Chapter 3
Chapter three
“I’ve been standing here for ten minutes. Didn’t you hear me?”
His pinched face and exasperated voice were familiar; his salmon-colored shirt and checkered pants, on the other hand, were not. All he needed was a golf club and I would think he’d taken up golfing. Something he’d always hated.
I counted to five, then stepped onto the porch.
His walking—and sadly talking—human accessory matched his look, wearing a bright pink pleated skirt that barely covered her ass and a white shirt at least two sizes too small.
Are they going to a costume party?
Turning to face Cockalorum, I raised a brow. “I didn’t know you were coming.”
If I had, I would have made plans to be anywhere but here.
“I want to take the kids to the golf course. They’re doing a fundraiser. And Tammy wants to spend time with them since she’ll soon be their stepmom.”
“Addy is still in school since it’s Wednesday, and Elana is due for a nap.”
The walking accessory curled herself into my husband’s side, her hand on his chest, bright pink nails catching the sun.
I fought the urge to open my front door wider and let Winston out.
Our twelve-year-old cat hated strangers to the point that he was a better guard dog than our labrador, Orange.
I wasn’t a violent person, but this conversation was the last thing I wanted to be doing right now.
My husband looked down his nose at our daughter, who was clinging to my hand. “We’ll take Elana for now. She can sleep in the car on the way there.”
If he’d spent even a little time with his kids, he’d know she hated sleeping in the car.
“You haven’t seen the girls in almost three months. You can’t just show up out of the blue and take them somewhere. And they’ve only met Tammy once. She’s still a stranger to them.”
He puffed out his chest, and I was greeted with his hair poking out of his shirt since he’d left the top three buttons undone. And is that spray tan I spot?
“They’re my kids too.”
“That’s great that you remember, but why don’t you call and we’ll organize a time for you to take them.”
As much as I couldn’t stand to be near him, I would never prevent my daughters from spending time with their father.
“I have a right to see them.”
This was getting us nowhere. And I knew he’d dig his heels in because he always had to get his way. Time to change tactics. “Since you sent me the divorce papers, it’s probably best if we only speak through our lawyers.”
The sooner we started the proceedings, the better. It would already take at least six months before we could finalize anything. And that was only if we didn’t go to court, which wasn’t likely. Because there was no chance I would give him full custody without a fight.
“You have a lawyer?”
Don’t roll your eyes, and whatever you do, Mae, don’t, under any circumstances, kick his shin. “Yes, I have a lawyer.”
“And how do you intend to pay him? With cupcakes?”
I eyed the front door. Winston had never liked Hank. He’d love a chance to sink his claws into him. I could say it was an accident. All I had to do was open the door just a little wider.
“That’s none of your concern.” I stepped back, Elana fused to my side. He had yet to acknowledge her. “Now, if that’s all, enjoy your event. My lawyer will be in touch.”
I had almost closed the door when his words froze me to the spot. “You can’t keep me from my kids. And we’re still married, so there’s nothing preventing me from seeing them. I’m picking them both up on Saturday morning and keeping them until Sunday afternoon. Tammy wants to spend time with them.”
Elana tugged on my hand. “Momma, I’m busted.”
Fighting the urge to flip off my husband, I nodded at him. “I’ll see you on Saturday.”
I ushered Elana inside and firmly closed the door behind me. “You mean you’re busting, pumpkin pants.”
She had only recently stopped wearing diapers and always waited until the last minute to go to the bathroom.
Heading straight there, I helped her put her little seat on the toilet, then left to give her some privacy.
The door always stayed open in case she needed me.
We had about an hour before it was time to pick up Adelaine.
I usually spent any time I had between appointments prepping dinner.
The girls had dance classes twice a week, and it meant we’d get home late.
They also used to play soccer and take piano lessons, but there was no way I could pay for all three. Even one was a stretch.
But dance was their favorite, and I didn’t have the heart to tell them I could no longer afford the tuition.
I curled up on the couch, Elana leaning into me. It didn’t take her long before she was snoring softly. Untangling myself from her octopus arms, I fished my phone from my handbag.
Vance’s assistant picked up instantly. “Moore and Shelton, this is Nathaniel speaking.”
“Hi, Nathaniel, this is Mae Porter. I had an appointment about an hour ago and was hoping I could speak with Vance again.”
“One moment, please.”
There was a click, and then Vance’s deep baritone rang down the line. “Mrs. Porter. What’s wrong?”
I didn’t know why, but at the sound of his voice, I burst into tears.
There was a lot of throat clearing before he spoke again. “There, there.” His words were stilted, and the unease he clearly felt at my breakdown came through as clear as polished glass. “No need to cry. Now, can you tell me what’s happened?”
I did as he commanded, his voice oddly soothing. “My ex-husband dropped by a few minutes ago. He wants to have the girls this weekend. Is there anything I can do to stop him?”
“He’s their father and has a right to see them. But I’ll call his lawyer to make sure all communication goes through me from now on.”
Robot Vance hung up. My emotions must have caused his synapses to overload.
If I didn’t know he was one of the best divorce lawyers in the country, I would look for someone else. Rationally, I understood that my lawyer should stay impartial and clearheaded, but my brain didn’t care. A little bit of empathy would go a long way.
So I called Malena. Thankfully, she picked up.
“Hey, honey. How did your meeting with Vance go?”
“Apart from the fact that he’s an emotionless robot who hates kids, pretty good.”
My voice still wobbled, but at least I had found the ability to talk again.
“Ah, yeah. He was never the happy-go-lucky person of the group, but right before he graduated, his dad died, and it changed him. His mom was depressed for a long time, and he took care of his sisters. Mostly financially, but they also stayed with him for a while.”
My heart ached for him, but I knew his private life was none of my business and our relationship was purely professional.
As long as he made sure I got to keep my girls, he could be as cold and unemotional as he wanted to be.
“You-know-who showed up at the house. He wants to keep the girls for the weekend.”
There was a moment of silence, and I knew I wouldn’t want to hear what Malena would say next. “This is a good thing, isn’t it? He’s finally showing interest.”
Nope, definitely didn’t think it was a good thing. “But why now? He hasn’t even called once since he moved out. He’s only ever acknowledged them when he needs them to serve a purpose.”
Any other time, he yelled at them if they dared to breathe too loudly.
His callous treatment of our daughters was why I’d finally pulled up my big girl panties and asked for a divorce.
Little had I known that he’d already been seeing someone else.
And I suspected he’d been having affairs throughout our whole marriage, since there were a suspicious number of late nights and unexplained absences when I couldn’t reach him.
“Maybe he’s realized how much he’s missing out on.”
“Maybe.”
“You know what that means, though, right?”
“That I’ll be feeling sorry for myself all weekend?”
“Nope. It means we’re going out.”
I almost started crying again. “I’d rather spend a day with Ray.”
Ray was our maintenance guy at the office.
He was great at his job and nice, but he loved to show us photos of his pets.
And I used that term loosely, since he loved taxidermy and his house was filled to the brim with stuffed squirrels, foxes, a bear, a few dogs, cats, and birds that he all called his pets.
They had names, and he had plenty of pictures of them. None of us wanted to be the one to call him when something was broken. As a result, we hadn’t had a working toilet in weeks and used the one at the hair salon next door.
“Don’t be so dramatic. If you want, we could do dinner on Saturday and then go back to your place. Something low-key.”
That actually sounded nice. I couldn’t remember the last time I had a meal that wasn’t cold. “I guess I could do that.”
“I’ll see you at the office tomorrow.”
“See you tomorrow.”
My phone rang again as soon as I lowered my arm. Seeing it was Vance, I picked up immediately.
“What did he say?”
Not one for formalities either, he got straight to the point.
“Your husband wants the kids this weekend. For now, that means you have to let them stay with him.” When I took a deep breath to argue, he jumped in before I could get a sound out.
“Within reason, of course. I suggested your husband take them on the weekends and you get them during the week.”
“I’m not giving up all my weekends with them.”
It was the only time I had to spend time with them.
“You have to give in somewhere. And this is an opportunity for us to give him something so we’ll be able to ask for something in return.”
He clearly thought he’d been doing me a favor.
But this was the worst outcome other than not having the kids at all.
“What you’re saying is that you negotiated a deal without checking with me first. I’m not okay with this.
Call him back and tell him Hank can have every second weekend.
I’m not giving up all my time with my girls. ”
“If that’s what you want.”
He sounded funny, but I was too angry to decipher what mood he was in. “It is definitely what I want.”
“I’ll get it done.”
He hung up and then sent a text ten minutes later that they had negotiated every second weekend. How he’d accomplished that when I knew my husband never compromised was a mystery to be solved another day.
For now, I had to wake up Elana and then pick up Addy. And I only had twenty minutes to accomplish both. Elana needed at least thirty minutes to wake up. Before that, she was more demon than child.
The drive was five minutes, giving me five to wake my daughter up, five to coax her into going to the toilet, and then another five to somehow get her into the car.
We did make it to the school, but we were ten minutes late.