Angel of Redemption (93 page)

When we get up there, I listen at the door for a
minute. When I don’t hear anything, I knock. My mother opens the door. She’s
got a black eye and a busted lip. Both are healing but noticeable.

“What are you doing here?” she asks, turning her
face away from me.

“Is Richard here?”

“No. He’s at his lawyer’s.”

I glance over at Dean. He sighs heavily and
reluctantly presses the down button on the elevator. Once he’s inside, I return
my focus to my mom.

“Good. I need to talk to you.”

“There’s nothing to talk about. You should go.”
She tries to close the door on me, but I stick my foot in the way. “Really,
Kayla. Go. Please.”

“Do you even care about how Claire is doing?” I
spit. She stops trying to shut me out.

“Of course I do!”

“Really?” I snort. “You have a funny way of
showing it. Why haven’t you called her? Seen her? Why haven’t you done anything
to get her back?”

“Do you honestly think this is the best place for
her?” Mom hisses. “To be here with him?”

“Then leave him.”

“I can’t.”

“Yes, you can!”

“No, Kayla. I can’t. I’m not strong like you. I
never have been. I need him.”

“You need his money.”

“It has nothing to do with money,” she snaps. “I
make eighty thousand dollars a year. Besides, he’s about to lose everything we
have anyway.”

“That’s his own fault. He deserves everything he
gets. And so do you if you stay with him.” I know I’m being harsh, but I can’t
sit back and keep my mouth shut anymore.

“Maybe I do,” she says quietly. “Just go, Kayla.
He’s going to be home soon, and if he finds you here, he’s going to be very
angry.”

I shake my head. I’m fuming. “So I can file a
petition for guardianship, then? Because Claire doesn’t deserve to be in the
system. Her baby
—your grandchild—doesn’t deserve to be born
in the system.” I watch as my mother blanches at the mention of the baby.

“Do what you think is best.”

I sigh in frustration. “You realize there’s no
going back, right? You do this and you’ve lost both of us. We can’t
—”

“I know,” she says, swallowing. I turn my back
and am about to storm off when I hear her voice very softly. “I’m sorry, Kayla.
I wish I was a better person
—a better mother.”

I don’t answer her. I just walk away. I know this
is battered spouse syndrome, but it still hurts. It hurts to know that Claire
and I aren’t important enough to her. It hurts to know she’s choosing Richard
over us. It hurts to know I may never see my mother again.

Dean knows what happened the second I step off
the elevator. He
’s there, holding me. When we get into the car, he
starts it up and looks over at me.

“Are you okay?”

“No,” I answer. “But I will be.”

Kayla

Weeks go by. I can get
through the day, but I never truly settle back into work. Whatever was there
before Dana’s death has been taken away from me. I do my job like I’ve always
done it. I’m no longer scared, but I don’t feel the passion I once did. I try,
though. Every day, I tell myself this will be the day, but it never is.

Even though I try not to pay attention to the
news, I can’t help it. Richard’s team is preparing for the trial, which has
been set for November. Just like Claire predicted, he’s hired the best
attorneys who are doing everything they can to get him off. They’re doing some
major PR, too, presenting him as a pillar of the community. What a crock of
shit. The man has never done anything that didn’t benefit him in the end. I
pray the jury can see through it. I see a picture of my mother at his side. The
bruises have healed, and she looks perfect
—supportive. I wish one
of those reporters would ask him about his daughter; ask where she is. Claire
seems to be a forgotten victim in all of this.

Claire finishes her summer school session at the
end of July with a 4.0. She’s got three weeks before her correspondence classes
start. I’ve applied for guardianship with the courts and Jasmine turned in all
the paperwork. We have a court date in a couple of weeks. I’m worried that my
mother or Richard will show up, but Jasmine thinks it’s unlikely. Richard won’t
even let her into the penthouse, and my mom told her she doesn’t plan on
fighting it. Still, too often I never see parents until the day the courts want
to strip them of their rights. Guardianship is a little different than
termination of rights, though. Mom and Richard can technically request a
hearing at any time. Andy believes Richard’s lawyers are telling him to leave
it. The PR team is doing a great job of keeping Claire out of it, and if he
tries to make trouble, having his daughter and stepdaughter speak out against
him when he
’s standing trial for being a thief, a crook, and a gigantic
asshole in general is really bad for his image.

Andy officially moves out of our house and in
with Sara. We’re working on having the mortgage transferred solely to me. It
should be just a matter of having all the paperwork drawn up and both of us
signing, but there’s one little hiccup. Actually, it’s a huge problem. I don’t
make enough money on my own to qualify to take on the three hundred thousand
dollar mortgage.

“Just ask him,” Andy groans while we’re having lunch
together after court.

“I don’t know. We haven’t been together that
long.”

“So what? Neither have Sara and I. He already
lives
with
you
, Kayla. You guys just don’t live
together
.
What’s the big deal?”

“It’s a mortgage together. That’s a big deal.” I
smother a French fry in ranch dressing and shove it in my mouth.

“You’re killing me, buttercup. The dude’s been
begging to pay my portion of the mortgage for weeks. You’re not going to get
approved without him.”

“I don’t want to ask him to move in and get a mortgage
with me just so I can get approved!”

Andy sighs. “That’s not what I meant. Look, it’s
up to you. I’m not in any hurry. I can even stay on the mortgage indefinitely
if you want me to.”

Blowing out a puff of air, I pick up my sandwich.
I know he’s right. I should just ask Dean. I don’t know what I’m afraid of.

“So,” Andy says with a grin, “what’s this I hear
about you and me getting a baby brother?”

I smile back at him.
“I certainly hope
so.”

* * *

“We’ve got a new weekend
guy!” Dean says when he gets home from work. Emily, Aiden, Dean, and Joe
conducted interviews all last week. It was good because the boys are still home
for the summer, so they had a chance to give a little input into who they liked
and didn’t like. “Nice guy, too.”

“Is this the older guy or the dad?”

“The dad. The boys really liked him. I did, too.”

“That’s good.”

Dean flops down on the couch next to me. “Hi,” he
says, pulling me into his arms.

“Hi.” My phone buzzes with a text from Karen. She’s
just gotten off the phone with Sabrina.

I type back quickly.

“What’s going on?” Dean asks, looking at me
quizzically.

“Karen and my dad want to become foster parents.”

“Oh, yeah?” His expression brightens. I nod.

“Um, for one kid in particular.” His eyes narrow
again.

“One of your kids?”

“Not exactly. One of yours.”

It takes him a minute before he understands.
“Matty?”

I nod again. “If he wants to. They don’t want to
force him.”

“How do they even know about him?”

“Mostly Logan, when they came over here for
dinner a couple weeks ago. I didn’t really ask the details. Karen told me at
lunch that they were interested, asked me a few questions. I told her to call
Kate. I guess she did.”

“Are they going to adopt him?”

“They’re applying as a foster-adopt home, but,
again, they want to leave it up to him.”

“Wow.”

“I know. They wanted to keep it a secret until
they had everything ready to go.
”

“So, do you want me to talk to him?”

“I’d like to do it. I’m just waiting for the okay
from Sabrina. I’m guessing I’ll get it as soon as the home’s approved.” I lean
back into him. His fingers trail up and down my arm. “What do you think? Are
you okay with it?”

“Yeah. I think it’s great,” he insists. “Your dad
and Karen can give him an actual home and stability. No matter how hard we try,
we can’t compare to that.”

“You’ve done an amazing job,” I soothe.

“But you know just as well as I do that Matty
never belonged at Wyatt House. A group home is a last resort, not a permanent
solution.”

“I’m hoping Logan sees it that way. I’m a little
worried about his reaction.”

“Don’t worry about him, babe. It’s time for the
focus to be on Matty. I’m sure Logan will be fine. He wants Matty to have a
family. He feels guilty about taking that away from him. And it’s not just any
family, Kayla—it’s yours. If he can’t be adopted by you, I’m pretty sure
being adopted into your family is the next best thing.”

“I hope so. So how was therapy?”

Dean kisses the side of my head. “Good. We talked
about my parents.”

I don’t want to pry, but I am curious. He’s been
really open with me about his sessions lately. They’ve spent some time working
through the accident and the guilt. They’ve also worked on his feelings of
self-worth, which are better, but he admits that he still struggles from time
to time.

“Anything you want to talk about?”

“Yeah, actually. Colin thinks it might be
beneficial for me to tell my parents the truth about my arrest.”

“Tell them the drugs weren’t yours?” I ask. He
nods. This is something Dean’s been resisting for a long time. I don’t know
why, but I know the idea agitates him.

“What do you think?”

“I think
…” I hesitate for a second, trying
to figure out if he wants me to tell him what I know he wants to hear or what I
truly believe. “I think everyone deserves to know the truth,” I answer
honestly.

“Does it even matter, though? It’s not like I can
change anything.
”

“I think it does. I’ve told you before that if
you were my child, I’d want to know.”

“You don’t think it’ll hurt them?”

“What? That you kept it from them?”

“Yeah, that. And knowing that the way they
reacted to me after that was based on a lie.”

I sigh. “It might, Dean, but it was a long time
ago. You had your reasons for doing what you did. That’s something you’ve had
to come to terms with, and they will, too. Just tell them.”

He leans in, planting a sloppy kiss on my mouth.
“You’re brilliant, you know that?”

“Yep.” I grin. “But tell me more. Flattery will
get you everywhere.”

“Everywhere?”

I giggle and wrap my arms around his neck.
“Ev-er-y-where.”

“Mmmm, I like the sound of that.
” He
continues to maul me for a second before looking up. “Will you come with me?”
The look on his face is so sweet and innocent, such a contrast to what he’s
doing to me with his mouth.

“Absolutely, baby.”

* * *

“Matty, I want to talk to
you.”

He looks over at me cautiously. “What did I do?”

“Nothing,” I laugh. He glances over at Sabrina
and Dean, who are both sitting at the dining room table with us at Wyatt house.

“What’s going on, then?” His face suddenly turns
ashen. “What did Logan do?”

“Nothing, honey. This is about you,” I soothe.
“It’s not bad. At least
…I don’t think it is.”

His jaw clenches. He’s still nervous.

“We have a placement for you,” Sabrina interjects.

Matty shakes his head emphatically. “I live
here.”

“Just hear them out,” Dean says firmly.

“But I don’t want to go. You want me to leave?”
he asks, looking at Dean with a hurt expression.

“Not at all,” Dean answers. “This is a different
situation.”

“How is it different?” Matty’s skeptical, I can
tell. I don’t want him to convince himself it
’s something he doesn’t
want before he’s even heard the details.

“It’s with my dad and stepmom,” I say quickly.

Matty narrows his eyes. “What are you talking
about?”

“We were having a family dinner about a month
ago. Logan was talking about you to my stepmother, Karen. She and my dad want
to meet you. They want you to live with them.”

“What if I don’t want to?”

I shrug. “That’s up to you. But we’d like you to
at least meet them. They’re good people, Matty.”

He hems and haws for a few minutes, and then his
eyes light up, like he
’s just realized something. “So…if they adopt
me…will that make me your little brother?”

I laugh.
“Yes, it will in fact make you my
little brother.”

Matty grins.
“All right. I’ll give it
shot.”

We spend the next couple of minutes figuring out
the details. Matty wants me to be there. I’m okay with that. Whatever makes him
most comfortable.

A few days later, I bring it up to Logan.

“They want to adopt him?”

“Maybe. He’s old enough now to decide if he wants
to be adopted or not. Regardless, they’d like to foster him.”

“What if he screws up? Can he go back to Wyatt
House? Or can I take him?” he asks.

I give him a funny look. Matty’s never really
“screwed up.”

“I mean, what happens if they decide they don’t
want him—that he’s too much?”

“Logan, I was no angel. They’re much better
equipped now than they were back then. Trust me.”

“Yeah, but you’re their kid. It’s different.”

I decide to humor him. “If
—and that’s
a gigantic if because it’s not going to happen—but
if
there’s a
problem, I’ll ask Sabrina to look at Wyatt House first. If that doesn’t work
out, then we’ll see where you are. I don’t think that’s something you should
worry about, though.”

“Okay. Then I think it’s cool. I like Karen. And
your pops is pretty cool, too.” He grins widely, his dimples flashing. I roll
my eyes, but I’m really happy Logan is supporting this. His encouragement will
go a long way with his brother.

* * *

“Why are you so nervous?”

“I’m not nervous,” I lie. Dean pulls my thumb
away from my mouth and looks at my nail. It’s chewed down as low as it can
possibly go.

“Really?”

I snatch my hand back and frown. He laughs. We’re
waiting for Aiden and Emily at Hudson’s. “You ever find out what happened to
Gage?” I ask, changing the subject.

“Yeah,” Dean answers. “He’s in rehab. He got
busted up pretty bad and landed himself in jail for ten days. Guess who bailed
him out?”

I raise my eyebrows.

“Jodi,” Lance answers, sliding two beers over to
us.

“Hey, man. I was wondering if you were gonna be
in,” Dean says. “I hear congratulations are in order.”

Lance grins. “Yeah, another boy. Six pounds,
seven ounces. Nineteen inches long. Perfect.”

“How’s Tina?”

“Good. She’s real good. Thanks. I was driving her
crazy, so she sent me back to work.” We all laugh.