Chapter 6 #2
Lena laughed as if he was joking. “Same old grumpy Boone. It’s no wonder you’re still single after all these years. I’m the only woman in the world who could put up with all that growling for more than ten minutes.”
Boone closed his eyes, praying for patience. “What do you want, Lena?”
“Since I’m between jobs, I thought I’d come home for a visit.
I’ll be staying with my sister in Williamsburg, and I thought it might be nice to see Sadie.
She’s getting older now, and she needs more time with her mother.
I can teach her how to straighten her hair and put on makeup and stuff like that. ”
It was sad that Lena believed all Sadie needed from a mother was surface-y bullshit like hair and makeup tutorials. Not that he should be surprised. Lena had always treated Sadie like a doll she could play dress-up with.
“When are you coming? Because she’s in school and she can’t miss.”
“Oh, for God’s sake, Boone. She’s in seventh grade. I’m sure it won’t be the end of the world if she misses a week.”
“A week? Not happening. I told you, her grades slipped first semester. She’s been turning it around since we moved to Gracemont. I don’t want her to backslide.”
“She can get the missed work from her teachers, and I’ll help her do it.”
Riiiiiight. And Boone was going to ride a unicorn bareback and start shitting rainbows.
“No.”
“Don’t be difficult, Boone. If you hadn’t dragged Sadie away from Williamsburg, this visit would be much simpler because I could just pick her up after school every day. You’re the one who added this wrinkle.”
Of course. Boone should have known. Lena’s call wasn’t so much about seeing Sadie as it was designed to punish him for moving. The irony of that was, she’d moved first, and farther away, but that would be totally lost on his ex, so he didn’t bother mentioning it.
“Which week are you coming home?” He wasn’t conceding, but he knew Sadie would want to see her mom, so he’d have to find some compromise.
“The week of March seven through fourteen. I’m flying in Sunday morning, and then out again late the following Sunday evening. You can just drop her off on the seventh at Carol’s house and—”
“She’s not coming the whole week, and I’m not driving all the way to Williamsburg.
” Boone had hit his limit on jumping through Lena’s hoops when it came to her visits with Sadie.
All the responsibility for getting Sadie to Lena had fallen on him in the past. He always dropped her off, picked her up, and when the flight to Florida was involved, he’d paid the airfare.
He was done with that. If Lena was serious about seeing Sadie, some of the effort had to be hers.
“I don’t have a car.”
“You can borrow Carol’s.” Lena’s sister worked from home and rarely went anywhere.
She’d never been diagnosed as agoraphobic, but Carol certainly ticked all the boxes, getting her groceries delivered and never eating out.
He knew for a fact she went out once a week just to start her car in the driveway to keep the battery charged.
“I don’t see why you can’t just drive here.”
“Because I’m not driving a combined fourteen hours round trip to drop her off and pick her up.
Spending hours on the road isn’t my idea of a good time.
Besides, I have work.” He put Lena on speaker while he loaded Google maps, searching for a midpoint between Gracemont and Williamsburg. “We can meet in Fredericksburg.”
Lena huffed her displeasure. “Maybe you didn’t hear me, but I just lost my job. I can’t afford gas money to—”
“You found the money for a plane ticket,” Boone interjected. “So I’m sure you can figure out how to pay for a couple tanks of gas.”
“Need I remind you that I was vehemently against you moving my daughter away from Williamsburg.”
“Need I remind you that you don’t get a say in my life. This move was the best thing for both Sadie and me. If you saw her more than a couple times a year, you’d know that.”
“Oh, you just love throwing that in my face, don’t you? Don’t you think I’d see her more if I could?”
The answer to that was a resounding no, but he wasn’t interested in engaging in a fight with Lena. Especially when the front door opened and Sadie walked in.
“Who’s that?” his daughter mouthed, probably surprised to find him home early and on the phone. Neither were common occurrences.
“Your mom,” he replied.
“Is that Sadie?” Lena asked, her voice loud through the speaker. “Put her on. Let me talk to her.”
Boone knew exactly where this was going to lead, but it wasn’t like he could refuse. Especially given the way Sadie’s face lit up when she found out he was talking to Lena.
He handed the phone to Sadie, who excitedly said, “Hi, Mom.”
Boone listened with half an ear as Lena shared her tale of work woes with Sadie, who was much more sympathetic than he’d been.
He tried to hide his displeasure when Sadie started to tell her mother about her day at school, only to be cut off.
“Listen, Sadie. I don’t have a lot of time to talk.”
Boone growled low in his throat. Lena never had time to talk unless it was about her.
“I’m coming to Virginia in March,” Lena said.
Sadie cheered excitedly. “That’s awesome! You can see our new house and my bedroom and the farm. I can introduce you to all the horses and—”
“Oh no, Sadie. I’m not coming to Gracemont. You’re coming to Williamsburg to see me. We’ll stay with your aunt Carol.”
Sadie’s enthusiasm dimmed considerably, mainly because Carol was a genuinely miserable person. Her two twenty-something-year-old kids, who should have been out of the house years ago, also lived there, and they were about as much fun as oral surgery. “Oh. Okay. But I have school.”
“I was just telling your dad it won’t matter if you miss a week—”
“She’s not missing a week,” Boone said, entering the conversation, aware Lena was setting him up as the bad guy with Sadie…just like she always did. “I said you could go for a long weekend. I don’t want you missing more than two days of school.”
“But, Dad,” Sadie whined, “we’re not even doing anything. I won’t miss much.”
He shook his head. He was sure her teachers would love to hear that apparently their lessons didn’t count for anything. “I’ll drive you down Wednesday after work and pick you up on Sunday. That’s a long enough visit.”
“Boone,” Lena started, ready to pick up the argument.
He wasn’t having it. “Take it or leave it, Lena. And don’t forget we’re meeting in Fredericksburg.”
Lena huffed. “I don’t know why you’re being so stubborn about this. I hardly ever get to see Sadie.”
“Yeah, Dad,” Sadie chimed in. “I can get the missed work from my teachers before I go.”
“And I’ll help you do it, sweetheart,” Lena chimed in.
It took all the strength in Boone’s body not to scoff.
He knew all the way to his bones that upon Sadie’s return, his daughter would be stressed out because none of the schoolwork would be done.
On top of that, it would take him a couple of weeks to get Sadie back to the responsible daughter he’d raised as she continued hitting him with the old, “But Mom always lets me…”
“Wednesday to Sunday and we meet in Fredericksburg, Lena.”
“Fine, Boone.” Lena’s tone let him—and Sadie—know that she thought he was being unreasonable. “I need to skedaddle. I’m meeting a girlfriend for drinks later.”
“I’ll text you a location where we can meet,” Boone added, aware Lena wouldn’t do it.
She didn’t acknowledge his comment, which meant she wasn’t finished fighting that fight.
Something to look forward to, he thought sarcastically.
“Bye, Mom.” Sadie hung up and handed Boone his phone. “I don’t see why I can’t—”
“I’m not changing my mind, Donut. You’ve got good grades right now, and I think you’ve got a shot at making the honor roll. There’s no way you’re missing a week of school.”
Sadie scowled. “Fine. Whatever.”
It just occurred to him that he hadn’t heard that tone in weeks, and he hadn’t missed it.
At. All.
Rather than call Sadie to task, he remained silent as she went to her room and closed the door just a smidge too hard.
Wonderful.
As if his day hadn’t sucked enough. Now he got to look forward to a night of Sadie stomping around the cabin.
He glanced at the time on his watch and sighed.
Boone wasn’t one for napping, but he considered going to lie down.
Dealing with Lena was exhausting. Every time he spoke to her, it drove home just how stupid he’d been to marry her in the first place.
It was clear they’d had nothing but good sex going for them, so a large part of him was surprised they’d made it as long as they did as a married couple.
Boone had long ago accepted that he’d had his head turned by Lena’s pretty face and her adventurousness in the bedroom.
Lena was the first woman he’d slept with who wasn’t turned off or overwhelmed by his dominance.
While she wasn’t naturally submissive, she played the role because she got off on bondage and dirty talk.
He’d been young enough and stupid enough to think she was his forever match.
It was another reason he’d avoided the dating scene.
Boone didn’t trust his instincts when it came to matters of the heart.
He’d dated a few women prior to Lena, ones he might have thought were the one as well, if he’d been older and looking to settle down, which he hadn’t.
Lena was the first woman he’d seriously considered spending the rest of his life with.
What if he fell for another woman only to discover—once again—that he’d mistaken lust for love? Sadie had already been hurt once by his poor decisions, forced to grow up with an absent mother. He wouldn’t subject her to that again.
While Boone was still annoyed by Lena’s call, it had come at a good time, because it reminded him why he’d been an idiot to kiss Mila. There was no denying he was attracted to her, but he couldn’t let himself get carried away thinking it was more than physical desire.