Room For More(14)

“When you were in your room, they got dressed and went outside to rake leaves with Fred. Spill it.”

“I saw him,” I said in a barely audible voice.

“Him? What him? Zach?” Her eyes opened so wide I thought they might fall out of her head. “When? Where?”

I sighed. “At work. He works there. Well, kind of. He’s an EMT, so I’ve seen him a couple times.”

She didn’t speak. Her mouth hung open, her green eyes still wide as can be, her face completely frozen in shock.

“I saw him my first day. I was in a room waiting for a patient and two EMTs brought her in. He had his back to me—I didn’t recognize him from behind. When he turned around, I almost died.”

“That son of a bitch,” she growled. “Have you talked to him since you saw him? I can’t believe you didn’t tell me about this sooner, by the way.”

“I ignored him the first time I saw him. Actually, I freaked out and hid in the bathroom. Then last week, the day Brody brought the girls to the hospital to have lunch with me, Zach saw them. Us. Sitting together, having lunch.” She sat at the island across from me with her chin resting on her hand, mesmerized by every word I was saying. “Anyway, on my way back to the ER, he grabbed me, pulled me into a janitorial closet, and asked me about them. He wanted to talk to me, even offered to buy me a coffee.”

“Wow,” she said, shaking her head back and forth. “You should’ve taken him up on it.”

“I should have?” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.

“Yes. You should have ordered the biggest, hottest coffee on the menu then thrown it in his face.”

“Mom.” I let a slight giggle escape as I rolled my eyes. “Fun as that would have been, it’s slightly violent.”

“But fitting.” She curved her lips into an evil smirk. “What does Brody think about it?”

I covered my eyes with my hands, ignoring her question.

“You didn’t tell him yet?”

I just shook my head, still hiding from her.

“Kacie! What are you thinking?” She crossed her arms across her chest.

“I know, I know.” I sighed. “I’m going to tell him. Soon.”

“You better,” she demanded.

“Anyway, I don’t know what to do. I can’t exactly ask for a transfer or it’ll delay my graduation. I just have to do my best to avoid him until I’m done.” I swallowed a huge lump in my throat as tears stung my eyes. “I’m so scared, Mom. I don’t want him back in our lives. Can he take the girls?”

Mom got up and hurried around to my side of the island, pulling me in close. “Honey, he will never, ever take those girls. Do you hear me? He hasn’t been around for five years. No court in their right mind would grant him any sort of custody. The most he could hope for would be minimal visitation, but if I have to sell this damn inn to hire the best lawyer in Minnesota, so be it.”

Court. Custody. Visitation.

Those were things I hadn’t even thought about. The knot in my stomach was so big and heavy, I felt like it might crush me. I thought telling my mom about Zach would make me feel better, but she had brought up things I wasn’t prepared to deal with. The last thing in the world that I wanted right now was a court battle.

My head dropped down to my folded arms on the island and I sobbed.





After another mediocre practice, I was frustrated and stressed and decided I needed to take care of something that had been disrupting my focus.

I showered at the rink and drove straight to Andy’s office. My palms started to sweat as the elevator stopped at the forty-second floor and the doors opened. The Shaw Management sign stared me right in the face. I hadn’t spoken to Andy since he showed up at my condo right after Piper’s accident. Everything between us was fine that day, but it wasn’t like us to go this long without even a harassing text. I also couldn’t remember a time in my whole life when I was nervous to talk to him.

Andy’s secretary, Ellie, was sitting behind the large granite desk.

“Brody!” she sang cheerfully as I walked out of the elevator.

“Hey, Ellie. How are ya?”

“Really good, thanks.” She smiled and batted her fake eyelashes at me. I had never seen teeth as big as Ellie’s. They were like white Chiclets in her mouth. She glanced at her computer screen and frowned slightly. “Is Mr. Shaw expecting you? I don’t have anything on the schedule.”

“Nah, he has no idea I’m here. Is he busy?”

She looked down at her watch. “He’s in a meeting with Brice Foster, but they should be just about done. Do you want to wait a minute?”