The Magnolia Sisters (Magnolia Sisters #1) - Michelle Major Page 0,101

“Stop, Stacy. Whatever you think you know, I don’t want to hear it.”

She flipped open the laptop on the desk, hit a few buttons, then turned the computer toward him. “I tracked down someone close to the man’s wife. They were married at the time Avery was with him. These are photos of their son in the hospital with injuries he sustained in the car accident.”

Bile rose in his throat, his gaze riveted to the photos of a dark-haired boy only a few years older than Violet. The child’s head was bandaged and both his right arm and leg casted. He didn’t want to look. He couldn’t believe the Avery he knew was capable of causing injury to an innocent boy. But none of the myriad of rationales racing through his mind explained why she wouldn’t have told him about her past. She knew what Stacy’s betrayal had cost him, the damage caused by the destruction of his marriage.

“Tell me how,” he whispered, his mind reeling at the memory of Avery evading questions about her past. “How did she cause it?”

His ex slammed shut the laptop. “You can ask her. Or don’t.” She gave him a pointed look. “The details don’t matter. That woman isn’t fit to be part of my daughter’s life. You have to see that.” She stood. “And certainly your pathetic bid for a change in our custody agreement is ridiculous in light of this.”

“One has nothing to do with the other,” he said, but the words sounded weak even to him.

“Of course it does.” Stacy walked around the desk and strode to the door, hips swaying as if she owned the world.

Owned him anyway. Which it appeared she did at the moment.

“I might be dedicated to my career,” she said in a strident tone. “Perhaps I’ve missed a few scheduled visitations. But I’m careful about who I let into her life.”

Gray wanted to argue. Stacy didn’t let Violet meet her boyfriends because she dated the type of guys who were interested in a sophisticated doctor, not a single mother with the complication of a kid who needed her.

But he didn’t protest. It took enough for him to stand with his weak knees and walk toward the door with his head held high.

“I still want custody,” he managed to say. “It’s best for Violet.”

“What about your girlfriend?” Stacy arched a brow as he moved past her.

“I’ll deal with it,” he promised, although he had absolutely no idea how to manage that when he could hardly catch a breath. Not when his heart had just broken in two.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

AVERY SMOOTHED A hand over her hair when she heard Gray’s truck rumble into the driveway later that afternoon.

“He’s here,” Violet said, clapping her hands.

Spot yipped and ran in an enthusiastic circle around the girl’s legs. Avery couldn’t help but smile. A few weeks ago the dog wouldn’t have bothered to get up. Spot was now down four pounds, well on her way to a normal weight for a dog her size. It was time, she knew, to let the animal go.

She had no doubt Meredith would find a great home for Spot. The real question was whether Avery could stand to let her go.

Would it be so wrong to keep her? Could she claim this new life, dog and everything?

The conversation with the Realtor still played in her mind. She had to make a decision. If she could convince Douglas Damon to sell the property downtown and her sisters to support the idea, the money would go a long way to helping her start on a new path. But she knew how much the gallery meant to Carrie and how nervous Malcolm and the others were about losing control over the business district. She’d given them a plan for revitalization and if her path led her to remain in Magnolia, there was no reason to sell.

Stay in the moment, she told herself. Gray’s mom had been with Violet after school while Gray finished his shift. But when Lila had asked Avery to stay with the girl so she could attend an author event with her book club, Avery