A Daddy for Jacoby(63)

“Are you okay?”

He shook his head. “It’s been a long couple of weeks for Jacoby.”

“For the both of you.” Gina rose, wanting to go to him, but unsure if she should. “Jacoby seems to be handling things okay.”

“Because the Ellsworths made it so easy for him while we were there.” Justin sighed, slapping the manila envelope in his hand against his leg. “And so damn hard for me.”

“For you—What are you talking about? What happened?”

“When we were ready to leave, Liz Ellsworth was getting Jacoby settled in the truck, while Richard pulled me into his office. He said he wanted to talk…about Jacoby’s fu-future—”

As his voice broke, she crossed the room and wrapped him in her arms. Justin stood as if frozen in place, but she only held him tighter, wishing she could ease whatever burden he was carrying.

He finally relented and leaned into her, holding her close for a moment. Then he reached up and unhooked her arms and stepped away. “Look, I appreciate you bringing the food, but I’ve got a lot to do—”

“What happened, Justin?”

He returned her stare for a long moment, then handed her the envelope before he walked across the room. Gina opened the envelope and pulled out folded paperwork, recognizing it as a legal document. She started to read the opening paragraph, but shock at the words stopped her.

“What is this?”

Justin ignored her question as he went back to dividing up the take-out order into plastic containers.

“Justin?”

He finally stilled. Looking at her, his dark eyes held that familiar unreadable emotion she’d seen before. “The Ellsworths want custody of Jacoby.”

“What?” A silent scream rose from deep inside her. Her fingers clenched the document. “I can’t believe this. What are you going to do?”

Justin remained silent.

“You’re not thinking of agreeing, are you?”

“They’re good people.” He rounded the counter and came back into the living room. “And they’re the kid’s grandparents. Their daughter raised Jacoby for seven years—”

“And did such a great job she decided to walk out on him and leave someone she barely knew to pick up the pieces!”

“I’ve only been in the kid’s life a month.”

“And in that time you’ve proven you’re capable of taking care of Jacoby.” She tossed the paperwork onto the table. “Look at all you’ve given him—”

“Clothes from a discount store and a secondhand bed.” He waved a hand toward Jacoby’s bedroom. “I’m not talking about those things. My father made sure I had the basics and no one would vote him Father of the Year.”

She heard the conviction behind his words. “You’re not your father.”

“I was raised by a man who took a belt to us, who berated my siblings and me with cruel and belittling words whenever the mood struck him. How do I know I won’t turn out to be the same?”

Justin paced the length of the room. “It hasn’t been all baking cookies and reading stories around here. Jacoby’s struggling in school. He’s behind the other kids in everything from reading to math. He gets angry and frustrated and he’s starting to act out. And all of that was before he found out about his mother.”

Gina had noticed Jacoby’s refusal to participate in the library story hour when the children read a few pages aloud. “It’s tough being the new kid in school. Maybe he just needs more time to adjust.”

“It’s more than that.” Justin dropped his voice to a low whisper as he jammed his hands into the pockets of his jeans. “I mentioned his nightmares before. Well, they haven’t stopped. The first time it…it scared the hell out of me when I realized he wasn’t really awake, just sort of stuck between what was going on inside his head and consciousness.”

“Oh, that’s terrible.”

“His eyes are open but vacant, and he’s crying…crying for his mother.”

The pain in his voice, the defeat in his hunched shoulders was too much for Gina. She went to him, placing her hand on his arm. “And you help him through that.”

“I talk to him, calm him down, and eventually he goes back to sleep. The first night I sat in the corner of his room and watched him until the sun came up. When I try to bring up what happened the next day, he claims he doesn’t remember what he dreamed about.” Justin backed away and went to the counter. He braced his hands there, his back to her. “But to hear him…crying out for her and now she’s gone…”