Page 93 of Call it Fate

“I’ll call Iain tomorrow. I’d like to get him his own phone so I can contact him directly. I’ll have it delivered to you. Please don’t fight me on this.

“Zach—”

I hung up on any more lies she could spin.

CHAPTER41

Emalee

Today had passed as a total blur. Mama had taken over the kitchen for me, and Shannon took one look at me and declared I would scare off the guests and said she’d tackle all of the cleaning. I’d spent the rest of the day tearing the house apart for that damn check. I couldn’t find it anywhere.

I didn’t know what my next step should be. Maybe it was time to contact Marcus and alert him that I might be embroiled in a custody battle. Zach would have the evidence he needed to paint me in a bad light.

And that’s when I lost it. I sank to the floor and sobbed. I couldn’t imagine my life without my son in it every single day.

Everywhere I looked at home I saw something of Iain, his plastic baseball bat I’d propped at the door, his shoes kicked carelessly by the front closet where part of his black coat poked out. His favorite book was on the coffee table, and his favorite games and movies were on the shelf below the small TV. I looked at the picture he’d drawn recently that saidworld’s best momin his large print.

I decided to seek refuge away from The Dogtrot, somewhere I felt safe.

“Are you okay, Mama?”

I drew my gaze from the fire Chase had built in his fire pit on his large back patio. Despite its blazing logs, I couldn’t get warm. I hadn’t been able to in the two days since Zach called.

“I’m fine, baby.”

“You look sad. Is it because you miss Dad?”

It was as good of an excuse as any. “Yeah, honey. That’s it.”

“Cheer up, Mama. He’ll be back. I won’t make you tell me a happy thought, and I’ll still tell you a joke since you’re so sad.”

Oh, god. This boy. He was my heart.

“What kind of tree fits in your hand?”

“I don’t know.”

“A palm tree. Get it?” His grin made me smile even more than his joke.

“I’m gonna tell that one to Dad when I see him.” He hugged me again. “See ya, Mama. Marta is gonna let me help her make cookies.” And he was off.

It wasn’t right that a six-year-old child was trying to hold the adults in his life together. Zach and I were going to have to do better for him.

I continued to stare at the fire, still trying to unravel what had happened. Early yesterday, everything seemed like it was going well. Mama and I talked about new rates and started making longer-term plans such as moving her to a small home of her own and turning the side house into a manager’s home, who could live on-site after Iain and I moved to be with Zach. Money would be tight again for a while, but in the end, it seemed like a good business decision that would pay off eventually and give us more freedom.

Then Zach called and all the good news I had for him was obliterated.

“I’ve given you wine, solitude, and fire. You ready to tell me what’s going on now?” Chase dropped into the Adirondack chair next to me and stretched out his long legs. “And just in case your answer isno, you should know I’m not going to let it drop, so you might as well spare us both.”

I knew my attempt at a smile was pathetic by the way he grimaced. “That bad, huh?”

I replayed my conversation with Zach to him.

“Son of a bitch.” Chase stood from his chair and pulled me from mine. He wrapped his strong arms around me and held me while I soaked his shirt with my tears.

“I’m not sure who I’m more pissed at,” Chase commented when my tears finally dried up. “Zach or his father. His father is a grade A asshole. We knew that. But Zach should have listened to you. He should know you better than that.”

I hiccupped. “I just can’t imagine what happened to that check. I guess I was just so frazzled by everything that happened, maybe I didn’t put it where I thought I did. I need to find it, though.”

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