Chapter 38 Life Happens
LIFE HAPPENS
Feeling helpless wasn’t a foreign emotion for Alana, but it’d been a while since she’d experienced it.
There wasn’t much she could do but be there for him.
“What do you need from me?” she asked. Whatever he wanted she was going to hand it over without thought or consequences.
That was what you did for people you loved.
“I don’t know,” he said. “Right now I need to decide if I sit back and do nothing and wait for her next move or be proactive. She’s liable to change her mind anyway.”
She leaned back, put her hands on his cheeks and gave him a soft kiss. “Be proactive. I’ll help if you need or want it, but don’t sit back. Sitting back tends to give you blisters on your ass. I know. I did it for years and shouldn’t have.”
It was one thing she’d learned. Never stay quiet. If something feels off, check it out, then check it out a second time. Maybe a third.
She wouldn’t be a pushover ever again. She wouldn’t take someone’s word if her gut was telling her that wasn’t the case.
This time, her belly was erupting that Brennan better have a plan or at least look at all options.
Did she know Rene?
Nope. Only what Brennan had said about his ex, but it was enough for her to voice her opinion that women like Rene normally had a reason for everything they do.
And considering he was so protective of Becca, carrying her everywhere to avoid a simple stumble, you’d think he’d be jumping all over this.
“What do you think I should do?”
“Call your attorney for one. Give him a heads up. Find out what legal recourse Rene has. You’ve kept all the documentation for years, I’m assuming.”
“I have. Sounds horrible, but I know every visitation Rene has had. The dates of our communications and information that is passed on.”
And that was the guy she loved. He prepared himself, if not obsessively.
Did being thrown off course make it difficult for him to think right now?
“There you go. If you’ve been preparing this for years, don’t wait for her next move. One thing about custody cases, I think they try to give someone a chance. She has no criminal record, correct?”
“Not that I’m aware of, but I’ll have someone look into it.”
“That’s a first step. You should email her the questions that you can come up with.
Put it in writing and show that you’re not shutting it down but want to know why she reconsidered.
How she’s going to do this with her career.
If that is the biggest obstacle, she could change it, ask not to work every other weekend or days during the week.
That is the easiest thing to overcome on her end. ”
“You’re not making me feel any better,” he said, his arms tightening on her. She knew it was involuntary, but she was trying to think logically for him while he got his wobbly legs back under him.
“I want to do that also, but there are more important things to focus on. She could be in a relationship with someone who has a job that will be around more.”
“I’m not letting some stranger watch my kid,” he argued.
“Things you have to find out.”
He dropped his forehead to hers. “Why is this happening?”
“Because life happens, Brennan. We both know that. Wouldn’t you rather be one step ahead than six behind?”
“You’re right. Everything hit me at once. My mind rationalized nothing is happening today so I didn’t jump into Daddy mode ready to fight off the bad guys.” That was more like it. “I’ll go call my lawyer now. Just the thought of things happening. I live here, she lives there.”
“And she will argue that you could return to the Boston office. That you can take turns getting Becca on the ferry. There are many suggestions she could come up with to make her look like she’s willing to compromise and you’re not.”
He growled and it wasn’t what she was going for.
“This fucking sucks.”
There was a knock at the door, then it opened, and Kelsey was standing there.
“Ohhhh, getting a snuggle in,” Kelsey said.
She rolled her eyes and stood up. “Not quite like that.”
“I’m going back to my office to take my mind off of this while I get my ducks in a row. You can fill Kelsey in if you want; otherwise I’ll do it later.”
“Yikes,” Kelsey said when Brennan left and shut the door. “What’s going on? Neither of you is crying or fighting, though Brennan looks like someone just stole the last peanut butter cup after a raging hormone fit.”
Alana forced out a laugh. “That’s how you look when there is no chocolate around.”
“Which is why I said it.”
Kelsey could be trusted. Brennan gave her permission to say what was going on, but there was only so much she’d volunteer. It wasn’t her story to give.
She moved to her desk and sat behind it again. Kelsey getting comfortable in the chair Brennan was in.
“Becca’s mother has never been in the picture. For several reasons. Basically, her choice. She used her job as an excuse but never reaches out to see her daughter or visit more than a few times a year. Birthday, holidays. Things like that.”
“Bitch,” Kelsey said. “I wondered about that.”
“She came to the island the weekend before Christmas, barely spent two hours with Becca, then left. Dropped off gifts and went on her way.”
“How is Becca around her and did you meet her?”
“No, I haven’t met her. Becca loves everyone she sees, so from what Brennan has said, she’s fine with Rene but doesn’t ask to see her more when she’s not around.”
“That’s very telling,” Kelsey said. “I bet she asks to see you.”
She smiled. “All the time.”
“So what has changed, because something has? You’re looking like you want to purchase Iron Man’s armor to cover Becca in.”
“I feel that way. Rene called and said that she wants to have custody or split custody of Becca.”
“Out of the blue like that?” Kelsey’s bottom lip came out.
“Oh, she’s pregnant too. Forgot to mention that part.” She’d keep Rene’s whoring status to herself. “Guess she wants the siblings to know each other. Or maybe the new guy in Rene’s life wants to see her be a mother. Or Rene wants to prove she can be one. Too many things for us to guess.”
“What a nasty move,” Kelsey said, crossing her arms.
“There you go. He was on the fence if he should just ignore this.”
Her phone buzzed on her desk. She looked over and saw the text from Jonathan, frowned, and ignored it. It’d been months since he’d sent her anything. The last one was just a hi that she ignored.
“No way,” Kelsey said. “You can’t sit back and just assume she’s going to blow it off like she’d been doing for years.”
“That’s what I said. I told him to be proactive.
He will. I pointed out that most judges will want to let Rene prove herself.
If she changes her job and is around more, will come here and try, there isn’t much he can say.
It could be argued that he was working in Boston before and can again to make the transitions easier. ”
“I hope it doesn’t come to that,” Kelsey said. “But we would accommodate him. He could work at both locations and it wouldn’t be a problem. He has clients there still.”
“I know. I brought that up to him.”
“And this is where someone just stole your peanut butter cups,” Kelsey said. “You could go there too to be with him. I’d never hold it against you.”
She didn’t want to leave the island though.
Would she do it for a man she loved?
She always said she’d do anything for love, but at two months in, it was a difficult decision for her to make.
“My mind isn’t thinking along those lines now. One step at a time. I can’t push even if I want to. This is something he has to do.”
Her phone buzzed again. Another text from Jonathan.
“But not on his own,” Kelsey said. “Van tried to pull that shit with me. Nope. Didn’t work. Stand with your man.” Kelsey put her fist in her hand.
“I’ll stand with him. Don’t worry.”
But there had to be a limit to how long she’d let her feet grow tired. Been there and done that before.
For once in her life, she was putting herself first, even if it hurt in the end.
“Do you need to answer your phone?” Kelsey asked. “It’s doing a lot of buzzing and you’re not someone to get texts like that.”
She debated telling Kelsey. “It’s Jonathan.”
“What does that prick want? Talk about a man not to stand by!”
“Yep.” She picked her phone up to see the texts. “He asked if I could call him in the first text. When I didn’t reply, he sent question marks.”
“Are you going to?” Kelsey asked.
“No. There is nothing to say to him and no reason to.” She deleted the texts. In her mind they were just spam anyway. That was what she considered her ex.
Spam asshole that needed to be erased from her life.