“And your boundaries are outside of the polite and decent range?”
“No. You want to act like we’re friends, and we’re not. We never will be again. What I can do for you is be civil for our son’s sake.”
“You’re making this harder than it needs to be.”
I give a soft laugh. “You just don’t know how to deal with me when I’m not bending backward to cater to your every whim and make you happy. You cheated, left without warning, and destroyed the life we worked so hard to build instead of telling me you were miserable and wanted to end things. This is the stupid prize you won for playing a stupid game.”
Huffing, she tosses her hair over her shoulder. “I’ll be by your apartment to pick Brax up Sunday night around seven o’clock. All of his homework has been completed for next week, and the cue cards for the spelling test he has on Wednesday are in his pencil bag.”
“I’ll make sure we study it over the weekend.”
“See that you do. It’s important that we get his grades where they need to be. He’s always been such a good student.”
“Well, the things we do affect other people—.”
“Don’t’ start placing blame.” She snaps.
“I’m saying we need to give the kid some grace and double up on our support.”
“It’s incredible how you’ve turned into a gentle parent now. You weren’t like this before.” Anger flashes in the depth of her hazel eyes, and I wonder when she started to resent me. It hasn’t escaped my attention that she found a job and bumped up her social life.
“I’m adjusting to his needs. What are we sending him to the psychiatrist for if you’re not listening.” I rub the back of my neck to relieve the tension.
“I am,” she snaps. “But Chaze thinks—”
“Hey. Uh uh.” I shake my head, cutting her off. “Brax is our son. He doesn’t get to have an opinion on shit.”
“That’s not fair! He’s the stepfather. We live together. He’s a part of our family unit.”
“You listen to –.”
“Dad. Are you going to come and talk about the book with us?” I glance at the tow-haired boy looking at me with hopeful blue eyes and force a smile. This is the one place he willingly offers up an olive branch. Pages allows me to catch glimpses of the boy I’d known for nine beautiful years. It gives me hope that the stranger in his place isn’t here to stay permanently.
“Yeah, I’ll finish up with your mother and be right over.”
Braxton offers me a tiny smile that breaks my heart and fuels my decision to stand my ground.
“Tell him to back off, Laurel.”
She bites her bottom lip. “You tell him, or I will.”
Her eyes widen, and I nod. “Thanks for updating me,” I say loud enough for Mom and Brax to hear. “We’ll see you Sunday Evening.” I walk around the front counter and refuse to look at her, even as her eyes burn my back.
“We have to talk about what’s going on with our junior demi-god, right? I’ve been following along on an audiobook.”
His eyes light up, and I lean into the fact that I’m doing this right. We have Pages. It’s an opening that I intend to use to bridge the gap between us. I can’t help but glance at the front window every now and then, wondering if I’ll see Daphne Blume passing by on the street and wondering what the hell I’d do if I did.
TWO
Daphne
Standing in front of the white building with the words Pie in the Sky in loopy white cursive, I can’t stop grinning. The smell of cinnamon, baked bread, and confectionary goodness has my mouth watering. Three rows of white tables for two are spaced out in an area enclosed by a white picket fence.
“I swear this place is more adorable every time I see it,” Ellis muses.
I smile at her. “Right? Fey told us to come in today because they have all hands on deck this Saturday.”
Ellis laughs. “She did say everyone would be upset they missed you.”