Juniper Hill (The Edens #2)(60)

Knox and I had decided that the only thing to do about my parents and this blackmailer was wait. Nothing good would come from me getting into the middle of the situation. If anything, it would only illuminate the truth.

This woman, whoever she was, had no proof that Oliver was Drake’s biological father. Our affair had been secret— Oliver had made sure of that, even if I hadn’t realized it at the time. She was likely acting on a hunch, so I’d keep my son and his DNA far, far away from the city.

If my father decided not to pay her off, then life would get complicated. But I was counting on Dad’s first love: his image.

His reputation had always been his priority. It was the reason his hotels were labeled boutique hotels. He wanted the Ward name to be known for extravagance and exclusivity.

“We’ll deal.” Knox took my hand. “Whatever happens, we’ll deal. Together.”

Together. I stared up at his handsome profile and let that word roll through my mind.

Was this too good to be true? My heart couldn’t take it if this fell to pieces. Because day by day, night by night, I was falling for Knox.

Maybe I already had.

Would he wake up tomorrow morning and realize he could have so much more than me? Would he resent the drama I’d brought to his life?

“What?” Knox nudged my arm.

“Nothing.” I clutched his hand tighter, then let it go as we stepped outside.

A blast of snow hit me in the face. I gasped at the cold wind, burrowing deeper into my coat, then hurried to my car.

“Get in. I’ll clear the window.” He opened my door for me, and as I turned on the engine, he used his sleeve to wipe the windshield.

I cranked the heat while he cleared his truck, then I led the way across town to the daycare. Wind whipped snowflakes through the air. It was so thick I couldn’t see farther than a block ahead. My knuckles were as white as the sky by the time I eased into the daycare’s parking lot.

Knox parked beside me, waiting as I rushed inside to collect my son.

I was just down the hallway when Jill’s voice caught my ear. “She’s shacked up with him already.”

My footsteps slowed, my hands fisting at my sides. Not again.

Nothing much had changed with daycare. Jill still irritated the hell out of me, but she worshiped Drake. So even though I had to tear him from her arms every evening, I forced fake smiles with gritted teeth.

This was the first time in weeks that I’d overheard her gossip. Probably because she was usually alone in the nursery.

I quickened my steps, making it to the doorway. “Hi.”

Both women’s eyes went wide. Guilt crept into their expressions. Yep, they’d been talking about me. Bitches.

“Oh, hi.” Jill had Drake on a hip, no surprise. She was always carrying him.

“Did he have a good day?” I asked, hurrying to collect his things.

“Yes, he was perfect.” She kissed his cheek. “Weren’t you?

You’re always perfect. But he didn’t take an afternoon nap. So we just cuddled.”

Meaning she hadn’t laid him down so that he could take his afternoon nap. Meaning I’d have to put him to bed early and miss my time with him. My molars began their daily grind as I went to take him from her arms. “Hi, baby.”

He saw my outstretched hands and instantly began to fuss.

I am so fucking sick of this. What the hell? Did she feed him sugar and tell him I was the devil all day? He’d be fine in ten minutes, but it was like she brainwashed my baby every day.

“It’s okay.” Jill bounced him. But she didn’t hand him over. “Just one itty bitty sleep and then you’ll be back. I’ll see you in no time at all.”

I forced a smile and took him out of her hands. After a quick kiss on his cheek, erasing the one she’d left, I put him straight into his car seat. Then the crying started.

He just hated his car seat. That was part of the reason for the daily theatrics, right? Maybe that drive from New York had turned him against this seat for life.

“Oh, Drakey,” Jill crooned. “I know. I don’t like it either.”

I hate her. I hate her. I hate her.

The moment he was clicked into the harness, I left the nursery, not bothering with a goodbye.

Drake cried the entire walk to the door, and when we stepped outside into the snow, he just got angrier. Tears flooded my eyes as I hustled him into the Volvo. Then I was behind the wheel, reversing away.

One block away, I glanced in the rearview to see Knox’s truck close behind. In the disaster that was daily daycare pickup, I’d forgotten he’d been following me home. But as the roads turned icy and the blizzard seemed to intensify on the highway, I was glad to have his headlights each time I looked in my mirrors.

The wind rattled the car’s windows. The noise did little to improve Drake’s mood and he continued to cry. When I finally reached the turnout to Juniper Hill, I breathed. Almost home.

Except it wasn’t my home, was it? It was Knox’s home.

I’d come all this way to start a new life. I’d moved across the country. And just over two months later, I was living under a roof I did not own. To steal Jill’s words, I was shacked up.

What happened if Knox decided we were too much of a burden? That he wanted his single, easy life back?

Every doubt, every insecurity, plagued me on the drive home. Every day. My nerves shook like the trees in the wind as I drove down the gravel road. The house came into view and I hit the button for the garage, easing inside. I had Drake out and the handle of his seat over my arm as Knox parked in his own space.