Vindicated (21 page)

“Oh, so it’s like that is it,” Karly murmured to the baby, who cooed in reply. She glanced up at Ally’s frightened face. “Sometimes they like to be swaddled really, really tight. It makes them feel secure, like they’re in the womb again.”

“How do you know that?” Ally asked, an expression of intense curiosity on her face.

“Emma used to cry all the time,” Karly said. Her chest tightened at the thought of Emma, followed by the sharp sting of unshed tears. “Here. Hold her.” She thrust the baby into Ally’s arms, needing a second to pull herself together.

“Oh, no. No, no. I can’t.” Ally tried to hand the baby back to her, but Karly shook her head.

“Yes, you can. Suck it up, Taylor.” Karly bit back a smile. “You’ll need the practice for all the baby Jamesons you’re going to have.”

Ally groaned and sank onto the couch, holding the child like a ticking time bomb. Karly went to the bathroom door and knocked. The sounds of sniffling stopped long enough for Chelsea to speak.

“Go away,” Chelsea snapped.

“I’m coming in,” Karly replied. “I hope you’re decent.” She pushed the door open to find Chelsea sitting on the edge of the bathtub, wads of toilet paper clenched in her fists. The pretty face was tear-streaked and blotchy. She turned away from Karly, a stubborn jut to her chin.

“What’s wrong with her?” Chelsea asked.

“Nothing’s wrong with her. She’s a baby. They’re a pain in the ass,” Karly replied. She lowered the lid on the toilet and took a seat. “You might as well get used to it. You’ve got another eighteen years or more to go.”

Chelsea sniffled again. “If this is your idea of a pep talk, you’re failing miserably.”

“I’m just being truthful. You’re going to have to toughen up a little.” Despite her harsh words, Karly’s heart twisted with empathy for Chelsea.

“I’m not cut out for this,” Chelsea whispered. A new flood of tears trailed over her cheeks. “I don’t know how to be a mom. Maybe she’s better off with someone else.” The thin shoulders shook, wracked with heartbroken sobs. “I love her so much, but I don’t know how to take care of her. Hell, I can’t even take care of myself.”

A solitary tear escaped Karly’s right eye and clung to the end of her chin. She knew exactly how Chelsea felt. Those same thoughts had crossed her mind a million times since Emma’s birth. Without hesitation, she wrapped her arms around Chelsea and held her tight, patting the girl’s back until her sobbing slowed.

“I know exactly how you feel,” Karly said. “You can’t let your insecurity come between you and your baby. You might be frustrated right now, but you’ll never feel any bigger joy than watching that baby grow up.”

Chelsea hiccupped. “That’s easy for you to say.”

Karly paused, torn between honesty and continuing the lie. The anguish in Chelsea’s sobs made the decision for her. She smoothed a hand over Chelsea’s hair. “No. It’s the hardest thing in the world for me to say, because I let someone talk me out of parental rights to my child.”

Chelsea’s sniffling stopped, and she pushed out of Karly’s embrace. “You did? Why?”

“Because I was young and stupid and I didn’t know any better.” She smiled weakly and brushed away the tear still clinging to her chin. “I’ve never regretted anything more in my life. She’s the first thing I think of when I wake up in the morning and the last thing at night before I go to sleep.”

Chelsea stared at her for a long moment then placed her hand over Karly’s and squeezed. Their eyes met and held for a second, mirroring each other’s pain.

“Why are you telling me this?” Chelsea sniffed and removed her hand to dab away the tears with a new handful of toilet paper. “I know you don’t like me.”

“I just want you to think long and hard before you give up.”

A knock at the door brought an abrupt end to the conversation.

“Can we come in?” Ally opened the bathroom door without invitation, the baby cradled in her arms.

“Sure. Why not? Maybe you could call the neighbors, too,” Chelsea said sarcastically. She held her arms out for the baby and clutched her to her chest with a smile. The blue eyes glowed with emotion. “Come here, you little pain in the ass.”

Ally sat on the clothes hamper, hands braced on her knees. She looked back and forth from Karly to Chelsea, curiosity plain on her face. “What did I miss?”

“Nothing,” they replied in unison.

Ally bit her lip and frowned, the keys of her ten-key calculator clicking and whirring beneath her fingertips. Karly went for a second helping of tuna noodle casserole. Chelsea was asleep on the sofa in the living room. The baby slept in a carrier seat next to her. Exhaustion had driven the poor girl to the brink of a breakdown. The least they could do was keep an eye on the baby while she slept.

“You are so screwed,” Ally said a few minutes later.

“Thank you for confirming it,” Karly replied.

“I don’t know how you’re getting by on what you make.”

“Well, no shit, Sherlock,” Karly said, covering her embarrassment with sarcasm.

Ally thumbed through the bills again, her frown deepening with every page. “You need more income, Karls. I don’t want to discourage you, but by the look of things, you’ve only got another couple of months before shit hits the fan.”

Karly groaned and dropped a forkful of casserole back to her plate. She knew the truth but had hoped Ally might be able to sprinkle some of her financial magic over the ugly debts. With at least another year of school left and the issue of Emma at hand, there was no relief in sight.

The apartment door opened, distracting her from her thoughts. Ally looked up and smiled. Jack crept into the apartment, making a wide berth of Chelsea and the baby, and came to stand beside Ally. He placed a hand on Ally’s shoulder and squeezed gently, nodding to Karly.

The smile froze on her face at the sight of Randy looming over Jack’s shoulder. Her stomach lurched. She pushed away from the table, her appetite destroyed. The breadth of his shoulders and the way his hair curled over his collar made her fingers clench with desire. Their eyes met. She glanced away, unwilling to acknowledge his presence. After an uncomfortable moment, Randy went into the bathroom and closed the door behind him. Karly slumped in her chair with relief. Just seeing him stirred up anger and attraction that she no longer wanted to acknowledge.

Thankfully, Jack’s displeasure at the tableau in his living room took precedence over the awkward tension between her and Randy. When Jack wasn’t happy, everyone knew it. Karly focused her attention on a glass of iced tea.

“I don’t know what that is out there,” Jack whispered with a jerk of his chin toward the living room, “but it creeps me the fuck out. I guess my only question is—why?”

Karly snorted and covered her mouth with her hand to prevent spitting iced tea all over the table.

Ally rolled her eyes and smiled up at her luscious boyfriend. “She’s going through a rough time. She just needed someone to give her a little break.”

Jack grunted and continued on to the kitchen, where he pulled a couple of beers from the refrigerator. “I get that. But why does she always need a break from us? I divorced the woman, for Christ sake. I see more of her now than when we were married.”

“I heard that,” Chelsea said from the living room.

This time Karly choked on her iced tea. Ally bit her lower lip to hold back a smile, while Jack huffed and grumbled in the kitchen, banging through the cabinet doors. He returned to the dining room with a bag of potato chips in his hand. He bent to whisper in Ally’s ear, loud enough for Karly to hear.

“Get her and the troll baby out of my house, please. I’m going to have nightmares.” He punctuated his words with a charming smile and a light kiss to Ally’s forehead. Louder, he said, “Randy and I are going to the back room and watch the game.”

“I heard that, too,” Chelsea called. “Don’t worry. I’m leaving now.” There was a rustle of movement from the other room, followed by the slamming of the apartment door.

Randy came out of the bathroom, looking harried but calm. He stood on the opposite side of the table from Karly, facing her, hands in his pockets. He opened his mouth as if to say something. She glared at him, and he promptly snapped it shut again. Jack handed him a beer and slapped him on the back. They both turned to walk away, but after a few paces, Jack stopped and came back to the table. “Hey, did you call about the plumbing at Felony, babe?”

“I did,” Ally replied. Tension rolled off her in waves, adding to the palpable friction between Karly and Randy. “They have to replace all the pipes from the street to the bathrooms.”

“How long’s that going to take?” Randy spoke for the first time. Although he directed the question to Ally, his gaze focused on Karly. Her heart leaped at the sound of his rasping baritone. She frowned, irritated at her body’s traitorous response to him.

“I don’t know. A week. Depends on what they run into,” Ally replied.

Jack sucked in an audible breath of dismay. He set the potato chips and his beer on the table and closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose with thumb and forefinger. “So we’re going to have to close until it’s fixed. Is that what you’re saying?”

“Well, yes. We can’t open until the restrooms are operational, and it passes inspection.” Ally swallowed audibly, the furrow between her winged brows deepening.

“And you were going to tell me this when?” Jack’s tone was unmistakably angry. “Right before we opened the doors?”

“Don’t get shitty with me, mister,” Ally snapped. “I left you a voicemail, sent you a text, and put a note on your computer. And then I went downstairs to tell you in person, but you said you were too busy to talk and to come back later.”

“Fuck,” Jack said. He punched the air above his head with a fist, dark eyes snapping.

Karly twisted in her chair, uncomfortable in the face of so much tension. She cleared her throat and slid out of the seat, gathering her papers as she moved. Ally left the table, drawing Jack into the kitchen with her and throwing Karly an apologetic smile along the way.

See you later,
Karly mouthed, and Ally nodded. Avoiding Randy’s gaze, Karly swept her things into her book bag and sprinted toward the door.

Chapter 41

When she heard footsteps behind her, Karly heaved a weary sigh and turned to find Randy a few paces away. He held up a hand to stop her from speaking. She turned back to the elevator and punched the call button, determined to ignore him. The tiny hairs on the back of her neck lifted, warning her of his proximity. She remained facing the elevator doors, keenly aware of the heat from his body seeping through her clothing.

“Are you still pissed?”

She bit her lip to keep from speaking.

“Okay. So the answer is yes.” A heavy sigh gusted against the back of her neck, sending shivers along her spine. “Can’t we just go back to the way things were?”

“Nope.” She directed her answer to the wall. Maybe he’d get bored and go away if she kept this up long enough.

“How about dinner tonight, then? We can go on that date and talk.” His tone held a note of boyish optimism.

“You mean,
I
will talk, and you’ll sit there and say nothing.” She pounded on the call button. Where was the freaking elevator? “The answer is still no.”

“What about tomorrow night? If Felony’s closed, I’ll be free all night. We can spend it together. Get something to eat. Watch a movie.”

“I’m busy,” she said, pleased with his sigh of frustration.

“Why? Do you have a date?” Unmistakable jealousy tinged his words. She bit back a tiny smile that deepened the furrow between his brows.

The elevator bell dinged. The doors slid open. She stepped inside and pressed the ground floor button, avoiding his gaze. A groan of exasperation rumbled from his chest. She heard his hand rasp over his face and scrub through his hair.

“Fuck,” he muttered as the doors closed and shut him out of her life.

Chapter 42

Randy spent the entire next day at the gym. The intense physical exercise did nothing to burn off the anger and frustration raging inside him. He couldn’t stop thinking about Karly. The more he thought about her, the angrier and more frustrated he became. To make matters worse, he wasn’t even certain why he was angry. He’d gotten what he wanted. Was he angry with himself for caring, or angry at her for shutting him out like he’d done to her? After several hours of smoldering contemplation, he showered and drove to her apartment, determined to face her.

She met him at the door, her displeasure obvious. “I don’t have time for this,” she said, blocking his entry. “I’m leaving in a few minutes.”

His palms were sweating and his pulse tripled. She looked adorable in her bathrobe without any makeup, and she smelled wonderful, like citrus and honey. Despite his nervousness, he drew in a deep breath of her scent.

“Right. Your date.” He pushed past her and into the apartment, earning a frustrated grunt from her. Even pissed, she turned him on more than any woman he’d ever known. “Who is he, anyway?”

“It’s not a date,” she said, still standing at the door, holding it open like she thought he might take the hint and leave.