Page 10 of Wed to You

“I’m going to miss Miss Beemer. When can we go to pizza again?”

“I don’t know. You’ll have to ask her.”

They arrived at the end of the drive, standing far enough back for safety but close enough the bus driver could see they were there. The driver pulled up and opened the door.

“Have a great last day of school, Kaden.”

“Okay.” Kaden’s little legs somehow made it up the tall steps of the bus.

Jagger waved to Kaden and the driver and watched as the bus pulled away and headed up the road. His life was good.

He made his way back to the house, planning to have another cup of coffee before heading to the stables. A new horse arrived the other day from a farm raided by local animal law enforcement. It had broken his heart to see a magnificent animal reduced to skin wrapped around bones. Fortunately, his vet assured had him they could return the mare to health.

Jagger hadn’t set out to take in rescue horses. His grandfather had bought the farm during the 1970s when Secretariat was the rage. For a few years, his grandfather worked to produce a Triple Crown winner. By the time Jagger was born and old enough to visit during the summers, the farm was more known for breeding than training racehorses. As a boy and teenager, Jagger visited the farm with his grandfather and often on his own. He enjoyed the country and space. He enjoyed the horses. Once Jagger was a teenager, his interest in them had waned, and he spent most summers running around with Mitch and Brian. Eventually, Jagger’s grandfather ran out of interest in the horses as well. While the house remained in the family, the horses had been sold.

Then last fall, needing something to keep him occupied while Kaden was at school, Jagger decided to reopen the farm. He wasn’t interested in training or breeding horses. Instead, he’d decided to focus on retired racehorses. He’d only taken in a couple of horses when word got out about his new project, and animal control started calling about horses they’d rescued from abuse. Although the Talbot family had the money to run such an operation, Jagger knew his father would work to put an end to what he’d see as frivolous and wasteful. So, six months ago, Jagger started a foundation to raise money that would not only help care for the rescue horses but would also be available to other rescue centers.

Jagger nearly made it to the front steps when he heard a car pulling up the drive. He turned to see a small, old, beat-up sedan coming toward him. Must be lost. He stepped back out into the drive, prepared to give the driver directions. When the car pulled closer and he was able to see the woman in the front seat, his insides went cold. She parked and stepped out of the car.

“Hi, Jagger.”

He heard the tentativeness in her tone but didn’t care. The cold was now replaced by white-hot anger. “What are you doing here, Tanya?”

“I…uh…I was hoping to talk with you.”

Jagger shook his head. She wasn’t slurring her words and her eyes were clear, so at least she’d shown up sober. But that didn’t mean he’d give her any of his time. “You’re not welcome here.”

She sighed. “I know you hate me, but I’m better now. I’m clean. I’ve been clean for nearly a year.”

Tanya had no right to be there. Not after what she’d done to Kaden.

“I don’t care.” He contemplated physically putting her in her car but wasn’t sure he could do it without hurting her.

“Please, Jagger. Just hear me out.”

“No. The only reason you can be here is to see Kaden.” Thank God, he was heading to school. He didn’t need Kaden seeing her. “But you gave up that right when you chose to run off with your abusive drug-dealing boyfriend.”

“I know.” She looked down.

Her remorse and shame appeared real, but he had no sympathy for her.

She looked up at him again. “I messed up. You know what I was going through—”

“It doesn’t matter what you were going through. If you were any kind of mother, you’d have endured it and more. You abandoned him, choosing drugs instead. You left without a single thought.”

“I knew you’d care for him.”

“I have and I’ll continue to care for him. I’m his parent now, Tanya. So get in your heap and drive back to whatever hole you climbed out of, because I will not let you back in his life.”

She bit her lip, her expression suggesting she was thinking of her next words. “I’m his mother, Jagger—”

“No—”

“I am. I’ve been working hard to get myself together, and I want to make it right with you and Kaden.”

“You’re two years too late. He doesn’t even remember you.” Jagger wasn’t sure if that was true, but if it got her to leave, he’d say it. He’d do whatever was necessary to keep her away.

“I’m going to do this. If I have to get a lawyer, I will.”

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