Suddenly One Summer (FBI/US Attorney #6)(28)

“I know.” The truth was, Ford had been thinking exactly the same thing that day at the hospital. He’d spent nearly his whole life only partly able to enjoy good moments like that with his dad, because he’d always been waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Nicole looked down at her daughter, who was happily gumming the giraffe toy. “Zoe has a father out there. Maybe he’d be a good father, maybe he wouldn’t. But after losing Dad, I feel like I owe it to her to at least give her the chance to have some nice moments like that.”

Ford was all for making his sister’s ex-boyfriend accept financial responsibility for Zoe. Hell, he’d been pushing Nicole to sue the jerk for child support since the day Zoe had been born. But beyond that, for both his sister’s and Zoe’s sakes, he needed to be a voice of reason here. “He fled the state when you told him you were pregnant, Nic,” he said gently. “As good as your intentions are in wanting Zoe to have a relationship with him, it doesn’t sound like he’s exactly a stand-up guy. Financial responsibility is one thing, but you can’t make a man be a father.”

Nicole took a deep breath. “Okay. So, you have to promise that you won’t get all big brother judge-y when I tell you something about me and Zoe’s dad.”

He was a little offended by whatever she was implying. “Hey, give me some credit here. My best friend is a woman—I think I’m pretty damn enlightened when it comes to relationships and the female of the species. I promise you, nothing you say will be something I haven’t heard come out of Brooke’s mouth.”

“I got pregnant after a one-night stand, and I have no clue who my baby’s father is.”

Except that.

Nicole folded her arms across her chest, practically daring him to be shocked and appalled.

Ford exhaled—yes, fine, he didn’t deny that he needed at least a moment to process this information. “All right. Tell me everything.” He chucked her under the chin. “And this time, you dope, make it the truth.”

She went misty-eyed again and pointed to her tears. “My God, it never stops.” Then she told him about going out with her girlfriends to celebrate her twenty-fifth birthday, meeting Peter Sutter, and bringing him back to her place.

“He was gone when I woke up the next morning. And I have no idea how to track him down.” She paused when she saw Ford glowering. “Remember, you promised. No judgment.”

“I said I wouldn’t judge you. But I’m thinking that the * who slept with my sister, got her pregnant, and then sneaked off without so much as a good-bye is entirely fair game.”

“Not defending the guy, but in fairness, it’s not like he had a reason to think he got me pregnant. I know for a fact we used at least one condom, because I found it—”

Ford held up a hand, cutting her off. “Really don’t need to know that. Ever.”

She smiled tentatively at him. “I thought, with your Trib resources, that maybe you’d be able to help me? Find Zoe’s father, I mean.”

As if she even needed to ask. “Of course I’ll help you. That’s kind of what big brothers—and supercool uncles—do. But there’s one thing I need to ask first.” He looked her right in the eyes. “How concerned should I be that you were obviously pretty drunk the night you met Zoe’s father?”

“It’s not like Dad. Promise. I just partied a little too hard on my birthday.”

He studied her for a moment. “Okay.” Satisfied, he got up to grab a small notebook he kept in the kitchen, ready to get down to business. “Now, anything you remember about this Peter Sutter can help me find him. Age, hair color, even the name of the bar you met him in.”

Nicole nodded. “Sure. Okay.”

When Ford sat back down, he suddenly remembered something. “By the way, what’s the mysterious ‘thing’ that you need to talk to Victoria about tomorrow?”

“Oh! That.” Nicole spoke excitedly. “Did you know that she’s a family lawyer?”

According to his research, she was a big-time divorce lawyer with a client list that read like the Who’s Who of Chicago. “I may have heard something to that effect.”

“Well, guess what? She offered to take my case. She said that I need a good lawyer to handle all the child support details and also any custody and visitation issues that might arise. And, how awesome is this—she suggested that she’ll cut me a break on her rates.”

Ford sat back. “Really.”

Nicole cocked her head. “Why do you say it like that? What’s going on with you and Victoria, anyway?”

“I assure you, nothing is going on with me and Victoria.” The woman was far too smug for his tastes. Judgmental. Not to mention, snarky. He could go on and on, except, really, it wasn’t worth his time.

Oh—and prickly, too.

Presumably, Nicole caught his dry tone. “Ford, you will play nice with the smart, kind-hearted lawyer who offered to take on my case.”

He snorted. “Kind-hearted? Are we talking about the same neighbor?”

“Uh-huh. The very pretty one living about ten feet away.”

“Is she pretty? I hadn’t noticed,” he said vaguely.

His sister smiled. “Oh, you noticed.”

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