“I love the people who love me. Like you and Pops and Gran. Nina is my bestest friend and I love Miss Maggie and Auntie Erin too. Ben and Todd are nice, Uncle Adrian too. But Brody is my favorite after you, Pops and Gran.”

Elise had to close her eyes a moment, and Erin broke in, tears in her voice but a smile on her face. “I love you too, Rennie, and so do all my guys. We’re family. Sometimes family is made up of people you’re related to like your mom and your grandparents, and sometimes it’s made up of people you choose to make your family, like Brody and me.”

“Can I wear my princess dress to bed?”

“Nicely done on the sympathy pull, Irene. But how about you sleep in pajamas? That dress isn’t for sleeping in. Go on now. I’ll be in to read you a story in a few.”

“Adrian is reading me a story. He already called dibs on it.”

“Okay then. But you still need to wash your face and brush your teeth.”

Rennie ran off in the wake of kisses and hugs, and Elise headed out to the kitchen for the phone.

Brody sidled up to her and kissed her cheek. “What’s going on? Rennie listened to the voice mail and ran back toward your room.”

“Dunno. I need to listen to something.”

Listen she did. Listen as her former mother-in-law called her a whore and a cunt. Listened as they threatened to end her, to take everything she’d ever loved. Her hands shook as she made sure to save before hanging up.

Brody, seeing her distress and not bothering to ask, picked the phone up and dialed back in, listening to the message. He’d checked her voice mail often enough he knew the code. Part of her liked that, even as his face darkened while he listened and then hung up.

“You need to send that to your lawyer. Now.”

“Yes. I want to get Rennie to bed first and then I will. I can’t fall apart right now. She can never see how much they affect me. I won’t allow it.”

“I’m sorry. I wish . . . I wish I could just poof them out of existence. She’s wrong, you know. Vile and hateful and totally wrong. You’re none of the things she said. Why would she be so stupid as to say all that? I don’t understand it.”

“They never seem to get that they’ll be held responsible for the things they do and say. She knows I’m not only going to fight back, but that they opened the door with their petition and that must burn her buttons. They can’t argue against a significant change in circumstances when they’re the ones who brought it up. So now the door is open and she can’t handle not being in control.”

He sighed and held her for a moment. “Just hold on. You’re going to win here.”

“I hope so. It’s a huge gamble. But she threw up after the last call. I can’t have that.”

“Nope. And you don’t need to be called a rasher of names on your own voice mail.”

“The awesome thing was that they were insisting they didn’t know my home phone number. They complained about not having it in case of emergency, saying I held it back. Which I did of course, for this very reason. But this proves they have the number, so pffft to them.”

She waited until Adrian finished the story before tucking Rennie in and turning out her light. Then she forwarded the voice mail to both her attorneys. She wouldn’t allow them to break her. She needed to be whole for Rennie. Needed to be whole to run her business and live her life. They wouldn’t steal it from her any longer.

The hearing the following day would be a preliminary one, but an important one. She visited with everyone for a while longer, but they all left by ten, including Brody. He wanted to stay, but she needed the time to get herself together, needed the space. And he’d been grumpy about it, but he’d gone after a kiss and a promise to see her the next afternoon.

As she lay in bed, listening to the sounds the house made as it settled, she realized Brody had been incredibly accommodating. He’d worked hard not to be pushy, and although he still was, he was trying. She appreciated that. Appreciated how much energy he put into being with her. He’d called her his girlfriend the month before, and it was true. She’d come a long way in the last year since she’d arrived in Seattle, and he was part of it.

If luck would just hold out a bit more and keep Rennie where she belonged.

24

“Hey, Brody.” Raven plopped herself into his lap and put her arms around his neck.

He raised his brows at her. “Raven, what brings you to my lap?”

“I like it here. It’s just the right size for me. You haven’t played with me for a long time. I feel neglected.”

“We just all went out to play pool last Friday. We played then.”

“Not that kind of play. Anyway, you brought her and never took your eyes from her all night long. Like I wasn’t even there.”

“What’s up with you, Raven? I mean, come on, I’ve been with Elise for a year now. Even before that, there was no romance between you and me for at least two years.”

“Pfft romance. See, that’s what I mean. Before she came along we didn’t need romance. We had f**king. Do you remember f**king?”

He sighed and moved her so he could stand. “Cut the shit. You don’t want me. Why the hell are you pulling this crap? We’re friends and you’re endangering that. We’ve been friends for longer than we were lovers. I have a lot of shit on my plate just now. Elise is dealing with some personal stuff and I need to be present for her and Rennie.”