Page 98 of The Ruthless and the Strong

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We spentthe day in leisure.

After the night Lizzie had and the late night Hunter had, neither had wanted to go to school or work. I called in and decided to work from home, and Hunter was pretty happy to have a fun day at home.

When Hunter finally woke up late in the morning, we all went downstairs and cooked some breakfast together, and I watched as Hunter smiled widely at being able to be the one to mix the pancake batter.

I used to make blueberry pancakes with Olivia all the time, and this was bringing back all those fond memories.

“Can we make a smiling face with the blueberries?” Hunter asked me, shoving two blueberries in his mouth.

“Of course,” I said.

He smiled at me, showing two side dimples. Hunter was like a miniature version of Sam. I never really thought about that, since every time I looked at him, all I saw were Lizzie’s green eyes. But it was undeniable.

Lizzie walked into the kitchen, her cell phone held tightly in her grip.

“Why don’t you keep stirring?” I told Hunter. “But be careful, okay? We don’t want all the batter to fall out of the bowl.”

He nodded, his expression serious while he concentrated. I patted his head and walked over to her. “Hey, what’s wrong?”

“I just got off the phone with Sam. Everything’s ready for me to sign. He’s going to fly out here with the paperwork and see Hunter as well. We’ll set up a custody agreement when he gets here but, uh, Sam said he’s willing to give me full custody while he gets a few visitation rights and to spend some of the holidays with Hunter.”

“Is that a good thing?”

She shrugged. “I guess.”

“Why don’t you sound happier about this?”

She looked over to Hunter, who was not putting another blueberry in his mouth. “I guess because now, it feels real. That my marriage really is over, and it sucks that Sam didn’t want to fight for Hunter more.”

I wrapped my arms around her waist and pulled her in closer to me. She laid her head on my chest. “Don’t get me wrong,” she continued, when I didn’t say anything. “I’m glad he’s giving me full custody of Hunter. I can’t bear the thought of parting with him. But…”

“You want Sam to fight for Hunter.”

“I want Sam to realize that Hunter is worth fighting for. He’s innocent in this whole thing, and he deserved the love of both parents.”

“That’s reasonable. But Sam does love Hunter, you know. In his own way.”

“I know that. I just wished they had bonded more in California. But Sam was always so busy, and I didn't want to burden him when he was obviously stressed about school and then his internship and later, his residency program. I took on everything.”

“That wasn’t fair to you.”

She pulled back and frowned. “My son’s not a burden.”

I watched her for a beat before I moved my hands up to cup her delicate shoulders and bent down so we were eye to eye. “I know, sweetheart. I never said that. He’s not a burden, but raising a child alone isn’t easy either. It doesn’t make you a terrible mom to admit that you sometimes need help. You can’t always be Superwoman.”

“I’m sorry,” she breathed. “I guess I’m just a little high-strung with the news that Sam will be here.”

“When is he coming over?”

“Three days from now.”

“Would you like me to be there?”

She tried to keep the grimace off her face, but she didn’t quite succeed. I bit my lip to keep from smiling. “Maybe not.” I tweaked her nose. “I understand. Just let me know if you need anything from me at all.”

I pulled away and took a step toward Hunter when she pulled me back. She wrapped her arms around my waist and I looked down at those deep green eyes of hers. She had the kind of eyes a man like me could get lost in. The kind of eyes a man like me would kill for.

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