Meet Cute(91)

Just Desserts


Daxton



Half an hour later—after a quick stop at Kailyn’s so she can change and fix her hair—we’re seated inside the same conference room where I first met Kailyn, the folders of evidence lined up on the table. Kailyn and I are both sipping coffee, although I feel like a scotch might be warranted once this meeting is over considering what we’re about to do.

“She’s going to drop the lawsuit, Dax. Everything will be fine.” Kailyn squeezes my bouncing knee.

“I won’t be able to relax until it’s over.”

A minute later there’s a knock on Kailyn’s door and her assistant appears. “Miss Flowers, Linda Thrasher is here to see you.” She gives us both a conspiratorial smile.

“You can send her in.” Neither Kailyn nor I stand to greet her as she enters the room and Cara closes the door behind her. Linda stumbles a bit when she sees me.

“I thought this was a private meeting.”

“It is,” Kailyn says evenly. “Private between the people who have a vested interest in Emme’s future.” She motions to the empty chair across from Kailyn and me. “Have a seat, Linda.”

She pulls out her phone. “I’m calling my lawyer.”

“I would reconsider that.” Kailyn flips open the folder in front of her and reveals the email chain between Linda and the principal from the private school, and the pile of loan documents. “I feel it’s in your best interest to hear us out first, Linda.”

Face ashen, she sinks down in the booth. She looks between us. “What is this?”

“It’s your come-to-Jesus moment. This is where you admit the only person’s well-being you were concerned about was your own.” Kailyn taps the pile of loan documents. “It seems you owed Evelyn and Craig a lot of money.”

“I-I-I—”

“No need to qualify that with a response.” Kailyn presents another set of emails between Linda and Evelyn chronicling her consistent requests for financial support over the years and Evelyn’s pleas that she seek help.

“I ran into a bit of financial trouble—”

I cut her off. “A bit? You’ve been borrowing money from my parents for more than a decade, Linda. You know, it would’ve been one thing if you came to me asking for help, but to sue for custody so you could access money that isn’t yours is morally reprehensible.”

“Emme is better off with me. I’ve already raised children,” she sputters meekly.

“Enough with the bullshit, Linda. Two days after you filed the custody lawsuit, you were already trying to find a way to get rid of her by sending her to boarding school. You planted the alcohol in her locker to build a case against me, for fuck’s sake.”

“T-that’s absurd,” Linda stammers.

“Is it? Kailyn overheard you talking about it yesterday.”

She looks from me to Kailyn with wide-eyed panic. “Your plans to visit Vegas, how Dax would want Emme on weekends and you’d look good by giving him what he asked for.”

Beads of sweat dot her brow and her upper lip. “You can’t do this.”

“Now would be a good time to drop the custody lawsuit against Daxton,” Kailyn says flatly as she pushes her phone across the table and cues up the recording.

“You can’t prove anything. So I’ve had some financial trouble. It’s not like everyone has millions of dollars to play with—”

“It’s all here. Documented proof that you’re self-centered and opportunistic and, worse, you were going to use a grieving thirteen-year-old to your financial advantage.” Kailyn hits Play, and Linda’s voice filters through the office.

Linda’s horror grows as her words are thrown back in her face. She raises a shaky hand. “I don’t need to hear any more. I’ll drop the lawsuit.”

Kailyn stops the recording and smiles icily. “We thought you might say that.”

We file away the documents while Linda wrings her hands and gives me an imploring look. “Daxton, you have to understand—”

“Don’t,” I snap. “Don’t try and justify any part of this to me. We’ll be waiting for a call to let us know the lawsuit has been officially dropped.”

Kailyn and I wait silently while Linda gathers her things and leaves the office in a rush. As soon as we’re alone, I exhale a long breath.

Kailyn squeezes my hand. “Are you okay?”

“I think so?” I run my free hand through my hair. “It’s just been months of uncertainty and chaos, so the possibility that this could be over is sort of…jarring.”

“I can understand that.”

“I’ll feel a lot better when I get the call from Trish.”

“I don’t see her stalling. She knows if she doesn’t, there’s far more at stake than not having access to Emme’s money. She planted alcohol in a student’s locker—her own niece. She would lose her job if that comes out.”

“She should lose her job,” I agree.

“Let’s wait until the suit is dropped before we blow another hole in her ship.”

I nod absently. “Do you have other things you need to take care of today?”

“Only you.”