“Josh has a house up here.”
“Really? That seems like an unusual spot for him to own a home. Anyway, then I won’t see you until the wedding. I’m heading back to New York on Tuesday for a few days to take care of some things. I’ll be back sometime on Friday afternoon. The wedding is still on, right? Mom’s all worried about the storm we might be getting. When I saw her yesterday, she said she would talk to you about postponing.”
“She called. And Josh and I decided to wait until Sunday night and see what the forecast looks like.” Courtney watched Josh enter the room. Before his cell phone rang, he’d been smiling. He wasn’t smiling anymore, but he wasn’t frowning either. He simply looked deep in thought.
“Either way, I’ll call you.” Or maybe she’d send out a group text message to the entire family, letting them know whether or not the wedding was on. She’d worry about it once they decided. “Have a safe drive back to New York.” After ending the call, she turned the ringer off on her phone. If anyone called, they could leave her a message.
“Was Juliette calling to tell you about the weather too?” Josh asked as he finished arranging the wood and lit a match, then sat down on the other side of the coffee table.
Courtney shook her head, even though Josh’s attention was focused on the flames and not her. “She wanted to share her thoughts on my interview. The Star Insider aired it today.”
Clearly, something other than their chess game or next weekend’s weather was on his mind. She watched his face and waited. When several seconds passed and he remained silent, she spoke up. “Who’s Ben?”
Josh exhaled and looked at her. “He’s my agent.”
“What did he want?”
“To talk about a role. The studio is doing a sequel to Over The Edge. I already told Ben and the producers I’m not interested in doing it. This is the second time he’s tried to change my mind. He’s not happy I’m not taking on a new project for a while.”
His answer didn’t jive with his apparent mood change. “Was that all he wanted?”
“Yeah.” Standing, he walked toward the fireplace. “But while I was on the phone, I got a text message from Naomi. She wants to meet on Monday.”
Yep, that explained the change in Josh’s mood. “What did you tell her?”
Raking a hand across his face, he walked back to where he’d been sitting. “Nothing yet. My first instinct was to ask when and where. I even started to type that back. But I decided to wait and see what my lawyer thinks first. After I talk to David, I’ll answer her.”
“She just asked to see you. She didn’t mention why?” If she were in Naomi’s position, she would’ve provided a reason for such a meeting.
“Nope. She didn’t mention the custody agreement or our lawyers. She only asked to see me.”
Talk about frustrating. And if Josh replied asking why, his ex-girlfriend would know he’d read the message, meaning she’d expect an answer to her request before Josh spoke his lawyer. “Do you think David will get back to you soon?”
It was a Saturday, and people had lives. For all she knew, David might have children and spend his weekends coaching their basketball teams or attending gymnastic competitions.
“Don’t know. On the weekends sometimes he responds right away and other times it takes hours. He’s got three sons and coaches their hockey teams.” Josh retook his seat across from her. “Either way, I’ll probably hear from him sometime today.”
For Josh’s sake, she hoped his lawyer called him sooner rather than later.
“Assuming he doesn’t tell me it’s a bad idea, I’ll meet with her.”
She understood why the lawyer might advise against it or perhaps suggest Josh only meet with her if both their lawyers were present. “And if he recommends you don’t see her, what are you going to tell her?” He couldn’t ignore the text message indefinitely.
“Not sure exactly,” he admitted, shaking his head. “But we should probably plan to leave tomorrow instead of Tuesday. I’m sorry.”
“We can come back here some other time. Maybe Adalynn can come with us.” Much like at his condo in Boston, one of the bedrooms here was clearly intended for his daughter. Located across the hall from the master suite, the room was painted lilac and contained a toy store’s worth of stuffed animals and a large barn complete with plastic horses.
“Yeah. I know,” Josh replied.
Whether they could come back didn’t change the fact that Josh would rather stay here and enjoy having Courtney all to himself. But if Naomi wanted a meeting, he couldn’t ignore the request. Too much was at risk. Her decision to seek sole custody had happened with no warning. It was anyone’s guess why she wanted to see him. She couldn’t make any changes to the temporary custody agreement in place without going before a judge, so that was out. He’d invited her and Adalynn to the wedding because he wanted his daughter there—not that he expected them to come. Naomi wouldn’t need to see him to tell him they wouldn’t be there.
“Check.” Courtney moved her bishop into place.
He should have seen that coming. If he’d been paying closer attention, he would have. But since he’d read Naomi’s text, he couldn’t think about much else. “You got lucky.” Josh moved his king out of danger. Even though he hadn’t heard his phone, Josh pulled the device from his pocket and checked for a text message from David.
Nothing. Still. What the hell is taking you so long? If his lawyer didn’t respond soon, he’d call him again.
“Are there updates on next weekend’s weather?” she asked.