Total pages in book: 67
Estimated words: 68576 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 343(@200wpm)___ 274(@250wpm)___ 229(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68576 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 343(@200wpm)___ 274(@250wpm)___ 229(@300wpm)
I closed my eyes as the horror of that washed through me.
Letting him play outside by himself at that age?
What the fuck had she been thinking?
The sheer panic I felt at the thought of that happening now was making me squirm in my seat.
“Overall,” the lawyer finished up a long time later. “It’s my opinion that the child should not return to the mother. It’s also my professional opinion that the father is very adequately equipped to take care of his son. All impromptu visits have gone very well.”
I closed my eyes and felt my hands release some of their tension.
Emory looked flabbergasted by that.
“That is not acceptable!” She proved me right seconds later. “You can’t do that!”
“Ma’am,” the judge sounded angry. “One last outburst from you and you’ll be spending the night in jail.”
Emory laughed, as if she didn’t think he would do it.
But the judge proved her wrong by banging his gavel and saying, “Bailiff, see Ms. Cline to alternate accommodations.”
The bailiff did just that, taking her out in handcuffs, spitting and fighting.
I could do nothing but shake my head.
“Jesus,” I heard Pepper mutter under her breath behind me.
I agreed.
Wow.
“All right then…” the judge began, his eyes on me. “Let’s finish this up.”
I had full custody of my son.
My son’s name was now Carter.
I had a protection order against Emory.
Oh, and I felt like I was on top of the world.
I truly didn’t think the day could get any better.
I was wrong.
Don’t be afraid to cut people off.
—Lorena Bobbit
ATLAS
We celebrated the day by having a cookout, Carter style.
All of the brothers cooked sans me. There were ribs, brisket, hot dogs, macaroni, and more.
There were all kinds of kids running around everywhere.
Hell, we even had some of Keene’s family there because the circus they co-owned together was off for the holiday the following Monday.
That meant there was utter chaos.
But it was all worth it to see Forest having such a blast.
“I hate that woman,” Mom said. “If there was a way to go back in time and take him away from all of that, I’d do it in a second.”
“Agreed,” Pepper took a swig of her beer. “I didn’t think anyone could rival my derision for Sage, but Emory definitely managed it.”
“That woman who was saying she called about Emory’s actions, and nothing was done”—Mom shook her head. “That’s my newest mission, to find these calls that slip through the cracks. I’m going to follow up on them personally. I’ve already talked to your father, and we’re allotting me some resources to create a community-type thing that’ll run strictly on volunteer hours. I’ll pay the informants, though.”
“That sounds like a fantastic idea,” Pepper tilted her beer bottle toward my mother. “I’ll do anything I can to help.”
“I heard that congratulations are in order.” Maven came up, a wide smile on her face. “A billionaire willing to use all his resources to help you get your business off the ground? I guess I should count myself lucky that I had you as long as I did.”
“What’s this?” Dad asked.
“I got a call today from the richest man in Dallas,” Maven said. “He wanted to check references. And when I’m saying that he’s excited to work with you? That would be an understatement.”
The next ten minutes consisted of Pepper saying it wasn’t that big of a deal every time someone said something about her business, and the rest of us informing her that it was.
“I would love to be a sponsor,” Keene offered. “We had a performer come let us know just last week she’d have to take a hiatus because she found out that she had stage-three breast cancer.”
Pepper was almost in tears by the time we made it back inside.
“This day,” she wiped her eyes hard, hoping to stop any tears from falling. “I don’t think that it could be any better.”
I pulled her into my arms, my fingers going to the hollow of her back, as I said, “You deserve everything, Pepper Solomon.”
She lifted a hand and ran it along the dark circles underneath my eyes. “Ready for bed, Carter?”
I nodded.
“Can I join you?” she asked. “Is it time yet?”
I laughed, picking her up.
She wound her legs around my hips, arms going tight around my neck, and looked at me with pleading eyes.
“I wasn’t trying to torture us both,” I murmured. “I just wanted you to know how I feel before we went back to the stuff we knew we could get right.”
Her legs tightened around my waist. “Really?”
I walked with her to the bedroom, stopping only briefly to make sure that Forest was fast asleep, before setting the alarm as we passed.
I laid her down on my bed, then followed her, my fingers idly running over the scar on her face.
“How did you get that scar?” I whispered, praying she’d answer me.