“Are you freaking kidding me right now? You’re Cole Montgomery. Holy—” The woman hitched the baby higher, a soggy diaper making a squelching sound. “Hey, I’m Tina.”
“And you’re Ilona’s cousin, right?” Hailey asked.
“I mean, yeah, but we didn’t know her at all.” She looked at Cole. “Shouldn’t you be in Boston right now? How did you know Ilona’s kid?”
“We all went to high school together.” He wasn’t going to get into a conversation about hockey. “Anyhow, we didn’t know their extended family, so we hired an investigator to let everyone know of Lindsay’s passing.”
“That’s Ilona’s daughter,” Hailey said.
“Why? Is there an inheritance or something?” She peered behind them. “Looks like it’s starting to snow. Come on in.” The woman led them into the house, the floor littered with toys. “Go on and sit down.” She gestured to a couch. “I’ll just get this one a bottle.”
Two older kids raced into the room, shooting each other with foam darts. A toddler held on to the coffee table to lift herself. Drool spilled out of her mouth as she gave them a toothless grin.
“Hi, cutie,” Hailey said.
Tina came back, setting the baby in a mesh port-a-crib. He sat up, sucking on a bottle. “Okay, so you were talking about an inheritance?”
“Actually, no,” Hailey said. “We weren’t. We just wanted to let you know she and her husband passed away two weeks ago. I don’t really know about their net worth. They were young and didn’t have much.”
“They had kids?”
Hailey’s gaze shot to him. He’d already put the decision in her hands, so he gave her a moment. If she needed him to answer, he was ready.
But then, she said, “Yes. Two girls.”
“Oh.” The woman perked up. “How old?”
“Three and six.”
“Okay, because the twins are nine.” She pointed to the older two, still shooting darts at each other. “I’ve got another set of twins, but they’re with their dad right now.” She gestured toward the toddler. “This one’s fourteen months, and that one—” She tipped her chin to the baby. “He’s eleven months. I foster those two, but if there’s some money coming with the girls, I can stop doing that.” She trained her gaze on Cole. “It’s expensive to raise kids.” The toddler lost her hold and fell with a whump onto her butt. “But they’re family, so I could do it with some help.”
“Looks like you’ve got your hands full already.” Hailey sounded tart, and he suspected she was thinking the same thing as him. That Tina wanted money from a hockey player.
“No, I can do it. If I get rid of these two little ones, I can put the girls in with the twins. The other set’s girls, of course. I wouldn’t put them with the boys. It’ll be tight.” She grew more animated. “If you want what’s best for them, you should probably get us a bigger house. That way the girls can have their own room.”
“I never said we were looking for a home for the girls.” Hailey got up. “We’re the guardians. We just thought you should know Lindsay passed away.”
“You mind signing an autograph for me?” Tina didn’t wait for an answer. She dashed into the kitchen and came back out with a pen and paper. As he signed, she said, “The good thing about me taking them is I’ve got lots of family in the area. My mom lives one town over, and I’ve got cousins everywhere.”
Hailey was already heading for the door, so that left him to end the conversation. “You have a great holiday now.”
“Stay in touch. Let me know how it’s going.”
He waved a hand and called, “Will do.” When he got into the car, he could feel the charged energy in the air. They didn’t speak while he pulled away from the curb, but he knew she was holding it all in.
“Floor it.”
He chuckled.
“I’m serious. Get me out of here as fast as you can.”
“On it.”
She shot him a look. “We’re not letting her raise them.”
Her determination was such a fucking turn-on. “No.”
“She said, ‘If I getridof these two.’ Can you imagine? Those babies are in her care—she’s all they have in the world right now. And she’s willing to ‘get rid of them’ for a big pay day from a Boston Brawler.” With every sentence, she grew more agitated. “She didn’t even look when the little one fell. Not one muscle in her body twitched to make sure that baby didn’t get hurt.”