The Hero and the Fat Girl (New Hampshire Bears #3) (9 page)

Remington and Daniel work the grill, and as soon as Arabella finishes her level, we head into the kitchen to make up some side items. No one speaks of my crazy moment, and Remington seems the same after my breakdown with him.

When we sit down to eat, the conversation is light. Daniel tell stories about Remington’s early years playing hockey. Claire tells us about funny stories of her JAG career. I don’t have anything to contribute, but I do tell them about going to Boston College at sixteen. They seem impressed, which I’m not sure is much to be impressed by. They have extremely honorable careers. I’m an investment banker.

After we all clean the kitchen, Arabella asks to watch TV. Most of the time she plays or reads, so Remington agrees and takes her to the TV room, turning on a Disney cartoon.

Claire opens a bottle of wine and we sit back in the living room, talking about random things. Until the question, the one I’d hoped would never be asked…is asked.

“Maxima, where’s your family from?” Daniel is the one to ask.

I feel my body tense, and Remington takes my hand. I clear my throat. “I don’t have any family.”

“Oh dear, have they passed on?” Claire asks with genuine concern.

“I’m not sure,” I answer truthfully.

Daniel and Claire stare at me, and for no apparent reason, I begin to ramble.

“I left Vegas when I was sixteen to go to college. After I finished, I moved here. I haven’t spoken to them since I left for college, and I have no desire to speak to them. If they are even still alive.” More than likely they’ve died from drugs or alcohol, but I leave that part out. I think I need to stop drinking the wine.

“Do you have siblings?” Daniel asks.

“She was pregnant a lot, but I’m the only one they kept.” I take a large gulp of wine, and my hands begin to shake. I know of at least four other pregnancies she had, but no babies ever came home with her.

There’s a moment of silence, and I know I’ve said too much. I never say anything about them, and here I just blurted out more than ever before. To Remington’s parents of all people.

Finally, Remington begins talking about hockey, and I am relieved. In Las Vegas, hockey isn’t a huge thing. It wasn’t until Boston I fell in love with the sport. It took me a bit to catch onto the rules and such, but once I did, I was hooked. I was glad when I moved to Manchester and the Bears were here. I’ve never had season tickets, but I go to the games from time-to-time and watch them on TV as much as possible.

Arabella comes into the living room looking tired, and I know she’s ready for bed. She says good night to everyone with a round of hugs and kisses, and I take her upstairs. After the normal routine before bedtime, before I begin to read, Arabella seems a little distant.

“You okay?” I gently sweep her black hair from her cheek and forehead.

“Why don’t you have a family?”

“Oh,” I softly exclaim. Not what I thought she’d ask. “Well…” I pause. She is a child, and I need to make sure I don’t scare the kid into therapy. She’s been through enough. “My family weren’t nice people, and I didn’t want to be around them. So, I left.”

“Is it like how my mom was mean?”

Oh, so much worse.
“Similar, but let’s not talk about it and get back to Percy Jackson.”

Arabella smiles, snuggling close to me as I begin reading. Not even three pages into it, Arabella’s eyes shut, and she’s fast asleep. I’m going to have to get this book on my Kindle just to find out what’s going to happen to this poor kid, since Arabella keeps falling asleep.

As I leave her room and go down the stairs, I try not to think of how this day has been. I’m exhausted. I head toward the kitchen where I hear Remington and his parents talking, but I stop before I reach the door. Eavesdropping is something I never do, but my gut tells me to stop and listen.

“Remington, I’m telling you if you don’t tell Maxima the truth, you’re going to lose her,” Claire says almost angrily.

“I agree with your mother. What were you thinking?” Daniel questions.

“I love Maxima. Today just solidifies it. I can’t lose her. I need her as much as she needs me.” Remington’s voice cracks.

There’s no way I heard him correctly.
Love
? He loves me?

“But you lied. You lied to her. I truly believe that beautiful, young woman has been through a hell of lot more than any of us can imagine.” Claire’s voice lowers, but I can still hear her. “She trusts you enough to do all of this for you, barely knowing you or Arabella. Now look at the situation you’re in. Maxima has feelings for you. Your father and I can both see it, and she treats Arabella as her own. You can’t ask for a better person.”

He lied?

What is she talking about?

“How do I keep her in my life?” Remington sounds almost heartbroken.

“You won’t know until you tell her. It’s a gamble, but you have to tell her,” Daniel answers.

“Trust is the foundation of every relationship,” Claire adds.

What the hell is going on?

What did Remington lie to me about?

He loves me? Is that it?

Everything I heard is spinning like a whirlwind in my head. I can’t process it all. My hands begin to sweat, and my heart races. I can’t have another panic attack. Not right now.

I slip into the TV room and do the breathing exercises Caryn taught me. It seems to help, but I need to process this, and I can’t inside these walls. I grab my phone from my pocket.

In desperate need of a friend.

Come over.
Harlow responses within seconds.

“Hey, I was just looking for you.” Remington’s voice makes me jump. His black hair is a mess, like he’s run his hands through it a hundred times. “Are you okay?”

“I needs to go over to Harlow’s house for a little while. Arabella’s all tucked in.” I rush my words out.

“Oh, well, I thought we could go to bed early. Maybe talk.”

I shake my head. That’s the last thing I want to do right now. “I’ll be back later.” I brush past him, rushing to my purse and keys.

Thankfully, Harlow doesn’t live far from Remington, and in a few minutes, I’m knocking on her door.

“You need wine.” She hands me the glass as I walk over the threshold.

I take two large gulps and sit down. She doesn’t even ask me anything before I tell her everything that happened today. Of course, I leave out my childhood memories. No one needs to know those, well, except the Rosin’s since I’m a motor mouth around them. I go into every detail, especially my eavesdropping.

“I can’t take it all in.” I drop my head into my hands.

Harlow sighs. “You’re so smart. You can work through this.”

“Remington isn’t a liar.” I defend him. “Right?” Obviously, I’m not the greatest defender.

“Well,” Harlow tilts her head. “You know what I said before.”

I groan. More than once Harlow has expressed her opinion about our fake engagement.

“I don’t see a good, reputable attorney telling his client to lie to a judge. Getting engaged and having someone move in sounds like bullshit.”

“It’s not. He wouldn’t lie about it. It’s for his daughter.”

“And he’d do anything to keep her. To include lying,” Harlow counters.

I shake my head.

“Look, I’m not saying Remington doesn’t have feelings for you. I’ve told you since day one he does, but something is going on, and you need to find out. Soon.”

I didn’t stay at Harlow’s much longer after her speech. The house is dark when I get back, and I’m thankful everyone is in their beds, and that I don’t have to wake up early in the morning. The salon appointments aren’t until ten, and it means I can sleep in a bit. I have put my body and emotions through a lot today, and I doubt I’ll even need a sleeping pill. I already emailed Caryn’s office to confirm my appointment next week. It’s going to be a doozy, I’m sure of it.

The bedroom door is cracked, and Remington left the bathroom light on for me. He’s too kind to me. Hell, maybe he does love me. I know my feelings for him run deep, but I also know this will end once he gets full custody of Arabella.

Right?

I take a hot shower, scrubbing away the day’s mess. I’m barely keeping my eyes open when my head hits the pillow.

Tomorrow will be better.

The smell of bacon and coffee overwhelm me as I come downstairs. I slept in more than I thought I would have, and it felt good. I can’t remember the last time I slept in. I must have needed it after the mental exhaustion of yesterday.

“Max.” Arabella calls my name as I enter the kitchen. “Are you excited about today?”

I kiss the top of her head. “Yes. I am. Are you?”

“Yes.” She chomps on a piece of crispy bacon.

I smile, taking my seat across from her. Remington sits a cup of coffee in front of me and a plate of eggs and bacon. I’ve not talked to him since I ran out yesterday. I’m still trying to figure out what he’s lying about, and it makes me wonder if Harlow’s right.

I think I need to do some more research.

“Thank you,” I say to him.

He pats my shoulder and goes back to talking about hockey with his dad. Claire is on her phone, and I assume she’s answering emails or texts as she vigorously types on the screen.

I focus on my breakfast, not saying anything. Even though I’m well rested, thoughts are still bouncing around my head. I’d do better if I could pace the room, but it’s not an option right now.

I truly can’t believe Remington would go so far as to intentionally lie to me. I trust him. Yes, he loves his daughter and would go above and beyond for her. Hell, I love her, and I am doing the same thing.

He told me he had to see his attorney soon, and even though he said I didn’t have to go, maybe I should make a point of it. I mean, I’m going to have to go anyway, right? Plus, it’s almost the middle of July, which also means I’ve been here a while now and not met the attorney yet. I’ll let Remington know I’ll go with him.

But I’m still going to do my part of researching family law attorneys and policies on child custodies.

“Max, are you almost done?”

Arabella’s question pulls me away from the plan formulating in my mind. “Yes” I answer, even though I’ve not really touched my food yet. “I’m not really hungry,” I inform Remington who nods. He seems to be nervous.

“Let’s get going.” Claire smiles.

Arabella cheers and races up to her room to wash her face free of bacon and eggs. I’m grabbing my purse when Remington steps up to me.

“Let’s talk for a second.” It’s not a question as he nods toward the TV room.

I follow him in and wait.

“Mom and Dad want to take Arabella to a movie tonight and maybe we can go to dinner. Just the two of us.” He takes my hand in his. “I heard you come in last night, but I figured talking would be out of the question. I knew how tired you were.”

“I was.” My voice cracks, and I can feel tears building.

Why?

There’s no need for me to be emotional right now.

“So, dinner sound good?”

I nod. “Sure.”

He relaxes. “Great. I really hope you have a fun day.” He leans in and kisses my cheek.

Our kiss yesterday is the best moment of my life. His touch is soft, real. It doesn’t scare me. Well, unless I let my mind wander, and then I just screw it up.

“I’ll see you later.” I rush away from him to join Claire and Arabella, who are both waiting for me by the front door.

On the way to the salon, Arabella talks about her dance class tomorrow, and she can’t wait to show off for her grandparents. I continually smiles in the mirror at her bubbling personality. I love her. She’s a perfect being and reminds me of how good the world can be. I want to do everything in my powers to keep her away from her mother.

My views are jaded at times toward some types of parents. Rickie, for one. I know how
they
were and she reminds me so much of
her
. Who calls their child a paycheck? Obviously, someone who isn’t a parent. Look at the Rosin’s: these are parents. Are they perfect? They seem to be, but I’m not naïve; I know there were ups and downs in their family, but nothing compared to mine.