Ultimate Surrender: The Surrender Series, Book 2 (28 page)

He handed over the paper to her and pointed to the top. “I verified the information about names, last known address, phone number is a valid number that is tied to the parents. The rest I left up to you to find out, but I think you’re going to like what you find out.”

The words just wouldn’t make sense. She tried for what seemed like a minute or two before she finally shook her head. “What’s my son’s name? What did they name him?”

He pointed to a bold name at the top with a line under it. “Cooper. His name is Cooper. And he’s eleven.”

“Cooper,” she repeated, trying it on for size. “That’s a good name. Good for a young boy and a man.” Eleven. She replayed what Campbell said and then thought of something else. She flipped the paper over and then looked up at him. “Have you seen what he looks like? Seen a picture of him and his family?”

He hesitated and then nodded.

“Why’d you hesitate?” Fear cramped her sides and she almost wanted to take it back again.

“Nothing bad, Natalie. So sorry. I didn’t mean to panic you. I thought about printing out pictures but you’ve already had a rough day and I didn’t know how much you really wanted to take on tonight. He, uhh…” He rubbed a hand over his short hair. “He actually looks a lot like you. Like…a lot.”

Natalie smiled and then giggled. “He does?”

He pulled her into his lap and held her close as she clutched the paper to her chest.

“That’s incredible.” She stared at the paper again and stared at the address and phone number. “They’re in South Carolina. Same time zone.” She looked at her watch. “And it’s only seven thirty. Should I call them? Kathryn and Klynt Oakridge. Cooper Oakridge. Damn. This is totally surreal.”

“Completely up to you. I bet they’ll still be up and you could call.”

“But it’s a school night. I’d hate to call and wake them up.”

Campbell smiled and pulled her a bit closer so he could kiss her cheek. “Pretty sure seven thirty there is a lot like seven thirty here. How about I take the dogs out and you can have a teensy bit of privacy? Now understand this is no pressure. Anything with this you have to make the decision and I’m just going to support you. Okay?”

Turning sideways in his lap, she wrapped her arms around him. “Thanks.”

“Welcome.”

Super quick she stood up and helped get the dogs on their leashes before Campbell kissed her mouth and then took them out.

Starling fell asleep somewhere in the changing of the guards and Natalie hunkered close to her for moral support.

Staring at the number wasn’t going to get her anywhere. “Nut up,” she ordered herself and finally pushed the buttons to get the phone on, number inputted and then—

“Hello,” a masculine voice that sounded a few years old than her answered.

She swallowed twice, panicking just a bit because she had no idea the topics she could cover, they’d be receptive of, and what she could handle and what she couldn’t. “My name is Natalie. Is this Klynt by any chance?” Shaking like a leaf didn’t come close to the tremors running through her.

“It is. What can I do for you?”

She bit her lip and closed her eyes, immediately transported to another time and place, giving birth to a son who was all too quickly taken from her. “A little over eleven years ago, on August 22, I gave birth to a dark-haired little boy in a private birthing facility in California. I gave him up for adoption and I have good reason to believe your son is that little boy.”

“Oh my God. Kathryn,” he yelled.

And Natalie knew she’d found her son.

Chapter Twenty-Six

Campbell

Campbell stepped into her office at the clinic the next morning and she was staring at her phone again. “Get a new picture?”

She looked up at him and grinned. Her smile was happy but guarded, and he couldn’t blame her. Talk about having a shit-ton of info dumped in her lap in less than twenty-four hours.

Glancing into the bassinet, he made sure Starling was still sleeping. She’d been fussy the night before after they’d tried putting her to bed. Teething, Natalie suggested, but he sure didn’t want to rock the nap boat she was rowing on.

She flipped her phone around, showing a picture of a smiling boy with a couple teeth missing on the side as he hugged a golden retriever. “From the dad?” he asked as he took her phone and stared at the little boy who looked so much like her no one could miss the family resemblance.

“Yes.”

He handed the phone back and leaned his hip against her desk.

“His wife, he said, is still scared and doesn’t want to really talk to me yet. I can understand that.”

Her mouth said the words, but her hurt expression said otherwise.

“Hearing that Cooper is healthy and wicked smart and a dog lover just knocked me on my ass. Uhh…” She turned off the screen on her phone and set it on her desk. “Sorry for blubbering all over you last night in the shower. No clue what came over me.”

Her self-deprecating face pissed him off. “Natalie.” He said her name in the tone she couldn’t ignore but she actually tried for a second.

When her gaze finally flipped up to meet his, he told her, “Don’t ever apologize for your show of emotion. It’s raw and beautiful and makes me feel incredibly special that you would…” He wanted to use the word trust but he specifically avoided using that word with her. “Share that with me.”

She made another face and he had a feeling he was still only seeing a glimpse into the true level of emotions she was capable of. He grinned and couldn’t wait to see more. Deciding to drop the subject was hard, but he did it anyway. “Any plans to talk on the phone again with them?”

“Couple weeks after they’ve both had time to process and talk about it. Cooper knows he’s adopted but not much else. And with them living in South Carolina it’s not like it’s super easy for them or me to hop in the car and take a trip.”

“We could always take a long weekend. Get out of Manhattan for a little bit. It’s an option.”

She nodded and tilted her head to the side to stare at him. “It’s funny.”

“What is?”

“I still like talking to you.”

“Uhh, is that one of those backward compliments you seem to like doling out to me?”

She grinned. “Not backward at all.” Something on her screen pinged, probably one of the thousands of emails she was forced to deal with every day. “We’re together, all the time. I truly expected you to annoy the crap out of me.”

“Backward,” he added dryly.

“I’m getting to the good part.”

“Thank goodness.”

Sticking her tongue out at him, she grabbed her mouse and started clicking on things on the screen. “Even together all the time I really like talking to you. And your opinion matters. Never saw that happening.”

“Agreed. You aren’t like normal chicks.”

Up went her single eyebrow. “Normal? Chicks?”

“You know exactly what I’m talking about so don’t give me the death stare. The ones who are catty and shrill and talk shit out of both sides of their mouths. Disingenuous. You’re real. You speak your mind and it doesn’t piss me off. Epic.”

“Can’t stand women like that. It’s so pointless.”

“Yes, but to them it’s their life’s work.”

“Agreed.”

“Hey, you got a minute? I didn’t just barge in here to chitchat about how awesome I am.”

“Shocking.”

He glared at her and she grinned.

“Wyatt called a minute ago.”

Talk about getting her attention. “And?”

“Eric cracked the stick.”

“And?” she asked a little louder and then glanced in Starling’s direction.

Campbell did too, but the sleeping girl stayed down. “Lots more kiddie porn, animal sex, whatever it’s called when you screw dead people. You name it, there were hundreds of them. So it looks like Wren was more than likely the person who put the stuff on your PC the first time. Why, they don’t know. May never know since she’s not around to answer more questions.”

“How’d they get in?”

“The password. Wren gave it to you.”

“Eagle whatever and the numbers? That was the password?”

He nodded.

“It’s all so strange. I had a thought this morning, especially after all the talk of familial names. I have a family bible in the top of the office closet. I pulled it out while you were in the shower. Looked it over. Tried to see if anyone else on my mother’s side of the family could have snuck in with some relative I didn’t know.”

“And?”

“Nothing. My grandmother only had two children. My mother, and my Uncle Steve.”

“You have no siblings, but what about Steve?”

“Ugh. One daughter. Lory. Thank God he never procreated further. What an asshat.”

Campbell grinned. “The gene pool in general would do better with that mentality.”

“There should be some kind of questionnaire people should have to fill out when they reach maturity.”

“Amen to that.” He laughed softly and stared around her office at all the pictures on the walls. He’d looked at them countless times. One whole wall was completely covered with them. Frame after frame filled with a random collection of things. Famous places, random landscapes he didn’t recognize, propeller airplanes, hot air balloons, rainbows, a Super Bowl picture. “Hey?”

Another ping chimed on her machine. “What?”

“What is the wall-o-pictures? It’s like a puzzle and I’ve been staring at it for weeks and I can’t figure it out.”

“Figure what out?” She seemed a bit distracted as she clicked on more things on her screen.

“What are the pictures of? They’re beautiful and colorful but they don’t seem to all belong together.”

She glanced past him at the wall. “Oh. It’s all things I want to do. Places I want to visit. Activities I want to do some day.”

Her answer surprised him. Shocked the hell out of him actually.

A realization he’d been fighting hit him. Hard.

He couldn’t be happier. With her, with Starling. And he had no idea what to do with that, fully knowing the situation was temporary. They’d figure out what was going on with everything or as much as they could past Wren and her husband being the bad guys and she’d move on. So would he. Totally. But he should be happy about that and missing his bachelor life. Jonesing to get away and sow more wild oats.

The impetus to do any of that had been absent since almost the first moment they were together. He didn’t look at other chicks. Not because he wasn’t supposed to but because he didn’t want to.

He shook his head and looked back at the wall with the new filter in place of what the images really were. “Skydiving? Really?”

Her voice had gone quiet. Distant. “We only live once, right?”

Turning around, he saw her face had gone ashen.

“Natalie? What is it? Did you get another email from the asshat?”

“No.” She reached for her cup of tea and her hand shook as she lifted it to her mouth.

“What happened?”

“I just got an email from the adoption director through children’s services.”

“And?”

“She thinks they have a family interested in taking Starling. Adopting her.”

“That’s good, right?” He said it because he was supposed to say it, but he honestly wanted to put his hand through her monitor instead.

“Sure, but…”

“But?” He took a step closer and latched on to that single syllable as if it would keep him from the pits of hell. Which he prayed it would.

She rubbed her lips and set her cup down. “But I want to keep her. I’ve never felt that before and that’s not fair to her.”

“Why isn’t that fair? You love her and that means more than anything.”

Her gaze flipped up to his. “How do you know I love her?”

“You’ve said it hundreds of times. Thousands probably.”

She seemed totally perplexed. “No I haven’t. I just told her last night for the first time. I’d never said it before. Not ever.”

“Sure you have. You put everything on hold to take her. You’ve rearranged your life around her. You bathe her, you feed her, talk to her, sing to her. That’s love. Each of those things and all of the late nights and early mornings. Giving up sleep and rolling with it as something you’re happily doing because she needed someone to protect her and care for her. Just because you haven’t said it before doesn’t mean she doesn’t already know.”

For a long time Natalie stared anywhere but at him. Then she changed the subject. “To the state having two parents means more than that. Being a family member trumps everything.”

“But you are a family member. Sort of.”

“I can’t prove it though. No family tree connection. I could always try a DNA test with the off chance Wren knew something I didn’t but that’s quite a Hail Mary if I’ve ever heard one.”

“She knows you. She’s used to you. That has to count for something.”

“It absolutely does but I just don’t know if that will trump a
real
family.”

“That’s a crock of shit. There is no
real
family anymore. There are so many different kinds now there’s not one type that can wear that label alone.”

“Tell that to the New York State Department.”

“Fine. Then we should just get married and adopt her.” It was out of his mouth so quick he actually shocked himself silent. He waited for the panic to set in, the backpedaling, the “whoa whoa whoa” hand motion with a bad case of temporary Ebola to blame it on.

It never came.

Not any of it.

Only one thing settled over him, a sense of rightness he’d never expected to feel.

He blinked down at Natalie and the look on her face was more of the what-the-fuck variety.

“Have you lost your mind?”

“Tell me what doesn’t work in that situation.”

She rolled her eyes.

He growled.

She smiled.

“I’m serious.”

Starling wiggled in the corner and immediately started fussing.

Natalie stood to go get her. “Oh come on. In what universe does that option make any sense?”

“This one. I love her too.”

She scooped her up and settled her against her shoulder and started pacing. “I get that, but this situation is temporary and we both know it. It’s what we agreed to.”

“You sound like a lawyer.”

“Well, one of us has to be the grown-up here.” She threw the words at him and it rubbed him the wrong way.

“I’m the one who proposed. That’s pretty damn grown-up.”

“You didn’t propose.”

“I said we should get married.”

“That’s equivalent to saying we should get Thai for dinner.”

He growled again and hated that she wasn’t taking him serious.

Mid-pace she stopped and faced him. “Do you love me?”

“Uhh…” Yeah, probably not the best thing to lead with, but she seriously caught him off-guard. “We’re a good match. We enjoy each other’s company. We’re beyond compatible in bed.”

“And the longest relationship you’ve ever had waaassss?” She dragged the word out while giving him a patronizing expression.

“Aren’t girls supposed to fawn all over dudes that ask them to marry them?”

“There are so many things wrong with that statement. You just told me earlier you liked that I wasn’t a typical chick, I’m not fawning all over you because you’re making this sound like a business transaction, and you still never asked me anything. How’s that Thai food idea? And stop avoiding the question. How long?”

Starling ramped up the fussing and Natalie resumed pacing.

Campbell rubbed a hand over his hair, wondering where he’d gone wrong. He knew full well he could tell her he loved her and it would set everything right. He could get a ring and get down on one knee in the middle of Rockefeller Plaza on the damn ice rink, which he didn’t want to do.

But did he love her?

Like really love her?

He loved fucking her.

Loved how she loved Starling.

Loved her drive and ambition.

She was wicked smart and funny, and her attitude turned him on instead of pissing him off.

“That’s what I thought,” Natalie muttered, and she grabbed the diaper bag and her coat all while juggling Starling as she really let loose with the crying.

“I didn’t answer.”

“Which is enough of an answer for me.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Another what-the-fuck face came his way as she grabbed the doorknob. “You can take your marriage proposal and stick it up your sewer pipe. I don’t need you. I don’t need anybody. And for your information I’ve already started adoption proceedings.”

“Are you kidding me? And you didn’t tell me any of that, why?”

“It was your business, how?”

“I’m her other foster parent. Been here every step of the way and I’ve helped raise her thus far just as much as you have. Loved every minute of it.”

“And you’d marry me to what? Just so you could keep the baby?” She looked offended.

Good thing he didn’t immediately say yes to that question. He could get a two-fer. How awesome would that be? “We need to finish talking about this.”

“Oh, I’m quite done at the moment.”

“Well I’m not,” he had to practically shout over Starling crying.

Natalie gave him her answer as soon as she opened the door to her office.

It was a one-finger salute.

He wiped a hand down his face as she turned the corner down the hall.

Well.

That didn’t go well.