Total pages in book: 143
Estimated words: 132834 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 664(@200wpm)___ 531(@250wpm)___ 443(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 132834 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 664(@200wpm)___ 531(@250wpm)___ 443(@300wpm)
When it became clear I wasn’t going to respond, Lydia huffed out a breath.
“Fine,” she snapped. “Then John and I will spend Thanksgiving here. I’m sure I can find a short-term rental or a hotel room. You can bring Nicky to us for the holiday.”
“No,” I drew in an exaggerated breath, trying not to explode. “I’ll repeat, we already have plans. That’s not going to happen.” Sitting back, I tried for reason. “If you want time with Nicky, we can figure something out. I can bring him to you, re-introduce you. We can do some short visits, and when he’s comfortable with you—when I’m comfortable with you—we can talk about more. Not all at once. But gradually.”
“If you think you can keep me from Nicky—”
I interrupted her. “This isn’t about keeping you from Nicky. This is about Nicky’s best interests. He doesn’t know you. And I have to wonder, why is that? If you’re so interested in your grandson, where have you been? Why now?”
It was clear I’d struck a nerve by the way she tensed up.
“I missed my grandson,” she said mulishly.
That was a lie. I could see it in the shifting of her eyes. I could also see she wasn’t going to tell me the truth. But something had changed for her, something that made her remember her grandson after all this time. I wasn’t sure the why mattered.
I just wanted to get out of here and go home. Hopefully before the boys got back from school so I could change into my uniform and pretend none of this had happened.
“Are you interested in arranging a time to meet Nicky?” I asked.
“I don’t need to meet my grandson. I was there when he was born.”
“But he doesn’t know you. Would you like to arrange a time?” I asked slowly and deliberately, my patience frayed to its limit.
“No, I don’t want to arrange a time to see my grandson.” Lydia pushed her salad away and leaned toward me, her eyes narrowed, menace all over her face. I guess she was done playing nice.
A deep sense of dread settled over me.
“I didn’t want it to come to this,” Lydia said. “But if you’re not prepared to be reasonable, then I have to inform you that I have a lawyer and we will be pursuing some form of custody. Once the judge hears about the drugs and the way you killed Oliver, I’m sure they’ll be happy to give me Nicky.”
I went still, my lungs frozen, my heart racing.
She said it.
Custody.
My worst fear.
I hadn’t heard that word from her since Oliver was recovering from his second accident, and I’d had my hands full balancing Oliver, Nicky, and my job. She tried to take him then, leading to the biggest fight of my marriage. In the end, Oliver had roused enough to tell her to drop it or he’d ban her from our house. She backed down. But now Oliver was gone, and I could see her intentions all over her face. This time Lydia was determined to win.
It was too late to wish I’d listened to my mother and Finn and talked to a lawyer. I’d thought I had good reasons not to, plenty of them, but now that I was staring Lydia in the face, all I had was regret. She was ready for battle, and I was completely unarmed.
On the inside, I was screaming in terror and fury. I gave no sign of my turmoil as I stood, picking up my purse from where it hung on the back of my chair. “I’d like to say it was nice to see you, Lydia, but I’m afraid I can’t. You will not be getting custody of Nicky. I don’t recommend you try. Any decent judge will laugh their head off.”
I moved closer, lowering my voice so only Lydia could hear. “You have accusations, but I have evidence. Emails between me and his doctor documenting my concern about his drug use. My signature on forms to get him to rehab. Yours checking him out early against his doctor’s recommendations. Text messages between you and Oliver in which you agree to get him more pills. Pictures of all the bottles of pills, from all the different doctors you found, long after his own doctor said no more. This won’t go well for you.”
Lydia’s chin lifted, and I knew she wasn’t afraid.
She wasn’t, but I was terrified. I had to get out of there before I broke, and she saw how scared I really was. I knew her. If she sensed my fear, it would only make her stronger.
“Go home, Lydia. You’re not getting Nicky.” Grudgingly I added, “If you decide you want to be reasonable and start slow with him, we can talk.” I was trying to think of my son’s best interests. I wasn’t at all convinced seeing this woman was in his best interest, but I had time to mull that over.