Home in Carolina (17 page)

“The court’s going to decide what’s best for Trevor,” Helen reminded her. “You and I obviously aren’t going to see eye to eye on what that is. I’m sorry about that. I truly am.”

She hung up before she said something she’d regret. If she’d been in her own kitchen, rather than Sullivan’s, she might have picked up the nearest plate and hurled it across the room. Apparently Erik guessed her agitation, because he came over and put his arms around her.

“You heard?” she asked.

“Enough to get the idea that Trevor’s mom is going through with a custody suit.”

“For full custody,” she said. “I don’t know why I’m so shocked. I was just so sure she’d be reasonable. She has to know she can’t win, not after abandoning him on a hotel-room doorstep. I don’t care how much she claims to have changed, the judge is going to consider that irresponsible and reckless. Not to mention how bonded Trevor and Ty have become in these three years that she’d like to conveniently erase.”

Erik looked as dismayed as she felt. “I’m sorry. Thank goodness Dana Sue’s not here right now. The minute she hears about this, she’s going to start worrying herself sick about the impact on Annie.”

“I know,” Helen said. “I’m worried about all of them, Trevor included, and these aren’t my kids who are involved.”

“You know you’ve always thought of both Ty and Annie as members of your family. Of course, you’re worried,” Erik said with the kind of understanding that demonstrated why she loved him so much.

“I need to see Ty and let him know what’s going on,” she said, even though she’d prefer to stay right here wrapped in her husband’s arms. Of course at some point Erik would have to focus on feeding the restaurant’s hungry customers again, so she might as well go.

“You could just call him,” Erik suggested.

She shook her head. “Not with news like this. I’ll run dinner home to my mother and then try to track him down.”

“I’m pretty sure he’s working out at the spa with Annie tonight,” Erik said. “Dana Sue was pretty upset by that, too. She’s afraid those two are getting close and Ty will wind up breaking Annie’s heart all over again.”

Helen regarded him with dismay. “Well, this news certainly isn’t going to help the two of them reconcile.”

And being the messenger was going to be the absolute worst part of her day.

“Give me ten more reps and then we’re done,” Annie said to Ty.

To her amazement, he’d been on his best behavior all evening. There’d been no sly innuendos, no sneaky touches. She had to admit to being a little disappointed, but mostly it had been a relief to have the workout go smoothly without the distraction of him making subtle passes at her. She supposed it proved just how seriously he took rehab, which made him the best possible kind of client.

“How about adding another ten pounds?” Ty asked, even though sweat was already pouring down his chest and soaking the tank top that revealed way too many muscles, to say nothing of the jagged, still-red scars from his shoulder surgery.

“Not yet,” she told him.

“I’m telling you this is too easy,” he argued.

“If it were easy, you wouldn’t be sweating. Ten more at this weight. In here, I’m not your friend. I’m the boss, remember?”

He scowled at her, but he complied with her orders, then set the weights back on their stand.

Annie was about to suggest he head in and take a shower, when she heard the front door open. She frowned. She knew she’d locked it earlier, right after admitting Ty.

“Hey, you guys, it’s only me,” Helen called out.

Ty’s expression froze as he turned to Annie. “This can’t be good.”

Annie opted for an optimistic spin. “Come on, you don’t even know if she’s here to see you. She could be stopping by to pick up some paperwork or something.”

Ty shook his head. “It’s bad. I can feel it. She’s heard something from Dee-Dee.”

Helen crossed the room, her expression every bit as grim as Ty’s. “Hi, sweetie,” she said to Annie, giving her a hug. She glanced at Ty’s soaked shirt and shook her head. “You’ll get a hug later.”

“What’s up?” Annie asked. “Did you come by to pick up something?”

“I need to speak to Ty,” Helen said. “Alone, if you don’t mind.”

Annie tried not to feel hurt by the dismissal. She smiled brightly. “Of course.”

She started away, but Ty called her back. His expression stubborn, he told Helen, “She should probably hear whatever you have to say.”

Helen didn’t look especially happy about it, but she nodded. “Your call.”

As she described her conversation with Dee-Dee, Annie kept her gaze on Ty. His expression ran the gamut of emotions from disbelief to dismay to outrage. Every muscle in his body was visibly tense. Instinctively, Annie walked behind him and rested her hand on his shoulder.

“Helen’s going to fix this,” she said confidently. “Right, Helen?”

“No question about it,” Helen said. “I’ve already spoken to the P.I., and he’s stepping up his investigation.
There won’t be a thing about Dee-Dee that we won’t know by this time next week. Then we’ll sit down and decide how we want to use it.”

Annie cringed. “You’re digging up dirt about her?”

Helen nodded.

“We’re going to do whatever it takes to stop her,” Ty said, his expression grim. “Surely you can understand why we have to do this. Visitation is one thing. I saw for myself that Trevor loves having a mom in his life. I can reconcile myself to that for his sake, but full custody? I can’t let that happen, Annie, no matter what it takes to fight it.”

“I suppose,” Annie said. “But do you really want to play down and dirty with your son’s mother? Someday it could come back to haunt you. Trevor could hate you for publicly humiliating her.”

“If it prevents her from taking him from me, I have no choice,” Ty said.

“I agree,” Helen added, then turned to Annie. “Sweetie, I understand your caution, but in cases like this, sometimes it’s necessary to play hardball. I’d hoped we wouldn’t have to. I thought by giving Dee-Dee a chance to spend a little time with Trevor, giving her access to him, she’d be reasonable. Instead, she wants it all, and she’ll try to cut Ty out of Trevor’s life in the process. She said as much on the phone tonight.”

“It’s just that it’s going to get so ugly,” Annie said.

“No way around it,” Helen said. “Not if we want to win.”

“Are you sure compromise is out of the question?” Annie persisted.

Ty regarded her with puzzlement. “Why are you so against me keeping my son?”

She was stunned and dismayed by his interpretation. “I’m not,” she insisted. “I just think there ought to be a way to make this a win-win for everyone, especially Trevor.” She thought a moment longer, then added, “And much as I hate to say it, I guess I feel kind of bad for Dee-Dee. Trevor is her son, too.”

Ty’s expression turned to shock. “You feel sorry for Dee-Dee?”

She shrugged. “I never would have believed it myself, but yes, I do.” She glanced toward Helen. “I remember how horrible it was when my mom and dad split up. I was a lot older than Trevor, and I didn’t understand all the fighting or why my dad ended up leaving town.”

Helen frowned. “That was my doing,” she admitted. “And, in retrospect, it was a mistake. But, Annie, the situations are not the same. Not even close. Ty’s the only parent Trevor’s really known. Dee-Dee wants to turn that around, keep him to herself and limit Ty’s access to the occasional visit.”

“I know,” Annie said. “And I certainly don’t want to see Ty and Trevor ripped apart. Not at all. I guess I just kind of see Dee-Dee’s side, too. I’m sure if they lived in the same town, then shared custody might be an answer, but the way things are, for one of them to win, the other has to lose. Who can pick sides between a mom or a dad, especially when they both love their son?”

Ty had been silent for several minutes, but now his gaze hardened as he met hers. “Are you really able to be that impartial? Or do you want me punished for what happened between us? Do you see this as some kind of karmic justice, me losing my son after the way Dee-
Dee’s pregnancy and his birth pretty much destroyed our relationship?”

Annie stared at him in shock. “You can’t really believe I’d be that petty,” she said.

Ty shook his head. “I don’t know what I believe. I just know that if you really had any feelings for me at all, now or in the past, you would never be able to suggest I give up my son.”

“But that’s not what I said,” Annie protested.

Ty didn’t hear her, though. He’d grabbed his shirt and left the spa without a backward glance.

Annie turned to Helen. “You got what I was saying, right? I was trying to see both sides.”

Helen gave her a hug. “I know you thought you were trying to be fair, but right now Ty needs to be surrounded by people he can count on a hundred percent.”

“But he can,” Annie argued. “I’m always on his side.”

“Sorry, sweetie. For a minute there, it didn’t sound like it. I need to go after him. We have a lot of plans to make.”

“I’ll come with you,” Annie offered.

“Not tonight. Give Ty some time to cool down, absorb what’s going on. Then you can try to explain and he might actually hear what you have to say.”

After Helen walked out, Annie went around the spa in a fog, turning out lights and locking up for the night. How had a day that had been so promising turned into such a nightmare? A few innocently spoken words, an attempt at impartiality, and she was the bad guy. It made no sense to her.

But as she walked home, trying to examine the entire conversation from Ty’s perspective, she finally saw it as he must have…a betrayal from someone who should have been unconditionally on his side.

Not that they hadn’t had disagreements in the past and moved on, but this issue was too huge for them not to be on the same page. His son’s future was at stake. And like any parent, Ty was going to fight for what he thought was right. In his view, there was no room for diverging opinions, no room for compromise.

“I messed up,” Annie murmured, tears stinging her eyes as she walked.

The only question now was how she was going to make things right.

A
fter storming out of The Corner Spa, Ty headed straight home. He needed to see his son. Trevor would probably be asleep by the time he got there, but he needed to reassure himself that his son was safely tucked in his own bed.

Not that he thought Dee-Dee would do anything as stupid as trying to take him, but right now he didn’t trust anyone to do the right thing.

How could Annie have suggested for so much as a second that Dee-Dee was in the right about anything? He knew the disdain she’d felt for the woman who’d come between them, and now she thought that same woman was fit to raise his son? It made no sense to him. All that talk about being fair and objective was nonsense. This was payback. Annie had waited a long time to get it, but, boy, had she picked the one way guaranteed to tear his heart out.

When he walked through the door at home, his mother and Cal called out to him, but Ty merely acknowledged them both with a wave and headed upstairs. The old house that had been in the Townsend family for generations had seemed outrageously big and ostentatious when he
was a kid, but now he appreciated the number of rooms that accommodated not only Cal, Maddie and Ty’s siblings, but still had room for him and Trevor to have their own suite.

There was the soft glow of a night-light in Trevor’s room. Still scared of the dark, he wouldn’t go to sleep without it. Turning it on was part of their nighttime ritual, right along with brushing teeth and a bedtime story.

Ty crossed the room to the bed that had been made up with Spider-Man sheets. Trevor had kicked off the covers and lay sprawled in the middle of the bed, his thumb firmly poked in his mouth. Ty’s best efforts to stop that habit had yet to succeed.

Looking down on his boy, Ty released the sigh that had been building up ever since Helen had hit him with the news of the likelihood of a full-blown, ugly custody suit. He sat down on the floor beside the bed, pulled up his knees and rested his head against them.

How could this be happening? He’d done everything right. Though he’d initially wanted things to turn out differently, from the moment he’d known the results of the paternity test, he’d accepted responsibility for Trevor. He’d felt a connection to him the first time he’d seen his scrunched-up little face in the hospital nursery, even though he’d been scared spitless about the prospect of being a dad, even though at that time he’d envisioned having only limited contact.

And, from the moment he’d found his son, wrapped in a blue blanket and tucked into a portable carrier, on his hotel doorstep in Denver, Trevor had become the center of his universe. His stupidity had cost him the woman he loved, but he’d gained this, a wonderful little boy whose
smile could brighten the worst day. He could have used one of those smiles right now.

As if he sensed his dad’s presence, Trevor stirred but didn’t wake. Ty reached up and gently brushed his sun-streaked, dark brown hair from his forehead. The emotions that welled up inside him were huge, overwhelming. The only thing that had ever come close were his feelings for Annie.

As he thought about their heated exchange earlier, the accusations he’d leveled at her made him just a little bit ashamed. Deep down, he knew better. He knew she would never take out her anger with him in the way he’d suggested. She would never side with Dee-Dee to get even with him. It simply wasn’t in her makeup to be that vindictive.

Of course, acknowledging that forced him to also acknowledge that she might have had a point about the value of compromise, or at least about trying to see Dee-Dee’s point of view. He still believed at the very core of his being that none of this was happening because she’d suddenly decided she missed her little boy. There was more to it. He just couldn’t imagine what it might be.

What he did know was that he had to find out and there was little time to waste. If the investigator Helen had hired didn’t hit some kind of pay dirt in a few days, Ty intended to take matters into his own hands. His teammates, more than likely, knew Dee-Dee’s friends. A lot of the women who followed the team formed an alliance of sorts. He suspected they knew one another’s secrets.

And, for all he knew, some of the team’s other players
actually knew Dee-Dee herself. He doubted he was the first professional ballplayer in her life or her last. Somebody was bound to have the insight he needed.

Feeling more at peace now that he’d seen his son and had a plan of action to keep him from feeling powerless, he stood up, kissed Trevor’s brow and left the room, closing the door behind him.

When he went downstairs, he found Helen in the living room with Cal and his mother. Judging from their grim, worried expressions, Helen had filled them in. She met his gaze.

“Any second thoughts?” she asked quietly, her expression somber.

“None,” he said at once.

“Okay, then. I’ll move forward. I’ll send a letter to Dee-Dee’s attorney stating our position and reminding him that she has a background that won’t bode well for her in court. Maybe he can make her see reason and we’ll be able to mediate a settlement. I’m going to check with Tom Bristol, who handled your original case, and see how backed-up the courts are in Atlanta. There’s a good chance we can have the case moved over here, once Dee-Dee’s filed her papers. A lot of judges are more than happy to move a case, if it’ll get it off their docket. That would certainly simplify things.”

Ty nodded. The wrangling over jurisdiction mattered less to him than their strategy. “I still think we’re missing something important,” he said to all of them.

Across the room, his mother, who’d been silent up till now, said, “You mean why, after all this time, Dee-Dee surfaced, in the first place?”

Ty regarded her with surprise. “Exactly.”

“I’ve been wondering the same thing,” Maddie said. She turned to Helen. “How do we find out?”

It was Ty, not Helen, who answered. “I thought about trying to get in touch with some of her friends, or maybe asking some of my buddies on the team to ask a few questions. They know the women who hung out with Dee-Dee. Maybe she’s kept in touch.”

“Good idea,” Cal said. “The groupies have always been tight with one another.”

Maddie gave him a wry look. “And you know this how?”

Cal grinned at her. “Simmer down, sweetheart. I’m all yours now.”

Helen listened to the exchange, her expression thoughtful. Eventually, she nodded. “It’s worth a shot.”

“Should I make the calls now, or wait until we hear from the investigator?” Ty asked.

“Make the calls,” Helen said decisively. “The sooner we can put our case together, the better. I’m also going to want depositions from anyone and everyone who can testify to the kind of father you are.”

“I’ll have a list for you in the morning,” Ty said.

“How about the nanny you have in Georgia? Are you still paying her?”

Ty nodded. “Since I’ll need her when I go back to Atlanta, we worked out an agreement.”

“Did you do a thorough background check?”

“Of course. She was going to be responsible for my son when I wasn’t there. I needed to know everything there was to know about her.”

“Perfect,” Helen said, standing up. “I need to get home. Flo goes stir-crazy when I’m gone all day and in the evening, too. Sarah Beth’s good company for her,
and of course the nanny and Mom’s caregiver are around, but by this time of night, she’s usually driving Mrs. Lowell nuts with her demands.”

“How’s her hip healing?” Maddie asked.

“Amazingly well, given her age,” Helen said. “At least that’s what the doctor says. I just know that having her back on her feet and into her own place can’t come soon enough. In some ways this has been better than I expected. In others, she can make me crazy faster than anyone else on earth.”

“Typical mother-daughter relationship,” Maddie assured her.

Ty thought of his visit to his grandmother and what she’d said about Cal helping her and his mom to bond. “Grandma Paula said something like that the other day, too.”

Cal groaned. “Oh, boy.”

Ty stared at him. “What did I say?”

He realized then that his mother was scowling at him.

“You talked to my mother about me?” she asked, her annoyance plain.

“It wasn’t like that,” Ty said at once.

“Then she didn’t have a litany of complaints about how I’d been neglecting her?” Maddie asked.

“No way,” he said, but clearly the damage had been done, because his mother continued to regard him with a disgruntled expression. Heaven save him from touchy women. He didn’t understand a one of them, not even the ones he knew best.

It didn’t much surprise him when his mom walked Helen to the door and didn’t come back. He heard her go directly upstairs. He turned to Cal.

“What did I say that was so terrible?”

Cal laughed. “Haven’t you learned by now that the peace between your mom and Paula is fragile? It doesn’t take much to upset either one of them.”

“All I said was…” He couldn’t even recall what he’d said.

“You lumped the two of them in with Helen and Flo, thereby suggesting that theirs, too, is a tense mother-daughter relationship.”

“Well, it is,” Ty said, still bewildered about why telling the truth had offended Maddie.

“Your mother likes to think their relationship has evolved into something more mature and understanding,” Cal explained. “She knows better, of course, but she doesn’t like being reminded of it.”

Ty shook his head. “This is way too complicated for me. I have my own incomprehensible women to worry about.”

Cal regarded him with sympathy. “Dee-Dee?”

“And Annie,” he admitted. “It was a helluva lot easier when we were kids. We fought. We got over it.”

“The stakes are generally much higher once you’re adults,” Cal reminded him.

Ty sighed. “Tell me about it.” Only his son and his entire future.

Since she’d restricted Ty to working out every other day, Annie spent the evening after their argument at Sarah’s. She nibbled at the salad in front of her with disinterest.

Suddenly Sarah set down her own fork and frowned at her. “Okay, what’s wrong? You’ve hardly said two words since you got here. You were just as uncommunicative at the spa earlier. You know how I hate it when you’re upset. I especially hate it when you don’t touch your food, either.”

Annie scowled at her and deliberately forked up a chunk of grilled chicken, stuffed it in her mouth and chewed slowly. She ate a few more bites of the meal, then pushed the bowl aside.

“You’re going to finish that before you leave the table,” Sarah said.

Her stern tone made Annie smile, despite her sour mood. “You sounded exactly like my mom just then.”

“Well, good,” Sarah said with a touch of defiance. “Now, either eat or talk. Those are your choices.”

Since Annie didn’t think she could swallow another bite right at the moment, she asked, “How’s Walter?”

Sarah shook her head at the obvious ploy. “He’s fine. How’s Ty?”

Annie shrugged. “I have no idea.”

“You haven’t seen him today?”

“Nope.”

“Haven’t spoken to him?”

“No.”

“Is that why you’re in this black mood?”

Annie sighed. “No, I’m in this black mood because of the fight we had.” She described how the conversation with Ty and Helen had blown up in her face the night before. “I have to fix things, but I have no idea how to do it. I don’t think an apology will cut it.”

“It would be a good place to start,” Sarah suggested.

“But then what?”

They sat there in silence for several minutes before Annie turned to Sarah. “How would you feel about taking a road trip?” she ventured. An idea had formed in her head earlier in the day and while it seemed pretty outrageous, she hadn’t been able to shake it.

Her friend regarded her with confusion. “You want to go on a vacation now? Isn’t that just running away from the problem?”

Annie grinned. “I was thinking more along the lines of a trip to Cincinnati to track down Dee-Dee.”

“Oh, no,” Sarah said at once. “That’s a really bad idea.”

“Why do you say that?” she asked, wondering if Sarah’s thoughts were similar to the ones she’d come up with when the voice of reason kicked in.

“Because I doubt Ty or Helen, for that matter, would appreciate you interfering in the situation without their permission.” She studied Annie with a penetrating look. “I assume there’s no permission involved, right?”

“None,” Annie confirmed. She was a tiny bit daunted by Sarah’s strongly negative reaction, but she still thought the plan had merit. At least it meant taking action rather than sitting on the sidelines. “Come on. I’ll bet we could get to the bottom of why she’s so determined to take Trevor.”

“How do you suggest we do that? I’m opposed to kidnapping and torture.”

Annie gave her a disgusted look. “So am I,” she said. “I haven’t worked out all the details. I just think we could snoop around a little, ask some questions, maybe bump into her and become her new best friends.”

Sarah continued to look unconvinced. “Do you happen to recall what happened the last time you decided to play Nancy Drew?”

Annie winced. “It was not my fault that branch came down and broke Mrs. Latham’s window.”

“You were on that branch trying to spy on Bobby Latham,” Sarah reminded her.

“I thought he’d stolen my iPod,” Annie said. “And that
branch was obviously dead. We both know I didn’t weigh much then, so clearly anything could have snapped it off. It was a disaster waiting to happen.”

“As I recall, Mrs. Latham didn’t see it that way. My point is, you don’t have a very good track record as a detective. I think this situation is more important than your stolen iPod. You probably shouldn’t be meddling in it.”

“But if I could figure out what Dee-Dee’s up to and give the information to Helen, Ty would see that I’m on his side,” Annie argued, even though Sarah’s objections were making more sense than she wanted to admit.

“I still say you should just apologize and then ask Ty if there’s anything you can do to help.” Sarah gave her a pleading look. “You need to drop the idea of getting involved, Annie, at least unless you have Ty or Helen’s permission.”