“This is so lame. I’m outta here.”
Finally. His visits were as erratic as his behavior. She should demand that he call before showing up, but she was so grateful he never took Krew alone that she didn’t dare demand anything.
Jeff stomped past her but paused long enough to threaten, “See that you’re not dating him, or I’ll start taking your precious baby boy away from you. Use up all that visitation time I should be getting and teach him to be a real man.”
Emily’s neck and stomach tightened. There he went threatening the very thing that terrified her. The only responses that came to her were snippety and would tick him off more, so she bit her tongue.
She watched him storm into the growing darkness, and then she turned back to Caleb and Krew. From across the field, she could see Caleb watching her. Wearily, she sank into the chair he always provided for her. She wanted to bury her head in her hands and bawl. She wished Jeff would just move on, date someone else, and let her do the same, but all he cared about was football, and she wouldn’t wish his volatile personality on anyone else.
How was she going to keep protecting Krew? Obviously, she needed to stop seeing Caleb. She could lie to herself that it wasn’t a date, but she wanted to date him—wanted it with every fiber of her being. There were only three and a half more months to go, and the agreement would be done and Jeff would leave them alone. She hoped. Three months had never seemed so long.
She watched as Caleb gestured Krew toward the lacrosse net, and Krew started shooting, running to retrieve the ball, and then shooting again.
Caleb took the opportunity to walk toward her. Emily’s heart leapt, and she wanted to push away the disturbing interaction with Jeff and just flirt and tease with this beautiful man. He dropped his stick and gloves, and she started to stand as he approached, but he gently pushed her back down, knelt in front of her, and caught both of her hands between his.
“You okay?” he asked in a gravelly voice.
Emily couldn’t catch her breath. His hands brought warmth to her chilled fingers, but more importantly, his concern was like a salve to her scratched-up heart. “Um, yeah, no, not really,” she admitted.
“I didn’t like him,” Caleb said bluntly.
Emily startled and let out an empty laugh. “I don’t like him much either.”
Caleb smiled. He released one of her hands, brushed his knuckles along her chin, and murmured, “Ah, Em.” He studied her intently with those blue eyes that she was addicted to. “This is rough.”
Emily wanted to pull him closer, but she knew she couldn’t. Even this was playing with fire. What if Jeff came back and saw them so close together? “I think we need to stop practicing,” she squeaked out of her dry throat.
Caleb rocked back onto his heels, releasing his grip on her hands.
“You know, the weather’s turning and … it’ll be the holidays soon.” She couldn’t meet his gaze.
“I thought you were too tough to let a loser like that scare you,” Caleb said from between clenched teeth.
Emily lashed back. “I am tough, but I’m also protecting my son.”
Caleb pushed to his feet and paced away from her. She stood also, focusing on Krew, who was happily shooting.
“Nice shot,” Caleb called.
“Thanks, Coach!”
“You are an amazing mom,” Caleb said quietly. “But you can’t cower to him. Who’s to say he won’t make more demands of you contingent on him not visiting Krew once March comes?”
Emily put a hand to her throat. She knew it was a strong possibility, but she hadn’t let her mind go there … at least not too often.
Caleb glanced over at her. “Why don’t you fight him, Em?”
“How am I supposed to fight him? If you haven’t noticed, he’s huge.” Emily hugged herself for warmth. Why wouldn’t Caleb fight him for her? That would just make matters worse, but she’d love to have Caleb be her champion and knock Jeff to the ground.
“In court,” Caleb said, folding his arms across his chest. “Prove he’s an unfit father, unstable mentally, has no relationship with Krew.”
Emily wasn’t sure she was brave enough to do that. Their last court battle had been rough, expensive, long, and obviously hard on Krew. Jeff had somehow been charming and kind at all the right times and been awarded partial custody. “What if it backfires, he gets more custody, and he actually takes Krew during his custody time?” She could see Jeff doing just that out of spite.
Caleb drew in a long breath and pushed it out as Krew made another shot and danced in celebration before running to retrieve the ball. Her little man was her world. How could she expose him to time alone with his beast of a father? She didn’t believe Jeff would hurt him physically, but he’d definitely belittle and berate him, or ignore him, which was almost as bad.
“What if he keeps blackmailing you until Krew turns eighteen?” Caleb asked.
She sucked in a breath. Jeff could very well do just that. He’d claimed that their deal would let the media hailstorm around their publicized divorce die down, and a year had seemed like an okay request when he’d made it. Yet he seemed to get angrier and more delusional every time she saw him. She didn’t dare risk anything that might lead a judge to order Krew to spend time alone with Jeff. She’d wait until March. If Jeff tried to go back on their deal, then she’d see about going back to court. She couldn’t live in fear of him being alone with Krew, but she also couldn’t expose her sweet child to him.