Page 30 of Make Your Save

Clearing my throat, I bob my head at him. “Yeah, it wasn’t too bad. We just got back this morning, and I appreciate you being able to meet me on short notice like this.”

“Well, you got lucky,” he admits with a chuckle before lifting his mug to take a sip of his drink. “My appointment after lunch was canceled, so I had some free time. You said this is about a custody issue?” He tilts his head to the side. “I didn’t know you had a kid.”

“Neither did I,” I explain, before giving him a half lie, half truth about Lucy. I tell him that her motherdropped her off with me, leaving out the part about Hadley being the one who practically baby-napped her.

“What did she leave with the baby?”

“Just a diaper bag with some things, her birth certificate, and a note saying that I’m the father.” I pause, my lips corkscrewing. “I did get a paternity test done, but I don’t have the results for it.”

His eyebrows scrunch together, but he doesn’t dive into it further. “Let’s get an actual test done, so we have it on record. You can get one after you leave here and mail it in. Just put my address for the official results to come in.” He pauses, letting out a breath. “We need to speak to her mother. If we can get her to sign over her rights, that will make this a lot easier.”

“I don’t think that will be a problem.”

“If you don’t want to take the papers to her, we have an appointed assistant who will do it for a fee,” he explains to me, as he writes some things down on a notepad.

“I’ll pay whatever is needed.”

He looks up at me, a knowing smile on his face before he nods. “Okay. I’ll have to conduct some interviews with friends and family about your character and ability to provide a stable life for her.” His eyes are on the notepad, his pen moving across the paper. “I know you’re not married, but do you have a girlfriend or anything? You being in a committed relationship will help support your case. A fiancée would be even better.”

“Of course,” I say with ease, my head dipping withunderstanding, but internally, I’m panicking. “I, uh—I have a fiancée.”

What the fuck?

Why the hell did I just say that?

“Oh yeah?” He lifts his gaze from his notepad.

I jerk my chin. “Yeah. Her name’s Hadley.”

He looks extremely pleased and I want to punch myself in the face. “This is perfect. If we can get her on the stand during court, this should be a seamless process.”

I stare back at him as he tells me how they will figure out where Selena is and get things underway, but in reality, I’m barely hearing a single word he’s saying.

And even after I leave the appointment and head to the store to get a paternity test, I’m still hung up on one thing.

The fact that I just told him Hadley and I are engaged.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

HADLEY

Rowan

Can you stop by tonight after you’re done at work?

Hadley

Of course. Is everything okay?

Rowan was supposed to get in earlier today from their time on the road and Mia said she would stay with Lucy until he got home. I brought all my things with me to work and was planning on going back to my apartment afterward. Since he’s home, I didn’t think he would want me to stay, although we haven’t discussed the specifics of this nanny situation yet.

I don’t imagine he’ll want me to stay at his house full-time and I don’t want to go ahead and assume he will. The last thing I want to do is take up space in his home. I left my landlord a message in hopes that I’ll be able to extend my lease for another three months. I’msupposed to be out at the end of next week, but since I’ve been renting month to month, I’m hoping he’ll let me stay.

If not, I don’t know what I’m going to do or where I’m going to stay.

Rowan

Everything’s good.

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