Page 73 of Finding You

Dallas didn’t know what to say. His fingers stalled out on the reply. He called Monty instead, listening to it ring and feeling a sense of panic when it went to voicemail. He was just clearing his voice and trying to figure out what to say when his line beeped, and his shoulders sagged with relief when he saw his lawyer’s name on the screen.

“Sorry. I was just showing a client out. Did you get some sleep last night?”

Dallas flushed, even though there was no way Monty knew what he’d gotten up to. “I got some. I’m still at Adele’s, and Katie hasn’t tried to contact me since last night.”

“I’ve spoken with her lawyer this morning and informed him that we’re going to seek an emergency temporary custody amendment.”

Had they talked about this? “Um…”

“Nothing scary,” Monty promised. “I’m drafting it up now, and we’ll be able to see the judge first thing tomorrow morning. It’s going to state that all handoffs need to be supervised, and you’re going to split the week fifty-fifty.”

Fifty-fifty. How the hell was he going to be able to do that? He could take Monday off, but if he pushed it, he’d get fired. The AP already hated his guts, it seemed. All he needed was a little push to sack Dallas and ruin his reputation for other schools.

“Is that going to be doable?” Monty asked.

“I don’t know. Let me talk to a few people and make sure I have childcare. I don’t exactly have the budget for a nanny.”

“Let me know. We can amend it if we need to, but the more time you can take with her, the better your chances will be at getting this permanently.”

Dallas rubbed at his eyes. “What do I do in the meantime? Katie’s supposed to pick her up this afternoon.”

“The handoff will only happen after we see the judge tomorrow,” Monty said. “The custody order will include her not being allowed to take the baby out of state. But it’ll apply to you too.”

Dallas laughed bitterly. “That’s fine. I have nowhere to go.” And he didn’t. Not really. He could take Audra to see his brother, but…

Oh. His brother.

Bronx was a veterinarian who was busy, but he was also thinking about closing down his practice to move. He wondered if he could convince his brother to up his timeline and maybe help with Audra until Dallas could figure something more permanent. His only other option would be Bowen, but he’d started working more now that Briar was in preschool. And he knew he couldn’t afford Bowen’s prices.

“Dallas?”

“Give me half an hour?”

“You got it. Talk soon.”

Dallas got up and headed for the kitchen but paused when he found Adele and Audra on the sofa. She was half-asleep on his chest, and he was watching hockey highlights with the sound off. Adele put his finger to his lips.

“Are her eyes closed?” he whispered.

Dallas peered over at her. “Nearly. I need to go FaceTime my brother. Monty has updates for me, but I need to figure out childcare.”

Adele nodded. “You know between all of us, we can work something out.”

Dallas did know that, but he wanted a bit more stability than having his daughter bounced around from house to house. He’d take it if that was all he got, but he wasn’t sure that would look good in court either.

“I’ll be right back,” he said without committing, and he slipped through the kitchen and onto Adele’s deck. It was open with an umbrella that was down. There was still a little morning dew on the chairs, so he settled on the top step and hit his brother’s contact.

It didn’t take long for Bronx to answer, and Dallas felt a small punch of relief at the sight of his brother’s face.

“You look like shit.”

“Dad!” he heard Lucas call in the background, and he grinned at his nephew’s defense of him.

“He probably sounds like shit too,” Bronx said. “Go on, say something.”

“I do look and sound like shit,” Dallas confirmed. “I’m covered in it.”

“Gross!” Lucas cried.

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