Page 107 of Drawing Home
Someone sat next to her. She glanced over, bracing for whatever update Andrew would give her. Instead, she found Kyle.
“Oh! Hi. What are you doing here?”
She hadn’t seen him in days, not since the afternoon on Long Wharf when he’d barely nodded at her. She’d walked down to the Windsong dock every night, but he was never there. She knew she could find out where he was if she asked Sean and that she should reach out to him, but she didn’t. It was like the situation with her job; she wasn’t in a better place, and she wasn’t capable of offering any more of herself now than she had been before. So she did nothing.
“I wanted to be here for support.”
“Thank you,” she said. “You really have been such a help and I’m sorry if I’ve seemed ungrateful.”
He reached over and squeezed her hand. “It’s okay, Emma. We’re friends.”
She squeezed back.
“Where’s Andrew?” he said.
“He’s down the hall somewhere. Talking to Mark’s lawyer.”
Kyle leaned forward, peering down the corridor. “I see him. He’s heading back.”
Andrew walked briskly, all business. Emma sensed he was keyed up, like an athlete before a big game. He nodded at Kyle and sat on Emma’s other side.
“So we’re just waiting for Mark to get here,” he said. “Then I’m going to negotiate—with your input—with the opposing counsel to try to come to a compromise. The court wants us to work this out, and trust me, it’s always better not to go before the judge.”
She swallowed hard. “I just don’t know what the compromise would be. I don’t think he should even have partial custody.”
“I know you don’t. But it might be better than the alternative.”
Kyle put his arm around her. Andrew pulled a stack of papers from under his arm.
Minutes dragged by. Carter Shift strode over and signaled to Andrew. The two of them walked off, heads bent together.
“What’s going on?” she said.
“Em, try not to freak out,” Kyle said. “It’s going to be a long day and you need to just trust Andrew to do his job. That’s why you’re paying him.”
Kyle reached for her hand. For a moment, it was comforting. More waiting. When she finally saw Andrew walking back to them, she jumped up.
“Any news?”
“Mark is here. I’ve been negotiating with his attorney but we’re not getting anywhere.”
“So what does that mean?” Emma said.
Carter Shift walked toward them. He didn’t so much as glance at Emma—not that she wanted to be forced to smile or talk to him. Still, it was dehumanizing. But maybe that was the point. His job was to take her child away from her.
“Can your client meet?” he said.
Andrew said something affirmative, and before she knew what was happening, she was following him down a hall that seemed to stretch on forever. Her uncomfortable heels, last worn at a funeral, made too much noise against the tile floor. Carter Shift walked a few feet ahead of them. No one said a word.
The sight of Mark inside the conference room was a punch to the gut.
He was tan, dressed in a sports jacket and khakis. He didn’t look like an out-of-work actor. He looked like perfect casting for the role of Handsome Dad.
The room was bare, with just a long rectangular table surrounded by half a dozen wood chairs. The air-conditioning unit wheezed freezing air. She sat next to Andrew on the side of the table closest to the door. Mark sat directly opposite her. She glared at him.I can’t believe you’re doing this.He avoided her eyes.Coward.
“You want to open here, Andrew?” said Carter.
Andrew shuffled through some papers. “I’ll reiterate: My client has been the sole custodial parent for the past thirteen years. There is no material change of circumstance and there is no cause for changing custody. She is willing to consider expanded visitation.”
