Just a Kiss: The Bradfords, Book 5 (4 page)

Dani smiled up at him. “Oh, I’d say you’re the perfect option, Kev.”

“Yeah?” He wasn’t so sure about that. He could make macaroni and cheese, play any video game and build model airplanes, but beyond that he wasn’t sure what he had to offer. Dooley’s nieces loved when he danced with them because he could lift them up over his head and twirl. He didn’t think Drew would be in to that. His friends, Jessica and Ben, had a daughter but Ava was still little and thought the fact that he could talk like Cookie Monster was impressive. He wasn’t sure Drew would agree.

“Of course,” Danika said, pushing the door to the break room open. “You’re one of the best guys I know.”

Kevin walked through, still feeling a little dizzy. Or something. That was the second time today—within an hour—that someone had said that to him.

A woman was seated at the round table in the middle of the room with a laptop computer open. Drew was nowhere to be found.

“He’s with his mom in the waiting room. They have TV and hot chocolate,” Danika said before he could ask.

He must have looked concerned because she smiled. “The cops are letting her stay here until we know for sure you’re on board. There’s some paperwork.” She gestured toward the woman at the table. “But there are cops with both Heather and your mom so there won’t be any more bloodshed tonight.”

Kevin shook his head. He still couldn’t believe what had gone down.

“Kevin, this is Linda Rosner. She’s with Nebraska Health and Human Services. Mrs. Rosner, this is Kevin Campbell. He’s the brother and who the mother chose as guardian.”

The other woman was at least sixty and didn’t smile as she rose and extended her hand. “Mr. Campbell.”

“Hi.” He shook her hand, then took the seat across from her. “What do I need to do?”

“Because you are family and the mother has specifically chosen you to care for Drew, it’s relatively easy,” Mrs. Rosner told him. “I will be conducting a complete background check and home evaluation, but from what I understand, financially this won’t be a problem for you?”

Kevin shook his head. “Not at all.”

“And you’re willing and physically and mentally capable of caring for Drew?”

“Yes.”

“There are no other children in your household?”

“That’s right.”

Mrs. Rosner nodded. “Fine. The preliminaries look good. I’ll come to the house tonight to check that you can meet his basic needs, then we’ll start proceedings to make you the temporary legal guardian. Because Ms. Dawson is agreeing to this, it should be no problem, but it will take a little time to get the information I need and to the get the hearing scheduled.”

“Hearing?”

“To become his legal guardian you have to appear before a judge who makes it official,” Danika explained.

“Okay. When can he move in?” Kevin needed to get things figured out at work too. A week or so wouldn’t be a bad idea.

“He can leave with you tonight,” Mrs. Rosner said.

“Tonight?” Kevin repeated. “Seriously?”

“His mother is to be taken into custody as soon as we get this straightened out, Mr. Campbell. This is considered an emergency placement.”

“I thought she had ’til next Monday,” he said weakly.

“She did, until she decided to cause that little scene tonight. She has alcohol in her system. They’re taking her in as soon as possible.”

“She has alcohol in her system?” he repeated, feeling a surge of anger. “Right now? She drove up here with Drew and she’s been drinking?”

Mrs. Rosner looked grim as she nodded. “I think the sooner she starts her rehab the better.”

Absolutely. For her and for Drew. But now Kevin would need to take Drew tonight.

“I’m not really prepared for this,” he said.

Danika gave him a reassuring smile. “It will be okay, Kevin. We’re all here to help.”

He knew that. And appreciated it. Danika and Sam, Mac and Sara, Dooley and Morgan, Jess and Ben…they’d all be there for him and pitch in to do whatever needed done. He took a deep breath. “Okay, then.”

“You’ll be taking him back to Grover tonight then?” Mrs. Rosner said. “He has school tomorrow.”

Right. School. “You bet.” He could get Conner to come in for the rest of the shift and they were off tomorrow anyway. By Thursday he could get someone in place…

“I’ll need to do a background check on anyone who will be involved with caring for Drew and then I’ll be in touch to complete the Home Approval Study. I’ll come to the house so I can do the home assessment and talk with you and your wife. I can answer more questions then and I’ll have more information back.”

Kevin nodded. “Fine. And it will be even easier—I don’t have a wife.”

Mrs. Rosner frowned. “I’m sorry?”

Surely he didn’t need to be married to take over custody of Drew? “I’m not married. You’ll only need to interview me. And we’ll be living in my parents’ house in Grover.” If his mother wanted to avoid Drew it looked like they’d be finding a hotel room tonight and then packing up and hitting the road to Arizona even sooner than they’d planned.

“The State of Nebraska believes you are,” Mrs. Rosner said.

“I am what?” Kevin’s thoughts were spinning so fast he’d lost track of what they were talking about.

“Married.”

He frowned. “Well, I’m not.”

“You’re not married to Eve Donnelly Campbell of Grover, Nebraska?”

Holy shit.

He couldn’t stop the thought.

Holy shit.

He hadn’t heard the name Eve Campbell in years and it still nearly knocked him over. He hadn’t seen the woman who bore the name in nine years—not since the time he’d seen her across the square in downtown Grover for about ten seconds.

Being hit with his father’s affair, a long-lost little brother and his ex-wife in the same day? What were the odds?

And Eve was so much more than just an ex. She wasn’t just the girl he’d married.

She was the only girl he’d ever loved.

Even to this day. She’d made him happier and more miserable than anything or anyone in all of his thirty-two years.

Kevin glanced at Danika, who was watching him with wide eyes. He shifted on his seat. “I, um,
was
married to Eve. Briefly.” Yeah, thirty-one hours was definitely brief. “But not anymore. It was annulled several years ago.”

Fourteen years to be exact.

Wow, fourteen years and he still wasn’t over her.

“No, it wasn’t,” Mrs. Rosner said.

Kevin’s eyebrows rose. “Yes, it was.” He remembered it distinctly. It had been the worst time of his life.

“No, Mr. Campbell,” Mrs. Rosner said firmly. “It wasn’t. You are still married to Eve Elizabeth Donnelly Campbell.”

“No, I’m not.” His heart was pounding and he felt his palms begin to sweat. He wasn’t married to Eve. He couldn’t be. If he was that meant…

“According to the state of Nebraska you are.”

“What does that mean?”
She’s still mine.

The thought appeared suddenly and wouldn’t leave. His pulse was racing so hard that he couldn’t hear well. He wiped his hands on the thighs of his jeans.

“It means that the only paperwork officially on file is the marriage license.”

“But… I…signed the annulment papers.” He felt stupid arguing this. Shouldn’t he know if he was married or not? Again his mind flew to
she’s still mine
, but he quickly squashed that thought. It was a mix-up, a clerical error. There was a lot more to being married than a piece of paper filed with the state and over the past fourteen years he’d been as un-married to Eve as he had to anyone.

“That may be,” Mrs. Rosner conceded. “But even if so, an annulment was never filed. Your marriage was never legally ended.”

He stared at her. Was that possible?
How
was that possible? He’d had an attorney. Yes, it had been a friend’s dad who done it for free in between his real work obligations, but still, wasn’t an attorney supposed to make sure things like that got taken care of?

“I don’t know what to say.”

Mrs. Rosner closed the file and tapped the folder on the table before sliding it back into her bag. “You don’t have to say anything to
me.
This is a temporary custody situation and the mother picked you. As long as everything checks out in your background check and the home assessment, you’re better and easier for Drew than foster care, so I’m happy.”

Kevin breathed a sigh of relief.

“But,” she went on, “the judge will heavily weigh my recommendations and I have very high standards.”

His sense of relief disappeared. “Meaning?”

“I
take my job and the safety and well-being of the children in my care seriously. I’m also extremely thorough. I want to know everything that’s happening in Drew’s life and I want to make sure it’s all for the best.”

“I understand.” In fact, he respected it completely.

“Your marital status is in your file now, Mr. Campbell. Until it changes, the state will assume you’re married. If you don’t live together and she won’t have anything to do with caring for Drew, your statement to that effect might be enough.”

“And if it’s not?”

“I’ll need to talk to her.”

His relief was short-lived. “She has nothing to do with this.”

“No chance at reconciliation?”

Another stupid, random, shocking thought hit him.
I wish.
“It’s been fourteen years. I don’t think so.”

“Then it shouldn’t matter.” Mrs. Rosner stood and pulled her briefcase strap up over her shoulder. “But if I was you I know what I’d do.”

He looked up, still feeling dazed. “What’s that?”

“Find out how I’m still married without knowing it and then do something about it.”

Yeah, that wasn’t a bad idea. “How do I do that?”

“I suggest you start by talking to your wife.”

His wife. His
wife
. Eve.

And he’d thought breaking up a catfight between his mother and his father’s fling was going to be the hardest part of all of this.

“Right.” They hadn’t lived in the same town in years. They hadn’t
spoken
in years for that matter. They’d just graduated high school when they’d eloped. They’d never shared an address except for the few hours they’d spent in the hotel room after they were officially husband and wife.

Kevin shifted, the memories not any easier to bear all these years later. He’d pushed it all to the back of his mind but it had never left him. He certainly had never gotten over it. Or her.

“I’ll be in touch about our next steps,” Mrs. Rosner said.

Kevin glanced at Danika, who thankfully said nothing, then back to Mrs. Rosner who was already moving toward the door. “All right. When?”

“As soon as possible.”

Which was definitely not the “tomorrow” he’d been hoping for. He could really use some guidance here.

“Then I guess I’ll take Drew to Grover tonight.”

“Yes, that would be good.”

Okay. No big deal. He’d pack up his things and move an hour and a half away from home and work and his support system. Tonight. Great.

His whole life had turned upside down in the space of two hours.

He took another deep breath. This wasn’t about him. Someone needed him.

That wasn’t new. Lots of people needed him every day—work, his friends and their families.

But
this
was all his. Everything else had come to him through his friendships. Which was great. But he wanted something more direct. Something where
he
really mattered.

Drew was that something. Rather that some
one
. And in the space of the past sixty minutes, Kevin had embraced the idea fully.

He sighed. “Okay, we’ll leave as soon as my replacement gets here.” He couldn’t really expect the kid to stay here until seven a.m. when his shift was done and then drive to Grover and go to school tomorrow.

“Sam will come as soon as they’re off,” Danika was quick to say.

“Yeah.” He was pretty sure that all of his friends were going to come to Grover.

They wouldn’t miss this for the world.

Chapter Two

“So how long’s it been since you’ve seen Kevin Campbell?”

Two glasses crashed to the floor in the kitchen of Sherry’s Restaurant as Eve Donnelly swung to face her best friend and business partner. “
What
?” she demanded.

Monica blinked innocently. “Kevin Campbell? You remember him?”

She wasn’t innocent at all.

“
Why
would you ask me something like that?” Eve glared at her. She had successfully not thought about Kevin in three weeks and four days.

Well, that wasn’t strictly true. She’d thought of him when Ed Sterham asked for pumpkin pie last week. Pumpkin pie was Kevin’s favorite. But that didn’t really count. She hadn’t
really
thought of him since his dad had come in for lunch three weeks and four days ago.

“Obviously the rumors got me thinking about him.” Monica whacked a potato into little pieces and dumped them in a pan.