“Perfect. I’ll load it up. Thanks, Ash.”
She looks at me like she’s confused.
“I’m not your enemy. I want you to get back to normal. I don’t want them to wonder where their mom went.”
“I have the papers,” she blurts out.
I stop and turn around. “I’ll take them and have my lawyer look them over then get them back to you.”
“Rob already looked over everything. He said it looked good.”
I hold my tongue for a moment. “Great, Ashley. My lawyer is still going to look at them, as well.”
“He’s not a bad guy.”
“Ash …” I turn and look at her. “I want you to be happy, but forgive me if I don’t like the guy who has been fucking my wife for years.”
“They won’t accept him if you don’t.”
“The kids?”
“Yes, the kids. But you’ll have it easy. It’s not fair, you know.”
“How do I have it easy?”
“Tessa, you’ve groomed them to love her from birth.”
“Okay, Ash, we aren’t having a delusional conversation right now. This has nothing to do with her. Nothing. You keep your shit to yourself, and I will, too.”
“Oh, I’m sure you will.”
“We just drove around for thirty minutes because, when we pulled down the road and saw your lover pulling out of the driveway of a fucking house I paid for, Logan was pissed.”
“Because you were,” she hisses.
“Oh, here we go.” I throw my hands in the air. “No, I talked my kid through why I wasn’t angry at you and why he shouldn’t be. But you keep pushing and playing the victim, and he’ll be the one paying for your nonsense. Look at you. You haven’t seen him in weeks. You don’t call. I have to tell him to call you. Get your ass up the stairs and be a fucking mother.”
“What the hell do you know about mothers, Lucas?”
“I’ve been playing both roles for years.” I walk past her, up the stairs, and into Logan’s room.
“Hey bud, I’m out.”
He rolls his eyes and nods.
“Call me if you need anything, okay? I’ll be here.” I give him a hug then walk out of the room, down the stairs, and out the door.
Ash chases me out with the papers.
“Oh, thanks, Ash. Here’s something to strike up a conversation with your son about. He got accepted to SU. Go tell him you’re proud of him.”
EIGHTEEN
GOODBYES
Ihead to the lawyer’s and ask him to go through the divorce papers and get back to me. Then I head to the Jersey office.
When I walk in, Bones is there, feet up on his desk, earbuds in, and feet moving to the beat of the music. He has no idea I am here as I lean over to see what he’s looking at on his screen.