Total pages in book: 20
Estimated words: 19091 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 95(@200wpm)___ 76(@250wpm)___ 64(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 19091 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 95(@200wpm)___ 76(@250wpm)___ 64(@300wpm)
The snow stopped overnight, and in typical Scottish fashion, the temperature had risen to a point that it was already melting. I’d just suggested we go for a drive to get out of the house for a bit when my phone rang.
It was Deena.
She wanted me to collect Michael.
“I thought you were dropping him off,” I said, irritated on multiple levels.
“I can’t. Sorry.”
I hung up and explained to Kenna. I felt shit for leaving her. “Why don’t you come with me?”
“No.” She shook her head. “I’m not in the mood to see Deena, sorry.”
“No, of course. I understand.”
“I … I should leave. Michael won’t understand why I’m here.”
“No!” I said louder than I meant. Kenna raised an eyebrow. I smiled apologetically. “Please, stay. I’ll tell Michael I invited you over for Boxing Day.”
“Oh. Won’t … will that not confuse him?”
Studying her, I realized she was asking more than just that question. She was asking me what we were and where we went from here.
Did I trust Kenna to know what she wanted when she was still grieving her family?
When she was in my arms … the way she looked at me … I didn’t want to doubt that. But I had more than myself to think of. “We’ll, uh … we’ll talk about that after, yeah.”
Her expression dimmed, and I hated that I had to leave her. I pressed a hard kiss to her mouth. “I’ll be back soon.”
Kenna nodded, but I saw insecurity flicker in her gaze.
Damn it.
I’d need to make a decision and make it soon. I wouldn’t be one more person who hurt this woman. It was difficult when I had my son to think of.
Michael ran straight into the house, calling Kenna’s name.
Hearing the crack in his shout, I closed my eyes in a tight press, curling my hands around the steering wheel. I had to get a handle on my anger. I couldn’t let my son see it.
Two hours ago, he had his mum back in his life and he was sweet and forgiving and excited about it.
Now …
The conversation I’d had with Deena just a little over an hour ago played around and around in my mind.
“We need to talk,” my ex had said as soon as I stepped into her townhome. It was in a nice area of Inverness and while the house was narrow, it had three floors and was luxuriously appointed.
“Where’s Michael?” I was already agitated that I’d had to leave Kenna when Deena was supposed to be driving my son home to me, and now this.
“Upstairs. In here.”
I followed Deena into an office. “What’s going on? Did something happen to Michael?”
“No.” She leaned against the desk, nibbling nervously on her lower lip. She wouldn’t meet my eyes. “Jim got offered a new job, and we can’t turn it down.”
“Okay?” I frowned.
“It’s in London.”
Fear scored through me. If she thought for one second I’d agree to Michael living with her that far away … I imagined a horrible custody battle ahead and what that would do to my son. “Deena—”
“Look.” She held up a hand, still not meeting my gaze. “Before you worry about me trying to take Michael with me, that’s not happening.”
Why did that make me feel even fucking worse? “So … you’re just going to leave him?”
Her cheeks reddened, and she finally looked at me before glancing away in shame. “This is a big opportunity for Jim, and we’ve talked about it and we know we won’t have time to give Michael the attention he needs.”
I hated this woman. At that moment, I truly hated her. “So, to be clear, after begging to have Michael back in your life, you’re walking right back out again?”
She pushed off the desk, tone pleading. “We’d love to have him at Christmas every other year.”
“No.”
Deena flinched like I’d hit her. “What do you mean no?”
Seething, I hissed, “You do not get to play with my son like he’s a fucking toy. You’re in or you’re out. If you leave for London, you don’t get to see Michael again. If, when he’s eighteen, he decides he wants you back in his life, that’s his choice. But right now, it’s my choice to protect him from his selfish mother.”
Tears glittered in her eyes. “I knew you wouldn’t understand.”
“Oh, I understand, Deena. I understand that you want Michael on your terms and that’s not what parenting is. You are a terrible mother, and I will never let myself forget that again.”
Her tears spilled over. “And if I said I’d fight for custody after all?”
I huffed, no longer afraid of that threat. “I might actually have some respect for you if you tried, but one, I have a feeling your husband doesn’t want a child around full time. Two, I don’t think you could handle sitting in a courtroom being reminded that you abandoned your child. And three, thanks to my father, I now have more money than God, and you can bet your selfish arse that I will use every fucking penny to keep you out of Michael’s life.”