“She’s not.”

“Good.” She nodded.

“She’s taking Talon for a walk.”

“What?!” Jane exclaimed, shocked. “I told you I didn’t want her around my child.”

“And I told you that you didn’t have a say in the matter. What exactly are you doing back here, Jane? What do you want?”

There was a moment where her eyes locked with mine. She looked nothing like her sister. There was no light in her eyes, only her dark irises that didn’t contain much heart within them, but her voice contained more gentleness than I’d ever witnessed before. “I want my family back,” she whispered. “I want you and Talon in my life.”

I couldn’t believe the nerve of her—to think she could just walk back into our lives as if she hadn’t taken a year-long vacation.

“That’s not happening,” I told her.

She tightened her fists. “Yes, it is. I know I made a mistake leaving, but I want to make it right. I want to be here for the rest of her years. I deserve that right.”

“You deserve nothing. Nothing. I was hoping we wouldn’t have to go to court, but if that’s the way it’s going to be, that’s the way it’s going to be. I’m not afraid to fight for my daughter.”

“Don’t do this, Graham. You really don’t want to,” she warned, but I didn’t care. “I’m a lawyer.”

“I’ll fight you.”

“I’ll win,” she told me. “And I’ll take her from you. I’ll take her away from this place if it means Lucy won’t be anywhere near her.”

“Why do you hate her so much?” I blurted out. “She’s the best person I’ve ever met.”

“Then you need to meet more people.”

My chest was on fire at the idea of this monster taking my child from me. “You cannot come back and just decide you’re ready to be a mother. That’s not how it works, and I would never in my life let you do that. You have no right to her, Jane. You are nothing to that child. You mean nothing to her. You’re merely a human who abandoned a child because of your own selfish needs. You are not equipped to take my child away from me, even if you are a lawyer.”

“I can do it,” she said confidently, but I noticed the vein popping out of her head from her anger building. “I won’t stand around and see my daughter be transformed into the person Lucy is.” Her words made my skin crawl. I hated the way she spoke as if Lucy was the monster in our lives. As if Lucy hadn’t saved me from myself. As if Lucy was anything less than a miracle.

“And who are you to say who Talon can and cannot be around?” I asked, my chest aching as my heart beat rapidly.

“I’m her mother!”

“And I’m her father!”

“No, you’re not!” she screamed, the back of her throat burning from anger as her words bounced off the walls and slammed into my soul.

It was as if a bomb went off in the living room and shook the entire foundation of my life. “What?” I asked, my eyes narrow and low. “What did you just say to me?”

“What?” a voice questioned from behind us. Lucy stood there with Talon in the stroller, stunned.

Jane’s body was still, except for her shaky hands. When her eyes met Talon’s, her shoulders rounded, and I saw it happen—her heart started to break, but I didn’t care. Not for a moment did I care about her pained expression. All I cared about was the fact that she was trying to tear my family away from me.

“I said, you’re…” She swallowed hard, looking at the floor.

“Look at me,” I ordered, my voice stern and loud. Her head rose and she blinked once before releasing a heavy sigh. “Now repeat yourself.”

“You’re not her father.”

She was lying.

She was evil.

She was dirty.

She was the monster I always thought I would be.

“How dare you walk in here with your lies to try to take her,” I whispered low, trying my best not to let them overtake me—my shadows, my ghosts, my fears.

“It’s not…” She grimaced and shook her head back. “I, um…”

“It’s time for you to leave,” I said, sounding strong, hiding my fear. A part of me believed her. A part of me felt as if there was always that feeling somewhere deep in the back of my mind and I just did my best to hide it, but a bigger part of me looked at Talon and saw pieces of me in her stare. I saw myself in her smile. I saw the best parts of me in her soul. She was mine, and I was hers.

“You were on a book tour,” she whispered, her voice shaky. “I, um, I was sick for weeks around that time, and I remember being annoyed that you went a week without even checking on me while you were on the road.”

My mind started racing back to that time period, trying to grasp any memories, trying to pick up any kind of clues. Talon had been early. When I’d thought she was thirty-one weeks, she was twenty-eight, but I hadn’t let that idea simmer. Talon was my daughter. My baby. My heart. I couldn’t imagine that being anything less than true. “You had the flu, and you kept calling me.”

“I just wanted…” She paused, unsure what else to say. “He stopped by to check on me.”

Lucy’s voice was low. “Who’s he?” she asked.

Jane didn’t reply, but I knew exactly who Jane was speaking of. She’d told me the story many times. How caring he was, while I was cold. How he was gentle to all people. How he was always there for strangers, and truly there for those he loved.

“My father,” I said, my voice cracking. Kent Theodore Russell, a man, a father, a hero.

My personal hell.

There were parts of me that I saw in Talon’s eyes, but a bigger part of me looked at Talon and saw pieces of him in her stare. I saw him in her smile. I saw parts of him in her soul—and yet, she was not his, and he was not hers.

Even so, it was enough to break my soul.

“You should go,” Lucy told Jane.

Jane stood up straight and shook her head. “If anyone should go, it’s you.”

“No,” I scolded, uncertain how my heart was still beating. “If anyone should go, it is you. Right now.”

Jane went to argue, but she saw it—the fire inside me. She knew if she got one step closer, I would burn her to the ground. She gathered her things and left after stating that she’d be back.