Page 88 of Fierce-Dane

Sloane was on her computer and looking at the schedule and was thankful that either Kaitlyn or Heather was scheduled to open or close for the next several days.

She jumped when her phone rang. She’d been refreshing her email hoping to get one from Miranda.

She looked at her cell phone and saw that it was Dane.

“I’m sorry to bother you,” she said.

“It’s fine,” he said. “You never reach out during the day. You don’t sound good. What’s going on?”

She told him what she’d just found out. “I don’t know what to do first. There is part of me that didn’t want to even go and then I said I could do that.”

“I’ll go with you,” he said right away.

“No,” she said. “You don’t need to do that. You’ve got to work.”

“They will reschedule my appointments for tomorrow,” he said. “It will be easier with me telling them now to do it.”

“I’m not sure if I’ll be back by Sunday or not,” she said. “You’ve got the kids.”

“This is one of those times where Mel would keep them. I’ve had to do that for her too before when she’s on vacation or sick. Sloane, I’m not letting you go alone. Plus, I think it will go a long way if you show up with your pediatrician boyfriend.”

She snorted. “Good point. I need an attorney. I’ve got a business one, but I need a family law attorney. Guess I’ll see if anyone knows someone and if I can get them right away.”

“If you don’t mind, the brother of one of Chloe’s closest friends is an attorney. He’s got an office in one of the Fierce buildings. Actually, he’s one of the Fierce setups. I’m positive Trent will take it once he hears what is going on and your connection to Chloe through me.”

“Do you want your family to know about this?”

“They know about you,” he said. “And Chloe knows your background. Sounds like you don’t even have much information on your sister.”

“Nothing,” she said. “I’m going to need to figure that out too. But one thing at a time. If you can get me Trent’s number I’ll start there.”

“Let me call Chloe, who will go speak to Megan. They will give Trent a heads up so that he takes your call. I’ll text you in a few with his number.”

“Thank you, Dane. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it. Oh, here is the email with the information they needfrom me tomorrow when I go. I’ve been watching for it. Phew, I’ve got everything.”

“What do they need?”

“Just ID of who I am for the most part. Not an issue. The bigger problem is going to be getting everything I’ll need for a five-year-old. I have no clue.”

“I do,” he said. “Let me help you. It’s going to be fine.”

“No, Dane,” she said, forcing out a laugh. “Not even close to being fine, but it’s not the worst thing that has happened in my life so I guess all I can do is put one foot in front of the other.”

“That’s right,” he said. “You’ll hear from me soon.”

She hung up and put her head down on the desk.

This is what they call losing control of your life.

25

YOU CAN HELP HER

“Iappreciate you taking this drive with me,” Sloane said to him the next morning.

Dane turned to look at her while watching the traffic.

“I wouldn’t be anywhere else for a number of reasons,” he said.

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