My body locks in order not to rear back at the asinine question. “Not without my lawyer present.”
“I won’t take much of your time, but I think we have some things to work out.”
“No shi…duh.” I catch myself before tarnishing the little ears in proximity. “We have to work everything out because of this little game of yours.”
“It’s not a game,” she hisses quietly, too proud to make much of a scene in a public place. This works in my favor to subdue a full-blown argument. Not that I have much of a reputation to tarnish in this town. I did that already by bed-hopping.
“You have the papers from my lawyer?”
“You know I do.”
“And do you agree to the terms yet?”
“No, I—”
“Then I don’t know what more you want. It’s laid out. It’s fair, and you’re getting way more than you deserve for what you did. You know that’s a fact. So unless you’re here to tell me you’re accepting or you’re walking away from this fight, either of which will be fine by me, we have nothing to discuss until we get in front of a judge.”
She rears back as if I forced her to, and that hurts like a punch to the gut. I’m not the type of man to intimidate a woman to get what I want. Her display reveals even more things wrong with our relationship. She’s never had a reason to fear me, and she doesn’t have one now.
“I don’t want to do this with a judge. I just want to talk.”
“That’s bull. We’ve had mediation to talk, and you refuse to budge an inch. I don’t know what else I can throw at you to make you just go away. Now give me the bag.”
The black duffel hits the floor with an audible thud, drawing attention from the front desk. I fight against remarking at her dramatic flair.
“I’ll be here at noon to pick him up tomorrow.”
Give her a damn inch, and she’s still ungrateful.
When she asked to push my day to allow her mother to see him while she visited from out of town, I should have said no. For the sake of our son, I agreed to the adjustment. A lesser man would throw that fact in her face with the attitude she can’t help but kick around, but I pride myself on being a good man.
Without a word, I snag the strap of the bag and head toward the elevator bank.
“Sucker?”
I look down at my son in surprise. “Did you learn a new word, bub?”
He places a chubby palm against my stubbled cheek and turns my face to his. Those big, brown eyes bore into my identical ones. If I had a free hand, I’d rub the ache from my sternum.
“Sucker…pwease?”
Another sentence. He’s remembered that I started carrying suckers a few weeks ago to have on hand as a treat. Living out of a vehicle leaves few options for storing perishable snacks. While I try to take him out during our time together, it’s nice to have something on hand. He’s growing more by the day, and I’m forced to miss half of it. The bitter pill sticks in my throat. I swallow the lump down before I can respond.
“Sure, bud. Did you eat all your lunch?”
His sandy hair flies as he nods vigorously, eliciting a chuckle I didn’t know I could conjure after that discussion with his mom. We step off the elevator on our floor, and I set him on unsteady legs to toddle down the hall.
My phone dings just as I reach our room. First, I fish out the key, and then I grab my phone. Tommy smacks my leg as he waits for the door to open. I hold it wide so he doesn’t get pinched on his way inside. Another rich laugh warms me as he immediately plops onto his diapered butt and tries pulling his
shoes off.
“You got it. Pull harder,” I encourage, not ready to step in and take over the task. My phone buzzes again, a reminder of the unread text. A spurt of irritation strikes. I refuse to waste time on my phone during the short intervals I have my son.
Evie: Want to meet for dinner at 5?
Visions of Evie sleeping alone in the gas station parking lot infiltrate my thoughts. She didn’t come close to crossing my mind when Nora asked me to switch days. Realizing this is the first time with my son since I met Evie hits like a ton of bricks. The protective man in me is half a second from calling to demand she meets us here.
I drop my gaze to the little boy near my feet with one shoe still on. I can’t do that to him. This is our time together. It wouldn’t be fair to bring over a woman I’ve known for only a week.