Page 42 of Follow My Heart

“That’s fucked up,” Teddy said.

Cole looked up from Colson’s highchair where he was cutting up meet for his son. “Watch your mouth.”

Teddy held up his hand. “I’m sorry. She just pisses me off. She treats you and Faith like puppets, and she pulls all the strings.”

Ryder shifted in his chair. “Not anymore.”

Teddy leaned in and said quietly, “Is your daughter at this table right now?”

“I’ve never had to navigate anything like this before. I’m learning as I go.”

Wes elbowed Teddy. “In other words, back off, a—” Then broke off when he saw Cole’s sharp expression.

“We have kids at the table now, and hopefully many more as the years go on. You boys need to clean up your language,” Al said gruffly.

“I’m working on it,” Teddy said, and there were quite a few surprised expressions at the table.

Maybe Teddy didn’t change for much of anything or anybody. I wondered if that was why he was resisting the improvements the family seemed to want to implement around the farm.

Faith returned and handed her father the phone.

“Everything okay?” Ryder asked her, his shoulders tight.

I wanted to touch his thigh, to soothe him in some way, but we weren’t dating. We weren’t anything.

Faith shrugged. “She just wanted to tell me she was going to Phil’s house.”

Every muscle in Ryder’s body was pulled taut. He probably didn’t want his daughter exposed to someone he didn’t know.

“Mom said that I left her alone so she had no choice but to spend it with someone.”

Ryder lowered his fork and raised his gaze to Faith. “She said that?”

The table was quiet. “Yeah. Why?”

Ryder sighed. “We’ll talk about it later.”

Talk eventually started up again, and since Faith was with Izzy on Cole’s side of the table, Jameson leaned over to ask Ryder. “You okay with that?”

“I can’t believe she blamed her daughter for going out with her boyfriend. And it’s not the boyfriend or spending time with him that irks me; it’s the manipulation.”

Jameson nodded. “That was a guilt trip if ever I’ve heard one.”

Ryder moved his food around his plate. “Maybe she feels like she can convince Faith to tell a judge she wants to be with her rather than me.”

“That’s messed up,” Jameson said.

“Who uses guilt and shame to influence their own child?” I asked, even as I remembered it was similar to how my parents treated me.

“My ex apparently. This coparenting thing is new. We need to learn how to navigate it and not put Faith in the middle.”

“You think she’ll agree?” Jameson broke off a chunk of a roll, then popped it into his mouth.

Ryder laughed without any humor. “What do you think?”

Jameson chewed, then swallowed. “I think Stacy is a woman used to getting her way.”

“How do you think she’ll react when she doesn’t?” Ryder asked him seriously.

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