The outrage on Ben’s face looked exactly how she felt. “How the fuck can they do that? He has a mother.”

“Yes, but they say Savannah’s an absent mother. Which, okay, she sometimes is, but only when she’s on location. And she makes sure Felix is taken care of. He’s always either with me or at school or with a tutor.” She cast around for her clothes, which had gotten tangled up with Ben’s and the blankets.

Cold waves of fury kept coursing through her. She’d never felt anything quite like it before. How could they? How could they do this to Savannah, to her, to Felix? And why?

Ben helped her locate her underwear. Her hands were shaking so hard she had trouble putting her panties on, so he helped her with that, too. Right now, she was so glad he was with her that she could have cried. Except that she refused to cry. She was too damn pissed.

“What did Savannah say, exactly? Is she getting a lawyer?”

“Yes, of course, but her parents totally blindsided her. She’s freaking out.”

Poor Savannah. Julie had never heard her so shaken up. Despite her bravado, Julie knew how much Savannah doubted herself when it came to mothering. But Julie didn’t doubt her. Savannah was the only person in the world Felix would allow to cuddle with him in the usual way. They shared jokes no one else understood, not even Julie. Felix needed his mother and adored her.

Who were the Reinhards to say otherwise?

“They say we’re spoiling him,” Savannah had cried. And by “we,” Julie assumed they meant her, since they hadn’t even seen Savannah with Felix. “Spoiling him by letting him indulge all his obsessions and allowing him to be weird. They say he should have a more stable life and that I can’t provide it since I’m working so much.”

“And me?” she’d asked, almost afraid to hear the answer.

“They say you’re too soft with him because you’re not a real family member. And that I’m leaving too much in your hands now that Felix is older. They said if I can’t be his main parent, then a blood relative should be, not you.”

“They really said that?” After everything she’d done for the Savannah and Felix, to be dismissed like that—“not a real family member”—it was so cruel it took her breath away.

“A lot of it’s lawyer-talk, hon. Don’t take it too personally.” Savannah’s voice grew bitter. “I know how they roll. They’d probably say they’re just doing it for the good of the Reinhard bloodline or some shit. I knew it was a bad idea for you to go back there. I never should have trusted them! Jesus, is Dad even sick or was it all a ruse?”

A headache hammered at her temples, like piano keys on the inside of her skull. Everything she and Ben had just talked about flew out of her head, and all that mattered was Felix.

She squirmed into her dress, which no longer felt like Cinderella’s dream ball gown. It may as well have been made from ashes, for all the appeal it had now. This was the dress she’d worn to the Reinhards’ the night they tried to steal Felix—that was how she would remember it forevermore.

“I need to clear my head.” The lifeguard shack felt as if it was closing in on her. She crawled toward the door. “A call from her lawyer came in, then she’s going to call me right back.”

“Hang on. You can’t go out there alone, you’ll get blown away. Wait for me.”

Ben yanked on his pants and rolled the blankets up in the corner, all except one, which stayed wrapped around her shoulders. He blew out the lantern, causing a whiff of acrid smoke to drift through the air. She barely saw what he was doing, her mind so occupied with this shocking news.

Her first impulse was to grab Felix and hit the road for LA. But Savannah had made her promise not to do anything until she’d talked to the lawyer.

She stood barefoot on the dark beach, the wind pummeling her body. Storm clouds streamed across the sky, the moon peeking in and out of view. She should have been cold, but the blanket kept the chill off. The wind whipped her hair against her face, but she didn’t mind the sting. It clarified her thoughts.

Ben stepped next to her and put his arm around her shoulder. She leaned against him and spoke over the rush of the wind. “Remember when Savannah talked about joining the Peace Corps after graduation?”

“Yeah, it always seemed out of character.”

“Actually, it wasn’t. She’s much more generous than you think. But anyway, she wasn’t really serious. It was a negotiating tactic to freak her parents out. It was right after my mom died and I was afraid I’d have to go into foster care or something. Savannah told her parents she’d drop the Peace Corps thing as long as I could stay in the guesthouse.”

“Are you serious?”

“Yes. Savannah used to say her whole life was a series of chess moves, of her trying to claim power from her parents. Whenever she wanted something, she had to give something up. They always want to be in control. Savannah knew how to fight them, but Felix doesn’t. This would be such a disaster for him.”

Ben squeezed her closer against his side. “I don’t think they stand a chance. Who’s going to take a child away from a mother who wants him? Don’t the judges always go by what’s in the child’s best interests?”

“I don’t know. I’m totally clueless about this stuff. I’m afraid it could depend on who has the best lawyer. Which will be the Reinhards. I mean, Savannah’s an actress. Her lawyer negotiates contracts and stuff like that. This is completely different. What if she loses custody?”

She felt everything falling away from her, like sand sloughing with the tide. She had no legal standing in Felix’s life. She could lose him tomorrow. Maybe the Reinhards wouldn’t want her around anymore if they thought she was too easy on him.

Her phone rang again. She snatched it to her ear. “Savannah?”

“Where is Felix right now? My lawyer wants to make sure he isn’t with my parents. He was going to go to the ball, right? Is he still there?”

“No, he never went.” At least that was a lucky break. “It was too much for him, I took him to Ben’s brother’s house.”

“Can you go get him? Just to be on the safe side.”

“Absolutely.”

The thought of doing something instead of waiting for a call sent energy rushing through her. She hung up and turned to Ben. “Let’s go back to the farmhouse.”

“It’s three in the morning.”

She looked at her phone in amazement. Sure enough, they’d been snuggled in the lifeguard stand for three hours. In some ways, it felt like days, as if they’d traveled a long way in that time.

She hesitated, debating. Felix was safe at the farmhouse, sound asleep. The Reinhards probably didn’t even know where he was. “My car’s still there. I need to pick it up, and be ready to pick up Felix first thing in the morning.”

“I’m staying with you,” he told her, taking her hand and heading for the truck. “I’m not leaving you alone tonight.”

“That’s sweet, but Ben—everything I said before, it doesn’t matter now. I can’t think about anything besides Felix. He comes first.”

His face tightened, but he didn’t answer. They got into the truck, with Ben at the wheel this time. He turned on the heat, and even though she still had the blanket wrapped around her, she shivered. From cold or shock, she wasn’t sure which.

Ben started the truck and roared out of the lot. “First of all, I’m going to stand by you no matter what. I care about Felix, too, you know.”

“I know. I just don’t want you to think—”

He cut her off. “Second, I know a good lawyer. She helped Carolyn adopt Sarah, and she really knows the Jupiter Point family court system. She could be helpful. Do you want me to call her?”

She shot him a curious sidelong look. Something in the tone of his voice indicated more than a business acquaintance. “When you say ‘know’…”

He snorted. “Don’t worry, we barely made it through coffee.”

So, he had gone out with the lawyer. And why not? Ben was a catch, the sexiest man in Jupiter Point. And she loved him, but she had to put the brakes on. She had to deal with this situation with Felix, and if that meant going back to LA, she’d do it. And Ben would still be here in Jupiter Point. Just as cute and sexy and wonderful as ever.

God, her timing was the worst. Then and now.

When they reached the farmhouse, all the lights were blazing and a vehicle idled in the driveway. Horrified, Julie recognized Priscilla’s Rolls. Brooks, the driver, was waiting at the wheel while Priscilla hurried toward it, Felix in tow. Poor Felix had his glasses on crooked and looked as if he’d dressed in the dark.

Carolyn and Tobias followed behind. They were both on their phones, and in the next second, Julie’s buzzed in her jacket pocket.

She ignored it and opened the door of the truck. She jumped out before Ben had even brought it to a stop. “Mrs. Reinhard!” she yelled as she ran toward the Rolls. It felt like a nightmare in which she ran and ran, but got nowhere. She’d never reach the Rolls in time. “Stop this!”

“We’ll talk in the morning, Julie,” Mrs. Reinhard called. “We don’t want to upset Felix.”

“You’re already upsetting him!”

“If he’d come to the ball like he was supposed to, this wouldn’t be necessary,” she snapped as she manhandled Felix into the Rolls.

He barely had time for a plaintive, “Julie?” before the door closed behind him. The Rolls veered around Ben’s truck and took off down the driveway, its taillights winking like evil red dragons’ eyes.

“What on earth is going on?” Panting, Carolyn ran up to Julie. “She showed up in the middle of the night with her lawyer on the phone. She refused to wait until I called you.”

Tobias closed his phone. “Will’s on his way over.”

Julie stared after the departing Rolls. Why was she so shocked? This was how the Reinhards did things. They steamrolled over everyone else to get what they wanted.

She turned to Ben, who’d swung out of the truck to join them. “I need that lawyer’s number. Right away.”

“You got it. But Julie, you’d better call Savannah and tell her to get her ass to Jupiter Point.”

She nodded, already digging for her phone. Only one person had ever really stood up to the Reinhards and all their money. That was Savannah. “I’ll call her right now.”

Will arrived in his Jeep and Tobias and Carolyn crossed the driveway to talk to him. Julie understood why they’d called him. As a former deputy sheriff, he was the most familiar with California law. But what if the law was on the Reinhards’ side? What if they never had to give Felix back?

She shivered as she waited for Savannah to pick up. Ben’s hand cupped her neck, a comforting, warm weight. It seemed like a year ago that he’d told her about his mother, and the night of the murder. He must be exhausted.

“You can go home,” she mouthed.

He shook his head firmly. “Not happening. I’m going to follow you home. You’re upset, it’s late, and I want to make sure you’re safe.”

Savannah’s voice mail answered. Damn it. “Savannah, call me the second you get this message. It’s urgent. Beyond urgent. Are you there?”

Which was ridiculous, because no one had answering machines that you could listen to anymore. She hung up, exasperated and furious.

Carolyn’s soft voice floated through the air. “How about you guys stay here tonight? It’s so late to be driving around and you both look exhausted. Also, Sarah’s planning to make waffles in the morning.”

Julie’s heart twisted hard. She knew why Sarah wanted to make waffles. For Felix. That idyllic morning scene at the farmhouse with waffles and the Knight family, and Ben and Julie and Felix, all filled with sunshine and warmth and laughter, might never come to pass.

Because once the Reinhards got involved, they always got their way.