Impact (Suncoast Society #32)(26)

“Uh, not without me, you’re not.”

“You have work to do.”

“So do you. The benefit of being in charge is we can change the schedule to suit us. Come here, get me and Lily, and we’ll have a girls’ day out.”

“Well, if we’re doing that, we need to take your SUV.”

“Why?”

“Because I need to get pretty much everything for her.”





Landry slipped back into the anteroom and retook his seat on the other side of Dale Waters. Sofia looked worried until he offered her a smile.

“The doctor said she seems fine, and wants to see her next week. As long as she gains weight at a proper rate, he thinks she’ll be all right.”

Sofia closed her eyes, nodding. He spotted her relieved tears and reached over to a side table for a box of tissues, handing a couple to her.

He wouldn’t admit it to Cris or Tilly at this time but Landry felt conflicted about Katie’s presence in their lives. Not that he wouldn’t devote whatever resources they needed to taking care of her, but what the eventual separation would do to Tilly.

It didn’t take a psychology degree to see how protective and parental Tilly already felt toward the baby. What would it do to Tilly to let Katie go back to Sofia when the time eventually came for the mother to take over once more?

He worried it would rip Tilly’s heart out, leaving him and Cris powerless to heal her. It’d been bad enough watching the emotional anguish Tilly had suffered before deciding to go through with the hysterectomy.

And it’s aftermath.

Feeling powerless to help the ones he loved was an uncomfortable place for Landry. Even holding himself back while Tilly and Cris found their emotional footing with each other had taken a massive feat of self-control on his part. Not ordering the two of them to fix things and make up.

He also knew that the only thing that mattered was making sure Katie was safe and cared for. Everything else was secondary, including Tilly’s emotions—and his own.

When it was their turn, Landry offered Sofia what he hoped was a comforting smile. This would be the easy part. With the mother there and asking for this guardianship to happen, Dale had assured him there should be no problems.

What happened at their next stop remained to be seen.





One more relief—the hearing had gone exactly as planned, and the three of them were now Katie’s legal guardians for the foreseeable future.

Cris set his phone on the conference table. He’d warned everyone ahead of time that he’d need to take some important texts during the course of the morning, but hadn’t elaborated why.

Landry had already texted him the gist of Dale Waters’ warning about the probation office visit.

Cris hated that they had to do this but Sofia had begged him the previous evening, before Tilly and Lan had returned from the airport, for them to take Katie.

It wasn’t that Sofia didn’t love Katie, because she obviously did.

Sofia feared for her own safety, as well as her daughter’s safety.

Unlike his father and uncle, Cris’ cousin wanted her child to have the best, to be protected and cared for. Giving Katie to them for now was the best way to protect her, and he couldn’t argue with her logic.

It was a good thing Landry was there today. If anyone could schmooze the probation officer, it would be Landry. The silver-tongued Dom had a way about him, charm, grace, style.

That damned sexy French accent, when he chose to use it.

He wondered how much stuff Tilly would buy for Katie today, and if he should have asked her to wait until he could go shopping with her.

He wouldn’t mind shopping with her for the baby.

Katie wasn’t his daughter but he damn sure would spoil her rotten as if she were.

Especially since she was probably the closest thing he’d ever have to a biological child of his own.

Well, we’ll still need everything for the Florida house. I can ask Tilly to hold off on shopping for that.

For now, he needed to drag his brain back into work mode. Otherwise, it’d be too easy to sit there and daydream about how to decorate not one, but two nurseries, one at each home.

Or even going shopping for larger homes for Katie to grow up in.





Chapter Nine


Leigh squeeed. “Oh. My. God! She’s adorable! KC, huh?”

“Or Katie. I’m not sure which I like better.”

Leigh held the baby tucked close to her. “You might not get her back,” Leigh teased.

Tilly smiled. “You’ve got two guys. Order another one of your own. I’m sure Lily wants to be a big sister.”

Leigh laughed as she gently handed the baby back to Tilly. “Not right now. Not yet.” She hooked a thumb toward where Lily was sleeping in her playpen crib. “Once she’s older, I’ll give Nick his chance.”

Leigh had overruled her two men once she learned there was a history of heart disease in Nick’s family, and had a DNA test done to see which man was the father. Lucas had done the deed, so to be fair, she wanted their next child fathered by Nick.

“So what’s on the agenda?” Leigh asked.

“Turning the condo’s third bedroom into a nursery,” Tilly said. “No more home office. I need everything for her. I only got the barebones basics yesterday. And we get to do this twice.”