Page 138 of Your Soul to Keep

Zoe shook her head but huffed out a laugh. “Okay, I get it. I’m the Big, Bad Wolf and she’s Goldilocks,” she teased, tossing me a smile.

I held her gaze but didn’t smile back.

“Goldilocks has teeth,” she murmured.

My patience ran out. I said I’d accept her, but I’d be damned if I’d play the mouse to her cat. “Why don’t you make your point?”

She held her hands out to her sides then let them drop. Meeting my eyes bravely, she apologized, “I’m sorry. I had no right to barge in here and disrupt this beautiful life you guys are building.”

Her voice softened. “And it is a beautiful life, not only for you, but for Dylan.”

Her eyes glazed as she swallowed hard. “I signed away my rights when she was 18 months old. It wasn’t something I did spur of the moment,” she admitted, then dropped her gaze to the floor, looking lost.

My heart hurt.

She continued, “I know this is terribly selfish, but somehow I always felt like I could step back into that role of mother whenever I wanted even if she only ever called me aunt.”

She raised her chin and met my eyes. “I didn’t expect you.”

Gone was the cold, dismissive, calculating woman of a few nights before.

This woman laid her heart bare.

I opened my mouth to speak, but no words came out.

She rushed on. “I won’t interfere. I want Dylan to have a mother.” Her face crumpled for a scarce second before she wrested it back under control. “I wish it could be me.” Her lip trembled, and her voice wobbled, but she pushed on. “But I’m not that woman. Telling her I am will only lead her to have expectations I can’t meet.” She winced. “Gabe and I disagree on this point, but I know it will only hurt her in the long run.”

“And what do you need from me?” I asked softly, hurting for her despite the trouble she’d caused.

She met my eyes. “I need you to let me be her Aunt Zo-Zo.”

“Okay.”

Her mouth gaped open then snapped shut. Her gaze skittered to Gabe before returning to me. She searched my eyes and licked her lips nervously. “Okay?”

I held her gaze. “Be respectful of me and keep your hands off Gabe. If we all focus on what’s best for Dylan, we won’t have a problem.”

Her eyes fluttered shut as she exhaled, “Thank you.”

Spinning slowly on her heel, she took a tentative step toward Gabe. “I am truly sorry, Gabe.”

He gave her a short nod, his eyes hard. “One free pass. One.”

If I had any lingering doubts about his feelings for her, that last word abolished them all.

She nodded back shortly. “I got it.”

With one last look at me, she smiled shakily. “I’ll call you when I’m coming back into town. Arrange a visit. Is that okay?”

I relaxed. “Works for me.”

She dropped her gaze to the floor. Her hands fisted at her sides as she shifted from one foot to the other. Wrapping her arms around her torso, she nodded and whispered, “Thank you.” Without waiting for a response, she spun on her heel and trotted down the hall.

Gabe tilted his head, listening until the front door snicked shut. Returning his attention to me, he laid his head back against the chair and inhaled deeply.

Dark circles shadowed his eyes. Patting his thigh, he invited, “Come here.”

Feeling as though the weight of the world had fallen from my shoulders, I closed the distance between us and curled up on his lap.

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