Delivering His Gifts (Mountain Men of Liberty #10)- K.C. Crowne Page 0,57

to court for a different custody agreement.

I sighed and closed my eyes to hold back the tears.

I didn’t even say anything, but Greg was already growing impatient with me. “Dammit, Dani,” he said, lowering his voice as if trying to not swear in front of Skyler. “She’s my daughter too. Sorry I forgot that my mom’s birthday was this weekend. Tony just reminded me this morning.”

Breathe, Danielle. Just breathe. He doesn’t know anything, I told myself.

“Can I talk to Skyler for a second, please?”

I heard a muffled sound as the phone was passed to her.

“Hi Mommy!” she said, her voice cheery as usual.

“Hi baby. Do you want to go with your daddy to Grandma’s birthday party?”

“He said Madison and Michelle will be there,” she said excitedly. “I haven’t seen them in years.”

I giggled at her hyperbole. She was simply repeating a phrase she’d probably heard in passing. She’d just seen her cousins a few weeks ago for one of their birthday parties at a waterpark, but to her, a few weeks probably did feel like years.

“So you want to go then?”

“Yes, please, Mommy?” she said, and hearing her beg to stay with her father tugged at my heartstrings. I didn’t want to pull her away from that side of the family. She deserved to know her aunts and uncles and cousins. My heart hurt, though.

“Okay, I love you baby. Can I talk to your daddy, please?”

More muffled noises on the phone as Skyler passed the phone to her father.

“Yes?”

“Is the party tomorrow?” I asked.

“Yes, tomorrow afternoon.”

“Have her back to me by tomorrow evening,” I said, speaking slow and steady.

“I’ll bring her back whenever I damned well please,” he growled, hanging up the phone before I could say anything else.

My hand was trembling, and I nearly dropped the phone.

Skyler was happy. She would be with her other family members. I would put off leaving the house for another day or two. It was unlikely Mason would find us a place to go that quickly anyway. I would just have to act normal until then.

Speaking of Mason… I needed to update him.

I was still in the car, but even there, I didn’t feel 100% certain someone wasn’t listening. Greg could have bugged my car, for all I knew. So I texted him instead.

Hey Mason. Change of plans - can we meet somewhere to talk?

His response came a second later.

I was already on my way, but sure. Meet at the diner in fifteen minutes?

Sounds good, I texted back, tucking the phone away before starting the engine.

Something still didn’t feel right. I couldn’t put my finger on it.

As I drove toward the diner, I remembered past celebrations with his family. His mother’s birthday was always such a big deal. She always expected everyone to come together, so that wasn’t the problem. Especially for a birthday as important as her eightieth.

Her seventieth, I remembered clearly because that was the first time I’d met all of his family.

Wait, it was right after we started dating…we started dating in January. It was July.

I tried to keep my focus on the road, but my head was spinning. I was almost to the diner, and there was nowhere else to turn off. I sped to the diner and parked along the street at the first spot I could find.

With my hands shaking, I reached for my phone and scrolled through my calendar. I kept track of all of Greg’s relative’s birthdays for Skyler’s sake. We tried to send them cards or call them. Even his damned mother.

Henrietta’s birthday. Found it.

My heart stopped as I read the date.

February 25th.

I felt the world cave in around me, like I was suffocating in my own car. Just to be sure I wasn’t losing my mind or had misheard Greg, I tried to call him back.

No answer. It went straight to voicemail.

I didn’t bother leaving a message.

I decided to get some answers about what happened, how Greg got Skyler in the first place. I called Mrs. Ellison.

She answered, and she sounded worried when I told her I was Skyler’s mom. “Oh Danielle, how are you doing? I heard about the accident.”

“What accident?” I stammered.

“Greg told me you were in a car accident. He said it was really bad, and that you were in surgery so you couldn’t call. That’s why he had to pick up Skyler.”

My heart dropped.

“Thank you, Mrs. Ellison. I’m fine. There was no accident.”

“Oh dear, I told him I could keep her until I could speak to you, but he