Play Fair (The Devil's Share Book 3) (23 page)

Emily got up and kneeled on the floor at Landry’s feet. “I am so sorry, baby. I am so sorry for everything.” She wiped her eyes on her sleeve. “You can stay here with your dad. I won’t make you choose.” Landry let go of B’s hand and threw her arms around her mom’s neck. They held each other for a while before Emily stepped back and placed a kiss on Landry’s forehead. “I love you, baby.”

Chapter Thirty

Bryan

Jacks told Landry’s mom that he wouldn’t tell the label about what happened. He said that as long as she stopped giving money to Smith’s dad and entered in-patient rehab, she could keep her checks. But she would need to prove both. She called CPS from our living room and Diane came over with paperwork signing away her parental rights. It was hard, and she cried, but in the end she was finally the mother Landry deserved. By giving her up, she got to keep her. I wouldn’t go back on my word. I’d make sure that she’d get to see Landry whenever she wanted, as long as she stayed clean and healthy.

I knew Jacks didn’t fully understand what had happened or why…but he was thrilled to have Landry, no strings attached.

“Hey, what are you still doing up?”

Dylan had walked into the kitchen where I was sitting with my laptop. “I’m hiring movers to box up all my stuff and place it in storage.”

She nodded, grabbing two mugs from a cabinet and putting water in the kettle to boil. “Does Mom know? Mikah?”

“They are actually coming down here in a couple of weeks. I told them a little about what’s been going on and they insisted. They wanted to see us anyway.”

She placed a tea bag in each cup and then leaned her hip against the counter. “I’m not sorry for wanting to protect everyone. But I do feel badly for making this harder on you and Jacks, and Landry.”

I gave her a small smile. “I love them both so much. There isn’t anything you or anyone else could have said to make me change my mind in the end.”

The kettle started to whistle and she took it off the stove, filling each of our cups. She handed me one and then came and sat next to me. “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

“Doll?” We both looked over when Jacks walked in. “You okay?” He came and stood behind me, kissing the top of my head.

“Yeah, just hanging out with my sister.”

He chuckled. “I should have known. I wake up wanting some ass and your sister is down here cock-blocking me.”

Dylan reached out and pinched his arm. “Calm down, pretty soon we’ll be living in separate houses and you won’t have to worry about it anymore.”

He frowned. “It’s going to be so strange. Not being with everyone like this.”

I laughed. “The houses are only a couple of acres apart. It’s not like we’ll be living in different neighborhoods.”

“B? Jacks?” A sleepy Landry padded into the room, her hair a mess and her clothes all twisted.

“Hey, Buttercup, what are you doing up? Did you have a nightmare?” Jacks scooped her up and placed her on the island.

“No. Crash was snoring.” We’d conceded and let Crash sleep in Landry’s bed. “And I looked across the hall and you guys were gone.”

I hugged her little waist. “I’m so sorry, sweet girl. We didn’t mean to scare you.”

She shrugged. “I wasn’t scared. I was just wondering if you guys were down here having midnight snack time with Lexi.”

Jacks laughed. “What are you talking about? What’s midnight snack time?” At that moment Lexi came strolling into the kitchen, whistling, completely unaware that we were all watching her. “Can we help you?”

She jumped about a foot in the air. “Holy fudging shit! What is wrong with you guys?! You can’t scare a pregnant chick like that! I could go into labor.” She looked around the kitchen, taking us all in.

Landry smiled. “I guess they wanted to join us for midnight snack time.”

Lexi shook her head. “You are a narc, you know that?” She smacked a kiss on Landry’s cheek. “But you’re adorable, and you’re my niece, so I’ll let it slide.”

Dylan crossed her arms. “How often do you get up and eat at midnight? Which is the worst time to eat by the way.”

Lexi winked at Landry. “Not that often.” She put her hands on her hips. “So what’ll it be tonight? Leftovers? Or we can make some chocolate chip muffins.”

“Chocolate chip muffins.” Landry hopped down off the counter and headed to the pantry while Lexi preheated the oven.

Jacks and I looked at each other, confused. He picked up the package of chocolate chips that Landry sat out. “Uh, I thought you didn’t eat chocolate for breakfast?”

Landry rolled her eyes. “Dad, it’s midnight snack, not breakfast.”

The room went silent. And Landry’s eyes got big and round. You could tell that it had just slipped out and she was nervous about his reaction. He played it cool, even though I’m sure hearing his daughter call him Dad for the first time had sent his emotions into overdrive. It’d done the same to me when she called me Momma. He ruffled her hair. “What’s your deal with that
no chocolate for breakfast
thing anyway?”

Her smile fell a little. “I don’t know. I heard it on TV once. This mom told her kids that they couldn’t eat chocolate for breakfast. My mom never cared what I ate or when I ate it. So I adopted that rule for myself.”

We were all quiet for a beat, not really sure what to say or how to handle that sad story. This poor little girl was so starved for attention, for guidance, that she started following orders from moms on TV. I reached out and tapped her on the nose. “It’s a good rule, you know. Chocolate is no way to start your day. Slows you down.” I looked over at Jacks. “I think we should all follow it.”

He nodded. “I agree.”

Landry tried to hide her smile, biting her lips together as she set out making chocolate chip muffins in the middle of the night with her aunt. All the commotion must have woken up Dash and Smith because before the goodies were even in the oven they had joined us. And we were all a little shocked when Luke came down the stairs instead of in the front door. Landry was smiling and laughing, surrounded by her family, who would spend the rest of their lives making sure that she never felt alone, or unloved.

Epilogue

Jacks

“Girls! It’s time to go, we’re going to be late!” I checked my watch and muttered to myself, “And then I’ll have to listen to Dash bitch until moving day.” It’d been three weeks since Landry had first called me Dad, in the middle of the night, with the whole family there to share it. And things couldn’t be better. She was thriving in any and everything she did. Drums, swim, school. And her counselor said she was the most resilient little girl he’d ever met. Her mom had entered rehab, and Landry sent her letters every day.

“Calm down, love. We’re ready.” Bryan came down the stairs holding Landry’s little hand. They were both in sundresses, with flip-flops on their feet. They looked beautiful. Today was the day that Dash was going to ask Lexi to marry him. He’d rented out this restaurant overlooking the beach where he was going to propose. We’d all have dinner together afterward. It was simple and it was all of us. Luke was right, she was going to love it.

“I have two of the most beautiful girls in the world.” I opened the front door, ushering them into the car. “Wait. Where is Crash?” That puppy couldn’t be trusted to save his life. He chewed on everything and peed wherever he damn well pleased. It was a good thing he was cute. Plus Lexi swore to me that Dagger was the same way as a puppy.

“He’s in his crate in the kitchen.” Landry strapped herself in.

“Good job.” I put the car in reverse but didn’t take my foot off the brake. “Where is Uncle Luke?” He’d been doing so much better these past few weeks. He’d even helped Dash plan the whole proposal.

“He went to help Uncle Smith set up all the candles.”

“And Aunt Dilly?” Lexi had convinced Landry that Dylan should be Aunt Dilly so they would match. Lexi and Dilly.

“She has Aunt Lexi’s camera ready to take pictures of the whole thing, so she’s somewhere on the beach.” Landry may not be anyone’s blood relation but mine, but she had a little bit of all the girls in her. She was tough like Lexi, watchful. She always knew where everyone was. She was brilliant like Dylan. They played chess together all the time. And just like B, she was beautiful and full of life. And she had me wrapped around her little finger.

I turned to Bryan after I’d safely backed us out of the driveway. “Did you know all that?”

She snorted. “Are you kidding me? I spent all morning chasing that puppy around with a roll of paper towels while simultaneously talking with the GC about the soundproof studio addition to Landry’s room you just had to add at the last minute.”

I glanced in the rearview mirror, winking at my kid. “She’s a drum
prodigy
, she needs practice space.”

“Seems kind of reckless to give a beautiful girl sole access to a soundproof room,” Bryan whispered under her breath.

“What are you talking about? Why would we put the practice room across the house? It’s not convenient.”

She turned to me. “Really? You can’t think of any reason that would be a bad idea?”

I shook my head. “No. Why?”

“Picture yourself at sixteen. Now, picture what you would have done with that room.”

I slammed on the brakes. “Call the GC back.” Fucking karma.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

L.P. Maxa lives in Austin, Texas, with her husband, daughter, three rescue dogs, one stray cat, and a fish that keeps dying and she keeps replacing so her toddler doesn’t notice. She loves reading romance novels as much as she loves writing them. She’s new to the writing game but has published four books in her first year alone. Inspiration can come from anywhere: a song lyric, a quote, a weekend with friends. The tiniest things spark amazing stories.

ALSO BY L.P. MAXA

The Devil’s Share series

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