Page 14 of Hold You Close
“Ruby is really tired and Morgan won’t stop complaining about her cell phone dying. Can we go wherever it is we’re going?”
Ian looks to me, and then over to Chris. “Come on in and shut the door.”
“I don’t think—” I start, but Ian touches my arm.
“Your mom and dad left me as your guardian if something happened to them,” he tells Chris. “I want to talk to you, since you’re the oldest, and tell you that I would like you three to move into my house. I have plenty of room, the pool, the man cave, and your Aunt London is right in my backyard.”
Chris sits, his hands gripped tightly in front of him. “Okay.”
“Okay?” I ask. “You don’t want to stay in your house?”
He shakes his head. “I don’t. It’s too hard.”
Another sliver of my heart breaks off. “What about the girls?”
Christopher’s head drops. “No matter where we live, this is hard.”
I touch his cheek. “No one wants to make this harder,” I tell him. “If you want to stay in your house, your uncle and I will find a way.” I don’t care what’s on paper; I’m not going to tear another thing away from these kids.
“No, we’re going to give the kids a united front,” Ian commands from behind me. “I think it’s best if they stay in my home for the time being. If we need to make adjustments, we’ll do that.”
I want to scream at him about once again being a selfish asshole, but I won’t do that in front of Chris.
Ian touches his shoulder. “Go get your sisters ready, we’ll be out in a minute.”
As soon as Chris is gone, Ian’s anger is directed back at me.
“Don’t do that to them,” he warns.
“Do what?”
“Make them assurances you can’t give.”
“I didn’t!”
“So you’re agreeing to watch them at night and on the weekends?”
“Umm . . . ” My eyes widen. “Who said that?”
“Well, you love those kids, and you just said . . .” He puts his fingers up to make air quotes. “We’ll find a way.”
“That’s not what I meant. I never said I would become their babysitter.”
“Why not? I figure you’re never busy at night or on a weekend.” He shrugs.
“That doesn’t mean I’m your new nanny!”
Ian takes a step back, pursing his lips. “True, but you said you’d help. You said you wanted to be there for them. What better way than working out some kind of shared custody? You can be there and I can work. We both win.”
“Wait, you want me to share the kids as though we have some kind of custody arrangement?”
He lifts his palms. “You suggested it, I’m merely coming up with an agreement. When the will was read, you seemed pissed that Sabrina didn’t leave you the kids, since you’re so responsible and I’m not, in your mind.”
“You’re twisting my words.”
“I’m just glad you offered to help.”
Ugh. “I didn’t! I have a life, I can’t watch them every weekend. How is that fair? I would be willing to help, but not every weekend.” Is he out of his mind?
