Delivering His Gifts (Mountain Men of Liberty #10)- K.C. Crowne Page 0,71
of right now, with no proof of the cameras or abuse, it would be unlikely that they’d revoke his rights to see his daughter. We weren’t giving up, but our latest lawyer said it would make us look bad to go against the custody agreement that allowed Greg to have Skyler for a week at Thanksgiving in return for not seeing her at Christmas. They alternated holidays, and everything was fair, according to our lawyer. I thought it was bullshit, but I didn’t want to hurt Danielle’s chances at custody, so I did my best to stay out of it. Last time I got involved, it could have caused problems. Greg hadn’t pressed charges for me punching him - likely because it would have led to a lot more questions - but I could have messed things up.
The front door opened, and Graham entered. “Good news,” he said. “I stopped by your place, Danielle, and checked the mail. You got something from the insurance company, and it looks like it might be a check.”
“Oh, thank God,” Danielle gushed, trying to sit up. Her round belly made it hard, but I helped her.
Graham handed the check to her, and Danielle ripped open the envelope. “Yes, finally,” she said, pushing herself up to her feet with a little groan.
“Where are you going?” I stood up as well.
“To pay that asshole so he can stop sending me notices. I’ll be free from him, finally. Stay with Skyler, please?” She slipped her feet into her flats.
I looked at Graham as Danielle headed for the door.
“I can stay with her, go on,” my brother said, waving for me to follow Danielle.
“Thanks, man.”
I didn’t want her going over to that man’s place alone. It was eight in the evening, so she would likely have to find him at home. I would have argued it could wait until the morning, but she was already getting into her car.
No talking her out of this. She had waited too long for this day. And as much as I hated her not letting me help her, at least now we could be free of him and I could help her rebuild her home and business.
I knocked on her car window, and she gave me a look as if she expected me to argue. She lowered the window and a blast of heat from inside the car felt nice compared to freezing temperatures outside.
“Let’s take the truck. The snow is coming down hard and I’d feel safer with four-wheel drive,” I said.
She smiled and turned off the engine. “Thanks, Mason. I appreciate you agreeing that it’s a good idea to do this now.”
I scoffed. “I don’t know about agree. I figured there was no talking you out of it. You’d do what you want, might as well make sure you’re not doing it alone.”
She got out of the car, and I helped her walk along the slippery driveway to my truck. I also helped lift her up into the seat before hurrying to the driver’s side.
“What’s the plan?” I asked as I got in the truck. “Are we going to deposit the check first?”
“No need to,” she sighed, staring down at the check in her hands. “I’m just going to sign it over to him. He and I discussed that, and I owe more than the amount here anyway. I won’t be totally free. Stupid interest.”
“Let me pay the rest then.”
“No, Mason.”
“I need to make sure you, Skyler, and my babies have a roof over your head, so yes, I’m going to do this. You can’t stop me from doing this one little thing.”
She sighed but stopped arguing with me.
We pulled up to Jim’s place, and I parked out front. I’d wanted to tell her to let me handle it, but he wouldn’t accept payment from me before. I helped her from the truck and we walked up to the house.
She rang the doorbell and we waited. Of course, Frank answered the door. When he saw me, he almost closed the door without a word, but I stopped him by putting my foot in the way.
“She’s here to pay off her debt to Mr. King. I’m only accompanying her.”
“She can pay in the morning at his office.”
“No, she’s paying now,” I said, unwavering.
Frank met my gaze, and there must have been something in my eyes, because he stood down. “Let me talk to Mr. King. Wait here.”
I didn’t let him close the door. “We’re not going anywhere.”