Alex #2
The question stops her cold. Her confidence wavers. Her gaze slips sideways before returning to mine. “Anastasia only wanted to see Eloise before she leaves tomorrow.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
My mother huffs out a frustrated breath. “It wasn’t a big deal. Eloise is only making it a big deal because Zara is making it a big deal.”
The dismissal irritates me more than the explanation itself. “It was a big deal from the moment Eloise saw her.”
My mother folds her arms. “She wasn’t going to hurt her. She just wants a relationship with her daughter.”
I ignore the redirect. “Anastasia told Eloise she was taking her back to Toronto without me.”
For the first time since she arrived, my mother’s expression truly changes. The color drains from her face. “She didn’t mean it that way.”
“It doesn’t matter how she meant it. That’s what she said.”
“Allistair—”
“Because you keep coming with Anastasia, Eloise now believes both of you are trying to take her away.” A couple near the fireplace glances in our direction, forcing me to lower my voice even though my anger remains exactly where it is.
“So you might think about the impact on your relationship with Eloise. Because that’s what my daughter believes. ”
My mother shakes her head. “She’s exaggerating.”
She still isn’t listening. “No, she’s not.” I hold her gaze and force myself to stay focused. “Eloise is terrified, Mom. She won’t leave my side. She sleeps with me most nights. She’s seeing a therapist. The damage is real, whether you want to acknowledge it or not.”
“Aren’t you blowing this out of proportion?”
“Mom, listen to me, and listen carefully. We are not moving back to Toronto.”
She opens her mouth, but I don’t give her the chance to interrupt.
“My lawyer has already communicated this to Anastasia’s lawyer, which means she should know exactly where things stand.
Because she disappeared for seven years and because her sudden reappearance has terrified Eloise, any contact moving forward will have to go through the courts.
Visits will be supervised until a judge decides otherwise. ”
My mother’s expression falters. She looks away. “She never told me any of that.”
“Then she wasn’t being honest with you.” I shake my head, suddenly exhausted.
“You need to go home. Go back to Toronto. Give Eloise some space. Maybe after a few calls, she’ll be willing to see you again.
Maybe she’ll eventually be comfortable seeing you in person.
But right now she isn’t, and pushing her isn’t helping. ”
“Allistair—”
“No.”
The single word stops her cold.
“You don’t get to decide what’s best for my daughter. I do. Every decision I make starts with protecting Eloise, and right now you’re making that harder, not easier.”
For the first time, real uncertainty flickers across her face. “I never meant—”
“I know exactly what you meant. You thought you were helping. But you’ve been focused on what you want, not what’s right for me and my daughter, and you’ve hurt Eloise in the process.”
I take a step back, headed for the door. “If you can’t respect the boundaries I’ve put in place, I’ll have my lawyer contact you regarding any future visits with your granddaughter. I’m done arguing about this.”
My mother just stares, stunned into silence.
I leave her standing in the hotel lobby.
I step outside with anger still burning beneath my skin.
For too long she has refused to hear what I have to say.
My shoulders ache with exhaustion as I climb into my Volvo and pull the door shut behind me.
For a moment, I stare through the windshield, trying to sort through the mess of the evening.
Eventually, I reach for my phone. Josie’s name sits at the top of my favorite numbers, and I press dial.
The call goes directly to her voicemail. I disconnect before the greeting finishes and drop the phone on the passenger seat. This is the fifth call I’ve made to her today. At some point, missed connections stop feeling like bad timing and start feeling deliberate.
The farther I drive, the angrier I become.
Not at Josie, but at my mother.
One conversation. That’s all it took. One conversation filled with assumptions, manipulation, and outright lies. She convinced Josie that Anastasia and I were getting back together, that we were moving to Toronto, that the future Josie and I had been building together meant nothing.
And while Josie has been forced to process all of that, I’ve been dealing with a terrified seven year old who thinks she’s about to lose everything.
The timing has been terrible. I would make the same choice again.
Eloise comes first.
But that doesn’t stop me from hating what it cost. Because while I was putting my daughter back together, the woman I was falling for slipped through my fingers.
And I wasn’t there to stop it.
Eventually, I turn onto the road leading to Josie’s cottage.
Part of me expects to see her truck parked outside or a light glowing through one of the windows—some sign that she’s home and simply ignoring her phone.
Instead, the cottage comes into view as a dark silhouette against the hillside.
Every window is black. The porch light is off.
There isn’t a single indication that anyone is there.
I pull into the driveway and shut off the engine.
Silence falls immediately, leaving me alone with the sight of the empty house.
There isn’t a vehicle outside. No movement behind the windows.
No sign of Josie anywhere. I pick up my phone and call again, holding on to one last thread of optimism, even though I already know how this is going to end.
The dashboard clock glows softly inside the cab while the cottage remains dark and silent beyond the glass. As I sit there, one uncomfortable truth becomes impossible to ignore.. I don’t know how to fix this. And worse than that, I don’t know if Josie even wants me to try.