Page 125 of The Foul Out

Chest aching, I gaped at her.

“What?” she asked, frowning at me. “Friends have each other’s backs, no?”

I smiled and nodded. It was the only response I could muster.

It had been so long since I’d had a friend. I had coworkers and neighbors and people I spoke to often because of Piper, but all my friends had faded away after I got married and had Piper. Maybe that was my fault. Maybe I’d been living with my guard up. Worried people would judge me or her. Zara, though, hadforced her way into our lives because she was pushy. Kind of like Kyle had.

I surveyed his family, anxiety burning in my stomach, and reached into my pocket for a Tums, only to realize I didn’t have any. It had been so long since I needed them. Not since before Kyle had started coming around.

I wiped my hands on my leggings and took a strengthening breath. “Zara’s my best friend. She’s staying.” For a moment, I worried about how she’d take that statement. But she simply beamed at me.

“We understand your need to have your best friend around for moral support, don’t we, Susan?” Vivianne crossed her arms over her chest.

“Yes.” Susan sighed, shaking her head, though I thought I saw a hint of a smile.

Beside her, James chuckled, although I didn’t get the joke.

“You want to sit?” I waved to my small table.

As they moved to sit, Zara whispered, “I’m going to grab the chair from your desk in your room.” Then she was gone.

“We came to apologize and clear the air,” Vivianne announced the moment we’d all settled.

“I’m not sure you have anything to be sorry for,” I said, surprising myself with my boldness. “And James has apologized twice.”

Zara dragged the chair back into the room and pulled it up next to me.

“I’m here for moral support. Like Zara,” Vivianne corrected.

“I’m the one apologizing.” Susan shifted in her chair, her face pained. “I have not been fair to you.”

I didn’t disagree, so I simply laced my fingers and waited for her to continue.

“You probably know this already, but betrayal is a hard thing. And I was hurt when I found out about you.” She tilted her chinup. “Though it was years ago, I never dealt with it correctly. James and I put it in a box and moved past it.” She twisted her hands in her lap and exhaled a shaky breath. “But it wasn’t fair of me to keep your family from you.”

When she was silent for a moment, Vivianne said, “And?”

“Your father would have liked to have seen you. To set up some kind of shared custody arrangement.” She cleared her throat. “But I didn’t think I could handle that. I was sure that having you in my home would do nothing but remind me that he’d betrayed me. Remind me of why I couldn’t trust him.”

I wanted to be mad. Iwasmad. But I could also understand how hard it was to trust a person after a betrayal. And being asked to care for the reminder of that betrayal? Yeah, that would be a challenge.

“I’ve been awful. I can’t tell you how sorry I am. But I would like to try something else.” She looked up at me, her blue eyes sad. “I’d like the chance to get to know you as the person who makes my nephew so happy.”

“I don’t know…” I shook my head. Lately, I was the opposite of a source of happiness for Kyle.

“Oh, I do. At Thanksgiving, he practically bit my head off over you.”

My breath caught at that. Thanksgiving. That was before we were even together.

“First time that man ever yelled at me.” She chuckled a bit uncomfortably.

“You should have seen him at Christmas. You would have loved the way his face lit up every time he got a text from her.” Vivianne piped up.

“Wait.” James tapped the table. “Before we go on to Kyle. I have something to add.”

I tensed. The last time we’d spoken, he’d been angry. Was that still the case?

“My mother has also decided to stop being petty.” He frowned at Susan, who glanced down. “She’s no longer contesting the will.” He pulled a beige envelope out of his pocket. “And in turn, the checks to you and the kids have been cut from the estate.”

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