Page 22 of Crashing Without Justice

Harding~

Iwas sitting at my parents’ kitchen table, my brother and parents sitting with me, Brendan hanging out in the room that he had at the house.

After speaking with the cops, I had immediately called Brendan to meet me at his grandparents’ house, needing to finally have that conversation with him. However, I hadn’t wanted us to talk in the hotel room. My parents, brother, and son all needed to know what was going on and that I’d finally called the police to report Paige’s behavior. Since Brendan was already twenty-four, I had decided to treat him like a man, though a bit embarrassing.

When I’d finished telling them everything, Brendan had admitted to never really liking Paige and only playing nice for my sake. He’d admitted to not ever having a good feeling about her, but when she had insisted that he start calling her mom, that had sealed the deal for him. Luckily for me, he hadn’t ever told Leslie about that conversation, or else Leslie would have released the hounds of hell on both me and Paige. After he had confessed to how he really felt about Paige, all I could do was apologize for being so damn blind and stupid. Being my son, he had forgiven me a bit too easily in my opinion.

So, now that I could breathe a little bit easier on that front, I was sitting at my parents’ kitchen table, letting my mother believe that her hot chocolate with whipped cream was going to make me feel better. Granted, there wasn’t anything quite like hot chocolate with whipped cream on a snowy night, but even with nuts sprinkled on the top, I was still screwed.

“Look, I would have been all for giving her everything a week ago,” Jeremy said. “But after everything that she’s done, fuck that bitch.”

“Watch your language,” Dad automatically scolded.

“Sorry,” he mumbled like a little kid as he glanced at our mother sheepishly.

“No need,” she replied easily. “In this instance, that’s the only way to describe that wretched woman.”

“I was apologizing for using the f-word, not for calling Paige a bitch,” Jeremy grunted.

Mom just grinned. “Duly noted.”

Ignoring his son and wife, Dad asked, “Are you sure that this is what you want to do, Harding? I’m kind of with Jeremy on this one. A week ago, I would have been all for making this as easy as possible for Paige, but now? She doesn’t deserve any more than the half of what California will grant her.”

I looked between my family. “I still cheated on her,” I reminded them. “I’m still in the wrong, no matter how she’s chosen to respond.”

“Which half should be enough, Harding,” Mom said. “Your marriage is a short-term one, and she worked the entire time. The only thing to really deal with is the house, and she doesn’t make enough to afford everything on her own.”

“Just go to court and let a judge decide who gets what,” Jeremy added. “To hell with that woman, Harding.”

“Not to mention, she’s probably burned all your stuff by now,” Dad remarked drolly. “The house is probably the only thing left.”

That had me wincing a bit. Having not been back to the house all week long, it was anybody’s guess whether any of my personal belongings were even worth packing up anymore. Now that the gloves had come off, it’d be just like her to donate all my stuff to charity, even my baseball collectables. In fact, I could see her just dumping that stuff in the trash, no matter how much the stuff was worth. Monetary value aside, she knew how much my collection meant to me, so I could see her trying to hit me where it would hurt very much.

Not to mention that I was very aware of how she’d gone after Patrick during their divorce. Granted, all I had was her version of events to go by, but she’d been very open about trying to take him for everything that he’d been worth, especially since their kids had wanted to live with him.

“Maybe my generosity will rein her in a bit,” I suggested. “Once she realizes that she still needs me financially, that should calm her down a bit.”

“When are you going to serve her with the papers?” Dad asked.

“I’m going to wait until the police get back to me,” I told him. “I’m thinking that it might keep her from going off the rails if she’s just been warned by the police.”

“That’s actually not a bad idea,” Jeremy remarked.

“I don’t think it’ll make a difference,” Mom huffed, but she was still smarting over earlier.

I took a sip of the hot chocolate as I leaned back in my chair. “At this point, I just want my stuff, my name off that house, and a court date to get this over with.”

“Do you honestly believe that a court date will be the end of it,” Dad asked tiredly. “I mean, I just can’t see her going quietly into the night, son.”

“Maybe a restraining order will,” I replied hopefully. “At this point, I’m willing to do the paperwork to end this all.”

“When do you plan on going to get your stuff?” Jeremy asked.

“Not sure,” I grimaced. “I know that I should do it as soon as possible, but I don’t want to go over there without witnesses. In fact, I really shouldn’t go over there without police presence.”

“I still think you’re being far too generous, but I understand,” Mom said. “Perhaps you can get the judge on your side if he sees that you’re being more than accommodating. You know, in case she wants to fight this.”

“Oh, she’s going to fight this,” I sighed. “She wants me to pay, and signing the papers without any issue isn’t in line with her current agenda.”

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