Page 94 of Follow My Heart

Daphne’s eyes shined. “That would be lovely. But Stacy would never go for it.”

“Tell me about it.” I wondered on and off last night if I should volunteer to move into our old house. That way, Faith could stay in the house with me. But it would mean fighting for more custody because Stacy would never go for it. She probably wanted to sell the house and get the equity out of it.

“What are you going to do?”

I sighed. “I don’t know. I haven’t talked to Faith about it yet.”

“What does Violet think?”

That was the part that bugged me. I hadn’t told her about it until last night, and things between us felt distant. It was my fault for pulling away when Stacy started blowing up my phone. I sensed that Violet didn’t approve of how I was handling things. “That I should talk to my lawyer.”

“Have you?”

“I left him a message for him to contact me first thing on Monday.”

“Good.”

“I mean, Stacy’s threatening to go for full custody so she doesn’t need my go-ahead for things like this. I think me moving into our house would be the easiest way to handle it. Faith would get to live with me, and we’d be closer to Stacy.”

Daphne let out a disgusted huff. “What if she moved to another state? Would you follow her there too?”

I frowned. “Why would I do that?”

“Because this plan of yours is giving into her whims. What happens when things between her and Phil sour. Will you have to move out so Stacy can have the house again?”

My chest tightened. “I hadn’t thought about that.”

“You need be sure about your next move. Make sure it’s good for you and Faith.”

“It’s whatever’s best for Faith.” I gripped the glass of water Fiona poured for me.

“You’re part of the equation too.”

“You’ve never had to deal with anything like this. Trent wanted nothing to do with Izzy.”

Daphne winced, and I immediately regretted my words.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.”

“I didn’t have to deal with custody battles. But I learned that I had to factor into any decision made, or I’d lose myself and any chance of happiness. Sure, we want to do right by our kids, but they can’t be happy if we’re not.”

Her words were important, but I couldn’t take them in, not when I knew the pressure was building from Stacy to make a decision. I wanted to give into my usual desire to placate her, to avoid the fight. So that Faith didn’t have to be in the middle.

Dad sat at the head of the table, and everyone quieted. “Yesterday was a great success. We had more tree sales at the cut lot, including wreaths and greenery. The vendors also shared with me that they were happy with sales. Even Violet mentioned that she sold her ice cream despite the cold weather.”

When Dad’s gaze met mine, I shifted on my chair because I should have known how successful Violet was yesterday, but we hadn’t talked about that. Just my situation with Stacy. I didn’t feel great about that reminder.

Teddy sat on the opposite end of the table, his expression stony.

“I thought everyone had fun,” Daphne said. “I sold a ton of pies and took orders for more. I think it was great for some of the smaller vendors to give their brands more visibility. The farmer’s market is only open in the warmer months, and they were happy to have another place to sell their wares.”

“You think we should do it again?” Dad asked her. “Charlotte suggested we make it a farmer’s market of sorts throughout the holiday season. We don’t have a year-round shop like the Monroes. It would be similar yet different.”

“I like that idea,” Fiona said. “We’d be supporting local artists and businesses, while bringing people onto the farm. It only makes sense they’ll purchase a wreath or a tree. Tell their friends about our farm.”

Dad nodded. “We can’t forget that we have a slight advantage over the Monroes. Even though our farm is smaller, we’re closer to town.”

“So, we’re calling it a success?” Teddy asked carefully, and a hush came over the table.

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