Chapter 31
When Jeremy comes to pick up Teddy tonight, the first thing Teddy says to him after hurling himself into his father’s arms is, “Can Mommy come to my birthday party?”
Jeremy was grinning when he greeted Teddy, but that wipes the smile right off his face. “What?”
“My party,” Teddy reminds him. “Mommy said she wasn’t invited, but I want her to come. Can she come?”
Jeremy looks up at me, an annoyed expression on his handsome features.
I’m slightly embarrassed to admit that I have started putting on makeup every night in anticipation of him showing up, although at least half the time, it’s Rosita.
I may not be able to look as good as twenty-eight-year-old Veronica, but I clean up nicely.
“Teddy,” Jeremy says. “Do you think you could go in your room so that I can talk to Mommy about the party? I don’t want you to hear any surprises.”
“Okay!” Teddy agrees happily.
Teddy races into his small room and slams the door shut behind him, leaving Jeremy and me all alone in the living room. A minute ago, I was thinking about how good he looked, but all of a sudden, he just seems tired. I wonder if Veronica is wearing him out.
“Naomi,” he says quietly. “I don’t want you to come to this party.”
His words shouldn’t come as a surprise after what Teddy told me and the obvious fact that he hasn’t invited me, but it still feels like a slap in the face. “Teddy wants me there.”
“I know,” he acknowledges. “But I’m asking you not to come. This day is about Teddy, and I don’t want any drama.”
“Hmm. It feels like if you cared about our son and didn’t want drama, you wouldn’t have left his mother for a twenty-eight-year-old drug addict!”
“Will you please keep your voice down?” Jeremy snaps at me, nervously glancing in the direction of the bedroom. “I scheduled the party in the morning so you would have the rest of the day with him. I just think it’s better if you don’t come.”
I hate how he’s trying to exclude me from my son’s life.
I never dreamed that I wouldn’t be invited to Teddy’s sixth birthday party.
And the worst part is that he won’t even acknowledge that he’s the one who doesn’t want me there.
He’s acting like excluding me is part of the greater good for Teddy’s sake.
“Fine,” I say. “I won’t come to the party.”
His shoulders slump. “Thank you. I appreciate that.”
The relief on his face surprises me. Why was it so important that I didn’t come to this birthday party?
Does it have to do with Veronica? Is she the one who insisted that I couldn’t come? Is she scared of the competition, especially after what I found out about her? Is she worried I found out that she tried to poison me and will expose her?
Worse, is it possible that Teddy could be in danger at his party?
I reject that last prospect. No matter how diabolical Veronica is, she could never expect to get away with harming a child during his own birthday party. If there’s one place Teddy will be safe, it’s at that party.
I have to believe that.