Page 83 of Imperfectly Perfect

twenty-eight

Savannah pulled up outside the fast-food restaurant. She’d never wanted it to come to this, but for now, this was what she was going to have to deal with. Brinley was stashed in the backseat of her car, nervously biting her nails and saying nothing as she twisted her neck side to side as she looked for her father’s car.

Forrest was late.

Ten minutes had ticked by slowly, and shifted into twenty. The police officer parked next to Savannah was getting restless, that much was certain. He’d come over three times already to ask if Savannah had heard from Forrest and whether or not he was showing. But she’d been ordered not to poke the bear by Kevin, so she’d been scared to even text Forrest and ask for an ETA.

“Brin, if Dad doesn’t get here in the next thirty minutes, we’re going to go home, all right?” It really had to be forty minutes before the police officer was going to leave. She’d only paid for one hour, the mandatory minimum. Perhaps this was Forrest’s plan all along.

Waste more of Savannah’s money.

Wait until the officer had to leave.

Drive her up a wall one fucking minute at a time.

She hated that Brinley had to go there until this was over. But Savannah wouldn’t let her fear get the best of her, at least not in front of Brinley. She had to keep her daughter out of this as much as she could. She deserved the smoothest transition possible and to not be shoved into the middle of the custody battle—at least any more than she already had.

“When do I come home again?”

“Monday after school. I’ll be there to pick you up.” Savannah always tried her best to be there those days. She wanted to make sure to capture Brinley’s emotions every single chance she could, to give her all the support she needed.

“Okay.”

They sat in silence until the eleventh hour, when Forrest finally pulled up in his car. He pulled up on the opposite side of the police car and immediately got out.

“It’s time, Brin.”

Climbing out of her car, Savannah held her shoulders square and her chin up high. She wasn’t going to let Forrest talk bad at her or put her down. She walked with Brinley next to her as they went toward Forrest’s car. With one final hug and a kiss, Savannah said her goodbyes and sent Brinley the rest of the way on her own.

She hated doing that, but the more space she could keep between her and Forrest, the better. She didn’t even wait for Brinley to get into his car before she walked back to hers, slammed the door, and pulled out of the parking lot.

She couldn’t stop here.

Not where he could see her break down.

This was worse than the first time she’d had to do it. Tears seared their way down her cheeks, stinging her eyes and clogging up her nose. Savannah drove to the first place she could think of and parked outside.

Fallon had said if she needed something, and this was a huge ask.

But Savannah was here.

She dried her cheeks and tried to make it look like she wasn’t crying before she gave up. There was no hiding it this time. Climbing out of her car, Savannah looked around to make sure that Forrest hadn’t followed her. It’d been a stressful habit in the last week, ever since the papers were served. And it was one she probably wasn’t going to let up on soon.

The walk up to Fallon’s was quick. All Savannah could do was hope that Fallon was actually home tonight. The wait at the door was terrifying. Savannah shoved her hands into her pockets and waited as patiently as possible, which was not at all. Finally, the locks clicked, and Fallon opened the door.

“You said if I needed something.”

Fallon’s lips parted in surprise, her eyes narrowing in concern, but she opened the door and stepped back, allowing Savannah to come inside. Doing the only thing she could think of, Savannah stepped straight into Fallon, wrapping her arms around Fallon’s middle and burying her face in Fallon’s shoulder.

Fallon tensed, but then reached around Savannah’s back and pulled her in, her hands moving up and down Savannah’s back in a slow and steady motion. This was exactly what Savannah had needed. They held still, holding onto each other until Savannah backed away.

“I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have come here.”

Fallon said nothing, but she moved to the door and locked it. Which sealed the deal. Savannah was staying.

“I can’t burden Kyla with this.”

“Are you going to tell me whatthisis?”

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