God, I hoped so.
“Come on,” I say as I turn toward the sign that points to baggage claim. “I already have the rental car and the car seat installed. We just need to grab your luggage.”
Pepper only packed a medium-size bag which held all of her clothes as well as Charlie’s for the weekend. She had me keep Charlie and she grabbed it off the carousel with ease, pulling the handle up and rolling it alongside her as we made our way to the parking lot.
I rented a mid-size SUV, feeling they’re slightly safer than a car, and I get Charlie put into the rear child seat on the passenger side. She gurgles and smiles at me, and I put a little plastic chew ring in her hand to occupy her.
After closing the door, I go to the rear of the SUV to load Pepper’s bag into the back alongside my own luggage. When I reach out to take the handle from her, I see scratches and slight bruising on the inside of her wrist.
“What happened?” I ask as I nod down at her arm.
I snap the handle down and put the suitcase in the back. When I turn to her to take the diaper bag, she’s chewing on her bottom lip as if she’s worried about something.
My eyebrows draw inward and I take her arm, turning it over so I can look at it better. There are four distinct half moon shaped cuts with bruising below them.
“What happened?” I repeat, this time with a bite to my tone.
Pepper gets a resolved look on her face. “Lida approached me yesterday while I was sitting at Starbucks.”
Rage sweeps through me as I look back down to her arm. “She did that? She assaulted you?”
“No,” she says, and then shakes her head. “I mean…yes, I guess you could say that. It didn’t start out that way, though.”
“Start from the beginning,” I growl. “And please tell me why I’m just now hearing about it.”
“You’re just now hearing about it,” she says as she straightens, “because I didn’t want to worry you as you were getting ready for a game.”
That puts me in my place and put my hands to her head, pulling her in for a soft kiss to her forehead. “I’m sorry. I’m not mad at you. I’m pissed as hell at her, though, and she’s going to be sorry she fucked with you. Now, what happened?”
“I was sitting there at an outdoor table and she just appeared,” she recounts. “And at first, she was calm and rational. I felt sorry for her.”
I can’t help the eye roll and Pepper glares at me before continuing. “She sat down and wanted me to let her see Charlie and to put in a good word to you, but when I told her I couldn’t get involved, she turned a little crazy. When I tried to get up from the table, she grabbed me. Made a scene. It was awful.”
“I’m going to fucking wring her neck,” I snarl, not really meaning it but fuck if that wouldn’t satisfy me if someone else did it for me.
“Legend,” Pepper says softly and I focus in on her. “She’s not right in the head. I mean, yes, I still feel for her a bit, but there’s something wrong with her. She can turn that rage on and off really fast. It’s scary and I’m sorry, but that court cannot allow her to have custody of Charlie.”
“I won’t let it happen,” I promise Pepper and I resolve to myself at that point that if the court were to let Lida near my kid, I’d take her and Pepper and disappear to South America.
“After that happened, I went to your house and got Charlie. We stayed at my parents’ last night.”
A wave of tenderness and gratitude washes over me that Pepper was never concerned about herself, but focused on protecting my daughter. I’m also grateful to her parents—especially her dad who is a bruiser himself. That first night they hosted Pepper and Charlie, when I went and picked them up, Richard pulled me aside and assured me that Charlie was welcome there whenever I needed.
Pepper still has the big diaper back slung across her body so I take it from her, lifting it over her head. I set it beside her bag in the trunk and press the button that will lower the hatch.
“Come on,” I say as I put my hand to her lower back, guiding her to the front-passenger seat. “Let’s get going to my parents house.”
Once we’re out of the airport terminal and in the flow of traffic, I pull my phone out and press the button at the bottom. When Siri asks how she can help me, I say, “Dial Jim Foppiano.”
Pepper’s head turns to look at me as I place my phone on the dashboard.