20. Maggie
MAGGIE
“Ican’t believe he said that!”
“I know. He’s such a narcissistic asshole.” I laid back on the sofa as I told my mother, “He doesn’t even see that what he does is wrong.”
“He’s always been that way, sweetheart.” I could hear the torment in her voice as she said, “I can still remember the day you two were married, and Jeanne and Roger gave him that envelope of money as your wedding gift. He jerked it right out of Roger’s hand and stuck it in his coat pocket.
I know you never saw a dime of that money. ”
“No, I had no idea they’d given it to us.” It wasn’t the first time I’d heard that story, but like the times before, it added fuel to the fire. “He knew I was writing thank you notes and never even mentioned that they’d give that to us.”
“And when your brother was so sick, and I’d been with him for all those weeks. I finally got to come by to see the kids, and he didn’t even get up from his chair to say hello to me, and he certainly never asked how your brother was doing.”
“I know. That was so rude and thoughtless of him.”
“He never much cared for us, and I had no idea why.”
“He knew he wasn’t treating your daughter right and was ashamed.”
“I don’t know.” Her tone turned to annoyance as she added, “I think he thought he was too good for us.”
“I have no idea why he would ever think that. You and Dad are wonderful and have done very well for yourselves.”
“Well, we aren’t as wealthy as his parents.”
“Money isn’t everything, Mom.”
“You might need to remind him of that.”
“There wouldn’t be a point,” I scoffed. “He thinks he’s right about everything.”
“I’m so glad you don’t have to deal with him anymore.”
“I wish that were true, but as long as the kids are young, I’ll be dealing with him all the time.”
“Yes, but you have to set some boundaries and make him stick to them,” Mom pushed. “He shouldn’t call or expect to talk to you unless it has something to do with the kids. And he certainly has no business coming into your place of work, especially when you are alone.”
“I have a feeling that’s not going to happen again any time soon.”
“What makes you say that?”
“Ronin went to talk to him.”
“He did!” Mom gasped. “What did he say?”
“I have no idea. He hasn’t called to tell me about it yet.
” I glanced over at the clock, and my chest tightened when I saw it was almost nine.
I’d been so busy helping Samantha with her project that I hadn’t realized that it had gotten so late.
It had been at least three hours since I left the shop, and I still hadn’t heard from him.
Fearing that something might’ve happened, I told her, “I should probably call and check on him.”
“I certainly would because you never know what Chad will do.”
“Yeah, I know. I’ll call you tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow?” she fussed. “I need to know tonight if everything’s okay.”
“I’ll text you as soon as I know something.”
“Okay. I hope everything’s okay.”
“Me, too.”
As soon as I hung up, I dialed Ronin’s number and let it ring numerous times, but he never answered. I called a second time, and again, no answer. I needed to know that he was okay, so I sent him a text.
Me:
Hey.
Are you okay?”
I waited and waited, but no response.
Thinking he might be in bed or driving home, I decided to give him a few minutes and went to my room to change into my pajamas. As I started down the hall, I heard Nathan talking, and there was something about his tone that brought me to an immediate halt.
I put my ear closer to the door and listened as he said, “I don’t know, Dad. I think he’s a pretty cool guy.”
There was a long pause, and then Nathan whined, “But I don’t want to live over there, Dad, and neither does Samantha.”
I couldn’t believe it.
The asshole was trying to manipulate the kids into moving in with him—even though I knew damn well he didn’t really want them there.
He was too busy with his new fiancé and his fancy job to care about where the kids lived.
He was just trying to hurt me, but I wasn’t going to give him that satisfaction.
Nathan sounded truly distraught as he muttered, “Don’t do this, Dad.”
Unable to hold back my anger, I opened the door and found Nathan sitting on his bed, and he looked to be on the verge of tears. And that angered me even more. I extended my hand as I demanded, “Give me the phone.”
“It’s Dad.”
“I know. Now, give me the phone.”
Nathan looked horrified when I took the phone from his hand and stepped out into the hall. I kept my voice low as I hissed, “You have some nerve. I can’t believe you would try to pit the kids against me.”
“I’m just looking out for my kids. Clearly, you aren’t.”
“I’m the only one who looks out for them!” Fearing the kids would hear me, I darted down the hall to my room and closed the door. “I’m the one who feeds them, clothes them, takes them to school and all their sports. I’m the one who takes them to the doctor and looks after them when they’re sick.”
“I would do the same if they were here with me.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me! You don’t even buy them shoes when they need them!”
“My kids don’t want for anything!”
“You’re right. They don’t! And that’s because I make sure they don’t! It has nothing to do with you!” I snapped. “And just to make things clear, they aren’t your kids. They’re our kids!”
“I gave you a chance to come back to me, Mags. I told you that you were the love of my life, and I meant that. I really did. But you chose to throw those words in my face and started fucking around with that asshole biker. And if that wasn’t enough, you had the nerve to send him here to fight your battles for you. ”
“I didn’t send him, Chad. He went there on his own.”
“I don’t care why he came! He should’ve kept his nose out of my fucking business, and the fact that he didn’t is a decision that will cost you both!”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
I waited for an answer, but there was none. The line had gone dead, and I was left with a dull ache in my chest.
I stared down at the screen, and for a moment, I considered calling him back, but I knew it wouldn’t do any good. He was mad and embarrassed, and he needed time to cool off. I had Nathan’s phone, so I went back to his room and tossed it on his bed. “Good night, buddy.”
“Is everything okay?”
“Yes, sweetie. Everything is fine.”
“It didn’t sound that way.” Worry filled his eyes as he said, “Dad was pretty pissed.”
“He’ll get over it.”
“But what if he doesn’t? What if he keeps pushing, and me and Sam have to go live with him.”
“That’s not going to happen, Nathan. I won’t let it.”
“But how can you stop it?”
“I’ve gotten this far, haven’t I?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“And now, we have a little help.” I leaned down and gave him a kiss on the forehead. “We’re gonna be okay.”
“Okay.” I started for the door but didn’t get far before Nathan said, “Mom...”
“Yeah?”
My precious son had the sweetest look on his face as he told me, “I love you.”
“Oh, honey. I love you, too.” I gave him a smile and said, “Now, get to bed. It’s getting late.”
He nodded and started easing back his covers. Once he was settled, I continued out of the room and closed the door. “Goodnight.”
“Night.”
I stepped down the hall and checked in on Samantha, and as I’d hoped, she was already fast asleep. I turned out her light and closed the door before heading down the hall. I was ready to put the day behind me, but I still hadn’t heard back from Ronin and there was no way I could sleep until I did.
It was that thought that had me going over to my phone.
I brought up my last message to Ronin and grumbled when I found it was still unanswered. I hadn’t had the greatest day, and I was struggling to keep from completely losing it. My patience was wearing thin, which is why my message was a little more abrupt than I intended.
Me:
Seriously?
You can’t answer a simple text.
How hard is that?
I’m sitting here out of my mind with worry, and you can’t reply?
Ronin:
In the middle of something.
I’ll give you a shout later.
Maggie:
I just wanted to know that you are okay.
I’m going to bed.
Feeling even more frustrated, I tossed my phone back on the bedside table and crawled into bed.
I closed my eyes and tried to force myself to sleep, but sleep never came—at least, not in the way I’d hoped.
I tossed and turned, and when I woke up the next morning, I could feel in my bones that it was going to be a long day.
I should’ve just gone back to bed.
If only...