Page 126 of Fierce-Colson

“Idon’t know what to say,” Marly said later that night at her place. Colson stopped over saying he needed to talk before he went home.

“Me neither. I took the rest of the day and went to see my attorney first. I’m covered there.”

“If you’ve got legal guardianship.”

“I do.”

“Then you are,” she agreed.

“Then I went to see your brother.”

“Before me?” she asked. She didn’t want to be hurt over that. Not when she could see the man she loved struggling in front of her.

He did text her. He did say they needed to talk.

Did she worry it was going to be bad news? Yes. But not about them.

She felt they were solid.

“You’re busy and I know there isn’t much you could do. He can. I need to know everything I can about Holly. I even had her Social Security number and a few other things I could copy with my father’s stuff.”

“You said you searched for her before. You didn’t find much though?”

She tucked her legs under her on the couch. She’d ordered pizza so he could eat, but there was a part of her that expected him to say he didn’t have much of an appetite. Hearing this, she didn’t either.

But she was telling herself this was like another case she might have heard in her life.

Or one her mother had in court as a family court judge.

Seeing Colson and Bella’s faces on the docket in her mind made her think with her heart and not her head.

Colson needed her calm. Controlled. Supportive.

Not recklessly pacing, wiping back tears, wanting to scream her frustration out.

Things she’d never felt with another man in her life.

Unexpected, undeniably heartbreaking feelings that she was struggling to understand.

“No. Back then there was nothing on her. Should I have hired Zander? Yeah. I guess I should have. But looking back, I realized maybe it was just best to get Bella something stable.”

“Something that you didn’t think you had?” she asked softly, her hand coming to rest on his thigh next to her, giving it a light rub.

“I had stability from my mother. But not really until after she left my father. Did I have the best home life? No. I’ll never say otherwise. Did I blame my mother for that? At times I did. I even threw it in her face. I was lucky enough she didn’t resent me for it.”

“I don’t see your mother being that way from what I remember of her.”

His hand landed on hers, giving her fingers a light squeeze. “She wants to see you again. I won’t tell you her response when I said I had dinner with your family last weekend.”

A faint smile escaped her lips. “We can make dinner work. You tell me when. But right now, you’ve got other things on your mind. And if it helps to visit your mother, great. Maybe Bella needs that. Or will need it.”

“I made an appointment for Bella to see Regan too. After I talked to Zander I saw her and waited until she was done. Maybe I used our personal relationship as a lever to push it to talk to her rather than call like another client.”

“Regan would have totally understood,” she said patiently.

“She did. I’ve got it scheduled for next week with the option to move it sooner if need be. I figured it’d take your brother a few days to see if he can find anything. Holly says she’s been in Mexico, so not sure what he can get there.”

“If there is something for him to get, he will,” she said, nodding. “What’s the next step? Internalizing it?”