Page 48 of Can't Take Moore

He shrugged. “I don't know. I'm not paid to read through the paperwork, only to make sure you get it.”

As he walked away, realization started to dawn, along with the horror of knowing that my mom had actually gone through with what she’d threatened. I hurried into the locker room and dropped down onto the bench. My fingers trembled as I unfolded the paperwork and scanned the information listed on the first page.

I wasn't familiar with how limited guardianships worked, but she had managed to get a court hearing only a couple of weeks from now. It looked as though I was going to have to head back to Chicago much sooner than I planned.

Feeling defeated, my shoulders slumped as I unlaced my skates and stripped out of my practice uniform. I didn't take my usual care as I shoved everything into my bag and threw on my clothes. Keeping my head down so nobody would try to talk to me, I strode through the rink lobby and quickly crossed the parking lot to my SUV without stopping.

As soon as I was in the safety of my car, I moved to a parking spot on the outside row of the lot and called Dean. He picked up on the first string and asked, “How was practice?”

Hearing his voice helped calm me down a little. “It was great, but the real highlight of my day was being approached by a process server as I came off the ice.”

“She really did it?” he asked, sounding pissed off on my behalf.

“She sure did,” I confirmed. “I have to appear in court in two weeks.”

“I'll clear my schedule,” he offered.

The tears I had been holding back began to stream down my cheeks. “You're coming with me?”

“Of course, I'm fucking coming with you. No way in hell am I going to let you face your bitch of a mother in court without me. I love you, Vienna. That means I’m on your side, no matter what challenges you face.”

My awful day looked a little brighter after hearing those three little words from him again. “I love you, too. But I don't know what the rules are or if you'll even be allowed inside the courtroom with me.”

“I'll talk to Ryland. I'm sure he'll be able to come up with a reason for me to be at your side. I can act as a character witness or something.”

“I should probably show him everything the guy just gave me. There’s a bunch of legal mumbo jumbo, but from what I could tell, my mom is petitioning to be the person who gets to make all of the decisions for me.”

“I just left a showing. Scan the papers with your phone and text them to me. I’ll call Ryland while I’m driving to your house and ask him what we need to do next.”

I loved how he said we, as though my problem was automatically his too. Dean was on my side, and I trusted him to stay there. “Will do. You might beat me to my house, though. I haven’t left the rink yet.”

“Are you okay to drive? If not, I can swing by to pick you up, and we can worry about getting your SUV later.”

A few minutes ago, my answer probably would have been no. My nerves were stretched thin, and I was near my breaking point. But Dean’s support made a world of difference. “I’m good. It’s not too far, and I’m feeling a heck of a lot better after talking with you. Plus, it’ll take me a few minutes to scan all the documents.”

“Do you want me to stay on the line with you while you drive?”

Even though I was paying a steep price for running away to Mooreville, coming here was the best decision I’d ever made because it had brought Dean into my life. “No, I need you to call your cousin so we figure out our game plan for when I need to appear in court. The hearing date will be here before we know it, so every minute counts.”

He came up with another solution. “You know what, I’m just going to merge him into this call. That way, all three of us can talk.”

“And you can distract me from being upset while I’m driving.”

“That, too,” he admitted without any hesitation.

“Sure, go ahead and conference your cousin into our call. I’m going to go hands-free so I can scan the documents while you’re doing that.”

“Perfect. Don’t hang up. I’ll be right back on the line.”

I connected my phone to the vehicle’s sound system and unfolded the paperwork. I was only a few pages in when I heard Dean ask, “Are you both here?”

Even though he couldn’t see me, I nodded distractedly. “Yeah.”

“Yes, I’m here,” Ryland confirmed.

“Good.” Dean quickly got down to business. “Princess, I was explaining to Ryland that you were approached by a process server at the rink.”

“Princess?” Ryland echoed. “You guys are too cute.”

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