Huntington Family Series Read online

  “In three weeks?”

  “Three and a half now. But you’d understand if you saw them together. Never lets her cry. He even has her bed by his so he can hold her hand if she wakes up at night.”

  Vikki was silent for a moment and then said, “That’s hard to beat—for a man.”

  Cory let out a long sigh. “Maybe, but she belongs with me.”

  “I know. I know. And you’ll win, dear. I’m sure of it. Does he like you? I mean, you’re an attractive woman. That could help him decide to give you custody.”

  “I don’t think he’s impressed. After all, I’m not a member of the Church.”

  “Ah. The Church. Do I sense capital letters?”

  “Exactly. It’s like I’m behind enemy lines or something.”

  “Well, how about some reinforcements?” Vikki didn’t let her respond but forged ahead. “The magazine is pleased with your work, but I think we could use a boost in an area or two, and I’m betting you have some shots from your Nikon that will fit the bill. My mother is much better now, and I’m getting in my father’s way more than helping at this point. Anyway, it wouldn’t be a big deal for me to fly out to Utah and stay for a few days to develop the film with you. I’ll bring my equipment. We can scan and e-mail any new choices to the magazine before I head home to California. Or overnight them in a CD if there’s too many.”

  “What a great idea! We’ll make the deadline for sure with both of us working. And I could really use some support with this custody mess.” Already Cory felt less alone.

  “Well, when you told me last night that you’d moved into a house with two bedrooms, I thought, ‘Why not? I can deal with my other clients from there just as I have from Ohio this past month.’ Honestly, dear, I have a cell phone, e-mail, my darkroom equipment. What else do I need?”

  “Thanks, Vikki. Now I know why I picked you as my agent—and as a friend.”

  “You picked me because we’re two of a kind,” Vikki said. “Besides, you’re my favorite photographer. Look, I’ll do my best to fly in tomorrow. That’ll give us Thursday and the weekend to get everything finished. Give me your address, and I’ll get a rental car at the airport. No, don’t offer to pick me up. I bet I can find my way better than you can.”

  Cory laughed. “You got that right. Give me a jungle any time.”

  She hung up the phone feeling more positive than she had since learning of her sister’s death. Somehow she’d make Mitch see that she would make the better parent. But if worse came to worse, she’d join their stupid church!

  She smiled. EmJay will love the Amazon.

  Mitch stared at his computer in complete frustration. He’d written only two sentences, and his next report was due in the morning. The research and outline were complete, but Emily Jane wouldn’t allow him to type the actual document. She was cuddled on his lap, drifting off to sleep, and every time he tried to type, she gave a determined mumble and grabbed one of his hands. She didn’t hold it but rather slid her little hand around first one finger and then another, moving up the line until she reached the last one. Then she’d start all over again. He tried making her hold onto just his thumb while he typed, but she refused to stay still. So far she’d hit as many letters on the keyboard as he had.

  “Emily Jane,” he groaned, as she pulled up yet another menu he didn’t need.

  She opened one eye as if to say, “Deal with it. I’m more important.” She moved her hand to another finger.

  Mitch settled back into the padded office chair that squeaked with protest, typing with one hand. His progress was slow and tedious. When he absolutely had to use both hands, his movements would startle Emily Jane fully awake—and the finger-grabbing would begin all over again.

  Mixed feelings vied in his heart. He resented the multitude of hours Emily Jane added to his work—yet how could he resent such a precious baby? At least she didn’t often cry for her mother anymore, though that made him deeply sad on another level. During the occasional nightmare or sleepless night, he still rocked her through it. He wasn’t about to change that routine. But when would she finally feel more secure? With Cory confusing the custody issue, he worried that Emily Jane would be in constant turmoil between them. Was that fair to her? Would it be better to let Cory have her altogether?

  No. Never. Not to an unbeliever, a confessed atheist. Besides, Mitch could no longer imagine life without Emily Jane. But this isn’t about me, he reminded himself.

  Finally, he gave it up. “Do you want to hear a story about some gray wolves?” he asked the baby. Her eyes cracked halfway open, and he took that for agreement. “Well, you see there once was a mother wolf who knew she was going to have a baby . . .” Mitch told her the story he’d researched, simplifying it greatly. Emily Jane couldn’t understand yet, but in a few years he’d tell it to her again. Meanwhile, it passed the time. Instead of counting down the minutes until she was asleep enough to lay on a blanket, he could enjoy these moments together.

  Soon Emily Jane’s eyes were tightly closed, and a warm feeling of love spread through him. She was so tiny, so priceless, and he was her only defender against the world. Against Cory Steele and her godless ways. Sighing, he knelt on the carpet to lay the baby down on her blanket.

  Returning to the computer, he found himself typing the children’s story he’d been telling to Emily Jane instead of his report. This’ll only take a minute, he thought.

  A half hour later, Mitch jerked his hands from the keyboard when his doorbell rang, sounding ominous in the quiet of his small living room. With a soft groan, he hurried to the door, wondering who would bother him in the middle of the day. Perhaps Cory? He couldn’t tell if he was more excited or upset at the prospect—and that definitely made him angry. Who did she think she was? What right did she have to come at all hours?

  His more practical side told him to take advantage of her presence. Put her to work playing with Emily Jane while he finished his report. Maybe after he finished, they could have dinner together.

  Whoa! Wait a minute. What on earth am I thinking? He was acting like Cory was a beautiful woman he found himself attracted to, instead of the woman who was trying to separate him from Emily Jane.

  As he reached for the door, the ringing came again. “Cory,” he growled, throwing open the door. But it wasn’t Cory, it was Tyler. Mitch didn’t know which was greater, the surprise of seeing his brother or the surprise at the keen disappointment flooding his body.

  “Stop that ringing!” He recovered enough to knock his brother’s hand away from the bell. “I have a baby in here.”

  Tyler removed his backpack. “Of course you do. I came to help out. Amanda said you had a report due tomorrow, and I didn’t have any pressing classes, so here I am.”

  “Where’s Savvy?” Usually the two came together.

  “At the dentist.” Tyler shook his head. “I don’t get that girl. She hates the dentist. Remember the time she went three months with a toothache before it hurt so much she had to go?”

  “Yeah, I remember.”

  “Well, this is her third dental visit in three weeks.”

  “Maybe she’s overcome her fears.” Mitch backed into the house, and his brother followed.

  “Maybe.” Tyler looked at the sleeping baby. “Oh, I guess you don’t need me.”

  “Well, she could wake up any minute.” Mitch was torn between wanting to get Tyler out of the house quickly so he wouldn’t wake Emily Jane and keeping him here in case she did wake. “I know,” he said to his brother, “you could wait in my room and watch TV. I moved it to my dresser when I set up my computer in here.”

  “Naw, I’ve got stuff from school to read. Never anything good on daytime TV anyway. Unless you’ve got cable.” He gazed at Mitch hopefully.

  “I don’t have time to watch TV, so cable would be a waste of money. And believe me, if I don’t get this report in, I’ll need to save all the money I can because I’ll be fired.”

  “You’d better get to it then. Hey, you
got anything to eat? I forgot lunch.”

  Mitch stifled a sigh. “Sure. Come on, I’ll show you.” He led the way to the kitchen. “I have some TV dinners, mac and cheese, of course, and some ramen noodles. Or there’s baloney and bread. Cheese.”

  “All the college staples, I see.” Tyler grinned and pushed up his glasses.

  “Hey, I’ve got fruit, too. And lots of baby food—but that’s not for you.”

  “Aw, I like those pureed pears.”

  Shaking his head, Mitch started to return to the living room. He was in the doorway when Tyler spoke. “Uh, Mitch?”

  “Yeah?” Mitch stopped and turned to where his brother was standing in front of the cupboards. The smile was gone from his face.

  “Have you noticed anything strange about Savvy lately?”

  Mitch rubbed his forehead. He didn’t want to break Savvy’s confidence, but maybe this would be a chance to set the couple on the right path—if he could find the words. “What do you mean?” he stalled.

  “Well, she’s not studying nearly as much as she used to. And I don’t think she’s even registered for school this fall.”

  “What?” Mitch didn’t bother to hide his surprise. “She’s supposed to graduate in January.”

  “Exactly. It doesn’t make sense for her to quit now.”

  Mitch frowned. “Ever since I’ve known her, she’s wanted to be an astronomer. She used to talk about going to California and studying with some bigwigs there.”

  “She doesn’t talk about that now.” Tyler leaned back against the counter. “There’s more. I think she went to the doctor last week.”

  “People do that, you know,” Mitch said. “Doesn’t mean a thing.”

  Tyler began to pace. “But she tells me everything. Maybe it’s serious.”

  “Maybe it’s one of those woman things. She wouldn’t tell you that.”

  “You think?” Tyler looked hopeful.

  “What I think is that you’re spending way too much time worrying about it. Why don’t you just ask her?”

  “I tried, but she changes the subject.”

  “To what?”

  “Whatever. What I’m going to do on the weekend. Do I want to catch a show? Something like that.”

  “Sounds to me like you should ask her out.”

  Tyler’s pacing faltered. “What do you mean? We’re just friends.”

  “Does she feel that way?”

  “We don’t talk about it.” Tyler’s brow furrowed. “Besides, I’m dating Cheryl—I mean Sharon—right now.”

  “Another cute girl from school?”

  Tyler shrugged. “I can’t help it if women find me attractive. It’s these new glasses, I tell you. They’re in style.” He touched the black frames.

  “Maybe I should get some.” Mitch forced a laugh. He wished he dared say more to his brother about how Savvy was feeling, but his brother didn’t have a clue. Maybe it was better to feed his worry. “Well, whatever Savvy is seeing the doctor for, you probably shouldn’t worry too much. I’d feel terrible, though, if something happened to her.”

  Tyler’s expression darkened. “I’d feel terrible, too. I guess I’d better try to talk to her again.”

  “You’d better,” Mitch agreed. “You never know how much you care for someone until they’re gone. Or so they say.” Certainly he felt that way about Lane and Ashley, and if something were to happen to Emily Jane . . . His throat constricting, he pushed the thought aside. “Look, help yourself to whatever you want to eat, but keep it down, okay?”

  Tyler pulled his attention back from some far-off place. “Okay. Will do. Holler if you need me.” He opened a walnut-finished cupboard. “Let’s see. Mayonnaise, mayonnaise.”

  “Usually mayonnaise is kept in the refrigerator,” Mitch said.

  “Oh, right.” Tyler shut the cupboard and started toward the refrigerator.

  Sighing, Mitch went back to his computer. Could it be that Tyler liked Savvy more than he was willing to admit? Hopefully, it should only be a matter of time until some good sense kicked in. Good sense ran in their family. Look how well he was handling Cory.

  I wonder what she’s doing now?

  Yesterday, he’d gone over to Cory’s rented house to see if she needed help moving in or if she needed to borrow some cooking utensils. But the women in the ward, who had done wonders cleaning the small house, had already taken care of everything. Cory was set.

  But for how long? Mitch sort of enjoyed knowing she was down the street. He could almost imagine little Emily Jane getting off the school bus sometime in the future and staying at her aunt’s until he arrived home from work.

  What a fantasy! Cory wouldn’t be around to see Emily Jane go to school. Before long she’d be chasing animals in the rain forest, while he researched animals on the computer. With a heavy sigh, Mitch put his hands on the keyboard.

  From the floor came a long, screeching wail. Emily Jane was awake.

  Cory saw them coming down the street, the man bending slightly to hold the hand of the little girl. She heard his laughter, and her heart joyed at the sound. How nice to hear him laugh! And how nice that they were coming her way. She’d wanted to see EmJay but had worried about showing up unannounced and uninvited. Her arms yearned to hold the baby again, to see her sister’s features in that small, trusting child. Even if that meant she had to face Mitch Huntington.

  Yet as the pair approached, she saw that it wasn’t Mitch at all, but his younger brother, who wasn’t quite as tall, though perhaps more arresting in looks with his green eyes and rounder facial features. She told herself this was a good opportunity to see EmJay without Mitch around, but that didn’t explain the odd surge of disappointment in her chest.

  “Hello,” she called.

  He glanced up at her in surprised recognition. Angling down her walk, he came to a stop before her porch. “I didn’t know you lived so close.”

  “Just renting. Your brother found me this place so I could be near EmJay.” She squatted down and held out her arms. “Hi, darling. Come see me. I’ve missed you.” To her delight, EmJay let go of his hand and stepped toward her. Cory swept the baby into her arms, where EmJay immediately buried her fingers in Cory’s curls.

  “She likes you,” he said. “Better than me anyway. She only came with me because I was going outside.” He thumbed toward Mitch’s house. “My brother has a report due, so I’m watching her.”

  “He could have asked me.”

  He shrugged. “No offense, uh—what was your name? I’m Tyler, by the way, in case you forgot.”

  “Hi, Tyler. I’m Cory.”

  “Well, Cory, no offense, but given the situation, I don’t think I’d call you, either.”

  She sighed. “I guess you’re right.” Cory cuddled EmJay, and the baby laid her head on her shoulder, still twisting her hand in Cory’s hair. “She seems tired.”

  “Yeah, she just woke up. Wasn’t asleep long.”

  “Why don’t you come in for a drink?” Cory suggested. Anything to keep EmJay with her.

  “Okay. I was just going to eat lunch when she woke up.”

  “I have a casserole if you’d like some. A lady brought it last night. Way too big for one person.”

  Tyler grinned, and Cory’s heart flopped inside her chest. His smile was the same as Mitch’s. “That’s the Relief Society for you,” he said. “Boy, I love those ladies.”

  Within minutes they were in her kitchen, chatting like old friends. Tyler sat at the square card table left by the previous occupant, perched on one of the two wobbly chairs. He was soon into his second helping of tuna-potato casserole. Cory cradled EmJay, who had fallen asleep, one of her perfect little hands tangled in Cory’s hair.

  Tyler finally pushed back his plate. “I don’t know why Mitch doesn’t like you. You’re not at all what I expected.”

  Cory stiffened. “What do you mean?”

  “Uh, nothing.”

  “Tell me.” Cory stared at him unblinkingly.

&
nbsp; “Well, the other day he—”

  “Yes?”

  Tyler quailed under her steady gaze. “He said something about you being hard to get along with, that’s all.”

  “He did, huh.” Not good news. Seeing the attorney had really opened her eyes to her options. To charm Mitch into giving her custody, she somehow had to change his opinion of her. Fortunately, he was a good conversationalist and attractive, so it wouldn’t be too much of a chore, even if he wasn’t her type.

  Tyler blinked, his eyes looking large and appealing under his glasses. “Look, I can understand why you two don’t get along, fighting over Emily Jane and all. But for the record, I don’t think you’re difficult at all. In fact, I don’t see why you guys can’t come to an arrangement.”

  “You’re nicer than your brother, that’s all,” she told him. “He’s probably the most infuriating person I’ve ever met.”

  “Infuriating? Mitch? I think you got the wrong guy. Mitch wouldn’t anger a flea.”

  “Exactly. He’s much better with those animals of his than with people.”

  “Don’t you like his animals?”

  “I like his animals just fine. I love his animals. But I think he’s . . .” She wanted to say arrogant, but that wasn’t really it. Arrogant was that stupid Evan. No, Mitch was rather awkward, dramatic, energetic, stubborn, insistent, serene, unruffled, and . . . well, infuriating. Why couldn’t he just give her what she wanted?

  She knew the answer to that all too well. The answer was in her arms. The stakes they were playing for were simply too high. They both knew she had no intention of staying in Utah, so unless one of them made a significant lifestyle change, custody of EmJay would have to be all or nothing.

  “You should at least be able to work something out while you’re here. Of course, the family is helping, too.” He hesitated briefly before asking, “Do you have a lot of friends in Brazil? I mean, I know you want custody, but if you had it, you’d need someone to watch her while you worked.”

  “Plenty of natives would be glad to let her play with their children for a little money,” she said, trying to keep the ice from her voice. This boy who was barely a man seemed to be on her side for now. “And I could take her into the jungle sometimes. It would be a good education.”