Impact (Suncoast Society #32)(67)

By god, he would.

Basically, he was able to buy all the furniture, and then paid someone to haul off what he knew they didn’t want—most of it—and donate it to a charity.

After stopping by the new condo to direct the movers about what little was staying, and then going out for breakfast, they started at a home improvement store, picking paint chips and sample pots of paint, Loren keeping Tilly focused while Cris and Landry tended to Katie.

The men had agreed behind Tilly’s back that they would let her completely decorate the condo the way she wanted it. Neither of them had a preference…except that Tilly be happy.

Considering how hard she took the set-back Friday, they knew a distraction was just the thing, and worth any amount of money it took throwing at it to fix it. When they told Loren their plan, she agreed wholeheartedly and became their willing accomplice.

And they took pictures.

Lots and lots of pictures.

And video.

By that afternoon, they had paint picked out, purchased everything they’d need to get started, and would start painting it the next day. There were wood floors all through the unit, except in the bathrooms, which were tiled. Tilly was fine with that and they’d buy area rugs for the rooms as they got closer to their moving date.

They went out for sushi with Katie in her carrier on a high chair next to Tilly.

Landry hated the sadness in Tilly’s face, an expression that had barely lifted during the day, even when he thought she was having fun and not thinking about the hurricane swirling around them.

He’d spend any amount of money to make her happy. Her or Cris, but especially her.

Too many years after losing Cris he’d spent hating himself. He knew what happiness was, had lost it, and had barely managed to grasp it again when Cris returned.

Then it only magnified with Tilly.

He’d give her everything to keep her happy.

“Are you all right, love,” he asked.

Loren, sitting next to Tilly in the booth, looked over at her.

Tilly’s focus was on Katie. “Please promise me we’re not going to lose her.”

He reached across the table and took her hand. “Look at me, Redbird.”

She finally did. He didn’t miss how close to the surface her tears lay.

“I promise you, if we have to buy her a fake passport and leave for France and then points beyond to keep her away from them, we will do whatever it takes, inside the law or outside of it. I swear it to you. I still have family ties in France. I’ll tie Santino up for decades, until she’s eighteen, in legal paperwork. My family there has a lot of influence. You know that.”

Finally, the hint of a smile. “Go on the lam, huh?”

“Absolutely. We can run the company remotely if we have to. It would be difficult, but doable.”

“We should teach her to speak French,” Tilly said, her gaze returning to the infant.

“We shall,” Landry said. “But I think she’s got a little while yet.”

Loren draped an arm around Tilly’s shoulders. “The judge isn’t going to rule against you guys. There’s no grounds. It’s not like she was close to her brothers. I could see, if that was the case, there being a risk. But she told the judge she didn’t want them having her, and why. It’s not like this is a totally different judge.”

“But what if they ask for him to recuse himself?”

“What if the ‘big one’ hits tomorrow?” Cris asked. “Sweetie, stop trying to invent things to worry about. I know that’s easier said than done, but where’s our Tilly?”

She glanced briefly at Cris before her gaze returned to Katie. “Tilly’s tired and heartsick and worn out,” she whispered. “Tilly’s able to be strong for everyone but herself.”





After a good night’s sleep, Tilly seemed to be better the next morning. Lucas, Leigh, and Nick showed up at the new condo to help with the painting, called by Landry, who also told them about Tilly’s mental state.

More than anything, they were there for her, not just to help.

Working late into the evening, and after Cris went to fetch pizzas, they had the nursery, living room, kitchen, what would be Loren’s room for her stay, and the master bedroom painted. Those were the important ones, the rest able to be painted around in their spare time.

Tilly’s mood remained lifted through Monday morning. She even dealt with hearing another news story about the ongoing investigation into Sofia’s death better than Landry thought she would.

Over the next several days, as new celebrity meltdowns and scandals shoved Tilly, Landry, Cris, and Sofia’s story from the spotlight, the paparazzi stopped showing up at Tilly’s office.

Even the paparazzi thought it was distasteful to try to wring a scandal out of the tragedy of an orphaned infant of a Jane Everyman. Katie’s personal degrees of separation from Nick’s stardom meant her story went from newsworthy to footnote.

Dr. Rahling was still pleased with Katie’s progress at the third visit, and saw no reason to change their plan. Katie was still gaining weight and had already outgrown the first round of onesies Tilly had bought for her that day in the Target when she’d rescued Sofia and Katie from the shit-hole apartment.

Louisa Gonzalez did another home visit the Monday before the hearing, both of the current condo and the one they were busily filling with baby furniture.