around in the carrier to face me. I unbuckled her and held her in a hug. “Shh, it’s okay, baby girl. Papa’s coming.” But he wouldn’t be Papa for long. What would I tell Parrish if I lost Marigold? That his dreams of becoming a parent had been dashed again?
I felt my face begin to tingle and my hands start to shake. Suddenly, cool fingers clasped my neck. I turned to see Ava with a concerned expression. “You okay?” she asked softly.
After shaking my head once again, I busied myself checking through the backpack for my folder. The least I could do was make sure I had all of the necessary items for the judge.
Ava brushed some lint off my jacket shoulder. “Oh, by the way, I saw a bunch of fancy lawyers at the coffee cart outside. They should be here any… oh look. There they are.”
I glanced up and saw four familiar attorneys approaching. Ian Merchant was carrying a drinks carrier with an extra cup. When they approached with all smiles, Ian offered it to me. “Diesel, we heard from the clerk that they’re running a few minutes behind. When we tried calling you, it went straight to voicemail.”
I checked my phone again and discovered the ringer volume was all the way down. Mari had been grabbing for it earlier, so I shouldn’t have been surprised. I desperately clicked through to see if I’d missed any calls from Parrish, but there was still nothing.
I tried him again. No answer.
“I don’t think he’s coming,” I said hoarsely. “Something must have happened.”
I heard a snicker from behind me and turned to see the Kensingtons’ attorney. The last time I’d seen him, he’d been a smarmy jackass, trying everything to make me look like a loser if not a criminal.
I tried ignoring him.
“C’mon,” the guy said. “We all knew this was going to happen. It’s exactly what he did with his previous—”
I stepped forward to get in his face before remembering I was holding Marigold. Thankfully, Ian stepped between us and held out his hand to the man. “Darren, nice to see you again. I heard about Moffie’s fall. I was sorry to hear about her hip. How’s she doing?”
The opposing attorney looked surprised when he caught sight of Ian. “Oh, ah, fine. She’ll be back racing in no time. How’s Kana?”
They spoke about their wives for several minutes while one of Ian’s associates tried to distract me by saying hello to Marigold. Her little forehead crinkled in confusion when he played peek-a-boo with his necktie. I appreciated the effort, but I agreed with the baby. He looked silly.
“Do you know their wives?” I asked.
The associate straightened. “Wives? Oh! No, Moffie and Kana are horses. Two-year-olds. They race on the same circuit as the Kensingtons.” He lowered his voice. “Darren’s been married like four times, and the last one cut out six months ago. Moffie’s lasted longer than she did.”
Jeez. Like I needed more reason to worry about Marigold living with these people.
“Diesel.”
I turned and looked down at my aunt, whose gray head barely reached my shoulder. “Hey, Aunt Birdie. I was gonna come over and say hi. I didn’t expect to see you two here today! Thought you still had a couple more days touring… Helsinki, was it? On your great European tour?”
“It was Zagreb. Helsinki was before that. And we cut our trip short soon as Ava messaged Dotty about Marigold’s custody hearing today.” She scowled. “Poor Dotty thought Ava must’ve lost her mind. ‘Custody?’ she said. ‘Not our Diesel! No way. Surely if he were fighting for custody of a baby, we’d know about it.’ But sure enough, Ava ain’t the crazy one.” She set her hands on her hips. “What is wrong with you, Edwin Church?”
Hearing that name, my real name, in a tone of voice that implied I was crazy brought me up short. Did Aunt Birdie doubt my ability to parent a child too?
“Well, I—” I cuddled Marigold closer. “I wasn’t sure what else to do. Beth left her to me, and at first I took care of her for Beth’s sake, but now I love her more than life, just for her own sake. She’s a great kid—smart, funny, adorable.”
“Bah,” Marigold agreed, reaching for Birdie’s hair. Birdie’s face softened, and she kissed Mari’s palm before scowling again.
“I’m learning to take care of her, with Parrish’s help,” I assured her. “I know I don’t know anything about taking care of a baby, but—”