Rachel Laine (The Women of Merryton Book 3) Read Online Free PDF

I’m the king of restraint,” he teased. He had a reputation for being
hot headed. Ask any one of my boyfriends growing up.
    “Dad,
this is important.”
    “Honey,
you have my word.”
    “Do
you know who Andrew Turner is?’
    “The
pitcher for the Bears?”
    “The
very one. Well, he came to see me last week, and yesterday at the office.”
    “Great.
Did you sell him the works? Maybe he would endorse us.”
    “Dad,
he didn’t come to see me about insurance.”
    “All
right.”
    I
felt lightheaded. I still couldn’t believe this was happening. “Dad, I don’t
know how to say this.”
    “Are
you dating him?”
    “No,
no.”
    “That’s
good. I mean, he seems like a real class act, but you never really know with
these professional athletes. So what is it, honey?”
    “He’s
Drew’s father.” I blurted out before I lost my nerve.
    There
was complete silence on the other end for several seconds.
    “Dad?”
    “Rachel
Laine, are you sure?”
    “Yes,
unfortunately.”
    “Does
Drew know?”
    “No,
and I don’t know when or if I’ll tell him.”
    “What
do you mean if?”
    I
gave him a brief recap of the whole story, but I left out anything that would
tarnish Sydney’s reputation.
    “So,
this guy shows up after all this time and thinks he has a right to my grandson?
You tell him we will get the best lawyer there is—”
    “Dad,
remember restraint? I need you to be calm. I need you and Mom to not speak of
this. I need to play nice. I don’t want to drag Drew through any court battles,
and for all we know, Andrew may not even want to be a part of his life. That’s
why I’m not telling Drew right now.” I started to cry. I wasn’t really a crier,
but this whole situation had me on edge.
    “Honey,
it’s going to be okay.”
    “I’m
so afraid I’m going to lose Drew.”
    “Honey,
you’re not going to lose Drew. The adoption was finalized years ago and you
have full legal custody of him. And you’re the best mom around. Anyone would
attest to that.”
    “I’m
not only worried about custody issues. What if Drew decides he wants a dad over
a mom?”
    “Honey,
you’re worrying over nothing.”
    “I
hope so. Will you please promise me that you and Mom will let Andrew and me
work this out? And that you won’t say a thing?”
    “I
don’t like it one bit, but you have my word.”
    “Dad,
I love you.”
    “To
the moon and back?” He’d asked me that since I could remember.
    “And
back again,” I replied, like always.
    I
fixed my makeup and walked back out to Drew, who had already scarfed down his
breakfast. All I could eat was a few bites. The stress was killing my appetite.
Drew ran up to get ready.
    “Don’t
forget your Under Armour. It’s going to be cold today,” I yelled up.
    “Mom,
I’m tough. I don’t need no stinkin’ Under Armour.”
    “Okay,
tough guy, but who was begging for hot chocolate and a coat last week at
halftime?”
    Needless
to say, he came back down in his Under Armour. I still made hot chocolate for
the thermos.
    Just
as we were ready to walk out the door, I received a text. I grabbed my phone and
sighed when I realized who it was from. Andrew had thought we should exchange
numbers last night. I figured since he knew where we lived, what could it hurt?
But this was painful.
    Please
wish Drew luck for me this morning, and remind him to visualize winning and, if
it helps, the Raiders in their underwear.
    Will
do ,
I texted back.
    I
wasn’t going to mention the underwear part. Besides, Drew had that one down.
Begrudgingly, I let him know that Andrew wished him luck and to remember that
winning began in his head.
    He
smiled big in response. “I wish he could come see me play.”
    “We
better get going.” I didn’t know what else to say, because I wished he would go
away forever.
    We
loaded up the car with all of our gear—I needed gear too. I loved watching him
play, but I generally froze outside this time of the year, so bleacher seats
and a blanket were a