Page 7 of Moore to Love

My daughter was still a daddy’s girl, even though my ex had let her down more times than I could count since he moved out. I only hoped that today would be different. “Good idea, sweetie. I’ll give him a call now to see if he can come grab you guys, but he might be in a meeting already. If so, we’ll figure something else out.”

“We can walk,” Benjamin mumbled, his lips pinched together as he crossed his thin arms over his chest.

“I know you could, buddy. But it’s a long way to go for your sister and me.” I ruffled his hair, hoping to ease some of his tension. “So hold on just a little longer while I figure this out.”

“Uh-huh.”

The flat look that had recently started to appear in his dark eyes whenever his dad came up in conversation worried me. I’d sent both the kids to see a children’s therapist when Thad moved out, but it had been almost a year since their last appointment. With how inconsistent their dad had become with his visitation, I probably needed to get them in to see her again. Or at least Benjamin since he seemed to be struggling with the situation.

First, I needed to get them to school and my car back in working condition. Gently shutting the door, I yanked my cell phone out of my pocket and turned away from the car as I pulled up Thad’s number. I didn’t want the kids to overhear our conversation, so I took a few steps until I was on the sidewalk next to where I was parked. Then I tapped against the screen to make the call. After five ringtones, I was starting to think that he was going to let me go to voicemail, but he finally answered.

“What do you need, Ellie?”

“I got a flat tire on my way to school with the kids. Could you stop by and pick them up while I wait for a tow truck?”

“I’m not supposed to have them until next weekend.”

His reminder wasn’t necessary. I knew our children’s schedule better than him since I had them most of the time. “I know, but I was hoping you’d be able to help get them to school so they aren’t stuck waiting in the car when they’d be happier at school.”

“You haven’t given me much notice. They’re supposed to be there in fifteen minutes.”

I rolled my eyes over how ridiculous his response was. “I had no way of knowing that I’d get a flat tire this morning. How in the world could I have given you a heads-up?”

“You know what I meant, Ellie,” he snapped. “If you were driving something halfway decent, then maybe this wouldn’t have happened.”

I slowly but forcibly expelled my breath as I tried to stop my head from metaphorically exploding. “I can’t afford a new car right now, which you darn well know.”

“With all of the money I give you each month, I don’t know any such thing,” he denied. “But hey, you said you wanted to drive that thing until the wheels fell off, so I guess you got your wish.”

“It wasn’t a wish,” I hissed, squeezing the bridge of my nose between my fingers. “The only reason I said that was because I knew how much you wanted the Mercedes. Trading in my car wouldn’t have given us the down payment that we needed.”

It was a decision I deeply regretted since we broke up less than a year later. Since the judge awarded us each the vehicle we were already driving, I wouldn’t have been stuck with one that was on its last legs if I’d been a little more selfish back then.

To add insult to injury, he had already replaced the Mercedes with a newer model. Just like he’d done with me.

“This is all beside the point,” he huffed. “Back to your original question…no, I cannot come and take the kids to school. I have a patient waiting for me. You’ll have to figure something else out.”

“Thanks for nothing,” I muttered before stabbing my finger against the screen to end the call.

After checking to make sure the kids were still okay in the back seat, I pulled up the number for the animal clinic. My hands were shaking as I pressed the phone to my ear. I expected to end up in voicemail since the office wasn’t open yet, but my boss answered after only three rings.

“Moore Animal Clinic, how can I help you?”

“Um…yes, hello. This is Ellie Nedderman, your new administrative assistant. I really hate to do this on my first day—or any day really—but I’m going to be late. I planned to head straight to the clinic after dropping the kids off so I’d be there early, but I got a flat tire. Now I need to call a tow truck and hope the driver will be okay with taking them to school on the way to the auto shop.”

My nervous habit was getting the better of me, and I had to bite my lip to stop myself from saying anything else before he had a chance to respond.

“Are you guys okay?”

I bit my lip again, this time because he asked the question that should have been the first thing Thad said when I told him what happened. I didn’t expect him to be worried about my well-being after how he treated me during—and before—the breakup. But he should have at least been concerned about his children.

“Yeah, I pulled over, and the kids are happy in the back seat for now.”

“Good, that’s what’s important. Don’t worry about being late to work. Focus on your children, we’ll be fine.”

“Thank you,” I whispered. “Bye.”

Pulling myself together, I pasted on a smile as I turned back to the car and climbed into the driver’s seat. “Okay, kiddos. Unfortunately, Daddy is stuck at work, so you’re going to be a smidge late to school. But the good news is that this is going to turn out to be quite the adventure since you’ll get to ride in a big ole tow truck.”

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