Page 97 of Sin Bin

Drinking her coffee, Meadow stared out the window at the elaborate tree house built into a big old spruce tree. Boasting two stories, a rooftop deck and a rope swing, the tree house was the perfect hideout for a young boy and his boundless imagination.

“What makes Gibson think he deserves full custody of Cam?” she groused.

Her aunt scowled. “He says he can give him a more stable home life. He pointed out that I get home late every night because I do the ten o’clock news, so Cam has to stay with a sitter until I get off work.”

“But I’m here now,” Meadow protested. “So you don’t have to pay a sitter to watch Cam anymore.”

“That’s what I told him. It didn’t make a difference. He insists that Cam would be better off with him and his floozy of a wife.” Rosalie’s lips twisted bitterly. “The son of a bitch barely waited for the ink to dry on our divorce papers before he married her.”

Meadow gnashed her teeth together. Gibson Harlow was a rotten, despicable bastard. It was bad enough that he’d been caught cheating. Now he wanted to take Cameron away from his mother?

“Cam belongs here with you,” Meadow said unequivocally. “And there’s absolutely nothing ‘unstable’ about the life you’ve made for him. He attends an excellent private school, he has a ton of friends, he’s enrolled in all sorts of extracurricular activities.” She gestured out the window. “He even has a tree house, for Pete’s sake!”

Rosalie shook her head, fighting back tears. “Gibson says my busy career makes it easy for me to neglect Cameron—”

“He can’t be serious!” Meadow was so outraged she could feel steam pouring out of her ears. “I was a CPS caseworker. I know what neglected children look like. The words ‘Cameron’ and ‘neglected’ don’t even belong in the same breath! Your son is a very healthy, happy, well-adjusted boy. And you are an amazing mother, so don’t let that bastard tell you any different!”

Rosalie sniffled and smiled at her with teary eyes. “You don’t know how much it means to me to have you here.”

Meadow smiled tenderly and gave her a tight hug, careful not to spill their coffee.

When they pulled apart, Rosalie dabbed at her wet eyes and gave her an endearing smile. “Thanks for the listening ear.”

“Anytime.” Meadow grinned lopsidedly. “It’s the least I can do since you refuse to let me pay rent.”

Rosalie waved her off. “I don’t need your money. One of the benefits of being the wronged party in a divorce is receiving a generous alimony and child support. I took that cheating bastard to the cleaners so Cam and I would never want for anything.” She tweaked Meadow’s nose and smiled. “Save your money and start building a nest egg for your future.”

Meadow nodded, finishing her coffee. “I’ll start looking for my own place once I’m more settled.”

“You’ll do no such thing,” Rosalie objected, clucking her tongue in motherly disapproval. “This is your home, and I want you to stay here as long as you like. In fact, the only acceptable reason for you to leave is if you’re moving in with your husband.”

Meadow’s face grew inexplicably warm before she turned away and walked to the sink to rinse out her empty mug.

Her aunt joined her. “I’m keeping my sitter. We have a good arrangement, and she’s a college student so she really needs the money. As much as I love and appreciate having you here, you didn’t move to Denver to become my nanny.”

“But—”

“But nothing. You and Cam can spend as much time together as you want, as long as it doesn’t interfere with your social life.” Rosalie affectionately bumped her shoulder against Meadow’s. “You’re young, beautiful and childless. Live it up while you can. Capisci?”

Meadow sighed in resignation. “I guess you’re not giving me a choice.”

“Nope. For your own good.” Rosalie grinned, giving her a hip bump this time. “I promised to take Cam to the movies tonight. You’re more than welcome to join us if you don’t have any special plans.”

Meadow sighed. “I would have loved to go, but I’m attending a cocktail reception hosted by the local astronomical society.” She paused. “Logan’s going with me.”

“Is he, now?” A broad grin spread across her aunt’s face. “That sounds an awful lot like a date.”

“It’s not. We were supposed to be having dinner to celebrate my new job. But the cocktail reception came up, so we’re going to that instead.” Meadow shrugged, her cheeks heating again. “It’s no big deal.”

“Uh-huh.” Rosalie smiled, a knowing twinkle in her eyes. “I saw you guys cuddled up together on the couch last night.”

Meadow stared at her. “You did?”

“I sure did. While I was getting ready for the gala, the zipper on the back of my dress got stuck. So I went down to the basement to ask for your help. Imagine my surprise when I saw you and Logan fast asleep in each other’s arms. You looked so peaceful together. So warm and cozy and blissfully content.” Rosalie sighed. “I didn’t have the heart to wake you up.”

Meadow bit her lip and swallowed hard.

Rosalie wagged her eyebrows suggestively. “If you end up at Logan’s place after your date, I certainly wouldn’t blame you.”

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