Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven

Bliss

Bliss struggled down the street in Darling, Sadie and Sophie in a stroller in front of her and Nori wrapped up in a baby carrier and nestling against her chest. It should not be this hard to find an outfit to wear to a hearing. But she’d been to five stores so far and found nothing.

Every piece of clothing she owned was either stretched, stained, or plain worn out. If she went before a judge wearing anything she owned, Child Protective Services wouldn’t even have to argue their case. She’d make it for them.

At least she had the time to shop, thanks to Ivy. Her boss had called her into the office when she’d gotten to work on Monday. Bliss expected to be fired, even though she’d done nothing wrong. Instead, Ivy had hugged her and said she was sorry for everything Bliss and the children were going through. She didn’t seem very happy about what Sandy had done.

Ivy was a wonderful person and a great boss. She’d sent Bliss home on leave with pay so that Sadie and Sophie wouldn’t be in Sandy’s room. She told Bliss not to worry, that everything had a way of working out. Bliss hoped she was right.

Lost in thought, she walked down the sidewalk, trying to think of anywhere else to shop she could afford, when a shouted, “Woah there!” interrupted her thoughts.

A petite woman had her hands braced on the front of the stroller. She looked like a Christmas elf out of costume, complete with snow-white hair even though she couldn’t be much older than Winnie. The woman hopped back and threw Bliss a grin. “Sorry about that. I stepped out of my shop, right into oncoming traffic. Ezra is always telling me to slow down and look before I leap, but where’s the fun in that?” Sticking out her hand, she added, “I’m Rory. And you must be Winnie’s sister. I haven’t been able to do much with the Musketiaras lately, but I’ve heard all about you.”

Bliss shook Rory’s outstretched hand. “Totally my fault. I wasn’t looking where I was going.”

“You did seem a bit lost in thought. I heard about what you’re going through. Gave Sandy a piece of my mind, too. Not that it will do much good. Total bitch, that one. She thought if she put out for Conn when he was in town, he’d eventually put a ring on her finger. My opinion, he’d be better off with a rottweiler. Of course, he already knew that. That’s why he cut her loose right before you moved here… and you didn’t know any of that, did you?”

Bliss tried to smile, but that was just the last straw. She didn’t care who Connor slept with. Okay, she did. A lot. But she didn’t have any right to. He didn’t owe her anything.

Actually, he’d been amazing the past week. He was at her house all the time now, day and night. He slept on the sofa and took care of her and the babies during the day. She had no idea what had changed his mind. He said he hadn’t meant what he said that awful night he’d ripped out her heart. More likely, he felt guilty that his ex-girlfriend was the one trying to ruin Bliss’s life.

It was hard to remember that with all the things he was doing to make her life better. Her cabinets and refrigerator were filled with good food. Evidently, ramen noodles didn’t qualify. Her house was tidy. She found herself doing chores and it wasn’t bad because he did them with her.

She couldn’t allow herself to get drawn in, He would only be there until the CPS charges went away.

Since the day CPS had invaded her home, Connor had wanted to make their meals. He made sure she had a hot breakfast. He even made it fun by arranging the eggs and bacon to look like different faces. She’d found herself in the corner more than once for refusing the veggies he made for dinner.

He kept telling her things like, “You have to keep up your strength, little girl. Being a mom is hard work.”

He read stories to her and the babies complete with funny voices and everything. When it had snowed two days before, he’d taken her outside while the girls napped and they’d made a snowman in the front yard.

“Why are you doing this, Connor?” she’d asked. She needed him to be honest with her.

“I’ve already told you, trouble,” he’d answered. “This is who I want to be and where I want to be. I’m sorry I reacted so badly and hurt you when you told me about Nori. I don’t handle surprises well. But that’s no excuse. I want to be a part of your and the girls lives in any way you’ll let me.”

It had made zero sense. He’d done a complete turnabout.

Someone put a hand on her shoulder and gave her a gentle shake. “Earth to Bliss. I didn’t mean to freak you out.”

With a shake of her head, she focused on Rory. “You didn’t freak me out. Actually, it explains a lot. I should thank you.” Only she didn’t feel like thanking anyone. She wanted to punch Connor in the nose and then eat a gallon of peppermint-rocky-road ice cream all by herself.

“You know he’s into you, right?”

“I wouldn’t say that. He did me a gigantic favor by getting me away from those Russians.” He’d done so much more than that. He’d given her Nori, but she wasn’t about to tell Rory that. “But he did that more for Winnie and Reid than for me.”

“Sister, you got that all wrong. Didn’t anyone tell you how he’s been keeping an eye on you ever since you moved to Darling the first time?”

Um, no, she didn’t know that. “What do you mean?”

Rory’s face lit up. She evidently liked to be the first to share secrets with people. “I mean, he kept tabs on you when you were here before. He’s got all these informants in that Society group you were in. Did you find it odd that, even though his job keeps him out of town a lot, he was usually in town when you were? And made a point to see you?”

Bliss couldn’t keep the shock from her face. He hadn’t been there every time, but he found her more often than not. She’d thought he was just going about his daily life. “He did that?”

“Of course he did. And he kept track of how you were being treated when you went back out west, though I think that was harder. Still, he tried.”

He’d tried to keep an eye on her? If her brain didn’t stop spinning, she was going to have to sit down. Time to get back to finding an outfit. She could think about this conversation tonight. It wasn’t like she was sleeping a lot anyway.

Even with Connor there, the past four days had been horrible. That Talon woman had come by unannounced every day, each day at a different time. Yesterday, she’d come at eleven o’clock at night. Bliss had already been asleep, but when Connor woke her, she had to trudge to the front door and let that beast of a woman in to look around and check the children. Of course, she’d scared the twins when she tried to check for bruises. She and Connor had been up for over an hour trying to soothe them back to sleep after the woman left.

Connor holding Nori in his arms, rocking her and humming softly, was something she never thought she’d see. She’d memorized it so she could tell Nori about it when she was older.

“Well, it was nice to meet you, Rory. I’d love to stay and chat, but I have to find something suitable for court that doesn’t cost a fortune.”

“Um, hello,” Rory said, pointing to the huge sign on her shop, Second Hand Glams. “I’ll bet I can find you something. Come on in.”

Amazingly, forty-five minutes later, Bliss left the shop with the perfect outfit, not only for herself, but for Sadie, Sophie, and Nori as well.

When she tried to pay, Rory wouldn’t take a dime. “It’s the, um, the Musketiara discount. You get everything for free the first time you shop here.”

Bliss couldn’t do that. “I’m not a Musketiara.”

Rory just grinned and winked. “Matter of time, babe.”

She wasn’t sure what it took to become a Musketiara, but she hoped Rory was right. She could use more girlfriends. She needed to talk to friends who could listen and give her advice on how to handle everything. Bliss smiled at her new friend. “You know, when I first saw you, I thought you were a Christmas elf. I guess I was right. I can’t thank you enough.”

“I get that a lot, especially this time of year. And no thanks are necessary. We women have to have each other’s backs. If you ever need a sitter, just give me a call. I love babies.”

Bliss filed that away for future use. That way she wouldn’t have to call Winnie all the time. Right now, she needed to get home and put everyone down for a nap. She rolled her eyes at the idea of being able to sleep when there were dishes to wash, vacuuming to do, and a hundred other things to make the house perfect for the next visit from the Seagull.

She grinned at the private joke. She’d started calling Mrs. Talon the Seagull because, just when everyone was having a great time, she swooped in, squawked a lot, and pooped all over everything.

The drive home took just long enough for all the girls to fall asleep. She couldn’t carry in more than one at a time. It would be just her luck that the Seagull would swoop in and find two babies in the car. That would get scribbled onto the clipboard for sure. If she weren’t so tired herself, she’d drive around while they slept, but she’d missed too much sleep to risk it.

Her problem was solved when she drove up to her house to find Connor’s shiny black Hellcat parked in the yard. A jolt of excitement shot through her. She didn’t need to be excited. She needed to remember this was all the result of his guilty conscience and wouldn’t last. At least, that’s what her brain said. Unfortunately, neither her heart nor her lady bits cared at all.

When he came out on the porch, she caught her breath. Why did he have to look so sexy, with his scruffy beard and tousled hair? He looked like he’d just gotten out of bed, but in the way that made a girl wish he’d been in bed with her. He jogged down the steps to her car and opened her door. It was barely after lunch. What was he doing at her house?

A scowl replaced his smile as soon as he saw her. “Why aren’t you wearing your seatbelt, trouble?”

She shifted in her seat, trying to stop the pulsing in her core that happened every time he used that nickname. That was just so wrong. “I can’t wear my seatbelt when I’m driving with the girls in the car. They might need something.”

She thought for a moment his eyes might bug out of his head. His brows almost touched in the middle. “Are you telling me you haven’t been wearing your seatbelt for almost a year?”

“Well, sort of, but for a good reason.”

“That is not a good reason, trouble. There is no good reason. Were you wearing your seatbelt when your tire blew last week? Because no one was in the car with you then.”

She stared up at him, trying to think of a way to answer his question without landing herself in even more trouble. “Did you know you have a vein that jumps half the time? Do you have high blood pressure?”

“Only since I met you. Now answer my question.”

Pulse racing, she licked her lips and tried to come up with an explanation, but she drew a total blank. Oh, this was not going to end well.