Page 83 of One Last Time
I’m so not ready for this. “Noah—”
“No, sweetheart. They’re your life, and I’m really hoping you’re a part of mine. Is it ideal? No, but I’m not hiding in a closet, and I’m not climbing out the window. It’ll be fine. We’re friends, and I’ll be here a lot the next few weeks for the feature, it isn’t astretch.”
I huff as my phone starts to vibrate against the floor where it must’ve fallen. I can stand here and argue or stop delaying the inevitable. “Fine. Put pants on and stay in here until Scottleaves.”
Noah kisses my forehead and releasesme.
Time to go face the firingsquad.
I get to the front door, draw a deep breath, and give my bestsmile.
“Nice of you to open the door,” Scott grumbles as he thrusts Aubrey’s backpack atme.
How I ever loved this man is beyondme.
“Nice of you to drop them off on . . . oh, wait, you’re only eight hoursearly.”
Scott grabs the other bag sitting on the porch and tosses it in the entry. “They demanded to come home, and I have stuff to do, so I saidfine.”
Why? I know they don’t have the most fun there, but they love their dad. For them to want to come home this early makes no sense. “You should’ve called. You’re supposed to have them until a certain time, and I’m not going to have you violate the custody agreement because you have stuff todo.”
Before he can respond, the kids are climbing thesteps.
“Mommy!” Aubrey smiles and rushes toward me. “Did you have fun at Aunt Heather’swedding?”
I scoop her up into my arms, loving how excited she is to see me. “I did!” I kiss her cheeks. “Did you missme?”
“Yup.” She giggles, trying to push me away so she can talk. “I always miss you,Mommy.”
“I missed you,too.”
Finn walks in with a strange look on his face. I can’t tell if he’s angry or crying. “Finn?” I call out tohim.
He doesn’t say a word, just walks to the couch without even a backward glance. I put Aubrey down, and she rushes back toward her room, probably to make sure I didn’t throw out her stuffed animals I hate somuch.
I look back to Scott, who appears irritated as he stares at his son. “Whathappened?”
Scott glares at me. “You made us wait out here for fifteen fucking minutes, that’s what’swrong.”
I start to laugh incredulously. “Yes, well, I doubt that’s his issue, but I’m glad you’re being so helpful in finding out what’s wrong with ourson.”
The one thing I’ve learned is that he doesn’t actually like confrontation. When I kept quiet, he felt empowered. Now, I’m not afraid of him. There’s nothing he can do to hurt me. My kids are legally in my custody, I have a roof over my head, and he has to pay me or I can put him injail.
“I don’t have time to stand here and argue.” He looks back to the car where I see Jillian in the frontseat.
That took a lot less time than I thought it would. “Wouldn’t want you to keep Jillianwaiting. . .”
Finn snorts. “Yeah, we wouldn’t want her to beupset.”
Okay, something happened, and I don’t care if he has plans, the kids come first. They have to be our priority. “Why are you angry, buddy? Did something happen that has you acting likethis?”
“Ask him.” He points toScott.
“Enough, Finn,” Scott snaps. “You’ve had an attitude for two days, and I’m tired ofit.”
“Like you care,” hemumbles.
I look between them with a sinking feeling. Finn might be struggling, but this is a whole new level. “Finn?” Ipush.
