She was going to fight for everything that would make her happy. Carter. Her home here. Her business.
And Flynn.
And she was just going to have to make him see that he wanted that too. Needed that too. Because the alternative wasn’t worth thinking about.
‘Prita?’
She jumped a little, her hand jerking on Flynn’s as she turned to face Diarmuid, blinking in the light streaming through the door behind him. Not the dull light of a bulb, but daylight. Had she been sitting here all night?
‘Sorry, I don’t mean to disturb you. Carter’s still asleep and I just wanted to see how you are.’ His voice carried across the room even though he was whispering. It made her smile—Diarmuid Brennan couldn’t help being loud even when he was trying for soft.
She held her hand out to him and he crossed the room to take it. ‘Thank you for being here.’
‘You never have to thank me for that.’
‘I feel like I’m ignoring you though.’
He sat on the chair Barb had been occupying earlier. ‘You have a patient to take care of.’
She glanced at Flynn, her gaze lingering on the strong features she so loved. ‘He isn’t only a patient.’
‘You love him.’
‘Yes.’
‘Does he deserve you?’
She smiled. ‘We deserve each other.’
‘Good.’ He tipped his head, gaze roving over her face. ‘The question is, will you fight for him?’
‘Yes.’
Another squeeze of her hand. ‘That’s my aingeal.’
She leaned over and kissed his cheek. ‘I love you, Papa.’
‘I love you too, aingeal.’
He kissed her forehead then sighed. ‘I don’t want to bring you more worry, but we really need to talk about what is going on with this Keith Blake who claims to be Carter’s father.’
‘He can’t take him. He’s mine. Samantha wanted me to look after him.’
‘That’s true and my lawyer says it certainly gives us a strong case. But we have to go through a DNA test to prove paternity and if that happens, and it is proved he is the biological father, then he does have a claim. We can’t put our heads in the sand about it. We need to shore up our side of things. It certainly doesn’t help at the moment that you no longer have a home and your business has been affected.’
‘We’re not homeless.’
‘No. But the future isn’t as certain as it was a week ago. Our lawyer says that Mr Blake is already petitioning that you aren’t a stable parent. That your lifestyle and your marriage to Chandra show that.’
‘What? I’ve done nothing but give Carter stability since he came to live with me.’
‘I know. But you losing your home and business certainly doesn’t help our case if that’s the way he’s pushing it.’
‘I have a home. CoalCliff is one of the best places we could be for Carter right now. He loves it here and feels so safe. He hasn’t had a single night terror since we came here, despite losing the house.’
‘That’s wonderful. We need to note that down.’
‘I will. And in regards to the money, I’ve barely drawn on the money Mum left me over the years and if I can get the insurance moving, I’ll be back to building my business and home as soon as possible and, in the meantime, I’m running my clinic out of the cottage. If he’s going after me by saying I don’t have a roof over my head or a job, then he’s not got a leg to stand on.’
Diarmuid patted her on the shoulder and smiled. ‘You remind me of your mother when you get feisty like that.’
‘Do I?’
‘Yes. And with that kind of determination, I know we’re not going to lose Carter to this arsehole.’
‘Damn right.’
He kissed her cheek and then stood up.
‘You’re going?’
‘Yes. I need to call the lawyer and tell him to put things into action for this fight. I also want to call a buddy of mine who’s a kind of private eye. I asked him a few weeks ago to start to look into this bloke. I didn’t want to say anything, because there might not be anything to find. But I figured if Sam didn’t want him in hers and Carter’s life, there must have been a reason. I just want to see if my mate’s discovered anything that will help us win the case.’
‘Good idea. Will you come back after?’
‘Later. Reid’s going to take me and Carts out for that ride we never had yesterday. I just came in to check if you needed anything and to have a quiet chat while Carts was still asleep. We don’t want him being upset by this.’
‘No, we don’t. He doesn’t need to know anything about this yet.’
‘I agree.’ He stroked over her hair. ‘I know you want to be here with your man, but you need to rest too.’
‘I will, Papa. In a little while.’
‘Make sure you do.’
Diarmuid kissed the top of her head just like he had when she was little, the gesture warming her in a way that she hadn’t known she needed until then. She walked him to the door and then closed it quietly behind her, turned and saw Flynn staring at her.
‘You don’t have to leave.’
She smiled softly at him. ‘I’m not.’
He shifted up in the bed, leaning against the bed head, waving away her assistance. ‘No, I mean you don’t have to hurry away from CoalCliff. You can stay as long as you like. If it’s good for Carter. If it will help you to win your case. If you want.’
Her gaze raked over him. What was he saying? How much had he heard of her conversation with her papa? Not
