Page 63 of Last Wish Wedding

“I see,” Judge Michaels asked carefully, “were there any actual grounds for the emergency order? Abuse? Neglect?”

“None,” Mac said firmly. “It’s a power play by the mother’s ex-brother-in-law. He wants control of the boy’s inheritance. You remember Jason Prescott?”

“Jesus Mac,” Judge Michaels swore under his breath. “And the boy’s father?”

“Deceased,” Mac answered. “Before the boy was born. David Prescott.”

“I see.” There was a pause, the sound of papers shuffling. “I can’t promise anything, Mac but I’ll see what I can do to expedite the process. Have your attorney send me the details and I’ll make some calls.”

“Thank you, James. I appreciate it.”

“Don’t thank me yet,” the judge cautioned. “And Mac? I expect to meet this woman who convinced you to give up bachelorhood. Must be quite something.”

Mac’s eyes shifted to Kelsey. “She is. More than you know.”

Kelsey looked at him and blushed before returning to staring out the windshield. “That seemed helpful.”

After they disconnected, the GPS interrupted with mechanical precision: “In one mile, merge onto I-93 South.”

“James owes me,” Mac explained, merging smoothly into the left lane. “His son got into some trouble last year. I helped make it go away.”

She gave him a sharp look. “Is that legal?”

A smile tugged at Mac’s mouth. “Perfectly. I just funded the endowment for the community center the kid had vandalized and convinced them dropping charges would be better for everyone.”

“Oh.” Kelsey seemed to absorb this, then asked, “Do you have these kinds of connections throughout Boston?”

“Not throughout, but in the right places.” He navigated around a slow-moving truck. “The Costigan and MacCormack names still carries weight in this city.”

“The MacCormack name.” She fingered the ring again. “I should probably start getting used to that.”

The traffic slowed to a crawl as they approached a construction zone. Mac reached out to touch her hand. “Having second thoughts?”

“No,” she answered quickly. “Not if it gets Noah back. It’s just… a lot to process.”

Mac nodded, understanding the sentiment all too well. This morning, he’d been a single and brooding widower with a broken heart. Now he was a married man, soon to be a stepfather if everything went according to plan. The speed of the transformation was dizzying, even for someone accustomed to making multi-million-dollar decisions on the fly.

Kelsey pulled her phone from her purse, swiping through it with a frown. “Still nothing from Noah.”

“Try calling?” Mac suggested. “They might be screening texts.”

She nodded, pressing the phone to her ear. After a moment, her face fell. “Voicemail again.” She waited for the beep, then spoke, her voice softening. “Hi sweet pea, it’s Mom. I just wanted to check in and see how you’re doing. I miss you so much. I’ll see you really soon, okay? I love you more than all the stars in the sky.”

She ended the call, her eyes suspiciously bright. Mac reached across the console, squeezing her hand briefly before returning his to the wheel.

“Makes me wonder what sort of nonsense they are filling him with,” she said.

“Traffic detected ahead,” the GPS announced suddenly. “Alternate route suggested.”

“Accept,” Mac responded, and the screen adjusted, showing a new path through the city. “Kids are resilient,” Mac offered, though he had little experience to base this on and thought better of saying it immediately after.

“They shouldn’t have to be,” she replied, a flash of anger breaking through her worry. “Not like this.”

They fell silent as Mac navigated a complex interchange, following the GPS’s instructions through an unfamiliar neighborhood of Boston. When they emerged back onto a main thoroughfare, Kelsey spoke again.

“We should talk about how to handle this with Noah.”

“The marriage, you mean?”