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psychologist, the judge will intervene. Noah will be taken from you and placed in our custody.”
    And with that threat, Lois and Howard finally did what Marin had asked. They turned and walked out the door.
    All that cool and calmness that Marin had displayed went south in a hurry. She began to shake, and for a moment Lucky thought she might be going into shock or on the verge of having a seizure.
    Instead, she wrapped her arms around herself. “What do I have to do to make this go away?”
    Since there was no easy way to put it, Lucky just laid it out there for her. “We’ll have to go to the ranch because as your legal next of kin, your parents managed to get an emergency hearing in front of a judge who’s also their friend. They persuaded this judge that you need to be medically monitored—by them, under their roof. And the judge signed a temporary order. Once we’re at the ranch, we’ll have the interview where we’ll need to convince a psychologist that we’re a happy couple fit to raise Noah. If we do that, the psychologist will pass that on to the judge, and there won’t be another hearing. The temporary order will expire, and you’ll keep sole custody of Noah.”
    Marin slowly lifted her eyes and looked at him. She didn’t exactly voice a question, but there were plenty of nonverbal ones.
    “The interview could be as early as tomorrow afternoon,” Lucky added. “If the doctor releases you from the hospital today. That means we wouldn’t have to keep up the charade for long. Then, after visiting with your grandmother, you can go home.”
    Well, maybe.
    That was one of those gray areas that Lucky hadn’t quite figured out. Marin might never be able go home. It might not be safe.
    “And what happens if we come clean and tell everyone that you’re not Noah’s father?” she asked. But Marin immediately waved that off. “Then my parents will use that against me. They might even want a paternity test. They’ll brand us as liars. And if the judge knows we lied about that, he’ll assume we’re lying about my ability to be a good parent.”
    The Sheppards might even try to file criminal charges against him for preventing them from taking Noah. The couple certainly had a lot of misplaced love, and they were aiming all of it at Marin and Noah.
    “I’ll fight it,” Marin said, sounding not nearly as strong as her words. “I’ll hire a lawyer and fight it.”
    “I’ve already talked to one,” he assured her. “I called a friend of a friend, and she says to cooperate for now. Your mother and Howard might have this judge firmly in their pockets, and he’s the one who arranged for the interview with the psychologist. I’ve requested a change of venue, and he denied it. The only way we could have gotten a delay is if you hadn’t come out of the coma.”
    “Great. Just great.” She paused a moment. “So you’re saying we should go to the ranch and do as my parents say?”
    “I don’t think we have a choice.”
    Her chin came up. “Yes, I do. There’s no reason to drag you into this. And you shouldn’t have to be subjected to staying with my parents. You have no idea the emotional hell they’ll put you through, especially since they believe we’re a couple. A couple they want to see driven apart.”
    Lucky didn’t doubt that. But there was another problem. “Marin, your parents aren’t going to just give up. It took some fast talking for me to stop an immediate transfer of custody. Your mother was here early yesterday morning. She came prepared to take Noah then and there.”
    Marin groaned and buried her face in her hands. “Oh, God.”
    Lucky groaned right along with her. There were a lot of things wrong with their plan. For one thing, it wasn’t legal. But what Marin’s parents were trying to do wasn’t right, either. So maybe two wrongs did make a right.
    That still didn’t mean this would be easy.
    For two days, he’d have to pretend to be Noah’s father and Marin’s loving