Page 26 of Follow My Heart

What did you text a new friend? Someone you wanted more with but knew you couldn’t have because you were technically still married? It was complicated, and a part of me wanted to wait until the divorce was officially final, even though Stacy had already moved on.

To speed things up, I eased off on the negotiations, letting Stacy have more of what she wanted. The most important thing to me was time with Faith.

I wasn’t worried about child support. In Maryland, it was a calculation based on salary and hours with each parent. But I planned to send Stacy whatever Faith needed and buy her things when she was with me. I wasn’t going to complain about supporting my child like one of the other guys did at work. He kept calling it alimony when it was actually child support.

Faith was my responsibility. I wanted to ensure she stayed in her childhood home and the transition was smooth. I also didn’t want Stacy worrying about money.

I went for my morning runs earlier than usual and hadn’t had time in the evenings to stop and talk to George. I was exhausted by the time I fell into bed.

Stacy kept Faith on Halloween weekend, so I worked. I was hopeful we could arrest this guy soon. Whenever the U.S. Attorney’s office was involved, they wanted a lot of evidence before they asked for the arrest warrant.

That night, Violet sent me a picture of her in front of her shop, handing out candy to kids. She wore a Dorothy costume. It wasn’t supposed to be sexy, but I wondered if it showed cleavage and wished I was with her.

Do you have Faith this weekend? You should stop by Main Street for candy.

I was sitting in my work car, but I wasn’t the one who had eyes on the suspect at the moment, so I texted her back.

Faith is with her mother.

Bummer. I loved Halloween as a kid.

It sucks to miss it, but Faith is trick-or-treating with her friends. No parents allowed.

I remember those days.

It sucks for me. But that’s a part of growing up.

It sure is.

The phone fell silent for a few minutes, and I assumed she was handing out candy.

Are you handing out candy tonight? Or are you the grumpy guy with your light off?

I’m not grumpy. Just working.

I didn’t want to mention that I leaned into work when I didn’t have Faith. It was hard coming home to an empty house.

That sucks.

You nailed it.

I can’t wait for Thanksgiving to be over so I can decorate for Christmas.

What do you usually do for the holidays?

Christmas in Florida is different. Lights on palm trees are nice, but I missed the cold weather.

Maybe we’ll get lucky, and it will snow.

Yes!

I want to put up a tree in the shop with lots of lights.

You could tell a lot about a person when it came to their Christmas tree.

Do you use artificial, get one from a lot, or cut one down?

In Florida, we always had an artificial one. It’s hard to find the real ones. And when we did, they weren’t the best. They died before Christmas Day.

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