Free More Than Cookies (The Maple Leaf Series) by Christine DePetrillo Page A

2:30 she’d written on the paper after setting up their appointment were slanted to the left, a little extra flair added to the T, and the colon in the time was actually circles instead of dots.
    I’ve spent way too much time looking at this.
    He tossed the paper onto his nightstand and leaned back on the headboard. His eyes focused on the shadows the small lamp to his right made on the white ceiling above him. He always saw shapes in those plaster swirls. Birds, elephants, and all manner of other critters. He’d taken to counting them to fall asleep, but he didn’t think that was going to help tonight. He was too wound up. Too anxious about meeting with the lawyer. Too hopeful the lawyer could actually help him. Too heartbroken without Myah. Too pissed off with Adriana. Too lonely without his best buddy, Ranger.
    Too horny with Sage still fresh in his mind.
    Orion flicked off the lamp and slid down into the cool sheets of his bed. He had both of the bedroom windows open and the sounds of the brook that meandered through his property made him think about how that brook cut across Cressen’s place next door as well. Cressen’s place that was no longer Cressen’s place. Cressen’s place that now had the pleasure of calling Sage its owner.
    Was it possible to be jealous of a house?
    Rolling to his left side, Orion adjusted until his right leg didn’t throb. He’d showered earlier and inspected the angry red line across his thigh, held closed with staples. If he thought about it too much, his stomach got a little unsure of itself.
    I was shot.
    He recalled the burn when the bullet had entered his leg. The police had visited him in the hospital to tell him they hadn’t found any evidence of hunters and asking around town hadn’t turned up any names either. Not a big deal. He didn’t plan on pressing charges. Accidents happened. Luckily, Myah hadn’t been with him.
    He would definitely need to be more careful if he won custody of her.
    And I might actually win.
    Now that he had Sage and this top-notch lawyer on his side, anything was possible. Myah could be back in his life for good. He almost couldn’t stay still thinking about having her all the time. God, he loved her so much. She was everything.
    How Adriana could use Myah as a way to get back at him for offenses he wasn’t even sure he’d committed was beyond his comprehension. Sweet, innocent, precious Myah. She deserved better. She deserved the best of everything. He didn’t claim to be the best, but he was certain he was better for Myah than Adriana. His ex-wife was poison, and he was determined to keep her toxic attitude away from his daughter.
    “Orion?” his father asked from the other side of the door.
    “What, Dad? Do you need something?” Orion climbed back out of bed and limped to the bedroom door. When he opened it, Ian stood on the other side, the T-shirt and cotton shorts he used as pajamas a little askew as if he’d wrestled with the sheets to come to Orion’s door.
    “I was thinking.”
    Orion waited for Ian to finish, but a long moment passed without him saying anything.
    “What were you thinking about, Dad?” He leaned against the doorway to take the weight off his leg and folded his arms across his chest. Sometimes Ian stalled before bedtime, not at all like Myah who went to sleep with the same quiet obedience she used for everything.  
    “Dinner was nice tonight,” Ian finally said.
    “Yes, it was.” Orion had to admit Sage’s presence made things feel more… homey.
    “Good cookies too.” Ian rubbed his full belly.
    “Made Oreos and Nutter Butters seem like second-rate cookies, huh?”
    “Homemade is always best.” Ian hesitated and tapped his heel on the wood floor.
    “What else is on your mind, Dad?”
    “Sage could be the exception.” He paced in the hallway, half talking to himself now.
    Orion rested his hand on Ian’s shoulder and the older man stopped. “The exception? What do you mean?”
    “Maybe she’s