away?” he repeated, uncomprehending. “What are you talking about? She’s my kid. I’m not walking away from her.”
“I’m just saying, you said yourself that it seems as if the woman is taking good care of the baby…and the mom doesn’t really want you around…maybe it would be best if you bailed.”
“No,” he said, shaking his head. He wasn’t sure of many things right now but he knew for a fact he wasn’t walking away from a child he’d inadvertently created. Then a thought occurred to him and he groaned. “I don’t even know her name,” he said, feeling like a shit. “I’m already a bad father; I didn’t even think to ask her name!”
“Jesus, Nolan, stop whining like a pussy and get yourself together. If you really want the kid to be in your life, then do something about it and make it happen. You’re a fucking Buchanan for crying out loud. Sic the lawyers on her and take the kid from her. It’s simple. Do you really think she can afford the legal fire power she’s going to need to protect her rights once you put the Buchanan fortune behind an attorney?” Vince took Nolan’s silence as agreement and continued with a slightly gruff tone, adding, “Honestly, I think you’re crazy for chasing this down. You have an easy out and you’re not taking it. What kind of life are you prepared to offer this kid? Suddenly, you’re going to be a stay-at-home dad? I don’t see that happening.”
“What are you saying?” Nolan asked.
“Nothing. I’m just saying…think about it, man. This shit is big life stuff. No playing around.”
“If Isabel hadn’t died, you said you would’ve raised her child, even though it wasn’t yours,” Nolan reminded his twin.
“Yeah, well, I was young. I didn’t know what I was offering.”
“So you think I should just walk away.”
Vince waited a beat then said, “Hell, Nolan, I don’t know. You should do what your gut says but I know what I would do in this situation.”
“You’d leave.”
“Yeah…”
Nolan quieted, not sure what to think and his twin’s counsel hadn’t helped much. “So, after Isabel died, you never considered the possibility of having kids? Ever?”
“No, man. I never did.”
But there was something to Vince’s voice that caught at the edge of Nolan’s memory and Nolan remembered the ashen expression on Vince’s face when news of Isabel’s suicide had reached them. Something had died inside his brother that day so it was possible that Vince was telling the truth. After Isabel, Vince would never be the same. Sadness swamped Nolan for his brother’s hidden pain but there was little that could be done at the moment, particularly when Nolan had his own problems to solve.
“I’ll be in touch,” he promised and hung up.
He and his twin were closer than most — almost obscenely so, at times having fucked the same woman at the same time at their most debauched — but he couldn’t take his twin’s advice and walk away. Not from his daughter.
Daughter. The word caused him to shiver.
He didn’t know if he was cut out to be a father but he’d sure as hell have to find out.
-3-
“How much?” Shannon asked the plain-faced attorney, distressed. “Five thousand is a lot of money for a single mom. Can I make payments?”
“Sorry. The point of a retainer is to provide up front funds for the attorney to do their job. While I sympathize with your situation, I can tell you, you’re going to spend a lot of money and still end up with 50-50 custody unless you can prove the father is unfit in some way.” The attorney sighed and leaned back in her leather chair. “If you want my advice — and this is for free — make nice with the father. Maybe he’s not as bad as you think.”
Shannon swallowed the bubble of panic stuck in her throat. She didn’t want to share her baby. Not with him. “He doesn’t even live in the area. Shouldn’t that make a difference?”
“He has enough funds to secure transportation, yes?” Shannon nodded miserably. Nolan Buchanan could fly around the world for the weekend if he chose. “Then, no. His location will not matter in the eyes of the court. Miss Garrity, I know this isn’t the ideal situation but I’d hate to see you spend money you don’t have for a fight that’s destined to swing his way. The best thing you can do is try and be friends with this man because he’s going to be around for the next sixteen years as a co-parent of your child.”
Noooo! Shannon wailed in her mind, unable to believe this twist of fate. Everything had been going so smoothly until someone — a vicious, little demon of a person — had let the beans spill about Aubrey. Shannon had a nice apartment in a neighborhood she liked, a dream job, and a daughter whom she adored. And now, Nolan Buchanan threatened everything.
Shannon hated him with the force of a thousand suns. If Nolan thought he was going to take her daughter without a fight, he had another thought coming because she’d fight like a badger with every weapon available to her if necessary. “I don’t care how much it costs,” she said to the attorney, her chin lifted. “Will you take a check?”
“As long as it clears,” the attorney said dryly, adding with a resigned sigh. “Maybe you ought to take a day to think this over.”
She didn’t need to think, she needed to act. She had the money stashed in her savings account. True, she’d been saving to buy a new car because her beat-up sedan was starting to show its age, but she’d rather ride the bus than give up without a fight. “Will you take the case or not?” she asked.
“I’ll take it,” the attorney answered, shaking her head, plainly believing Shannon was a foolish girl. “But don’t say I didn’t warn you when you’re sitting in court crying because you spent so much money for so little outcome.”
“Duly noted,” Shannon said, standing to leave. “I expect you to do your best to win, though.”
“I’ll do what I can. In the meantime, don’t pick fights with the father. Make nice, if you can. It’ll make things more smooth down the road.”
Shannon accepted the attorney’s advice with a barely noticeable nod and then left, anxious to get back to Aubrey.
Make nice with Nolan? What did that mean? Take him to dinner, chat casually about the weather? Try to forget that every sexual fantasy she’d entertained since that night featured him? Her cheeks burned at that private admission. That was before he was a reality, she reminded herself. It was fun to fantasize about being with Nolan again when there was absolutely no chance of it happening ever again. And now that he was trying to take her child from her? Hell no. She wouldn’t touch him — for real or in her mind — for all the money in the world.