Page 64 of See You Again
He cleared his throat roughly. “Yes, thank you. I haven’t had a chance to look at them yet, but I think it will save us a lot of time. Are you all right with me sharing them with my family? It might be helpful if you spoke to them as well.” He made a wry face. “They’ll have questions. They always do.”
“Of course. I hope it helps.” She paused, her next words hesitant. “It’s hard looking into the deaths of strangers—even though I feel like I know them. It must be incredibly difficult for it to be a parent.”
Emotion skated through his eyes but was gone just as quickly as if he’d banished it. He stepped onto her front porch before turning back.
“I was serious before. Even with defense training and a taser, you shouldn’t be going to these meetings alone.”
“I’m a big girl, James, and I’ve been doing this for a while. But I promise I won’t take any unnecessary risks.” Cami patted his chest in what was supposed to be a playful, comforting gesture, but he reached up and trapped her hand under his.
The breath in her lungs froze, and it took all of her willpower to keep her hand still instead of exploring the warm muscle she could feel through his dress shirt.
“I’m serious.” James bent his head, his gray eyes boring into hers. “If Madison can’t go to one of these interviews, call me. I’ll go with you.”
Acting on impulse, Cami lifted up on her tiptoes and pressed her lips to his stubbled cheek. “You’re really very sweet when you want to be, Mr. Bloom.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
“Are you going to tell me what’s wrong?” Cami asked Madison when her friend finally arrived at their offices around lunch. Her normally beautiful friend looked terrible. Madison’s skin was dull, and deep circles ringed her eyes. “Are you sick? Is that why you cancelled girls’ night last night and took the morning off?”
Madison swallowed hard, and her eyes filled with tears.
“Oh my god? What is it?” Cami’s teasing turned to genuine alarm.
“Jax’s father is back. He is suing for custody.”
Cami’s lips parted in dismay. “But… But he hasn’t been part of Jax’s life since before he was born! You’ve had him this whole time.”
Madison’s lips trembled. “I was served with papers after work yesterday. I suspected it was coming… I’d heard Felix was back but… I met with a lawyer friend this morning. At first, I thought it was just a waste of time and money. But apparently Felix might have a case. He’s the biological father, and technically, I’m just an aunt.” Her voice broke.
“You are Jax’s mother in every way that matters,” Cami said fiercely. When Madison’s sister died, her infant son was only six months old, and Madison had stepped up to raise him.
“But you have custody, right? He can’t just waltz in and?—”
“He’s claiming he didn’t know Opal was pregnant. It’s not true. I know Opal told him. He didn’t want the responsibility, and he bailed. He’s not a nice person, Cam,” she whispered. “I won’t let him have Jax.”
Cami pulled her friend into a tight hug. “Of course not! What do your parents say?”
She made a face. “There is a lot of hand wringing, but we don’t have time for that. You know them. They won’t fight for Jax. Just like they never fought for me or Opal.”
“What can I do to help?”
“I don’t know. I have a lot of paperwork I have to get together, make the house look perfect. My lawyer says there will be home visits and psychiatric evaluations.” She buried her head in her hands. “Felix is married now, and because I’m a single mom, apparently that’s less than ideal.”
“What is this, the 1950s?” Cami asked, outraged.
“I don’t know.” Madison sounded exhausted. “I don’t want to think about this right now.”
“Can I get you something to drink?” Gerry hovered nearby.
Madison gave him a small smile before squaring her shoulders. “Thank you, but no. I’m okay. We have a lot of work to do. We need to splice together the sound bites from the Wheaton interviews with your phone interview yesterday.”
Still frowning, Cami followed her friend into their conference room and pulled out her recorder and notes. “I had my notes transcribed.”
“I’m sorry.” Madison sighed. “With everything going on, I haven’t had a chance to read them.”
Cami covered her best friend’s hand with one of her own. “It’s okay. I’ll fill you in on the highlights.”
After Cami gave her partner a synopsis of what she thought should be included, Madison looked thoughtful.