Winning the Custody of Three

ELI

Eli sat in his parents’ driveway. He was a little upset that Andie wouldn’t let him help her. But could he really blame her with the way she was left by her ex after finding out she was expecting Lucy?

He let out a sigh. His brother was always telling him about Andie, even though he had never once asked about her.

They had danced at Candice and Caleb’s wedding once when it was time for the wedding party to dance, and he walked her up and down the aisle since she was the maid of honor, and he had been the best man.

That was as far as it could have gone.

What was he thinking? That woman shouldn’t be invading his mind at all right now. His brother was gone. So was his sister-in-law. And now he had to go break the news to his parents.

Once they figured out arrangements, they would handle what happened to Lily. He got out of his truck and headed up to the red brick house.

He knocked on the dark-green door and shoved his hands in his day-old jeans, fighting the anger that threatened him. He needed a calm, cool, and collected head right now.

The door opened, and he was staring down at his mother’s five-two frame, with some wrinkles and flecks of gray through her dark-black hair and expressive green eyes.

“Elijah, what on earth are you doing here? Come in, come in.” She stepped aside, and he walked into the tiny one-bedroom, one-bathroom house they had moved into a few years back.

“Hi, Mom. Is Dad home?”

“Yes, he’s in the kitchen. We were just getting ready to eat breakfast.” She began to go toward the little tan kitchen.

“Can we talk in the living room?” His deep voice actually broke a little.

Maisy Cameron turned back to her son. “Is everything okay?” Worry etched itself on her face in an instant.

He took a deep breath and shook his head a little. “Just get Dad, please.” He yanked his Stetson off and raked his fingers through his blond hair. He turned away quickly and headed to the living room.

He sat on the coffee table as he waited for his parents.

“I don’t know, Todd. Something is very wrong, though. Please hurry.”

Eli heard the worry in his mom’s voice and his dad grumbling a little. He sat there, his head hung low, clutching his hat. How were they going to get through this? Then again, they had to for Lily’s sake.

He glanced up as they came into the living room. “Please, sit.” He motioned to the brown leather couch he was sitting across from.

As they sat, his amber eyes darted from his mom’s worry-filled eyes to his dad’s own amber eyes. He slowly looked back down at the ground.

They both were getting up there in age a little. His dad had some wrinkles, but you couldn’t make out any gray on him due to having light-blond hair.

The two Cameron sons took after their father, Todd Cameron. There was no mistake about that.

“Eli?” His mother’s voice shattered his thoughts, and he snapped his head back up.

Never show defeat, he told himself. “Mom, Dad, something happened last night. Did you not have missed calls on your phones this morning?”

“We haven’t turned them on yet,” Maisy began. “We turn them off at night and then turn them on in the morning after breakfast.”

Eli rolled his eyes to himself. Parents! “Whitehorse Police Department called. I had four missed calls and two voicemails from them when I woke up this morning.

“There was an incident with Caleb and Candice. They went out on their weekly date night last night. Apparently, someone tried to rob them, but it didn’t go as planned, I assume.

“Caleb probably scuffled with the perp. They shot him.” He closed his eyes tightly. “And Candice. They’re gone,” he whispered, then opened his eyes to look at his parents.

They sat there wide-eyed in shock. “Lil?” Todd finally shot out.

“Andie has her, Candice’s friend. She always watches Lil on their date night. Don’t start anything yet. Let’s get the arrangements made, and then we will figure out what is going on with Lily.

“They got a hold of Andie this morning. She was the only one who answered the phone call. She had to identify Caleb and Candice.”

“Oh, that poor girl. Is she okay?” Maisy asked.

“She was pretty shaken up when I got to the station, but she seemed to pull herself together pretty quickly once she thought of the girls,” Eli managed to answer.

Maisy broke down in tears as Todd wrapped his arms around her tightly.

Eli laid his hands on each one of their knees. He’d only been good at showing his anger, but right now, he didn’t know how he felt.

“Andie called Candice’s parents to let them know. I have to go check on the ranch, see that everyone is doing their jobs, and tell them all what’s going on.”

Maisy and Todd nodded. “Once we find out about Candice’s family, we’ll do the funeral and everything.”

“Okay, I’ll try to find out things from Andie later. She looked pretty drained at the station.”

“Just let us know,” Maisy sobbed.

Eli leaned forward, hugged her, and touched his dad’s shoulder. Then he left to tell everyone at the ranch. After he got that done, he’d call Andie and make sure she was okay with the girls.

***

He pulled up to the ranch and parked. He stared at the large spread he and Caleb had worked so hard for together. He sighed as he got out of his truck and headed to the barn.

He wasn’t ready for any of this to be real, but he had to accept it.

The few men turned toward him as he walked in.

“Hey, boss. Where’s Caleb? Haven’t seen him all morning,” one of them called out.

“Well, that’s where I’ve been. He and Candice were robbed and killed last night. The police don’t know what all happened yet.

“We just have to wait and see if they figure it out,” Eli explained, trying not to be angry or upset at the moment.

All five of the guys stood there just staring at him, some wide-eyed, others frowning, and one

staring blankly.

“Once we figure out when Candice’s family will be here, we’ll make arrangements for their funerals and everything. If you’ll excuse me, I need a few minutes.”

Eli made his way past the men and headed for his small office in the barn. He slammed the door shut as soon as he entered it.

He found the first thing he could, a wooden chair, and slammed it against the wall, making it shatter as he let out a loud scream.

He was never going to see his brother again. Twenty-nine years of brotherhood wiped away because of some asshat who couldn’t make an honest living.

He sank down to the floor, his back pressed against the wooden door.

He pulled his hat from his head, threw it across the room, and slammed his fist against the floor a couple of times before he hung his head in his hands.

It wasn’t fair. Caleb was only thirty-two, and Candice twenty-five. They had so much more to live for and could have had so many more kids.

Poor Lily would grow up not knowing who her parents really were or what they were like, and how much they loved her.

He pulled out his phone once his anger calmed some. He went to his messages, and he was glad that after he had put his number in Andie’s phone, he had shot himself a text from her phone.

He slid his thumb over the message to the right, and it began to ring.

“Hello?” Her voice sounded so empty. He knew exactly how she felt, although he wasn’t taking care of two kids under the age of one.

“Andie, it’s Eli,” he began.

“Well, I’d hope so. I mean, your name popped up when you called,” she said in a monotone voice.

“Right. Hey, did you get ahold of Candice’s family?”

“I told you I’d handle it, so yeah, I handled it.”

“How’s Lily?” he tried to ignore the little bit of ice in her tone now.

“She’s fine, sleeping finally.”

“And what about you?”

“What about me?”

“Are you okay?”

“Yup.”

This conversation was going great. “Lucy?”

“Sleeping also. Look, is there anything else you need me to do? I really don’t want to be on here right now.”

She was probably right. They both had been through hell already, and things were only going to get worse. “Do you need me to come get Lil?”

“No, she’s finally asleep after her being up all night. I’d rather let her sleep.” No life was coming into Andie’s voice at all.

Well, what do you expect, idiot? She just lost her best friend, which, according to Caleb, was all the poor girl had besides Lucy.

“Do you need anything else?” he asked softly.

“No, do you?”

Hell, he needed a lot of things, a stiff drink and life to go back to the way it was. “Just to make sure you’re okay and don’t need anything.”

“I’m fine, Eli.” He heard her let out a deep breath.

“What about needing someone to watch the kids while you open the bakery?”

“I’m not opening today.”

Man, talk about an unfriendly tone. “All right. Well, if you need anything, don’t be afraid to call me. I’ll help.”

She let out another sigh. “I’m fine, Eli. You take the time you need and be with your family. They need you. I can handle Lily.”

“Okay, but the offer still stands.”

“Thanks.”

“You’re welcome. I’ll keep you updated about everything. When will her parents be here?”

“Not sure. They said just as soon as they could.”

“All right, talk to you later.” The line went dead in his ear. Who was she kidding? Sure, she had a chip on her shoulder toward all the men around here, but it had never been that bad before.

They were all hurting right now and could all use some support. But for some stupid reason, which exists because of one asshole’s mistake, she wouldn’t accept any support.

She would give the support to Lily, though.

Lily. What was going to happen to her now?

ANDIE

Andie stared at the phone for a minute after the conversation with Elijah Cameron. She let out a deep breath. She didn’t want him knowing how much everything was killing her.

She felt so numb and stupid and didn’t even want to get up off the couch she had curled herself up on once the kids fell asleep.

Why couldn’t he just leave her alone and mourn his loss like she was and not think twice about her? She let out a deep breath.

She knew she had been cold, but what did someone expect when her faith in the opposite sex had been shattered?

She just needed to get through this, and then once everything was over, she would never have to see him again.

She slowly sat up from the couch and then checked on Lily and Lucy. She smiled. They were still sawing logs.

She began to move the Pack ‘n Play carefully through the living room, back to her bedroom so she could jump in the shower and still have them within earshot in case something happened.

She turned the water up almost as high as it would go. She still felt so cold. She wondered if that feeling would ever go away.

She shivered as the memory of seeing her best friend lying on that metal table filled her brain. She shook her head and tried to shut it all out. She never wanted to identify another body as long as she lived.

Once was more than enough.

She got into the hot water, and she shivered again as it ran across her skin, but she still felt so cold and empty.

She hoped they found whoever did this to her best friend and her husband. The asshat didn’t deserve to live after causing this much pain and sorrow.

But for now, she had to be strong for those two little girls sleeping in her bedroom, especially for Lily. She was going to need stability after she realized her parents weren’t coming back.

This was going to be a long road.