Not that I want a relationship with Georgia. No way. Even if it’s her, I can’t do it.
Can I?
I sigh and reach out to open the back door. I pause, however, as I hear Polly’s voice. It sounds like she’s still on the phone. I should leave, because this is private, but my feet are suddenly rooted to the ground. My paranoia over Polly’s sudden appearance hasn’t quite disappeared, and I could learn a lot from listening in.
“I know,” Polly is sighing. The phone is pressed to her ear, and all I can hear from her is a soft murmur from it. “Yes, Warrick, I know, but…”
She snorts.
“That’s the easy part,” Polly says. “The place is a damn hovel.”
I feel insulted. This is my home! I think it’s charming. For Polly, who’s probably now used to large houses and expensive furniture, it was probably little better than being on the streets, though.
Then my eyes narrow. Why is Polly telling her husband her thoughts on the state of my home? I lean as close to the door as I dare.
“Yes, I’ve already got the statements from my mother,” Polly sighs. “She was horrified to hear that Ethan’s mother passed away five years ago. Remember I told you that I told them that his mother took custody of Lily? Well, Mo
m is definitely willing to fight now.”
My blood runs cold. What?
“So, all we need is financial information,” Polly continues. “Judging by the state of his home and all the second-hand clothes they wear, it won’t be difficult to prove that Ethan isn’t financially stable enough to care for a child, at least.”
I remember, distantly, Georgia assuring me that Polly wouldn’t want to take Lily.
It seems she was very wrong.
Part of me isn’t sure what I’m hearing. It sounds like Polly wants me to be declared an unfit parent. She and her husband are apparently working in the background to get Lily taken away from me. She’s even using the lie she told her parents so long ago to get her mother on board.
What’s happening?
My heart is beating too loud in my chest. If Polly goes through with this, if she submits evidence that I’m not capable of looking after Lily, and uses her own mother as a witness against my character when I have no one left to defend me against them…I’ll lose.
And then I’ll lose Lily.
Trembling, I lean against the door. What the fuck to do I do now?
Chapter Sixteen
Georgia
I sigh and hang up the phone. Ethan didn’t tell me he and Lily were having a movie day. But I guess I can’t blame him after everything I said to him yesterday.
“Why did you lie?”
I look across the table at my companion. Hayley Reed is sitting there, digging into a slice of chocolate cake. She raises an eyebrow at me.
“Didn’t you finish that piece last night?” she asks pointedly.
“I had to tell Lily something to explain why I wasn’t going over,” I protest. “I couldn’t just say ‘your father and I argued last night, so I’m not comfortable coming around’.”
“True,” Hayley commented. “I’m more confused about why you didn’t just tell her that you were out with me.”
I grimace.
“Because if I told her that, she’d start begging, and we’d both end up over there,” I say.
Hayley snorts.