Chapter One #2
“What? You haven’t bothered to take your son six times in the last five months, and you missed your last two weekends.
You don’t have a leg to stand on. I documented everything and made sure my mother was here as a witness.
So what you’ve got is a whole lot of hot air.
So go, and you have a nice day.” He stood in the doorway once she stepped outside, watching as she got in her huge, old car and drove away, spraying dirt as her car fishtailed into the street.
“Is mommy gone?” Jameson asked from behind him.
“Yeah. She had to go.” He refused to say anything bad about her in front of Jameson. No kid needed that. “Did you finish breakfast?” Jameson nodded. “Then go put on your boots and we’ll go out to see the horses.” Brendan closed the door and went to finish eating.
He and Jameson had an amazing day. Jameson said hello to all the horses and fed them carrots.
All the animals on the property seemed to love him.
In the afternoon, Brendan’s mom came to take Jameson to her cottage in Green Ridge Village retirement community so Brendan could have some time alone.
It was great for her. His mom adored her grandson and spoiled him rotten, and it gave Brendan some time to get the house cleaned and to spend time in the workshop.
“Brendan!” Henry, a very promising rider, called out, a touch of panic in his voice. “Three of the horses just ran past the door.”
“Shit,” he swore under his breath, and raced out of the shop, running to the front in time for two additional horses to follow.
He whistled, and two of the horses stopped.
He and Henry were able to get them into their stalls.
A section of the paddock fence was down, the rails lying on the ground.
Nothing broken, just the fence rails pulled away.
Brendan secured the rails back into place before going after the remaining horses.
They were all together, and with Henry’s help, they were able to lead two of the horses back, the third following behind.
“Who would do this?” Henry asked. “I was in the stall with Perseus, and suddenly there were horses running past the door. I didn’t see anyone out here.” They got the horses back into their paddocks, and Brendan made sure all the gates were closed.
“I have a pretty good idea.” This was just the sort of thing that Jenn would do just to show him that she could make his life difficult.
As a rule, she could be nice enough, as long as she got her own way.
But once he told her no or didn’t provide what she thought she needed, she was a very different person.
Self-entitled didn’t begin to cover it, not for a second.
“Should you call the police?” Henry asked.
“There was no real damage, and the horses are all fine. Thank you for helping with them. I appreciate it very much.”
“You’re welcome,” he said, and went back in the barn.
Brendan pulled out his cell phone and scrolled through his contacts before making a call.
He knew it was Sunday and that it wasn’t likely anyone was in the office, so when the call went to voicemail, he left a message for the lawyer who had handled his divorce and the custody settlement, saying that he was having issues and needed some help.
Brendan left his phone number before hanging up.
With that done, he returned to his workshop and the bits of timber inside in the hope that some sort of inspiration might strike.
It didn’t, and he ended up working on a piece that he’d been trying to get the proportions right on for the last three weeks.
After finally making progress, he closed up the shop, checked that each of the horses was where they should be for the night, and headed to his mother’s to pick up Jameson.
“Mom,” he called as he entered her cottage half an hour later. Jameson’s laugh drew him toward the back porch, where the two of them sat amid the Lego tower they were building together.
She sat back, and Brendan greeted her and kissed her cheek. “I heard you had a visitor today.”
“Yes.”
“She stirring things up?” Mom kept the tone light as Jameson continued playing. Brendan nodded, not wanting to have too big a discussion about Jenn in front of him. “You taking care of it?”
“As best I can,” he told her. “Called the lawyer and left a message. We’ll see what he thinks.
” The more he thought about it, the more he was sure Jenn had returned and taken down the fence.
It wouldn’t take too much, and she would have known how to do it.
She could also take it down and just drive away, knowing the horses would find the gap, and she could be long gone.
“Good. Jameson and I made a chicken casserole. It’s in the oven and should be ready soon.”
“Thanks, Mom. I miss your cooking. It’s a lot better than my own.”
She stood and patted his cheek. “Of course it is. I’m your mother.” She slowly went through to check on things in the kitchen.
“Did you have fun with Grammy?” Brendan asked.
Jameson looked up, grinned, and nodded. “We had ice cream and cookies.”
“Of course you did.” Things that she never had in the house when he was growing up had become staples for Jameson.
Not that he was going to complain. It was a grandparent’s job to spoil their grandchildren.
His certainly had. Brendan got a hug from Jameson and then went inside to see if he could help his mother.
“So Jenn is causing trouble,” she started. “What got into her all of a sudden? She’s never had any interest in anything or anyone other than herself. She doesn’t even care about her own son. What gives?”
“Apparently, her mother saw me with Dwayne and somehow got the idea that we were seeing each other. That got under Jenn’s skin. I think she can handle me seeing another woman, but the thought that I might be interested in a man got her all upset.”
Mom shook her head. “You’ve been up front about your bisexuality for years.
Why should any of this come as a shock to her?
Unless she thinks that it reflects back on her somehow.
She is the most selfish person I have ever met, so who knows.
” Mom didn’t mince her words. She had never liked Jenn and, at the time, thought Brendan could do better.
“I did call the lawyer.”
“And you need to nip this shit in the bud. Tell the lawyer to put on his total bastard hat and let her have it. She’s a terrible mother, and we can’t let her get Jameson. He would be miserable.”
“I’m not. She already lost that battle once, and I have proof of how uninterested she’s been. So if she does try anything, I have that covered. I’m more worried about the farm and what she’ll do to cause trouble.”
Mom took the casserole out of the oven and set it on the stove. “Sounds to me like you need some muscle to intimidate the hell out of her. I wonder where you’d find someone like that?”
So did Brendan.