Page 55 of Last Wish Wedding

The answer, he realized with a mixture of wonder and terror, was all of it. Every penny, every favor, every resource at his disposal.

When had it happened? When had this woman and her son become more important than his carefully constructed independence?

Perhaps it had started that first day, when she’d turned those ice-blue eyes on him at the pile-up. Or maybe during her visits to his grandfather’s cottage, her gentle competence as she tended to Truman. Or was it seeing her with Noah, their bond so genuine it made his chest ache with something like envy?

Whenever it had begun, he knew with absolute certainty there was no going back. The thought should have terrified him, it did terrify him, but lying here with her nestled against him, the fear seemed distant and academic.

Tomorrow, he would mobilize every resource at his command. The Prescotts had money and social standing, yes, but they had no idea what they’d provoked. His grandfather hadn’t built an empire by playing nice, and Mac hadn’t expanded it by being squeamish.

Let the Prescotts see what happened when they threatened what belonged to him.

His train of thought jarred him. Kelsey didn’t belong to him. Noah wasn’t his son.

Yet the fierce possessiveness he felt was undeniable. Somehow, without his permission, these two had become his to protect, his to defend. His family.

The realization should have sent him running for the door. Instead, he tightened his arms around Kelsey’s sleeping form and made silent promises to her and her son. Promises that scared him with their intensity, their lack of conditions or limits.

Outside the window, the first hint of dawn lightened the sky. Mac watched it grow while he worked through their approach and contingencies.

By the time Kelsey stirred in his arms, he had the beginnings of a plan.

She would need to agree to them, of course.

Truman’s cottage felt crowded with bodies and tension. Mac leaned against the mantelpiece while Kelsey sat rigid on the edge of the sofa, her fingers twisting together in her lap. Amy perched beside her, one hand on her sister’s shoulder. Johnson stood in the corner like a sentinel, his tablet at the ready, while Sandra Mitchell and Mac’s attorney, Harrison Wells, occupied the armchairs opposite Truman.

The old man looked worse than Mac had seen him in weeks. His skin had a grayish cast, and his breathing came in shallow rasps despite the oxygen cannula. Yet his eyes remained sharp, following every word exchanged with hawkish intensity.

“So let me understand this correctly,” Sandra was saying, her reading glasses perched on the end of her nose as she examined the court order. “They’re claiming that Kelsey is an unfit mother because she’s allegedly engaged in a series of… indiscretions?”

“That’s the gist of it,” Harrison confirmed. “The photographs were presented as evidence of moral turpitude and neglectful parenting.”

“It’s ridiculous,” Amy burst out. “Kelsey’s the most devoted mother I’ve ever seen.”

“Unfortunately,” Harrison continued, his tone measured, “the Prescotts have painted it as Kelsey prioritizing a new relationship over her child’s welfare. To not return Noah as planned at the end of vacation was justified as ‘preventing further emotional harm and instability.’”

Mac watched Kelsey flinch at the words, her knuckles whitening as her hands clenched.

“It’s a temporary order,” Sandra reminded them. “We can fight this at the full hearing.”

“When?” Kelsey asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

Sandra hesitated. “The judge set it for three weeks from now.”

“Three weeks!” Kelsey’s composure cracked. “Noah will be terrified for three weeks?”

“We can try to move it up,” Harrison offered, “but given Judge Harmon’s relationship with the Prescott family—”

“He’ll drag his feet,” Mac finished flatly.

“What are our options?” Amy demanded. “There has to be something we can do.”

Harrison and Sandra exchanged a look that made Mac’s stomach sink. “We can file a counter-motion,” Harrison began carefully. “Present evidence of Kelsey’s fitness as a parent. Character witnesses, testimony from Noah’s teachers, medical records showing regular checkups…”

“But?” Mac prompted, recognizing the hesitation in the attorney’s voice.

“But the Prescotts have already demonstrated their willingness to use their considerable resources and influence,” Harrison admitted. “They’ll hire expert witnesses, potentially even pay for psychological evaluations that favor their case.”

“I hate to say it,” Sandra added bluntly, “but they can outspend us in legal costs by a factor of ten. Kelsey and I have discussed this. They can drag this out, file motion after motion, request continuances.”