Chasing Bailey, page 14
part #3 of Lake Harriet Series
“Wow. Melissa was your muse?” Lisa asked.
“Yes, she was. Until she found a new guy and took half of everything I had. Actually, more than half because my lawyer sucked.”
Lisa sat back in her chair. “That’s quite a story. Who’s your muse now?”
Avery gazed into her eyes and smiled warmly. “Guess.”
Lisa’s eyes widened as she figured out what he was suggesting. “No. Not me? You’re just saying that to make me feel special.”
He reached for her hand. “Would I lie?”
As she looked into his deep blue eyes, she could see he wasn’t lying. “I’m flattered.”
“You should be.” He laughed. “It’s a tough job, but I think you’re up to the task.”
She shook her head and laughed. He had a silly sense of humor and she liked that.
Avery paid the bill, despite her offering to pay half, and they drove back to her place. Tonight, she asked him if he’d like to come in for a drink. His eyes lit up and he accepted. Bailey was excited when they both entered, but he soon settled down. She poured them both a glass of red wine and they sat on the sofa. She kicked off her heels and sat back, relaxed after their nice evening of food and conversation. Avery sat down near her, taking her hand.
“So,” he said, making a show of glancing around. “We’re alone.”
“It appears so,” she said, grinning.
“And it seems to me there had been some talk about a kiss once. Was that today? Or yesterday?” He moved closer.
“I really don’t remember,” she teased.
“Can I refresh your memory?”
Lisa lifted her face to his as he moved even closer. Her stomach did a flip in anticipation of their kiss. Just as their lips were about to touch, there was a banging on her front door.
Bailey shot up and began barking.
Lisa startled, and the glass she’d been holding fell to the floor. Red wine spread over the tan and brown rug.
Avery sat back, looking frustrated. “Who in the world is that?”
Lisa hurried to the door and looked out the peephole. There stood Andrew holding a red-faced Abby. “It’s Andrew and Abby,” she told Avery as she unlocked the door.
Avery rolled his eyes, stood, and headed to the kitchen. “I’ll get something for this stain,” he said.
“Andrew. What’s wrong?” Lisa was suddenly frightened by Abby’s red, splotchy face. “Is she sick?”
Andrew walked inside as Lisa took Abby in her arms. Abby was crying, “Mommy! Mommy!”
“Mommy’s here now, sweetie,” Lisa cooed. “You’re okay.”
Andrew looked flustered. “I had to bring her back. She’s been crying and upset for two days. We hardly slept at all last night.”
From his mussed hair and the dark circles under his eyes, Lisa could tell he’d had a tough weekend. “What happened?” she asked.
“I don’t know. She was fine when we got home on Friday. We went to a kid-friendly place for dinner and then she went to bed as usual. Suddenly, she was screaming and crying all night. She doesn’t have a fever and she didn’t throw up or anything, so I didn’t know what was wrong. She just kept crying and asking for Bailey and Mommy.” Andrew glanced over toward the sofa. “Do you know your dog is licking something off the rug?”
“Crap!” Lisa hurried over to pull Bailey away from the wine stain while still balancing Abby on her hip.
“Baywee!” the little girl cried with glee.
Avery came out of the kitchen at that moment, carrying a handful of wet paper towels.
“What’s he doing here?” Andrew asked, his faced creased with anger. “What is he now, your cleaner?”
Avery glared at Andrew but didn’t say a word. He pulled Bailey away from the stain and started wiping it up.
“It’s none of your business why Avery’s here,” Lisa snapped. “You were supposed to be at your own place with Abby.”
Andrew folded his arms and stared at Lisa. “Well, she was having a bad weekend. I don’t know why. Wouldn’t you want me to bring her back here if I couldn’t calm her down? I did the right thing.”
Lisa nodded. Abby had already settled down and was yawning. The poor little girl was beat. “Yes. I’d rather you bring her home than have her cry the whole time. But I don’t understand why she cried. Has she done this before?”
“She’s cried, yeah. But Katrina usually finds a way to calm her down. I don’t know what she does. She distracts her or something. Nothing worked for me.”
Lisa was surprised that Katrina was the one who knew how to calm Abby down. She’d always seemed so disinterested in the little girl. “So, without Katrina’s help, you can’t take care of Abby?” she asked.
“I can. It was just a bad weekend, that’s all,” Andrew said, looking frustrated. He suddenly grew angry and pointed his finger at her. “And don’t you try using this against me in court next week. This hasn’t happened before. I did the right thing, bringing her back to you so she’d calm down.”
Lisa didn’t answer him because she couldn’t be one-hundred percent certain she wouldn’t mention this to her lawyer. If Abby was upset at his house all the time, what good would it be for her to be with him three or four days a week? Finally, she said, “Thank you for bringing her home. It looks like she’s ready to fall asleep, so I’ll put her to bed. Maybe your next weekend with her will be better.”
“I hope so. This was rough.” Andrew headed for the door, but before leaving, he scowled at Avery again. “Is this guy going to be here all the time now? If he is, I want to do a background check on him. I don’t like strange men around my daughter.”
Lisa was so stunned she couldn’t get any words out of her mouth. Luckily, Avery beat her to it.
“Go ahead. Do a background check. The name’s Avery McKinnon. I’m an author and I live across the street. I earn way more money than you do, and I don’t have any debt. And I’ve also never been arrested. So, look all you want.” He went back to blotting the stain on the rug.
Lisa held back a laugh. Andrew’s face was bright red with anger, and he was clenching his hands into fists.
“There. Are you happy? Go home, Andrew. I have to put Abby to bed.”
“Fine. I’m leaving. I’ll see you in court on Wednesday.” Andrew stormed out the door and Lisa shut and locked it.
“Good riddance,” she said, making Avery chuckle. Then she took the already sleeping Abby to her room.
Chapter Sixteen
“Stupid jerk,” Avery muttered as he poured a little more water on the wine stain then tried blotting it up. “How dare he question my integrity?”
Bailey came over and licked Avery’s face, making him smile. “You trust me, and that’s all that matters,” he told the dog.
Lisa returned from tucking Abby into bed. “She’s sound asleep. There’s nothing wrong with her that I can tell except she missed her mommy and her dog.”
“I don’t blame her,” Avery said. “I’d miss you too.” Lisa smiled warmly and Avery’s heart did a little flip. How many times had he nearly kissed her and been interrupted? It was almost becoming comical. Almost.
“That stain looks like it isn’t coming out,” Lisa said, studying it. “I’ll have to see if I have any carpet cleaner that will work. Thanks for trying, though.”
“I didn’t want Bailey to lick it all up. No one needs a drunk dog.”
She laughed. “I guess this night didn’t turn out exactly as we’d hoped. But I’m glad he brought her home. I’d hate to think of Abby crying all weekend.”
“I agree. That would be sad,” Avery said. He drew nearer to Lisa. “We were this close.” He had his finger and thumb less than an inch apart.
She grinned. “We’ll get there. Someday. But I’m afraid I’ll have to call it a night. Mornings come early when Abby’s home.”
Avery sighed. “Okay. I understand.” He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her forehead. “Next time, I’m not going to plan it. I’m just going to grab you and kiss you, so we don’t get interrupted. Can I have your permission to do that?”
“Permission granted,” she said. “Surprise me.”
He waggled his brows and made her laugh again. He loved making her laugh.
As he headed for the door, he asked, “Do you want me to drive you to your court date on Wednesday? I’d be happy to.”
Slowly, she shook her head. “Thanks, but no. It would be very easy for me to lean on you during that, but I need to stand on my own two feet. I’ll just have to accept whatever happens.”
“Okay.” He stepped outside the door as Lisa stood inside. “I really hate to leave.”
“I hate for you to leave, too,” she whispered. “Go home. Write. Maybe I’ll see you tomorrow?”
“Try and keep me away,” he said.
Once at home, Avery changed into his sweats and sat down at his computer. It was already eleven o’clock, but he didn’t care. He could get a couple of thousand words done before heading to bed.
However, his mind kept returning to Lisa and how they’d almost kissed tonight. She’d been so relaxed and happy, the most relaxed he’d ever seen her. He was glad they’d had a chance to talk about their pasts. He really wanted to get to know her better—not just physically—as if that were an option. He chuckled to himself. The universe seemed to be against them kissing. Maybe it was a sign. He hoped not. He really liked Lisa and he already adored Abby. And Bailey. The dog that had driven him crazy had found a way into his heart. It was amazing how people could change. How he had changed, from angry at the world to hopeful again.
As he read over the words he’d written previously, he realized that his writing had changed, as well. His happiness was showing in the manuscript, and that made the story so much better.
Avery spent Sunday with Lisa, Abby, and Bailey, going for a walk in the park as Lisa pulled Abby in her wagon. The weather was beautiful—high sixties with the sun shining. They took advantage of the nice autumn day. He ate dinner at their house then went back home to write some more. He was on a roll with the story, so he didn’t want to spend too much time away from his computer. Melissa used to complain about all the time he’d spent writing. But Lisa encouraged him to write. The two women were such opposites—night and day. Lisa brought out the good in him that he hadn’t known still existed. His joy was making him write better than he’d ever written before.
On Monday night, as Avery was working until the early morning hours, he stopped typing. He realized he was now at the pivotal scene of the romance, but he wasn’t sure which direction this story would go. He knew how he wanted it to end but couldn’t figure out how he was going to get the characters to the ending he envisioned.
Avery sat back in his chair and sighed. He was so close, yet he felt his goal was still far out of reach.
Am I thinking about the book, or Lisa?
He wasn’t sure. He couldn’t get Lisa off his mind while he was writing. But, to be fair, he was using Lisa as the model for his character so that made it even harder not to think about her. It was so odd. A month ago, he’d only known Lisa as the lady with the annoying dog. Now, he was falling for her. Could a person really fall head over heels in love in one month? That only happened in romance novels.
Or in real life if you’re lucky.
Avery still had a little more time to finish this novel, so he could afford to wait for the story to come to him. He’d work it out in his head, little by little. But he had a feeling that the end would be tied to how things worked out with Lisa. He hoped that both had a happy ending.
***
Wednesday came quickly for Lisa. She went to work as usual but had brought along a change of clothes for later in the day. She took off from work at one-thirty and drove to the courthouse. Sitting in her car, staring up at the large building, she grew nervous. What if the judge granted Andrew joint custody and lowered her child support payments? Could she afford to keep her house? She was already pinching pennies as tightly as she could. She saw no way to squeeze any more money from her earnings or even earn extra income. The money issue scared her. The thought of Andrew having Abby with him three or four days a week bothered her too. If he insisted on her living half-time with him, how would they manage it? And how would that disrupt Abby’s life? Lisa couldn’t imagine a young child being bounced around from house to house every week. She knew parents did it, but Lisa wasn’t sure if she could.
All of this was tearing at her nerves.
Her lawyer, Ben Jankowski, pulled up in the parking space beside her. Lisa got out and they walked together up the stairs and into the building.
“You look worried. Try to relax,” Ben told her. He smiled, and she calmed down a little. Ben was in his early forties with dark hair that was graying slightly at the temples. He was a high-energy person who ran five miles a day and not only worked in his own law firm but also took on several pro bono cases every month. He’d helped Lisa with her divorce, and she trusted him to do the best he could with this new custody battle.
“I know the judge is going to see right through Andrew,” Ben said. “Your husband didn’t fight for full or joint custody when you divorced, so it’s obvious it’s about the money now. Judges don’t like that.”
Lisa nodded. She hoped that was true.
Ben led her to Judge Kenrich’s outer office where they were told to take a seat and wait.
Five minutes later, Andrew came in with his lawyer, Constance Randall, a tall woman in her fifties who didn’t let anyone push her around. Everyone nodded to each other without saying a word. Lisa noticed that Andrew looked worried too. She had no idea why. He was the one who’d started this new custody battle. He must have realized there was a chance he might not win after all.
They were finally allowed to enter the judge’s chambers. Judge Kenrich sat behind his desk, a pair of half-moon glasses sitting on the end of his nose. He rose when the women entered then sat after they had. Old fashioned manners, Lisa thought. She liked that.
They all waited in silence until the judge spoke. “I’ve read over your file and I have a few questions.” He peered over his glasses at Andrew. “Mr. Evans. Would you explain why you didn’t ask for joint custody at the time of the divorce and why you suddenly want it now?”
Andrew cleared his throat. Lisa knew he could be confident and charming at times like these, but today he looked unsure. “When we divorced, I hadn’t thought through the custody issue thoroughly, Your Honor. And I wasn’t settled in my townhouse and felt it would be best not to disrupt my daughter’s life any more than necessary. Now, however, I’m settled in a nice place and have a room set up for her. I feel that I should spend more time with my daughter.”
“Hmm,” the judge said. “Do you live alone, Mr. Evans?”
Andrew frowned and glanced at his lawyer for direction. She nodded, as if to tell him it was okay to answer. “Yes, sir. I currently live alone.”
Lisa’s brows shot up. Did that mean Katrina had moved out?
The judge spoke again. “I understand your daughter was recently in the hospital overnight. It says here that Mrs. Evans was unable to reach you the entire weekend. Do you generally turn off your phone?”
Andrew glared at Lisa, but she sat tall and held her ground. He was the one who filed against her, so she was going to use whatever it took to win the case.
“No, sir,” Andrew answered. “I don’t make a habit of turning off my phone. I am almost always available 24/7 for Lisa to call me. I explained to her that it wouldn’t happen again.”
“I see.” The judge turned his gaze to Lisa. “Mrs. Evans. How do you feel about sharing custody with your husband?”
She took a breath to calm herself then answered, “Your Honor, Andrew knows that he can see our daughter any time he wishes. I’ve never kept her away from him. As for sharing custody, I honestly feel that Abby’s too young to be moved between households every few days. The day care she attends is next door to the school I work at, so it’s convenient for me to have her during the week. Andrew would have to drive out of his way to bring her there. Maybe it could be an option when she’s older, but for now, I’m afraid it would only confuse her. If Andrew wants to take her to dinner or spend time with her during the week, he’s more than welcome to do so.”
The judge nodded at her, looked down at the papers once more, then sat up straighter in his chair. “Considering the fact that Mr. Evans didn’t ask for custody at the time of the divorce, and that the child is doing well at home with Mrs. Evans, I agree that she is too young to have her life disrupted by being moved between houses at this time. We can re-open this discussion in a year, if the father still wishes to pursue this issue. Otherwise, the custody will remain the same as will the child support payments.”
Lisa let out a sigh of relief as her lawyer smiled over at her.
Andrew stared at his attorney, but she didn’t say anything. She gathered her papers into her briefcase as if accepting the judge’s decision without question.
The judge excused himself and the foursome headed out of the offices and into the hallway. Andrew immediately cornered Lisa.
“I can’t believe you used that weekend Abby was sick against me. You know damn well I’d never purposely ignore calls from you about Abby. I called you the moment I saw the messages.”
“Yes, you did. But by then it was too late. Besides, you know you only wanted shared custody so you could lower child support payments. I know you wouldn’t take Abby half the time. You never call during the week to ask to see her.”
Andrew’s lips formed a thin line. “Well, you got what you wanted. I hope you’re happy.” He turned and stormed down the hallway, ignoring his lawyer as she followed him.
“Are you okay?” Ben asked her. He’d stood nearby just in case Andrew got out of control.
“I’m fine. Thank you so much for all you’ve done. At least I have another year before I have to worry about him petitioning the court again.”
