Page 5 of Sunshine
“A parrot could do that,” Paige adds, taking a drink of beer. “Gary is no more useful than a parrot.Aren’t dogs and parrots natural enemies?”
Leaning back in the booth, I cross my arms. “God, how has my life turned into the makings of a bad joke? A parrot, a squirrel and a bulldog walk into a bar…”
“Bad jokes aside, just the bills will be paid now?”
I nod, absently, watching two guys in construction vests dig into their pizza with vigor. The younger one stops to whistle at the waitress and point at his empty glass. The other guy reaches over and cuffs him. My eyes automatically drop to his ring finger. If he hadn’t been wearing a wedding band, I’d guess he had sisters and/or had been raised by a single mother.
“And through a third party who will run your finances until the case is finalized?”
I glance at Paige, her words taking a few seconds to sink in.
“Yes, and I have to live off a thousand dollars a month. Even the money from the condo is going to be locked into the account until the judge makes his decision.” Looking around at the restaurant, I swallow. “I’m assuming they’d have upped the money if I was staying here in Toronto, because in this city a thousand bucks wouldn’t even get me a cot in someone’sbedroom. But who knows? Even before I pissed off the judge, he seemed to have a vendetta against women.”
Asshole judge. Asshole Gary.
“A thousand dollars for a monthly budget? God, Tess. No wonder you have to move back home.” Dropping the crust of her pizza she wipes her hands. “And what about Gary?”
“Oh, he’s living it up at the Shangri-La.”
“Isn’t that five hundred a night?” Her mouth gapes.
“Five hundred and seventy-nine, plus food and laundry service,” I mumble.
“What the fuck, Tess? That’s so wrong.”
I lean back in my chair. “I don’t need much, I never have. Gary’s the one with the expensive taste. I only purchased the lavish condo because it overlooked the park and had tons of natural light —which as you know is a requirement since I stay inside so much. But I grew to love it. To feel almost safe there.”
“I know.” Paige reaches across the table, taking my forearm in her hand and giving it a squeeze. She knew how important safe and stable environments were for me, even without me having to bring up my childhood.
“He’s at least instructed Gary to find a more permanent housing solution before he drains me.”
She nods.“If I know Gary he’ll pick a condo with a two-thousand-dollar-a-month fee for concierge service.”
“Which is why I have to move four provinces away to Gran’s little farm cottage with herfew chickens and things.”But that’s not completely true. I chose to move back there because feeling safe in my home is important for my mental health. And after everything, I don’t have the mental strength to break in a new place.
“Thank goodness you never had kids. You’d be stuck to that pig forever. As soon as he gets married to his floozy, alimony ends, and you can move on and forget him.”
I shoot Paige a warning look about the floozy comment, but I don’t hear her protests about Marie’s part in the breakup because my eyes have settled on a family three booths away. Mom and Dad hold hands on the table, their heads close as they talk, and their two young boys giggle with each other as they color their menus. I never told Paige about the arguments we’d had over starting a family. Or how I’d recently realized the whole time he’d been pressuring me to have kids, he was already with Marie.
Bile rises in my throat, knowing he planned to use our child as a pawn to extort money and control over me. If I wasn’t already divorcing him, that would make me. Children are not pawns, they’re people, and they’re not stupid and they don’t deserve to be used.
“Let’s go check on the movers,” I say, grabbing the box of pizza we’d ordered for them. “I’m sure they’re hungry.”
Chapter Two
Case
It was supposed to be simple.
My lawyer, my daughter’s representative from the Canadian Council of Child and Youth Advocates, and a justice of the peace, reviewing testimony from Reece’s current legal guardians, me, and the advocate. All just a formality since I’d provided proof that I’m Reece’s biological father and everyone involved agrees that my daughter should be with me.
It should’ve been nothing but paperwork, but then my lawyer and the child advocate were called out of the room.
There’s nothing impartial about how the judge looks at me. I’m gum on her shoe. No, gum is the wrong comparison. I’m more like dog shit. Yeah, that’s it. Judge Horse-Face is looking at me like I’m dog excrement on the bottom of her shiny Prada shoes.
I glance down beneath the big oak desk she’s sitting behind and look at her footwear. They’re… My brows rise. Crocs. I look back up at Horse-Face and blink. Faux-fur-lined Crocs.
What the hell is she wearing under her robe? Pajamas?And is that…? A paperback novel sits under a pile of files on her desk. I squint, reading the title on the spine. I’m expecting a legalthriller or at least a murder mystery, but nope, it’s titledThe Rogue Duke of Briarwood Castle.
