2. Chapter 1
Chapter 1
Law
I was tired all the way to my bones, but as my parents’ house came into view, I breathed a sigh of relief. I’d had to work late since a semi-emergency had cropped up, and I had to rely on my mother to pick up the kids from after school care and watch them until I could get free. My job, in general, was fine. I didn’t love it, but it served its purpose. I’d thought getting a degree in computer science had been the smart thing to do, since it was such a wide and varied field. I didn’t count on how much I would hate being cooped up indoors or dealing with morons who didn’t know how to use simple programs though. I needed to look at making a change, but now was not the time. Caitlyn was moving permanently soon, and my kids needed as much stability as possible at the moment.
But the day was done now, for all that it was after seven, and I could collect my children and take them home. We’d only been back in Phoenix for two days, and they were still a bit wound up from our Thanksgiving trip to New York, seeing Uncle Charlie after all these months, meeting the kitten, playing with the dogs, and being the center of attention of a vast and loving network of people.
Truth be told, I’d enjoyed the hell out of it too. Perhaps I had my own vacation hangover and that accounted for some of my weariness.
I walked into the house without knocking and was immediately assailed with suspicious silence. My kids were awesome, loving and generous, kind and well-behaved. What they weren’t was quiet. So the fact that I didn’t hear them talking, or the familiar sound of videos on the tablets, made my Dad-senses tingle.
“Hey I’m here!” I called after I shut the door behind me. “Kiddos?”
Tristan came rocketing around a corner, full tilt and straight for me. I almost didn’t crouch down in time before he barreled into my legs. I managed to catch him in my arms, and he squeezed me extra tight before grabbing my face.
“Daddy can we go to Adonald’s? Marlie’s super hungry.”
“She is?” I lifted my eyebrows, trying to figure out if he was, in fact, advocating for his sister, or if he just wanted a Happy Meal. Since it was so late, I had thought my mother would have given the kids dinner. “Didn’t Grandma feed you?”
“Of course I did!” The affronted tone had me snapping my head up to find my mother standing in the doorway to the kitchen. Her expression was one of outrage, like how could I even suggest otherwise. “We had a very nutritious, well-balanced meal. Marlie has chosen not to eat. She’s still sitting at the table until she cleans her plate.”
Red alert . I stood quickly, only taking a brief second to make sure Tristan was stable. I strode across the room until I was inches from my mother. Keeping my voice low, I said, “I’ve told you, we don’t do that in our house. We never force our children to eat.”
Mom sniffed, nose in the air. “It’s impolite not to eat what you’re served. And I don’t know what this ‘we’ is. You and Caitlyn are divorced.”
I opened my mouth, ready to lay into her, but I caught sight of my eight-year-old daughter, still sitting at the table, food untouched in front of her. Her expression was blank, and her ponytail was coming undone, a sure sign she’d been tugging at her hair. I instantly changed track, knowing Marlie needed me more than I needed to get into it with my mother.
Stepping around my mother, I headed straight for Marlie and crouched down beside her. Catching sight of the plate, I instantly knew what the problem was. Salad? My mother thought a heaping plate of greens with the barest hint of chicken was an appropriate dinner for children? Harper and Tris were fans of salad, as a side dish, but Marlie didn’t like all that lettuce. The texture felt bad in her mouth, apparently. She was good with all the toppings, but not lettuce itself. No wonder she hadn’t eaten.
“You okay, baby girl?” I whispered. Marlie’s lip trembled but that was it. She didn’t say anything. And that was all the answer I needed. “Go get your stuff, Marlie. Help Tristan pack his bookbag up so we don’t leave anything, okay?”
Marlie gave the barest of nods and slipped off the chair. My mother huffed.
“Marlie needs to—”
I stood so fast my mother took a step back. “I parent my children. Not you. Where’s Harper?”
For a second, I didn’t think Mom would answer. But there must have been something on my face—I was trying not to look murderous—that had her sighing, as though I was just so exhausting.
“In that back bedroom. It seems she’s entered the insolent stage and—.”
I didn’t listen to another word out of her mouth, just stomped my way past her. I softened my steps as I approached the room and knocked on the closed door before I cracked it open. “Harper?”
“Dad.” The relief in her tone nearly brought me to my knees. For all that she was eleven and really gaining her independence, she was still a little kid and she needed me. I quickly entered the room, shut the door behind me, and crossed right to her, sitting beside her on the bed. She immediately leaned into me.
“What happened?” I asked softly, putting my arm around her.
“Grandma didn’t tell you?” She peered up at me, eyes so much like my brother’s. Not only the color, which was a slightly warmer brown than my own, but the expression. I’d seen that exact fear and wariness in my brother’s eyes too many times to count.
“I want you to tell me.”
She nodded and took a deep breath, knowing she was safe now that I was here.
“Grandma was okay today when she picked us up. Tristan didn’t want to go with her, but I told him it would be okay, so he stopped having a fit. But then she made a salad for dinner. And Marlie can’t eat that.”
I nodded, and when I spoke, I made sure none of my ire leaked out. “Did you tell her Marlie can’t eat salad?”
“Yes!” Her eyes blazed then, and I braced myself, afraid of what she would say next. “But Grandma said Marlie was getting chubby, and she should only eat salads until she wasn’t anymore. And I told Grandma she was being rude and she sent me in here.”
The rage that filled me had me seeing red for a minute. Only the warm weight of my daughter against my side kept me from exploding. “Get your things, round up your brother and sister. Right now. We’re leaving.”
She immediately hopped up. “Dad? I don’t like the way Grandma treats us.”
“Don’t worry, baby. I’m going to take care of it. Get your siblings and meet me at the door.”
Harper scampered out of the room. Before I followed her, I had to take a bunch of deep breaths to get myself under control. I was not a violent person in the least, and I certainly had never raised a hand to anyone. But in that moment, I could have strangled my mother for what she said. I’d done the best I could to shield Charlie from her for years, but there was only so much I could do in that regard. But this? This was the final fucking straw.
I strode out of the room. My children were huddled together by the front door, Harper holding both Marlie and Tristan close. My mother stood at the other side of the entryway, her face set in angry lines. I fished the keys out of my pocket and handed them to Harper. “Go get in the car; I’ll be right out.”
“Is it safe to give a child the keys?” Mom asked, brows drawn together.
I ignored that, knowing that Harper was very responsible. Besides, I was following them in just a minute. Once the door was shut, I rounded on my mother.
“Did you actually tell my eight-year-old daughter that she was chubby?”
Mom scoffed. “Well, really, Lawrence. You’re so athletic, and she’s put on a few—”
“Enough.”
Interrupting her got her even more heated. “If their mother actually saw fit to mother them—”
“You’re. Done.” I’d gone past rage at this point, to a place where I was so calm it was scary. “We’re done. This is the last straw. Do not contact us. Do not try to see us. Starting tomorrow, you will no longer be approved to pick up the children. If you try to force the issue, I will get a restraining order.”
“Lawrence!”
“No. It’s over. I watched you tear Charlie down his whole life, and I did what I could, but I will be damned if I let you do that to my kids. It stops right now, and unless you can see the error of your ways and truly apologize, you will never see us again.”
She harrumphed. “Charlie is not much to—”
I’d never been so close to hitting someone in my entire life, so I did the only thing I could. I walked right out the door without looking back and straight to the SUV, getting into the driver’s side. Harper had left the keys on the passenger seat, and I quickly started the car and backed out. I drove for three blocks in complete silence before I felt like I’d put enough distance between us, and I had to pull over just to breathe.
After a few minutes, Tristan finally piped up, sounding a little worried. “Daddy? Are you okay?”
I blew out a breath, long and slow, and then twisted around so I could see my kids in the backseat. The girls had wide eyes, and Tristan was playing with the straps of his booster seat. Harper had gotten them all secured, and I hadn’t even checked before I drove.
“Yeah, I’m okay. I’m sorry Grandma said what she did. She was very, very wrong. And if it’s okay with you, we’re not going to see her or talk to her for a long time.”
Tristan’s grin was so wide his eyes scrunched up. Harper nodded quickly. Marlie, on the other hand, burst into tears.
I was out of the car so fast my seatbelt didn’t even have time to retract before I was wrenching open the back door and leaning over Tristan to get my hands on her. She put her face against my shoulder and Tristan patted her awkwardly on the head.
“Oh, baby girl. What’s the matter?”
She sucked in a breath, the lip wobble making an audible noise. “She makes me feel bad.”
“Shhh. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry,” I soothed, my heart breaking. “I’m sorry I didn’t see it before or stop it sooner. But I promise, she won’t be able to make you feel bad anymore. I won’t allow it.”
“We know you won’t, Dad.” Harper’s voice was sure.
I’d never been more grateful for my long arms than in that moment, when I could pull all three of them in and hug them tightly. It lasted for a few minutes until Marlie’s sobs quieted down to a sniffle and Tristan complained he couldn’t breathe, then faked choking and dying. It was dramatic, and a little funny, and Marlie got the giggles instead. I don’t know if it was my son’s intention to break the moment, but it was what we needed. We all laughed when I gave Tris fake CPR and he miraculously rose from the dead.
“Now, how about we swing through a drive thru and get some food to fill our empty stomachs, and then we’ll go home. How’s that sound?”
Three cheers went up and I got back in the car to do exactly that.
It wasn’t until a couple of hours later and all the kids were in bed and sleeping that I finally let myself process and think. In the dim lighting of the living room, I stared blankly at the TV, not even paying attention to what was on it as my emotions swirled inside. Caitlyn wasn’t back from her trip yet, and I knew I needed to tell her not only what happened but to figure out our next steps. Cait trusted me completely when it came to decisions regarding the children, but the idea forming in my mind needed both of us to be on board.
Knowing she had an event tonight, I sent her a message that everyone was okay and it wasn’t an emergency but asking her to call the second she had a free moment. A few seconds later, I got a thumbs up and the words about 10. That meant I had about forty-five minutes before she was free. Which was just enough time to call my brother.
Usually I sent a text making sure he was available before calling. He and Teague were still in the honeymoon stage and I didn’t want to interrupt anything. But this time I took a chance and made the call without checking first. He answered on the third ring.
“Hey, Blue!”
He sounded so happy I couldn’t help but smile for a second. It was a long time coming, and I was thrilled that he was finally in a good place. Teague hadn’t been the magic cure, but he definitely helped the process along. Having someone love you that completely always had a positive effect.
“Hi, Charlie. How’re things?”
“Good. Great even. But what’s wrong? Your tone is weird.”
For a second, I thought about stalling. Making small talk. But that would just get Charlie’s anxiety going, and I tried to avoid that whenever possible. Besides, he knew me too well.
“She’s gone too far this time.” I didn’t have to explain who she was. Charlie would know.
Silence from the other end for five whole seconds, and when I pulled the phone away from my ear to make sure the connection hadn’t dropped, the screen for a video call popped up. I immediately accepted and a second later, my brother’s worried face and Salem’s butt greeted me.
“Thanks, cat. Because that’s what I wanted to see.” I tried to make light, but my tone fell flat.
Charlie scooped Salem up and held him out, presumably to Teague, as he sat up straighter. “What happened?”
Realizing there was no way to sugar coat this, I relayed what happened. Exact words, as best as I could recall them, and trying not to show too much emotion. I didn’t want to get Charlie any more worked up than he already was, judging by the outrage on his face. I was glad to see it, to be honest, as the words could have had a completely different effect on him. I didn’t want him to remember his own experiences with our mother and send him spiraling. But perhaps it was Teague’s tight hold on him that kept him together.
“She what?!”
Teague’s face pushed into the picture, and his gaze was as murderous as mine had been earlier. “Nic and I can fly out tonight and give her a piece of our minds.”
He was dead serious, too. But the image of the hulking Viking and the tiny contractor putting the fear of god into my mother, was enough to have me laughing. And feeling the love. We had a support system. It was just twenty-five hundred miles away. Which was exactly why I was calling.
“Thanks, but it’s not necessary,” I managed once I got myself under control. “As of tonight, we’re officially no contact with her.”
“Good.” Charlie seemed pleased with that, and considering he’d gone no contact with our parents months earlier, I knew he approved.
“Hey, listen. Were you serious about what you said?”
“I usually am. What, in particular, are you asking about?” The glint in Charlie’s eye said he knew exactly what I was referring to, but I also knew he didn’t want to get his hopes up until I said the words.
“About us coming to Fairville? Moving there and me working for Nic and Dana.”
The sheer joy that lit his face warmed me from the inside out. To see that on my brother’s face was all I’d ever wanted. I was so busy basking in that I almost missed his next words.
“Yes! When are you coming?”
“I have to talk to Caitlyn still. I’m waiting for her to call. And I need to talk to the kiddos. But I was thinking, if we can make it happen, then we’ll be there by Christmas. The kids are on break, and it’s the perfect time to move. And it would be way better to spend the holiday with you than here.”
Charlie went absolutely still for a heartbeat. Then he spoke, his words hardly more than a breath. “That soon? Are you serious?”
“Why wait?” I shrugged as though it wasn’t a big deal, even though I knew it was the complete opposite. “I can’t imagine Caitlyn will disagree. And Fairville is a hell of a lot closer to Boston than Phoenix. That’ll make it easier on her and the kids.”
Charlie didn’t seem to be breathing. Teague gave him a nudge, and he gasped, sucking in a breath. Teague chuckled and kissed Charlie’s cheek.
“I think you broke him,” Teague said, humor lacing his tone.
I chuckled. “You okay, little brother?”
“Yes,” he managed to croak. He cleared his throat. “Yes. I can’t believe it. If you and the kids are here…everyone I love will be right here.”
Charlie’s eyes filled, and so did mine. The idea had been a nebulous pocket of thought in the back of my brain since Thanksgiving Day, but after what happened tonight, it solidified with a vengeance. It wouldn’t be easy to make it happen in three and a half weeks, but I knew we could do it. The house would sell quickly and my kids were champions at making friends. I had no doubt they’d fit into a new school in no time.
“Let me talk to Caitlyn, then the kids, and Nic. And then I’ll let you know the plan. Okay?”
Charlie nodded emphatically. “I love you, Blue.”
“Love you too, Charlie.”
My brother was right about one thing; everyone we loved being together was the most important part. Moving to Fairville was exactly the move we needed to make.