Lacey first, Laura promised herself. Then Amy.
And then Nate.
Because as much as she hated the thought of all of this, as much as she wanted to put it off forever and never deal with it, he wasn’t going to let her. And she did owe him something. Not the truth, like he seemed to think, but something. In return for three years of solid partnership, of friendship, of trusting her implicitly, she owed him some kind of explanation.
What that would be, she didn’t yet know. But she had to do something about the situation.
She just couldn’t think about that until she’d dealt with everything else in turn, one by one. Starting with the most important—her own daughter—and working her way from there.
CHAPTER THIRTY FIVE
Laura squatted down, her knee hitting the floor of the court building hard, but she barely felt the pain. She was too excited, too happy. Lacey skipped over to her and landed in her mother’s arms, hugging her tightly.
“Mommy, does this mean I get to see you more often?” Lacey asked, her small, innocent voice so sweet that Laura wanted to cry. Just not from sadness this time.
“Yes, baby,” Laura said, kissing her daughter’s head and holding her, running her hand over her blonde hair to smooth it into place. “Yes, I’m going to see you at weekends from now on. Isn’t that great?”
“Yeah,” Lacey said, smiling affectionately. “I miss you when I’m just with Daddy all the time.”
Laura smiled through eyes that were brimming with tears, tucking Lacey’s hair behind her ear just for an excuse to cup her face and look at her. Her daughter.
There had been a time, not very long ago at all, when she’d been afraid that Marcus would never let her see Lacey again. Not until the girl was eighteen, maybe. But it hadn’t gone that far. The judge had given her partial custody, and even though it wasn’t a perfect split, it was something. It meant seeing her daughter every week. Regularly. Being a mother again, properly now.
Laura had been so nervous about the court case, about the possibility of Marcus blocking her from seeing Lacey for good. But in the end, it had been for the best. Because now, a court had mandated her visitation and custody rights—and Marcus couldn’t take that away from her without authorization.
She was a mother again.
“We can’t stay too long, Lacey,” Marcus said, from a few feet away. He was leaning against one of the pews set in the halls of the court, a resting place for people awaiting their trials and hearings. There was a faint note of irritation in his voice. Laura couldn’t say she was surprised. He’d probably expected to keep full custody, to stay in control of Lacey and whether or not Laura could see her.
But the glowing recommendation Laura had received from her supervisor—one Division Chief Rondelle—and Garth, her AA sponsor, had added up to a lot. She made a mental note that she needed to give them both some serious thanks. They’d come through, and it had been enough, along with everything else, to sway the judge. They always wanted to side with the mother, if they could. Laura knew that. And she’d benefited from that today.
“Why, Daddy?” Lacey asked, whining a little before being overtaken by the excitement of a new idea. “I want to play with Mommy. She hasn’t seen my new horses yet. We should go home and play!”
“Mommy’s not coming home with us,” Marcus said. “Remember what the judge said, honey? She will see you at the weekend. It’s not the weekend yet.”
“Why isn’t it?” Lacey asked, pouting.
Laura wanted to burst out laughing. The logic of a six-year-old. She didn’t understand why it couldn’t be a weekend just because she wanted it to be.
“Don’t worry, sweetie,” Laura said. “We’ll play a lot this weekend, okay? You can bring all your horses to show me.”
“Okay,” Lacey said, heaving a big sigh as if she had just given the biggest concession in the world.
Laura smiled and stood, straightening up. She met Marcus’s eyes. He nodded after a moment, a somewhat gruff response—and yet, she could see that he was trying. That he wasn’t going to make this hard for them. For Lacey. He would comply with the court.
“See you Saturday morning,” he said, and that was all, before he reached for Lacey’s hand and started to lead her away.
“See you Saturday, sweetie!” Laura called out, and Lacey turned to wave before they both moved toward the stairs leading down and out of the courthouse.
Laura took a deep breath, letting it fill her lungs. It had been a good day. A good result. Maybe the best she could have hoped for.
The stress, the worry, that had been hanging over her head for all this time could finally dissipate, drifting away.
She was a mother again.
Laura walked to her car with a spring in her step, enjoying the bright yet cool sunlight of an unseasonably sunny day. It was like the whole world knew how good today was. Like even the sun was there to congratulate her.
The drive home was no less cheerful. Laura even turned on the radio, found herself singing along to an old song she hadn’t heard in years. Maybe there were still things she needed to deal with, heavy things that were going to settle back on her shoulders later like huge birds of prey returning from a temporary flight. But for now, life was good.