Tears coursed down her face as she stared at the phone. The entire idea had backfired. No! Why had she felt peace when she’d prayed? Why had she been so selfish and stupid to put her desires to date Caleb over protecting her boy?
She sank into her armchair and let the tears come. Finally, she knew she had no choice. She texted Caleb.Everything with Jeff backfired. He’s coming for Krew this weekend unless I stop dating you. Please give me some time to figure this all out.
She stared at the phone after she’d pushed send. Was she lying to Caleb to try to appease him? Would she ever figure this out? Would Jeff ever stop being a nightmare? Anger and hatred coursed through her veins as she thought of him threatening his own son to get back at her. Why? Jeff didn’t love her. Why couldn’t he just let her go? She was so confused and frustrated and scared that her head pounded.
Her phone rang. Caleb. She pushed decline on the call. If she talked to him, she might cave, and that wasn’t what was best for Krew.
Her heart raced as she pulled up Jeff’s info again. She quickly typed out a text, and each word was painful to complete.I won’t see Caleb Jewel again. I promise we never dated, but I did kiss him. I’m sorry. Please believe I will break off all ties with him. Let’s meet to stop the child support, and you can sign off on only supervised visits. It will be quick and easy and save you a lot of money. I promise you won’t get any bad publicity.
She waited for Jeff’s response.
Caleb called again, and she declined it. She stared at her phone, tears running down her face. Caleb. Oh, how she loved him, and she hated how unfair this all was to him.
Seconds later, a text from him popped up.Em, please. Don’t shut me out. Let’s figure this out together.
She replied,I’m so sorry. I can’t.
The phone started ringing again. Caleb. She silenced it. It broke her heart to shut him out like this. He’d done nothing wrong but be amazing to her and Krew.
She texted him.I am so terribly sorry. None of this is your fault, but I can’t risk Krew. I just can’t.
He didn’t respond.
She stood and started pacing, gnawing at a fingernail. Storming out of her room, she paused outside Krew’s room, then opened the door, staring at her precious boy in the darkened room. She loved him so much it hurt. She was doing this for him. Would it ever get easier? Would Jeff ever respond?
The doorbell rang, and her head jerked up. She quietly shut Krew’s door and rushed to the stairs. It had to be Caleb. Unless it was Jeff, but he couldn’t have gotten here so quickly. Or maybe it was Mylee coming over to hear about her night.
As she pumped down the stairs and into the entryway, her phone dinged. She glanced at the screen. Jeff.Your little apology is too late and I couldn’t care less about bad publicity. See you Friday.
“No!” She leaned heavily against the wall in the foyer. If he didn’t care about bad publicity what did he care about? Why had she married such a lunatic? How were she and Krew ever going to get free?
“Em!” Caleb called through the door. “Em, please let me in.”
Emily flung the door open. Caleb’s handsome face was scrunched with worry, and when he saw her, he rushed in, shut the door behind him, and gathered her in his arms. Emily was too weak to stand on her own, to pull away from him, to tell him she had to stay away. She simply clung to him and let the tears flow.
Caleb swept her off her feet and carried her into the living room. Emily was tall and fit and she knew she wasn’t light, but Caleb didn’t so much as grunt as she clung to his neck and let him carry her. He sank down onto the couch, cradling her against his chest and tenderly stroking her back.
“Em … I’m so sorry,” he finally murmured.
She lifted her head, staring at him with bleary eyes. “Caleb, this is not your fault. All you’ve done is be wonderful. I’m the one who’s sorry.” She shook her head and said, “I won’t blame you at all if you don’t want to wait for me. I have no clue when Jeff is going to listen to reason or when a judge is going to rule in my favor, but I’m going to get with my lawyer in the morning and go aggressive on this. He’s not taking my boy away from me, and I’m going to fight him. I promise I am.”
“I’m proud of you for being so brave and fighting him.” Caleb’s expression grew fierce. “And I will never give up on you, Em. Never.” He swallowed and said quietly, “I love you, Em.”
Her heart swelled, and she couldn’t resist kissing him. It was a tender kiss, full of love and devotion. She pulled back and said, “I love you, Caleb. I’m so sorry I have to push you away, but right now, it’s the only way to keep Jeff from taking Krew.”
Was it, though? She could in good conscience tell Jeff that she wasn’t dating Caleb, if she broke things off with him until they resolved this. Yet Jeff had just told her he was coming on Friday regardless. She was talking to her lawyer first thing in the morning. She’d appeal to the judges, have them do a mental evaluation on Jeff, promise to give up all child support, whatever it took to get him out of their lives so Krew could have a happy childhood and Emily could be with Caleb.
Caleb nodded, though his eyes showed that he wanted to fight, not with her but for her. Oh, how she loved him. “Do I need to go?” he asked.
Emily pushed out a sad breath. “I think that would be smart.” Though she hated it with every fiber of her being.
She pushed to her feet, and he stood next to her. It was cold without his arms around her. She felt lifeless and depressed. Without Caleb, all the sunshine would be gone from her life. No. She had Krew, and her child was all that mattered right now. No matter how horribly she’d miss Caleb until this was settled.
What if it never settled? Krew was six. Twelve years from now, Jeff would have no rights in his life, nothing to hold over her head. She glanced askance at Caleb as they walked quietly to the foyer. She’d never ask him to wait twelve years. It was ludicrous. He was young, healthy, talented, handsome, successful, amazing.
They reached the door, and Emily was struck with terror. What if this was it? What if she never got things settled with Jeff, and this was the last time she’d be close to Caleb? A whimper ripped from her throat, and she threw herself against his chest.
He caught her and held her tight, and for that moment, everything was all right. Peace was there, intermingled with the desire to kiss and hold him all night long.