Page 65 of The Art Of Starting Over

“How about this,” Theo said as he straightened in his chair. “We present him with the divorce petition, which will include your list of demands. If he even tries to counter, we’ll work the other angle.”

“Like, threaten him with it?”

Theo nodded. “Something like that hangs out on your record for a bit. No one likes that.”

“Okay,” Devy said, nodding, and then she smiled. Images of Chad in an orange jumpsuit and having to be strip-searched gave her an odd sense of satisfaction. His name would be in the paper, under the police log, and then everyone would know how Devorah had taken revenge on her cheating bastard of a husband.

After another hour, Devy walked home with a preliminary petition. Theo wanted her to fill in the missing bank account numbers, note any stock and retirement plans they had, and decide on custody of Maren. Theo expected Chad to counteroffer when it came to their funds, not their daughter.

When she reached Crow’s squeaky screen door, she paused when she heard laughter. She stood on the porch and listened to her dad and daughter as they told each other jokes. The sound of them laughing brought another smile to her face. She hadn’t felt this at peace in a long time. Crow may not have been the best father, but it seemed like he was making up for it in the grandfather department.

Devorah opened the screen door and walked into the living room. She found Maren sitting on Crow’s knee.

“Hi, Mom.”

“Hey, kiddo, how was school?” Devy was concerned with retaliation.

“Great. DJ said he was sorry.”

“That’s good.” Devorah made eye contact with her father. She hoped he understood how grateful she was. “What should we do for dinner?”

“I put a roast in,” Crow said as he looked at his watch. “It should be ready in an hour.”

Devorah stood there in shock. “Well, I guess I’ll go set the table.” She started toward the dining room and stood between the two rooms, looking at the already-set table. It was set for five.

“Who’s the extra plate for?”

“Colt isn’t eating with us tonight,” Crow said from the other room.

Devorah already knew who was coming over before Crow could tell her.

“Conor and Hayden are coming for dinner, Mommy.”

Yep, of course they were.

She looked at the papers in her hand and shook her head. “I’ll be in my room.” She went upstairs, shut the door, and collapsed on her bed. She’d just spent the hour-plus going through details about her life with the local attorney; the last thing she wanted to do was eat dinner with the man who confused her heart and head.

Devorah needed a break from life.

Eighteen

Hayden

By the end of the day, Hayden was exhausted. He’d done everything he could on his property, except drive or operate any of the heavy equipment. This was part of the deal he’d made with Link. Hayden would be there every day to help, and Link would give him a slight discount. To Hayden, any money off was worth the sweat. Besides, he had nothing else to do and really needed a new profession. He figured if he started working construction with Link, there might be a job for him in the future. Once he figured out what he wanted to do with his life.

For the first time, he went to his trailer. The air inside was stale and muggy. He opened all the windows, turned on the generator, and made his way to the shower. The water pressure in his camper was like a drizzle after being at his parents’ place, but it was convenient. When he was done, he found some clean clothes and got dressed.

He stared at his bed and contemplated falling onto it for a long nap. Conor was with his grandparents, hopefully doing homework, and he probably wouldn’t notice if his dad didn’t make it home for dinner. But then again, they hadn’t spent a night apart from each other in months, and while they could probably benefit from some space, this might not be the time. All Hayden’s best intentions of living in his camper while construction took place seemed to have gone out the window.

At least for now.

Hayden flopped onto his bed, closed his eyes, and started to relax until Devorah’s face popped into his mind. It wasn’t just Devy but them together, and him kissing her. And then her standing there on his property, listening to him describe his house. When the vision of his home came into his mind, he saw Devy and Maren living with him and Conor. Those kinds of thoughts were going to get him into trouble, especially where Devy was concerned.

Hayden thought about Sofia and the last day he’d seen her. She had ridden her horse out to where he was on the property, building a new shelter for some of her father’s horses. Sofia brought him lunch, and they had made love by the pond. She talked about having another child. They were both ready and felt like Conor would make a great big brother. The plan was for her to stop taking her birth control the next day.

Only the next day, he was planning her funeral. Just like that, his world had shattered. The hopes and dreams they had shared were gone, all because of her cousin. Hayden wanted her charged and in jail. It was the least the police could do for him and Conor, except Sofia’s parents didn’t want that and begged for the charges to be dropped. Sofia’s dad had pull. Hayden didn’t, despite being a respected member of the law enforcement community.

The animosity grew between them and forced Hayden to make the decision to move back to Oyster Bay with his son. He missed his wife and wiped the tears that streamed from his eyes. He hadn’t realized he’d started crying. When she died, he thought he would never be ready to move on. Until he ran into Devorah. His axis had shifted that day, and for the first time since Sofia died, he saw promise. Even if nothing came of him and Devy, she would be a constant in his life. This much he knew.

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