Page 109 of Catching Our Moment
“She forgot to give Aaron his backpack and was just dropping it off.”
“And who is this big guy?” the petite, older woman asked, surveying me.
“This is Shaw…I mean Dawson Shawfield. An old friend of mine,” she said. “Shaw, this is James’s mother, Vivian Byron.”
I held out my hand, and she promptly shook it with a dazzling smile that was more than just polite. “Oh, so this is Shaw. We’ve heard endless stories about you from Aaron.”
“What is going on—” James walked out and gauged the situation. “You aren’t supposed to be here.”
“Yeah, well, like Kelcie said, we thought we’d just bring Aaron his?—”
“Shaw!” Aaron ran out and threw himself into my arms. “You came! I’ll just be a moment and get my things.”
“Your mom brought your bookbag, Aaron,” Amber said as she shot James a look.
He straightened with a poorly practiced smile. “Aaron, this wasn’t part of the plan.”
Aaron turned on his father. “Well, you’re always saying plans change, and I have to learn to deal with it.” Aaron ran back in the house, running and dodging everyone like a running back.
I stifled back a laugh with a cough.
Ignoring his mother’s presence, James turned on Kelcie. “I told you my mom was visiting. This was not what we agreed on.” With his teeth gritted, he added, “I thought you wanted to make this go smoother.”
“I’m not doing anything wrong, James.”
“Oh, yeah? Then why is he here?” He glared up at me.
I spread my legs and crossed my arms over my chest, knowing damn well the position made my biceps bulge.
“Oh, my…” James’s mother cooed. She flushed, and I swear she clutched her pearls—real pearls.
“Don’t worry about Shaw. But since you want to discuss an agreement?—”
“I’m not worried about him.” His eyes bounced between Amber and his mother. “But it just goes to show how far up his ass you are.”
“James Monroe Byron,” his mother scolded him. “Language.”
He raised his voice and ignored her. “It doesn’t matter, because he’s going to drop you like yesterday’s news.”
“I didn’t come here to swap insults, James.”
“Then leave.” Amber’s expression, even under her Stepford-Wife persona, was smug and not at all attractive.
“Amber,” Mrs. Byron scolded, “that isn’t how you greet a guest. Why don’t we go inside so we don’t give the neighbors anything to gossip about?” She motioned to us toward the door.
I put my hand on Kelcie’s back, encouraging her to say what she needed to say before Aaron came back.
“I wanted to know why you suddenly have a problem with our custody arrangement?”
“That isn’t your concern. The lawyers will handle it. I think you need to go,” Amber said.
But Kelcie didn’t take her eyes off her ex-husband.
“Is it the child support? Is that it? You don’t want to have to pay for child support?” she shot at him.
“Of course not.” James shifted on his feet, glancing at Amber and his mom.
His mom stepped forward. “What is this about the custody agreement? I thought?—”
