Kate Kelly - A Deliberate Father

“Of course. I just… Is there a market for those products? Can you make a living growing that sh…stuff?”

She shot him an incredulous look. “Where have you been, Tanner? People are crazy about them.”

In whose universe? Certainly not his. Why did people always think starting a business was easy? “Have you thought about the business side of this venture? How much land would you need? How would you get your product to market? Who’s your target group?”

She beamed up at him. “I have a business plan. Maybe you could look at it. You’d probably have some great ideas. This is wonderful. Rodney’s going to make me a still, and you can iron out the wrinkles in my business plan. I knew it was all going to come together for me. I just didn’t think—”

“Hold on. Back up a minute. What’s this about a still? Isn’t that illegal?”

“I don’t think so.” She dug a small notebook out of her back pocket and jotted something down. “I’ll have to check on that, but I think it’s more what you make with the still than the actual equipment. Like hemp oil. That would probably be illegal.”

Jordan swallowed a surge of panic. “Please tell me you’re not growing that stuff here.”

She glanced up from her notes. “What stuff?”

“Marijuana.”

“Of course not. I wouldn’t do anything to jeopardize the adoption.”

“Adoption?”

She stared at him for a minute, looking as confused as he felt. “I forgot you don’t know about that. Lacey and Jacob are my sister’s children. She died in a car accident two years ago, and they’ve been living with me ever since. The adoption is all set to go through. Their father, Tony, he’s making a few waves, but I think it’s going to be okay. We just have to get through the next few weeks without any big upsets. It’s going to be okay,” she repeated.

Okay for who? Jordan staggered from one dizzying thought to another. He’d assumed Nell was their mother. Anyone could see she loved the kids. But she wasn’t; she was adopting them. And it all came down to the next few weeks. He got a bad taste in the back of his throat like he did every time a deal started going sour on him. When had the government ever accomplished anything on time? “Exactly when is the adoption set to go through?”

“The social worker said it would be soon. Maybe a month at the most. And then, you know, Tony. I think he’s changing his mind about letting me adopt the kids.” She huddled down into herself. Obviously, things weren’t as okay as she wanted to believe.

“Tony’s the dad?”

“Yeah. Tony Bleecher.”

“Where is he?”

“Jail.” She tried to smile, but failed miserably. “He was drunk, and my sister… I don’t know what happened. She got in the car with him, and they…he…there was an accident. She died. He’s serving five years for drinking and driving causing death, but he’s up for parole soon.”

Getting details from her was like pulling nails out of concrete. “And the kids won’t live with him when he gets out because…?”

She wrapped her arms around her waist. “Tony’s…different. To meet him you’d think he was a nice guy. He comes from a rich family and is well-educated. But he’s mean beneath the nice-guy act. He’d pinch my sister so hard she’d have a bruise for weeks, but only where no one would see. And if he thought you weren’t important, he’d say things to you, especially if he was drinking. Stuff that would make you feel lousy about yourself even though you knew it wasn’t true. Lacey and Jacob are scared of him. He’s a mean drunk.”

Bile burned Jordan’s throat as he forced his clenched fists open. He hated the thought that anyone, but especially their father, would hurt Jacob and Lacey.

An endless procession of his mother’s boyfriends had tromped through his life, dispensing slaps, punches and toxic comments in their wake. Even now, he could coast along for the longest time, think he’d forgotten the abuse, but the slightest trigger, such as what Nell had just told him, would bring back the appalling helplessness he’d felt as a child.

He took a minute before he spoke; the last thing Nell needed was another angry guy. “So you’re going to adopt them,” he said in a mild voice.

“Yeah. But I love them, too. I want to adopt them.”

How could he possibly sell the house until the adoption went through, and Nell and the kids were safe? Jordan closed his eyes, hoping the whole situation would magically disappear. But a minute later, when he opened his eyes, Nell still looked as though she was expecting her world to bottom out. Damn it. There had to be another way out of the mess.

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