Page 92 of Sunshine
“And while I know that’s not your fault, I can’t give a child to someone who’s homeless.” She picks up her gavel. “So, it’s my decision?—”
“Your Honor?”
I spin in my seat, seeing for the first time that there’s someone at the back of the courtroom. She stands and starts forward.
“I told you, Ms. Harlow, if you were going to stay you had to remain silent no matter my decision.”
“I know, Your Honor, but before you make your official ruling, I want you to know, they do have a home. They have my house.”
“Ms. Harlow, your relationship is too new, and according to your book, volatile.” She raises a hand. “I can’t risk it falling apart and hurting the child. Mr. Callen and his daughter need time to grow together, learn to be a family.”
“They can live there without me then. Until Mr. Callen’s house has been rebuilt, I’ll live elsewhere. And stay away until their relationship is established, if that’s what it takes. Your Honor, they should be together. They belong together.”
“You told me the same thing about you and Mr. Callen.”
Her chin lifts. “I did. And I meant it.”
Her eyes flick to mine and I feel an ache so deep it’s crippling.
I gasp for a breath.
“But Case and Reece’s relationship is more important. She needs her father, Your Honor. Every little girl needs their daddy. And if that means our time never comes, I’ll live with that.” Tessa’s eyes land on mine again. “I’ll hate it,” she says on a sad laugh. “But I’ll abide by it. I’ll do anything to help keep them together.”
“Your Honor?” I fly to my feet, barely holding myself back from jumping over David and his chair to get to her. “I can’t let her do this. I’ll have a place rented by the end of the day.That cottage is her only home. Her only connection to her grandmother. The one person in this world that made her feel loved and safe.”
“Sit down, Mr. Callen.” The words, though demanding, are said with compassion.
“Not anymore, Your Honor,” Tessa blurts.
Judge Hortense cocks her head. “Not anymore?”
“It’s not just one person that’s made me feel safe and loved in this world.” Tessa turns her head, looking directly at me. “You have too.”
I swallow hard. My heart pounding, slow but deep. Fuck the court. I leap in some fucking adrenaline-filled superhero move over David, and grab Tessa. And then, just like a fucking romance movie, I tip her back and kiss her.
When I stand her upright again, her fingers fly to her lips, her eyes are wide, and she looks a bit shell-shocked.
“Hang on a second, Sunshine. I’ve got to talk to the judge.”
David, standing now, a disbelieving grin on his face, steps aside as I move past him to sit back down.
“Your Honor, please. I love my little girl, and I’m going to be the best damn father in the world to her. But I love Tessa too, and I trust in our love, so much, I’ll marry her right here and now so we can become a family.”
I’m staring at Tessa’s eyes filling with tears, but the silence from the judge forces me to look at her.
She’s smiling. A goofy, love-sick, grin that makes me blink in disbelief.
Judge Hortense picks up her gavel. “I hereby grant you, Case Callen, custody of your daughter.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Tess
After signing all the books the judge had brought in from home, she hands me the spiral-bound book, based on my relationship with Case, that I’d let her read to prove everything was consensual between us. I tuck the book into my bag.
“I won’t breathe a word of what I read, but I’d really like a copy when it comes out,” she says, returning to her desk.
“It won’t be coming out. It’s too personal,” I reply, moving toward the door where I know Case is waiting for me just across the hall.
