A Daddy for Jacoby - By Christyne Butler Page 0,73
tomorrow. To show her how much we love her and thank her for the stories she’s read to us.”
Jacoby went back to work on his sign. The late-May afternoon sun streamed through the window, drying the letters he’d already finished.
Still processing the news, Justin walked into his kitchen to grab a soda from the refrigerator.
“You didn’t know?”
Racy’s softly voiced question caused Justin to look at her again. He opened the can and took a long draw from it before answering her. “No, but I can tell from the expression on your face you did.”
She nodded. “On the same crazy day you decided the best way to handle the news of a possible baby was to suggest a shotgun wedding, she told me she planned to go back to school—away from Destiny.”
“A shotgun wedding, huh? Like the good sheriff would’ve allowed anything else if she really had been pregnant.” Justin slumped to the kitchen counter next to his sister and pressed the cold can to his forehead.
“Well, I thought it was sweet.”
“Sweet?” Justin lowered the can and glanced over his shoulder at Jacoby to make sure he wasn’t listening. “Gina hates me now thanks to my big mouth.”
Racy put down her glass of iced tea and laid a hand on Justin’s arm. “Oh, honey, please don’t think that way. She doesn’t hate you. That’s the last thing she feels. She—”
Justin looked at his sister when she cut off her own words. “She…what?”
Racy shook her head and offered a gentle squeeze. “Sorry, big brother, but you’re on your own figuring that one out. Not that you’ve had much time to think about her feelings or even your own when it comes to the two of you. I know it’s been a demanding week for you.”
Demanding was exactly right. It’d been a hell of a week.
Justin had spent Monday in three separate meetings. First with a lawyer recommended by Jennifer Steele, then with Jacoby’s doctor and then with the Ellsworths.
In that order.
He’d filed the paperwork requesting physical custody of Jacoby and things were looking good for the request to go through without any issues, considering the Ellsworths had agreed with the idea.
Jacoby’s grandparents had decided they didn’t want to use the loss of their daughter to cause another parent to be separated from his child.
They asked for visitations and Justin had agreed, promising to bring Jacoby to see them at least once a month. From there, they could work their way up to the boy spending longer periods of time with his grandparents.
“Yeah, demanding,” Justin agreed when he noticed his sister seemed to be waiting for a reply. “But, geez, I must’ve really been out of it not to hear my son tell me that Gina was packing her bags and getting out of Dodge.”
“Maybe she doesn’t think she has any reason to stay,” Racy said with a smile. “Yes, her family is here, but they’ll always be her family no matter where she is. She doesn’t have a job and volunteering at the library is what fueled her desire to be a teacher.”
“A teacher?”
Racy nodded. “She’s going back to school to get her teaching credentials in elementary education.”
Justin couldn’t believe it. After she’d put that idea in his head a few weeks ago, she was now taking her own advice. Gina would be an awesome teacher, she had a natural gentleness with kids Jacoby’s age. She didn’t talk down to them or make what they had to say seem unimportant.
He’d actually found himself on the website for the University of Wyoming, looking at their College of Education. Becoming a teacher himself was still just a dream, but he’d enjoyed working on a scared-straight type of program for teens while in prison. Maybe he could start off being a temporary and work his way up.
“Justin? Did I lose you again?”
“Huh?” He snapped out of his thoughts to find his sister grabbing her purse and coat. “Ah, when is Gina leaving?”
“Tomorrow after the Memorial Day parade.”
“Tomorrow?” His heart seized in his chest, waiting a full heartbeat before it resumed an unsteady pounding. “Why so soon?”
“She’s hoping to get into a summer session.”
Racy gave him a quick kiss and headed for the door. Justin walked with her, waiting as she stopped to give Jacoby a goodbye kiss, as well, then followed her out to her car.
“If you’ve got something to tell her, I think you better do it today,” she said, climbing behind the wheel. “Before it’s too late.”
He waited until she put on her