the house would be hers. He hadn’t fought Kate for it, even though he loved the home with all its creaks, foibles and bad plumbing. But his life was no longer in Portland. His life was no longer with Kate. He kept telling himself that, even though the words never seemed to make things easier. And he’d yet to fully believe them.
“Do I have your permission to proceed?” Don asked.
“Please do,” Jared said, grateful for the lawyer’s help.
Don shuffled papers. “And now Cassidy.”
Kate’s befuddlement matched Jared’s confusion. “What about Cassidy?” he asked.
“You and Kate have been nominated for joint guardianship in both wills,” Don said, but his words made no sense. “You realize, of course, you are under no legal obligation to accept the guardian appointment.”
Kate’s lower lip quivered. “I don’t understand.”
Neither did Jared. Guardian? Of Cassidy? But…
He shook his head. “There has to be some mistake.”
“I suggest clients discuss guardianship with prospective nominees before naming them in their wills,” Don added. “Otherwise the nomination can come as a shock.”
Shock didn’t come close to what Jared was feeling. “You don’t understand—”
“They discussed it with us.” Kate’s voice sounded hoarse, unnatural. “But Cassidy is dead.”
The lawyer frowned.
Jared reached for her hand and laced his fingers with hers. “The message I received said the family had been in an accident and the Lukas’s were dead.”
“I was told the same,” Kate said.
“Oh, no. There’s been some sort of miscommunication.” Don’s face went grim. “Cassidy was in the accident, but she survived.”
Kate clung to Jared’s hand. He understood how she felt, afraid to hope, afraid to believe the news could be true, because the letdown would be even worse.
“She’s alive?” Kate whispered.
Jared held his breath.
“Cassidy is very much alive.” Don set his pen on the desk. “She’s at the hospital recovering from her injuries.”
Thank God. An enormous weight lifted from Jared’s shoulders. He knew how much Brady loved his baby girl, how much Brady would have wanted her to go on with or without him.
Kate jumped up from her chair, pulling Jared with her.
Tears streamed down her face. She smiled at him. An almost forgotten warmth seeped into his heart. “I can’t believe it.”
He smiled back. “Believe it.”
She hugged him. The scent of her shampoo—grapefruit—filled his nostrils. Her mane of hair brushed against him and he remembered how much he’d miss holding her and touching her and loving her.
“Is it wrong to feel happy?” she whispered, her warm breath caressed his neck.
“It’s fine, Kate.” Jared held onto her. “I feel the same way.”
They both laughed, a sound he never thought he’d hear in the near future let alone today.
“I am so sorry.” Don removed his glasses and rubbed his eyes. “It was a difficult day yesterday. I thought I was clear on the phone but perhaps I wasn’t.”
“Cassidy’s alive.” Kate sat, but didn’t let go of Jared’s hand so he sat, too. “That’s what matters. Is she okay?”
“Cassidy is in stable condition,” Don explained. “The car seat seems to have protected her from more serious injuries.”
Kate sucked in a breath. Jared blew his out.
“What?” Don asked.
“Our baby shower gift was the car seat,” Jared said.
Don leaned forward. “Excellent gift.”
Jared nodded, but he felt strange. Kate had spent hours poring over catalogs and reading car seat reviews in order to pick the right one. He’d thought she was being obsessive again, but her research could have saved the baby’s life.
Her lips parted. Was she remembering?
How could she not? Cassidy was alive. Her parents were dead. And the little girl belonged to him and Kate.
Jared remembered when Brady and Susan had flown in for a weekend. Susan and Kate had spent the day shopping for maternity clothes while Brady helped Jared build a trellis for the yard. That night over a bottle of sparkling cider, Brady and Susan asked them to be the baby’s guardians. They told them to think about the request. Jared and Kate did and agreed the next morning.
But that was before. Before the separation. Before Kate had filed for divorce.
“How recent is the will?” Jared asked.
“I met with Brady and Susan a week after Cassidy was born.” Don got a faraway look in his eyes. “I remember them telling me this was the baby’s first outing since coming home from the hospital. Susan said she’d put it into the baby book.”
That didn’t make sense. Brady and Susan would have known about the marriage problems, about Jared living and working in Seattle and Kate in Portland. Something wasn’t adding up.
“What’s the problem?” Kate asked. “We told them we would do it.”
“This is a life-changing decision,” Don said. “Don’t rush. You have thirty days after we start guardianship proceedings to accept the appointment.”
“We’re not declining,” she said.
Jared agreed with her. Of course he did. But he needed to be sure this was what his friends wanted for their daughter. Guardians with a disintegrating, soon-to-be-over marriage didn’t seem like the number one choice parents would make. “Could you please read the guardianship portion of the will?”
Don paged through the paperwork. “Since Brady and Susan wanted to name both of you as guardians, I suggested additional wording to the wills, which they agreed to.”
That made sense to Jared, and he wanted to hear the wording. Especially since Brady and Susan knew about the marriage problems.
“Here’s the passage from Brady’s will. Susan’s is identical.” The lawyer put on his glasses. “‘If my spouse does not survive me and if at the time of my death any of my children are minors or under a legal disability, I appoint Jared Reed and Kate Malone to act jointly as the guardian of each child who is a minor or under a legal disability so long as Jared Reed and Kate Reed are both then living and married on the date of such appointment.’”
Kate straightened in her chair.
Jared
