Page 7 of All It Takes

I pressed a palm to my chest, my heart aching at the thought of Sarah’s son. “It’s so sad. I’m still in shock. Did you know Ross?”

One of Wes’s brows hitched up. “I do now. If you’re asking if I spent much time with him before, no. Honestly, the last time I saw him, he was maybe three. I stopped by for a visit. After they moved out of Seattle, I just didn’t see them much. What about you?”

“I saw Ross before they moved away from Seattle. He was maybe two? I knew Sarah obviously. We were friends in high school, and then we went to college together. We stayed in touch, but I can’t imagine Ross would remember me.”

Eileen interjected, “This is startling for everyone. Fortunately, the will is structured as such that you both have guardianship should you accept it.”

I looked at Wes, he looked at me, and then we both looked at Eileen together. I was a bundle of nerves and more unsettled than I should’ve been because, for God’s sake, Wes was distractingly handsome.

I sucked in a quick breath. “So what do we do?” I addressed my question generally to everyone as I looked around the table.

“What would you like to do?” Tasha asked, her tone gentle.

I reflexively looked toward Wes, experiencing a jolt when our eyes met. We both shrugged.

“Look, we can do this. They obviously wanted us both to be a part of his life,” I said.

Tasha chimed in, “With Sarah being an attorney herself, the will is clear. You can back out, but there is no backup family. Both of Sarah’s parents passed away in the last few years. George stated he had limited contact with his family and did not want them involved.”

Wes piped up, “Definitely not. He was not close to his parents. I don’t have all the details, but I know that. Do we need to worry about them trying to do anything?”

Tasha shook her head. “Fortunately, they made it very clear in the will by specifically stating that they did not want his parents to have any say. They have a trust set up for Ross. There is no financial benefit to either of you, and all money is directed toward taking care of him. Honestly, Sarah did most of my work for me, but I’m here to explain and offer feedback if one or both of you chooses not to do this.”

Even though I felt as if my life had careened off the tracks, my heart knew the answer. “Ross can stay with me full-time or part-time or whatever.” I looked over at Wes. “I know how your job schedule is. Maybe we should work out some sort of arrangement where we alternate?”

ChapterSix

WES

Tiffany’s big blue eyes held mine as I tried to ignore the fiery sizzle of heat running through my system. I forced my attention to the matter at hand.

“Obviously, I’m all in. I’m glad you realize what my job is like, but would it be better for him to be in one place? I’ll be honest, my parents broke up, and bouncing back and forth between them was not great for me.”

Tiffany cocked her head to the side and pushed her glasses up on her nose. This was the first time I’d seen her in glasses, and she was way too sexy. She was already beautiful, but now she gave off this hot librarian vibe. In fact, I wanted to take her to a library and do all kinds of things with her. Except this was a serious meeting. We were talking about the welfare of a little boy for whom I was responsible.

She took a quick breath before nodding. “I understand.”

“You do?”

“Look, we don’t need to get into all the details, but I had one very stable parent and one not-so-stable parent. I was forever grateful for my father, but it wasn’t so much where I stayed but that I knew what to expect.”

“Ah, I see. We’ll find a way to make it work. With my schedule during fire season, he’ll need to be with you then.”

Tasha glanced back and forth between us, her eyes a little wide. “This is ideal. Honestly, I work with parents who can’t agree on anything for their own children.”

Tiffany shrugged. “Maybe it’s because we don’t have any baggage between us. Obviously, we both want to keep our commitment. I’m sure neither one of us thought it would come to anything when we said we’d be a godparent, but it has. So here we are.”

When Tiffany’s eyes caught mine and our gazes locked, I felt something shift inside me. As if a door that had been locked and bolted shut was abruptly kicked open. I forced myself to focus, replying, “That about sums it up. So…” I glanced toward Eileen. “Does Ross know the situation?”

“Since we weren’t sure what the decision would be, all he knows is that he’s coming here because both of you were friends of his parents,” she said.

“Has he said anything about his parents?” Tiffany asked, her tone soft.

“I told him I was sorry,” I explained. “All he said was he was too. I’m not sure he’s really absorbed what’s happened.”

Tiffany nodded. “I get it intellectually, but I’m still in shock that Sarah is gone. I keep thinking she’ll text me, and I’ll realize it was a mistake.”

“Do we need to sign anything?” I asked.

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