Love & Learn Page 14

  He had just woken up, completely naked, with her just-as-naked leg slung casually over the tops of his thighs, just inches from an impressive morning erection. When had he stopped having those? He couldn’t remember. Years ago. But when he’d used to wake up hard like that, it hadn’t been rock-solid and throbbing. More of a semi. This one was agony.

  He wrapped his fingers around it and started to pull. He debated going back into the bedroom and crawling back under the covers with Lizzie. If she felt his distress, surely she would help him out.

  She certainly hadn’t minded last night. Not in the limousine, and not once they’d come back home and tumbled into bed. He hadn’t intended to sleep with her again— it actually hadn’t even occurred to him that he’d be able to, so soon after—but as soon as she unzipped her dress, his trousers had suddenly felt uncomfortably tight.

  His groan had made her turn around, and seeing the look on his face—and the stretched fabric of his trousers—she had put her sleepwear back on the chair where she kept it, and just let the dress slide off her body, onto the floor.

  She’d been practically naked underneath. No bra. Just a thong, that he knew he could work around. He had done in the limo.

  She had walked over to him, unzipping his trousers for the second time that night, and the memory of her falling to her knees and wrapping those lovely red lips around him was all he needed to find release with a shudder and a helpless groan, his forehead resting against the cold tiles in his shower.

  Oh, god, Lizzie.

  This was going to be the best week of his life. He could see that he was going to enjoy pretending to be married to Lizzie. All the benefits of a real marriage, and none of the hassles of emotions and commitment.

  44

  Lizzie

  She’d been so happy when she woke up. Waking up with a smile on her face and her entire body tingling with a soft glowing warmth. It had been the most intense night of her life, and she went over the memory of it in her head. She never wanted to forget what he’d said, the way he’d looked at her. The way he’d touched her.

  It was ridiculous really, that they’d made such a momentous decision without even discussing it. In fact, they’d both agreed that there would be nothing physical between them. But actions spoke louder than words, and oh, boy, they had spoken volumes last night.

  She could hear Henry in the shower, and considered joining him, but then she heard little Danny starting to cry in the room across the hallway. Slipping out of bed, she found some clothes and pulled them on.

  Julia was standing by the crib, the front panel lowered, trying to wrestle her little brother into a pair of jeans. She looked up when Lizzie came into the room. The boy was wriggling and un-cooperative, but Julia didn’t seem to notice. Instead, she studied Lizzie’s face, and it looked as if she found what she’d been looking for because she smiled widely.

  “You two must have gotten back late,” she said. “I didn’t hear you come in.”

  Thank goodness for that, Lizzie thought and walked over to the crib. “Yes,” she said, “quite late.”

  “Did you have a good time?”

  Lizzie didn’t even need to say anything. Her smile probably said it all. Julia’s face lit up.

  “Oh, I’m glad.”

  “How did you two get on then?”

  “Fine,” Julia said, starting to pull at the small jeans again. “We don’t even need a sitter, really. I can manage just fine.” She gave up. “These are too small,” she said and started to remove them again.

  “He’s getting bigger day by day,” Lizzie said, picking up the boy who clung to her, jabbering away in a nonsensical gibberish.

  “Do you think he’ll start talking soon,” Julia asked, fetching a pair of sweatpants from the middle drawer.

  Together, they managed to get the wriggling boy into the pants. “Probably. He’s very talkative already.” She buried her face in the soft folds at his neck and blew. The boy’s giggles were ecstatic.

  “What do you think will be his first word?” Julia asked, patting her little brother’s back. “Can you say Julia?” she asked, leaning in.

  “Buh-buh-buh-buh,” Danny replied.

  “My guess would be banana,” Lizzie said.

  The little boy wriggled with glee. “Buh-buh-buh-buh!” he repeated, waving his chubby arms.

  “I believe we have a breakfast request,” Lizzie said and carried the boy toward the door. She glanced over her shoulder at Julia. “Are you coming?”

  “In a sec,” she said. “I’ve just got to make a call.”

  Lizzie made breakfast, scrambling eggs, and making toast and setting the table nicely. She hadn’t known it was possible to be this happy. And to think that just a couple of weeks ago, she’d been all alone in the world. Well, miracles really did happen. Here she was, a married woman with an amazing husband and two wonderful children to love and cherish. And she had a job she enjoyed and that she was good at. She truly couldn’t ask for anything more.

  When they were all sitting at the table, enjoying their breakfast, Henry’s phone rang.

  He frowned. “Who could that be, on a Sunday morning?”

  Was it just Lizzie’s imagination, or did Julia suddenly go very quiet?

  Henry excused himself and left the room when he answered the call. Lizzie could hear him out in the hallway. His low and soft voice, but not the words he spoke. She loved the sound of his voice. Loved everything about him. Just thinking about last night made her tingle all over.

  Oh, she had it bad for this man.

  And that felt so very good.

  45

  Henry

  Henry looked at them, from where he was standing in the doorway. The beautiful and bright girl that was his daughter, and the amazing woman who had been willing to pretend to be married to him, just to make sure that he got custody.

  And it had worked.

  He would always be grateful that Lizzie had stepped up and saved the situation. He should get her something more than just the ring for her troubles. A condo. Yes, that would be perfect.

  And maybe, just maybe, he could visit her there sometimes, as long as she wasn’t otherwise committed. That could be fun.

  But right now, it looked as if their little charade was coming to an end. Because his daughter had apparently called Ms. Fish in LA and told her that she wanted to speed up the custody hearing. She didn’t need two weeks to think about it. She had already made up her mind.

  His heart swelled in his chest. His daughter wanted to come live with him on a permanent basis. Oh, this was going to be great. Just great.

  He turned and walked into his home office, booting up the computer.

  It wasn’t difficult to find the dreaded Aunt Heather’s information online. A quick phone call later, and everything was sorted.

  The hearing was set for Friday, late in the afternoon. Everything had been arranged, and Henry was buzzing with excitement. This was it. Just one final hurdle, but Ms. Fish had assured him that the proceedings were just a formality. As soon as the judge had heard what Julia wanted, he would get custody of her. Then, Aunt Heather would step forward and demand to get custody of the boy. Henry would regretfully admit that as much as he would love to take both children, he believed that the boy would be better off with his aunt. He had arranged plane tickets—first class—and a car to take her to the proceedings, and return tickets for the both of them. He’d ship the boy’s belongings to her later. She only really needed the diaper bag and the stroller, for now. She had kids of her own; she probably had all the necessary stuff already.

  The nanny had gotten the boy ready for court, but he and Julia would be going there alone. Lizzie would come straight from work and meet them there. He didn’t like not having the nanny or Lizzie there to care for the boy. Not that Julia wasn’t capable. She was. He just didn’t think she needed to become even more attached to the child than she already was. She should be focusing on her studies and on her new friends.

  �
��So, how was school today?” he asked, as they were sitting in the back of the cab that was taking them to NYC Family Court on Lower Manhattan. She’d been reluctant to discuss it all week, but after five days, surely she had begun to settle in?

  Julia looked up. Instead of the smile he’d been expecting to see, she grimaced. “We need to talk about that,” she said. “But this might not be the right time.”

  He frowned. “This is the perfect time. What is it? What’s wrong?”

  She leaned back, one of her hands resting on Danny’s stomach in the car seat. He wished she wouldn’t keep touching him all the time. But it seemed to soothe the baby, and if it kept him from screaming, then so be it. “I just don’t think that Hennessey’s is the right school for me.”

  He didn’t know what to say. “I’d have thought it would be the perfect fit. Of all the schools we looked at, it had the very best academic record and the best teachers.”

  She groaned. “Sure, and the most stuck up, spoiled-rotten kids.” She shook her head. “I think I’d like it better in a regular school, with normal kids.”

  He didn’t understand. “The kids at Hennessey’s are normal,” he said. “They might not be what you’re used to, but they are perfectly normal for the world that you are going to be living in from now on.”

  Was it just his imagination, or did she look a bit … sad about that? Impossible. What teenage girl wouldn’t want to live on the Upper West Side and go to an exclusive private school?

  “I don’t know,” she said. “They just seem a bit … stuck up. And they certainly don’t like me.”

  He scoffed. “You’re imagining things. Of course, they like you. Everyone must like you.”

  She grimaced again. “Yeah, no. I spoke to Lizzie about it last night, and she agreed that we could check out the local public schools. There are two, apparently, and she could take some time off from work to go with me.”

  Henry bristled. Under no circumstances was his daughter to go to public school in New York. That was out of the question. He had heard too many nightmare stories about them. But this was not the time or place to have this discussion. As soon as the judge had awarded him sole custody of his daughter, he would let them all know what he had decided about Julia’s school situation. But for now …

  “We’ll talk about it later,” he said and forced a smile onto his lips.

  Damn that Lizzie. She had no business interfering with his daughter’s education. No business at all.

  46

  Lizzie

  Lizzie had rushed to the New York County Family Court on Lafayette Street straight from work, and through some stroke of luck, she got there with plenty of time to spare. Ms. Fish was waiting on the stairs outside. Lizzie hurried up to her, and in her excitement, she missed the hand that the social worker had reached out to great her and went straight for a hug instead.

  “Oh,” said Ms. Fish. “Well, hello, Ms. Watson. Oh, no, forgive me. Mrs. Brown.”

  Lizzie held up her hand. The ridiculously huge ring glinted in the afternoon sun. She couldn’t help but grin from ear to ear. This was so exciting.

  “Congratulations,” the social worker said. “I hear from young Julia that all is well in the Brown household.”

  “Oh, yes,” Lizzie beamed. “We couldn’t be happier. There are some details to sort out with regards to Julia’s school situation, but we’ll find a place where she’ll feel at home. And little Danny is thriving. We’ve had to buy him all new clothes because he is growing so fast! He is going to be tall; I can already tell.”

  The social worker looked at her. “I wanted to ask you …” she said, nodding toward the door. “Perhaps we could wait for the others inside, find a place to sit?”

  Lizzie followed her inside the building. The two women found a bench in a corner and sat down. The social worker pulled out some documents from her briefcase. “I’ve arranged the custody papers as your husband requested, but I had some questions.” Lizzie nodded. “Mr. Brown asked me to draw up separate documents, one set for Julia and one for Danny. Could you tell me why that is? I thought that you would be seeking custody of both children. Last time I spoke to Julia, she talked at length about how happy she was that she and Danny would be together.”

  Lizzie frowned. “There must be some misunderstanding,” she said. “Of course, they need to stay together. Both Henry and I understand how much that connection means to both of them.”

  As soon as she said the words, a spark of uncertainty was lit inside of her. She took the documents from Ms. Fish. “No,” she said. “This is wrong. There should be only one document, for both children. Wherever those children are going to live, they need to be together.”

  Ms. Fish nodded. “I thought so. I’m sure I just misunderstood Mr. Brown's instructions.” She placed the documents in her briefcase. “I’ve got my laptop with me. I’ll see if I can find a printer I can use and correct the documents.” She got up. “I’ll be right back.”

  Lizzie didn’t reply. She sat there on the bench, staring at the marble floor in front of her. What was Henry up to?

  47

  Henry

  They got stuck in traffic, and by the time they reached Lafayette Street, Henry’s nerves were completely frayed. The baby had started to whimper, and it had escalated into screaming until he was completely hoarse. His face had taken on that bright red color again. Where was Lizzie? She was supposed to take care of the child so that he didn’t have to put up with this sort of thing. This wasn’t what they had agreed!

  Unfolding the stroller, he got his fingers caught between two moving parts, and he cursed, loudly and emphatically.

  “Dad?” Julia said, and just like that, all the pain went away. “What happened. Are you alright?”

  He stared at her. She didn’t seem to realize what had just happened, but for Henry, this was a momentous occasion. She had never called him that before. And it was just a word. Just a tiny little word. But it moved him deeply. He was a parent now. His daughter had just called him ‘Dad’, as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

  “Nothing, honey. I’m fine.”

  He snapped the car seat onto the stroller and told the driver he’d call when they wanted to be picked up. Then he turned and stopped with a groan. Stairs. It seemed like stairs had popped up everywhere since he started pushing that stroller around.

  “There’s a wheelchair ramp on the side,” Julia said, pointing. “We’ll have to go around.”

  He looked up and down the sideway. No sign of Lizzie, and no sign of a woman who looked as if her name was Heather and was here to claim custody of her nephew. They were probably both waiting inside. But not together, he hoped. There was a reason he hadn’t told Lizzie about his plans. She was not going to be happy about this. But then, it was none of her business.

  By the time they made it into the foyer, they were more than ten minutes late for the proceedings. Henry got directions at the front desk and then hurried toward the elevator with the stroller and Julia in tow. Danny was still wailing. The baby’s screams echoed between the marble floors and the tall ceilings.

  Lizzie and Ms. Fish were waiting for them on the third floor.

  “Sorry I’m late,” he said, but they probably couldn’t hear him over Danny’s hysterics.

  “Oh, dear,” Lizzie said, unbuckling the baby and picking him up. His screams waned and turned into a soft whimper as she rubbed his back and made soothing noises. Henry started to relax. Seeing the look on Ms. Fish’s face when she watched the interaction between Lizzie and the baby, he did a mental fist pump.

  “I couldn’t get him to stop screaming,” Julia said. “We were stuck in traffic for so long, and —”

  “That’s alright, honey,” Lizzie said, patting the girl’s arm. “He’s fine now. The traffic in New York can make me want to scream, as well.”

  Everyone laughed a little. Then Ms. Fish looked at the clock on the wall. “They’re waiting for us. Shall we?”

  Henry looked up and
down the hall. Some people were waiting a bit further down, but they seemed to be there on other business. He couldn’t see a woman from California anywhere. Well, he supposed she would show up any minute, and she would get the same directions as him at the front desk.

  As long as she got here before the judge was going to rule on who would be the custodian for little Danny.

  48

  Lizzie

  It looked just like a courtroom, like the ones you saw on TV, only smaller. A long table up front, with a secretary on one side, and a clerk that was arranging papers by the largest chair, in the middle.

  Ms. Fish walked up to the clerk and handed him the documents she had brought. Lizzie sat down, still with Danny in her arms. Julia sat next to her, clutching her hand.

  Henry pulled out a chair and sat down. He seemed tense and kept glancing over his shoulder, toward the door. Was he expecting someone else? Who? They were all here.

  A side door opened, and the judge entered. It was a woman, short and red-haired, with thick-framed glasses.

  “All rise,” said the guard by the door.

  They stood, Lizzie a bit later than the others, because it was tricky to get up with the baby on her lap. She glanced worriedly at the judge, but the woman just smiled at her. Lizzie smiled back and sat down again.

  The clerk recited a case number and placed the relevant documents in front of the judge. She read through them, and then looked up.

  “Are the social services representative present?” she asked.

  Ms. Fish stood up. “Yes, your honor,” she said. “My name is Ms. Fish, and I am the caseworker in charge of these children.”