I rolled my eyes at Amber’s feigned sincerity. “Great. Thanks.”
“Bye!”
I hung up. My next call was to Charlie. I needed to update him on the change of plans so he could notify the family court.
“Hey, Brenton,” he answered.
“Charlie, hey. I have some updates.”
I told him about the new arrangement and he promised to notify the judge.
“Can you send over the recording of the call? It’ll be best to have hard evidence of the conversation.”
“Shit.” I dragged my hand over my face.
“What?”
“I forgot to record it. I was just so distracted. I had been out with Helen when all of a sudden my daughter showed up, and boy did that introduction go terribly.”
Charlie sighed on the other end. “As long as Amber doesn’t try to lie about the agreement in court, we should be fine. Maybe you could call her back and get her to confirm one more time just to be safe, and this time, record it.”
“Alright, sorry man. My mind was just clouded.”
“I’m a little worried about you, Brenton. Do you think this woman is distracting you too much?”
I hung my head. My thoughts of Helen were so consuming that I had entirely forgotten to record my conversation with Amber, something I did religiously during every call with her. On top of it all, Candace was here because she had been neglected by her mother and I wasn’t checking in enough to know it. I cursed myself for the lack of attention I had given my kids recently. How could I let myself get so distracted?
Charlie was right. I couldn’t get Helen off my mind, and I didn’t want to. But what if my crush was ruining my chances at full custody? Candace was extremely cold to Helen, and I didn’t foresee my stubborn teenager warming up to her anytime soon. After my last relationship, I didn’t trust that my daughter could ever be comfortable with another woman in my life. I’d hoped she would one day, but I couldn’t risk it until I already had full custody. My kids had to come first.