Everything She Wanted (2 page)

Chapter Two

“H
E DID IT,
Kate.” Margo held her fisted hands up to her chest and bounced on her feet, excited like a child on Christmas morning.

Kate Morrison stared at her sister, trying to understand her enthusiasm. Nothing ever went this right in their world, so Kate waited for the hammer to drop.

“He left her. We’re going to finally be together like we’ve wanted.”

“Donald said he’d leave her when you met and practically every month since then. He swore it when Alex was born. What makes this time any different?”

Margo rolled her eyes. “You’re such a pessimist.”

“No, I’m a realist.”

“The proof is in the safe downstairs. He had his lawyer draw up all these new papers. He told her today. It’s done. He isn’t going back there. He’s staying with Alex
and me.”

She’d seen Donald downstairs sitting on the couch, a drink in hand balanced on the sofa arm. The solemn look on his face piqued her interest. She’d thought he’d had a bad day at work. Instead, it appeared his two worlds collided and he’d had to pick a side. The miserable life he’d been living with a woman he didn’t love, and in fact despised, or the woman he adored, who made him happy.

Kate hadn’t always been on board with her sister dating a married man. In fact, Kate didn’t find out Donald was married until after Alex was conceived. She didn’t like Margo keeping secrets from her. It still irritated her. Margo wanted this family so bad, Kate overlooked the imperfections in the relationship and focused on her sister’s hard-­won happiness, because Margo deserved it after all
she’d been through growing up. As her best friend, Kate wanted it for her.

Ever skeptical, Kate asked, “Why now? Why’d he finally do it?”

“For me and Alex. He wants to be with us.”

“There’s never been any doubt of that, except for the fact he didn’t ask her for the divorce.”

Margo huffed. “It’s complicated.”

“That’s an excuse, Margo. You have a son.”

“So does she.”

“Their son is twenty-­five. Yours is four months old.”

Margo’s eyes filled with resignation. “Donald had to think about the company, the money, everything else they share. It’s not a simple thing to divorce when there is so much at stake. Breaking up the company like that, giving her a huge piece and a say in the company he spent his life building, makes it hard for him. I don’t know what happened.
We haven’t had time to discuss it, but something changed, and he gets to keep everything.”

“How is that possible? This is California. A community property state. She’s entitled to half.”

Margo raised her hands to the sides and let them fall back to her thighs. “She signed a prenup. Whatever stipulations are in there, she violated them and only gets a million dollars.”

“I’d take the
million and be happy.”

“Would you? After nearly thirty years of marriage and living with the means to do and buy anything you want, you’d take a million and be happy? A house in most areas around here costs at least half that if not all of it. Look where she’s lived and how and tell me a million is enough.”

Kate tipped her head, acknowledging that truth. “So what did she have to say about
all of this?”

“As you can imagine, she’s pissed. I don’t know all the details. Donald and I want to sit down and talk about it and what comes next.”

Kate nodded, understanding dawning. “Which is why I’m here. You want me to babysit.”

“Please. It’s only for a few days.”

Kate widened her eyes and held her breath. “Days? Margo—­”

“He’s nervous about what she’ll do now that she
knows about the divorce. He wants Alex away from here in case she does something.”

“What does he think she’ll do?”

Margo waved her hand. “Oh, mostly just throw a fit. Maybe come here to cuss him out and demand he give her what she wants. He doesn’t want Alex here if that happens.”

“Does she know about you and Alex?”

“About me, yes. Not Alex. At least Donald and I don’t think so.”

Kate grimaced. “And you want to keep Alex a secret awhile longer.”

“At least until Donald and I can be married. Please, Kate, will you take him for a few days? Four tops.”

“I told you I needed time. I’m just settling in to seeing him with you when I visit.”

“You never expected it to be this hard, did you?”

“No. But nothing is ever easy, is it?”

“Not for you and me.” Margo
put her hand over Kate’s and squeezed. “If something happens, go to the safe deposit box. Everything you need is there. I set it up just like you taught me.”

“Always have an escape plan.”

“Everything is going to work out this time.”

“If you believed that, you wouldn’t ask me to take Alex and remind me that even now we need a way out.”

Margo squeezed Kate’s hand again. “I know everything
will be okay. I’m being cautious and protective of what I love. When we had nothing, it was easy to walk away. Now, I have too much to lose to leave it to chance. Please, Kate. Do this for me, so I’ll have peace of mind and can see Donald through this rough patch.”

Kate gave in to need and picked up Alex from his crib and held him to her chest. She stared down into his beautiful blue eyes
and frowned. “Your mother knows exactly how to get me to do her bidding.”

“I know it’s a lot to ask . . .”

Kate brushed her lips against Alex’s forehead and smelled his sweet baby scent. Her heart softened and threatened to melt in her chest and reduce her to a teary-­eyed mess. “I got this, Margo.”

“You always do.”

“Is everything okay?” Donald asked from the door.

“She said
yes,” Margo answered.

“Thank you, Kate. It’s a lot to ask . . .”

“Both of you stop. I’m the aunt. I’m the perfect person to ask. You two enjoy a few days alone. Alex and I will hang at the bar, go dancing, you know, have some fun.”

Margo laughed and touched Kate’s shoulder. “You know he doesn’t have ID to get into the bar.”

Kate shrugged that off. “I could probably call some old
contacts and get him a fake one.”

“Okay, but cut him off after one bottle,” Donald teased, holding up the baby bottle in his hand.

Kate took it and stuffed the nipple into Alex’s mouth. He sucked greedily.

“You hear that, little man?” Margo said. “One bottle and you’re done. Aunt Kate will take care of you. Maybe you can teach her to smile more often.” Margo kissed Alex’s head and
gave Kate a look that clearly said, “You’re too serious.”

“I’ll take the bags down to the car,” Donald volunteered, grabbing the diaper bag and a small suitcase.

“I put two cans of formula and extra bottles in the suitcase. More than enough for the few days you’ll have him.” Margo picked up the blanket from Alex’s crib and a soft puppy. “These are his favorites. Donald will also put the
playpen I left downstairs in your car. He can sleep in that.” Margo scanned the room. “His pacifier is pinned to his shirt, but let me run downstairs and grab a spare just in case.”

Kate sat in the rocking chair with Alex in her arms and let him finish his bottle. “Go. We’re good here.”

Margo stopped at the door and turned back. “You’re going to be a wonderful mother someday.”

Kate
plastered on a smile for Margo’s benefit. “You were always the sweeter, kinder, gentler one of us. Alex is in the best hands. I’m better by myself.” The lie sounded convincing but tasted sour and made her heart ache.

“Anything is possible, Kate. Just look at what I have with Donald.”

“You two seem happy together. I’m happy for you.”

“I hope you have something even better than what
I’ve found. You just have to learn to trust and have a little faith.”

This from the woman who fell in love with a married man and went to extreme lengths to have his child and the family they never had growing up, including sharing him with his wife—­though he swore he hadn’t slept with Christina in the last few years, especially since he met Margo. Kate dropped her cynicism and admitted the
­couple seemed happy. Kate wanted them to get past the impending divorce, marry, and be a family. They deserved it. Alex deserved to have his two loving parents together and happy without all the hiding of their relationship and the drama.

“Come downstairs when he’s finished.”

Margo left the room. Kate sat in the waning sunlight and rocked Alex back and forth. She studied his sweet face
from his wide forehead to his softly rounded cheeks. He caught her watching him and took time out of gorging on his milk to smile at her with his mouth still wrapped around the nipple.

“Charmer. You know I can’t resist you. Don’t tell your mother, but I really am looking forward to having you all to myself for a few days.”

Dangerous, dangerous ground. Her heart might not be able to take
letting him go again. She loved the little boy. He almost made her think dreams do actually come true and don’t always turn into nightmares. Almost.

Kate put Alex up to her shoulder and patted his back. He let out a huge belch and settled his cheek back on her shoulder. “That’s my big boy. You sound like every guy I’ve ever met in a bar.”

Actually, it had been a long time since she’d been
a part of that scene. She’d given up playing the party girl, the tough girl who liked even tougher guys, the girl who didn’t care about anyone or anything and all she wanted to do was have a good time. Nothing about that scene or that girl seemed fun anymore.

At twenty-­two, she’d turned a corner and got serious about herself and her life. For all her negativity about what happened to her
in the past and the rotten way she’d been raised and treated, she’d never done a damn thing to change things for the better. A hard realization to wake up to on her birthday, look back at her life, and realize all she’d been doing is surviving. She wanted more. So she went back to school and got her degree in social work. Used the supervised hours she worked in the field to gain experience and hone
her skills to work with teenagers. She worked during the day and attended school at night to finish her master’s this past year. Twenty-­eight now, she finally had a job and a purpose in life that filled her up most days, even as the daunting task of helping others who sometimes didn’t necessarily want it dragged her down, but never knocked her out. She loved her clients. Most of them anyway. Teenagers
had a way of making you work for every small achievement. They made her think and come up with creative ways to connect with them so she could get them to trust her and eventually try to change their lives.

Like she’d done with her own.

“Come on, let’s go find your mom and dad. It’s time to blow this joint and get you settled at my place. Don’t get me wrong, kiddo—­I’m happy to have you
for a few days, but that’s it. You’re not staying.”

She tickled Alex’s belly, made him laugh, and rose and carried him out the bedroom door and across the landing to the stairs.

“It’s going to be all right,” Donald assured her sister. He reached up and cupped Margo’s face in his hands, sweeping his thumbs over her cheeks and looking her right in the eye with so much love and devotion that
Kate looked away. The tenderness in his affection for Margo stunned her every time. She’d rarely seen that depth of kindness and love between two ­people. She envied her sister that connection to Donald. It’s why she’d agreed to help them. Why she believed in them even if she didn’t admit as much to her sister.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, stepping down the last few stair treads. “Did something
else happen?”

“Evan called. He’s upset about the divorce and what that means for him as well as his mother,” Donald said in his usual diplomatic way.

“Donald is cutting off his unlimited supply of funds and putting him on a reasonable budget,” Margo added, rolling her eyes. Margo may live in this big fancy house, but she still clipped coupons and bought items on sale. She didn’t take what
she had for granted.

Something about the worry clouding Donald’s eyes about the call triggered a ripple of danger to skitter across Kate’s nerves. Her gut went tight. As easygoing as Donald was, his son Evan’s personality swung the other way. All the way to volatile. Rage mixed with antipathy and entitlement. Not a good combination when you just told a rich kid he’d been essentially cut off.

“How did you leave things with him?”

“I told him to speak to his mother to get the real truth of why I’m doing all of this. He deserves to know, then he’ll understand that what I’m offering is generous under the circumstances.”

“He’s been in trouble in the past. Do you think he’ll come here and cause trouble for the two of you? Is that why you want Alex out of the house?”

“No,”
Donald said definitively. “No.” This time the word held traces of uncertainty and worry. “My concern is that these types of calls will go on for the next few days. It’s going to be a stressful time, and I don’t want my emotions and Margo’s worry to upset Alex. It’s better this way.”

Kate read between the lines. Donald didn’t want to upset Margo, but he expected trouble in some form from his
wife and son. At the very least, he knew they wouldn’t go away quietly.

“I promise, Kate, I’ll take care of everything. I won’t let anything happen to Margo.”

“I hold you to that promise.”

He smiled, released her sister, and came to stand in front of her. He put his hand on Alex’s back and the other on her shoulder. “I know you will. Margo, Alex,
and you
are my family. This will all
blow over, and we’ll move on together and watch Alex grow into a wonderful and loved man. He is the gift we share. Nothing will make me happier than to have this business behind us and move on. I want to spend the rest of my life making Margo happy and raising our son. All of us together and happy.”

Kate’s inner pessimist shouted, “Yeah, right.” But holding Alex in her arms, seeing his happy
face and the innocence in his eyes, sparked the belief that maybe the life Donald described wasn’t out of reach. They needed to work for it, and that included taking care of old business.

“Call me if anything more happens. Keep me in the loop.”