I hung up and stepped out onto the deck.
“Dude, I need a break. You’re too good.” Josh faked falling over. “Why don’t you practice your kicking while I talk to Cassie?”
Lucas was eager to please. He grabbed the ball from the grass and started kicking it against the garden fence. He did it with so much heart that I guess he was working out some of the anger Josh had seen in him.
Josh joined me on the deck. His hair was a mess. When he checked back on Lucas and clapped his hands again in encouragement, his dimples had never been so deep in his cheeks.
“Well done, Champ. You broke through his defenses. Lucas needed some ‘guy’ time.”
Josh shrugged at my praise but pride made his dark eyes brighter. “Where is Mrs. Loretti?”
“She had to get back to her place. She left me in charge of the cookies. You’ll be happy to know they haven’t burnt or anything.”
Josh didn’t pick on my lame joke. “I called Curtis this morning. We’re scheduled to see him tomorrow afternoon after the funeral. That way we might be able to fly you back to Santa Fe and the tour late afternoon. It won’t be a direct flight so you’ll be wiped out by the end of it.” He stepped closer to pull me against him. “I’ll fly to D.C. tomorrow night. I have to get back to work.”
“Of course you do,” I answered against his chest. “What do you want to discuss with Curtis? You told me the application had been filed.”
“I have some questions about the next steps. Just want to make sure we’re doing things right. I’m keen on moving the process as fast as we can.”
“Because of Alfredo’s death?”
Josh left my question unanswered, then said, “Yes, because of Alfredo’s death.”
I knew my man well enough to know he wasn’t telling me the truth. Or the whole of it.
CHAPTER 12
Josh
Lucas shouldn’t be here.
Sharon Sorenson had been in favor of it. Trisha, his caseworker, had given him the choice. He’d said he wanted to go, but what does a five-year-old really know about funerals? I’d been left watching him in his Sunday best, his eyes glued on the coffin, his hand tight within Cassie’s.
My own hands had hung loosely at my sides. I was powerless. Playing ball wasn’t going to cut it this time.
“He’s been strong.” Cassie watched Lucas getting into Mrs. Sorenson’s car. When it disappeared around the corner outside the cemetery gate, I expected her to break into a sprint and chase after him.
My fists clenched in frustration. “Trisha should never have given him the choice. I should have stayed at home with him.”
“I disagree.”
“Why’s that?”
“He’s already experienced so much grief. Maybe being here today will help him deal with Alfredo’s death, his parents’ deaths. I don’t know much but we should trust and respect Lucas’s choices.”
“Do you think seeing your own mother’s coffin would have made things any easier?”
“I don’t know.” She gave a shake of her head. “I had nothing left to grieve when she died.”
The breeze played with the wisps of her hair. September had come. Alfredo Guidi had gone and I’d barely had time to get to know him.
“Mr. and Mrs. MacBride?” A baritone voice cut through my thoughts.
It belonged to a man in his mid-forties whose shoulders were as bulky as a fridge. He could easily have been a bouncer at one of Cassie’s concerts. Next to him stood Andrea Loretti.
“I’m Andrea’s husband, Vince.” he introduced himself while extending his hand. I shook it. So did Cassie.
“I’m glad you came. I’m sure it was good for Lucas to see some familiar faces.” The warmth of Cassie’s greeting wasn’t matched by Andrea or her husband. The woman refused even to meet her gaze.
My guts vibrated in warning mode. I seized Cassie’s hand and pulled her closer to me. I waited for the guy to make a move.
He started with a cough. Despite his huge frame, he managed to look awkward as he shuffled his feet and shrugged his shoulders. “Andrea and I, um, we thought we should tell you that we called an adoption agency last month.”
“You’ve decided to adopt? I’m sure Andrea will be a great mom. Congratulations.”
I swallowed a groan and pulled her closer under my shoulder. She threw me a questioning look. Still, Loretti didn’t comment and kept on with the shuffling and shrugging.
Shit, the guy had no balls whatsoever. “You’re talking about Lucas.”
Cassie shuddered. I helped her stand up straight.
“Yes. We wanted you to know. Um, because Andrea said how real nice Mrs. MacBride was to her.”
“That’s so very decent of you.” Sarcasm wouldn’t help. My girl had frozen beside me “What do you want me to say? That you have our blessing to adopt our son? You’re mistaken, Mr. Loretti. I’m sure your friend Mrs. Sorenson told you we applied to get Lucas back. We’re his birth parents.”
I saw a flame ignite in Loretti’s dull eyes. He was starting to get worked up. “You gave up on the boy once. I’m sure a judge will look at it and see you could do that all over again.”
“Never,” Cassie cried through a sob. Her lips trembled.
My hand gripped her shoulder even more tightly. The threat in my voice contradicted my next words. “Mr. Loretti, you should do what you have to do. We will do the same. However be aware that I will explore every legal avenue to ensure that Lucas, Cassie and I can be a family at last. I won’t leave any stone unturned.” The shrugging and shuffling doubled in frequency, so I added, “There are plenty of other children who need a loving family” to tone down what I’d said.
Loretti opened his mouth but no sound came out for a while until, “Andrea is very attached to the boy. He’s a great kid.” With that, he guided his wife back to their car.
I spun Cassie around so that the couple couldn’t see anymore how the news had hit her. I marched her to a bench not far from Alfredo’s grave. The crowd had already dispersed. There were only us and a couple of cemetery employees left. She slumped down, her arms wrapped tightly around her stomach as though she had been punched. I knelt at her feet, my fingers caressing her hair before gently sliding them down to massage her neck and shoulders.
Minutes passed without her saying a word. Slowly, the tension in her body receded. Finally, she let out a loud breath followed by a bitter chuckle. “You saw this coming.”
“Yes, but—”
“When?”
“From the first time we met her. She looked far too intense around Lucas.”
Another bitter chuckle. “And there I was baking cookies with the woman. I’m so fucking dumb. You should have told me.”
My hands followed her jawline, the curve of her neck and ended intertwined on her lap. “I’d hoped I was being paranoid.”
“Is that why you were desperate to meet up with Curtis today?”
My fingers squeezed hers. “I’m not desperate, Cass. We are Lucas’s birth parents and it does matter a great deal in eyes of the law. We have to press on with the adoption as if nothing had changed.”
“Everything’s changed.”
“No! We’ll be a family again soon. I’ll keep my promise to you, Cass. I will.”
Unshed tears blurred the bright blue of her eyes.
I checked my watch. “We should be on our way if we want to make it on time for Curtis and then the airport.”