Page 226 of A Merry Mountain Christmas

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

MARY

When Dottie told me on the phone, I nearly slipped into an instant panic attack. I’ve spent all these months trying to soothe Aidan about Glenn’s absence. To help him believe that his father loves him even if he can’t, for reasons A, B, and C, see him for the time being. But I should have pulled off the Band-Aid months ago—because what the heck is a Band-Aid going to do for a broken heart?

My house no longer looks bright and cozy and festive. It looks small and cramped, like Glenn’s infested it with negative energy. Except my eyes follow Jace and Aidan out of the room, and maybe Dottie’s rubbing off on me, but it’s as if golden light is spilling from them, casting the Glenn poison away. AidantrustsJace. And Jace cares about him on a deep level that makes me want to weep from gratitude and wonder and joy. It’s then that I realize what should have been obvious. I love Jace. Ilovehim.

“This isn’t like you, Mary,” Glenn chides. “Dating a criminal? Bringing him around the kid? You’ve always been sensible, if nothing else. It’s those sisters of yours, isn’t it?”

The kid?

Flames of rage lick at my insides. How dare he speak about Aidan like that?

Dottie snorts from her seat at the kitchen table, but my gaze is now firmly on Glenn. “We have an official separation agreement,Glenn, and you signed away your parental rights. You can’t just show up uninvited.”

He takes a step toward me, looking down at me—his signature move from arguments past. “You’re still my wife.”

I point to the calendar. “You’re right. I can’t send out divorce papers for precisely thirteen days. But don’t worry. I’ve already marked the day on next year’s calendar.”

“We’ll have a party!” Dottie interjects. “Those sisters of yours will help me plan it.”

“What are you still doing here, anyway?” Glenn sneers, turning toward her.

“I was invited, dear,” she says, making it quite obvious that, in this one situation, she does not mean the endearment fondly. “Next time, you should try it.”

Maybe I should tell her to leave but, absurdly, I want her here. I like that this house is full of people who are on Team Mary. I like that I’ve changed enough tohavea Team Mary.

“I’ll fight it,” Glenn says, his face red. “I’ll fight the divorce.”

I feel a wave of fear, because every part of me wants this to be over, but the rage returns, weaving through me, bolstering me. “Why?”

“What?” he sputters, his body swaying a little. He reaches for the wall and holds it. It’s weird, but he’s probably worked up too. There’s so much adrenaline in my body right now, I’m practically shaking from it.

“Why? Why would you fight me on it? Do you really want Aidan back?”

“Because you’remywife,” he says, “and my mother told me what you’ve been up to. Took me all of fifty seconds to figure out the guy you’re slumming it with is a criminal. You did this to get my attention, didn’t you?”

I ignore the asinine comment and the barb toward Jace. “Do you really want Aidan back in your life?”

“He’s part of the package, isn’t he?” he asks. His body sways a little more, and he tightens his grip. “I looked it up, and there are boarding schools for kids like him. Maybe they’ll be able to straighten his head out. I’ve always said you’re too soft on him.”

White-hot rage pulses through me, and I’m tempted to lunge at him, to hit him, to do anything I can to make this worthless man hurt for talking about my son like that. But I fist my hands at my sides and force myself to stay back, because if I attack him, Jace will back me up. And if Jace lays hands on Glenn, then he really will be able to make trouble for us. No, the only thing I want from Glenn is for him to leave.

“You get the fuck out of here,” I say, my voice trembling slightly in the beginning but then firming up, “and don’t you ever attempt to contact either of us, ever again.”

His eyes widen, because I’ve never spoken to him this way before, but it doesn’t take long for him to recover. “No,” he says, giving me a smile that makes my stomach turn over. “I think I’ll let your boyfriend make me leave.”

He gives another slight wobble, his forehead creasing into a frown. Is he drunk? I don’t smell any alcohol on him, but who can say?

That’s when Jace emerges from Aidan’s room. His jaw is firmly clenched, and he stalks toward us like a lion. Mylion, and there’s not a chance in hell I’m going to let anything happen to him.

“Glenn, it’s time for you to go,” he says in a flat voice.

Glenn gives me an almost gleeful look, and I barely restrain the need to stomp on his foot. “What did you just say?” he asks Jace.

“I said it’s time for you to go.Now.”

I try to give Jace astay several feet away from this assholelook, and I guess I’ve gotten more fluent in silent communications, because he plants his feet in the middle of the living room and stands strong. My heart swells. Of course he’s standing strong. He’s our champion. Just like I’m his.

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