Chapter Nine
It was only eight o’clock when Emily forced Krew to leave Caleb’s house. Caleb insisted on walking them back home. She worried that one of the neighbors would see them and report back to Jeff, but it was worth the risk to spend a few more minutes with Caleb. She had to content herself with savoring the hug Krew gave Caleb, wishing she dared claim at least a hug. Caleb gave her a secretive smile and a meaningful look as he said goodbye and she forced herself to close the door. Soon, she told herself. Soon she could hug him, kiss him, date him, and see where all these wonderful feelings could go with the superstar of her day and night dreams.
She read stories and scriptures with Krew, said prayers, and tucked him into bed. As she kissed him, she realized that her decision to talk to Jeff wasn’t only due to her selfish desire to be with Caleb; she was also doing it to protect Krew from an unstable influence, one who obviously scared him. It was awful to recognize that Krew’s father had changed so much over the course of the boy’s life that he was an unfit parent, but Emily knew it was true. She’d do anything to protect him.
Brushing her lips across Krew’s forehead, she murmured, “Love you.”
“Love you too, Mama-llama-red-pajama.” He giggled, all silly and adorable.
Emily laughed with him, then turned out his lamp and left the room. She went to her own bedroom and paced for a few minutes, debating how to present her idea to Jeff so she would have the best chance of success. She couldn’t fail. If this backfired and Jeff actually used his custody time with Krew … No. She couldn’t go there, or she’d never make the call. Jeff didn’t have any interest in Krew, only in controlling Emily.
She knelt down and said a prayer. Peace and strength infused her. She could do this, for Krew, for herself, and for Caleb.
Standing, she pulled out her phone and pressed on Jeff’s number. It only rang once.
“’lo,” Jeff grunted out.
“Hey, it’s me,” she said quietly.
“I have caller ID.”
“Oh yeah.” She paced as she talked, clinging to the phone. “Hey, what do you think about restructuring our agreement?”
“What do you mean?”
She took a deep breath and pushed it all out there. “When we went through the divorce, I wasn’t working and your contract was impressive, so my lawyer got a lot of money for child support.”
“Thanks for the reminder.”
Great, he was already grumpy. “But now I’m working and it’s going well.” There was no way to beat around the bush, so she just said it. “If I give up all further child support, would you sign off on custody? I’m not asking you to give up parental rights; you could still come visit when I’m here, but we wouldn’t have to … worry about weekends or summer visits.” Not that he ever used either, but there was always the worry. Especially since she’d made the promise not to date so he wouldn’t take Krew on the weekends and summer visits. She was ready to date Caleb, and she didn’t want Jeff to have any excuse to hurt Krew.
The silence scratched across the line, unnervingly quiet yet loud enough to make her head hurt. Her heart was racing, and her palms were clammy. She prayed inside.Please Lord, please let him agree.If only he would agree. It would mean no more worrying if he might take Krew and hurt or belittle him. No more worrying about dating Caleb. She and Krew would be free.
“Are you dating Caleb Jewel?” he asked coldly.
Her heart squeezed. Oh no. Why had he gone there? “I’m not dating anyone.”
“Don’t lie to me.” His voice rose. “I should have some say in which men associate with my son.”
That ticked her off, and she said before could stop herself, “Youdon’t even associate with your son. We’ve seen you once all winter. You didn’t even bring him a Christmas present.”
“You want me to associate with him? Great. I’ll come over every night. Why don’t I take him this weekend? I know you’d love the break so you can go on dates with Caleb Jewel.”
“Jeff, please. Don’t …” Fear coated her throat, making it scratchy. “Why can’t you just let me go?”
“Because you owe me, woman. I gave you the best years of my life, and what do you do? You ditch me and divorce me. You tried to make me look like an unstable loser.”
She wanted to tell him that he’d done that to himself, but he was so unreasonable she didn’t even know how to fight with him.
“Vivian saw you kissing Caleb Jewel in the middle of the street this morning,” Jeff said gruffly, “and George saw him walking you home tonight. You can stop lying to me.”
Emily’s stomach churned. She should’ve realized one of the neighbors might see their kiss and report it back to Jeff. He’d lived in the neighborhood too, and some of the neighbors actually liked him—or more likely they wanted free tickets to Broncos games.
“The media could easily get wind of this and make me look like an idiot. You choosing a lacrosse player over me.” He pushed out a disgusted grunt. “I’m coming to get Krew Friday. You broke your promise and you’re dating Jewel. It’s the least I can do to return the favor and teach your spoiled boy some respect.”
“No!” Fear rushed through her. “He won’t go with you.” It had been ten months since Krew had last gone with Jeff, and he’d never told her what had happened besides that Daddy was scary. Would he remember? Would he fight to stay with Emily?
“The court says I have the right to take him. Try and stop me.” And he hung up.