Page 15 of The Regrettable Mistake

“What’s the point in doing that? I’ve probably already been tried and convicted in the court of public opinion by now.”

Monica’s tight lipped frown confirmed my theory.

“How could he do this to me? How could he put me in this position?” I questioned out loud. “Worse yet, how could he do this to his son? I know that woman has no qualms about stepping on everyone, including her own child, to get where she wants to be, but…”

“He has Caleb working on it, sweetheart. He never wanted this.”

“Didn’t he, though?” I asked. “He went there. He started an affair with her, whether she held it over his head, or something else to make it happen, he went there to begin with. He’s been traipsing all over the damn country with that woman for months, Monica.”

Ollie’s mother dropped her head as she sighed. “I don’t know what the hell is wrong with that boy or what kind of hold that witch has on my son, but I never thought he’d be stupid enough to throw his marriage or his son’s security away for that cheap… cheap… whore!” She finally choked out.

“Well, she has a bigger hold on him than I ever did. Apparently, all this time, I’ve been the nanny with a wedding ring.”

“That’s not true.”

“It is. My brother warned me in the beginning that it was the only reason Ollie was interested in me.” When his mother appeared skeptical of that, I laughed. “Did I ever tell you about our disaster of a first date?”

“No, I don’t think you did.”

“Well, let’s just say that neither of us was interested in the other at first. Ollie was indifferent and acted as though he wanted to be anywhere else other than sharing a meal with me.”

Monica appeared taken aback by that. “What changed?”

“I told him that I was about to graduate with a degree in early childhood education and that I’d been working in both a daycare with infants and toddlers and a preschool program with kids the same age as his son. Not that I knew he had a son at that point, but that was when the tables turned on our date. Suddenly, your son was engaging and wanted to know all about my future plans, and he told me about Denmark. He claimed that his son was sick and that was why he was a bit of a grouch at first.

“He also told me that he had a hard time taking dates seriously at first because too many were only after him, or wanted to use his son to get closer, because they were really after access to his bank account.”

“Well, that last bit was true. After Julia left,” Monica had the good grace to wince at using the woman’s name in my presence. “Well, after the witch, he went on a string of horrible dates and even had some show up to the house unannounced, trying to get an in with Denmark. I hate to say it, but many of them were just after my son’s money. It’s why we all held our collective breaths when he moved you in with them so quickly and then let those same breaths out when you signed that prenup.”

I thought back, remembering that time in my life. “That was when you started to warm up to me,” I stated. There was no blame or accusation, only understanding. If women had tried to use Den’s child to get close to him for his money, I’d probably be wary of anyone new arriving on the scene and infiltrating their little family of two as well.

“You really think my son was capable of marrying you just to have a caretaker for his child?” Monica asked, but I could tell she was mentally flipping through memories, searching for the same signs of affection that I had searched for. She wouldn’t find any.

“Yes, I do. Looking back, everything I thought was perfectly fine was just a well-crafted story for outsiders to eat up. Until recently, I don’t even think Ollie ever told me he loved me, and it’s sad that I’m only just now realizing this after four years with the man. How did I not see that before, Monica? Am I that gullible?”

“Oh, honey, I’m not sure what the truth is in this situation, but I know one thing for absolute certain. My son does love you. He might have tried to talk himself out of it so he would never have to be hurt again, but sometimes, it takes losing a thing – a person – to understand the hold they truly had on your heart.”

“Well, it’s a shame that it’s too late for him to correct the course he was on. Although, I suppose he’s finally back with the person he hated to lose the most anyway.”

“Is it too late?”

“You can’t seriously be asking that. Monica, he had a months-long affair with that woman, was caught kissing her in public, and now she has dragged my reputation through the mud. I did nothing wrong, but everyone who cares to follow that crap around the world will have this opinion of me being a horrible person. Not her – the actual home-wrecking, child abandoner – ME. They will be looking at me like I did something wrong when the only thing I ever did wrong was trust a man with my heart who had no intentions of treating it with respect, let alone love.”

Monica’s only response then was to pull me into a hug and hold me there for a few minutes. “I’m so sorry, honey. You do not deserve this.”

“On top of everything, I might lose Den too. How in the hell will I cope with that? How will he? It’s not fair.”

“No, it certainly isn’t. I will move hell and high water to make sure that the two of you aren’t lost to one another. Mark my word, you will not miss a day in my grandson’s life, if I can help it. You are his stability and the core of his heart. We all know it.”

“Thank you, but the truth is, I have no rights to him.”

“Well, we’ll see how things play out. Let’s not borrow trouble just yet when there’s plenty to go around already.”

Monica was hopeful, but the ugly truth had been knocking on my doorstep for months and now it was here. I no longer had any hope for a future with my family. “Have you heard from my rotten son this morning?”

“I don’t know,” I admitted. “My phone is still upstairs on my nightstand and it never got plugged in last night, so it might be dead for all I know.”

“How about I go grab it for you, check on the boys, and then we’ll see what my son has to say for himself. I guarantee he at least tried to warn you about this circus headed your way.”

---