Page 66 of Samuel
“What’s this?” Maisie asked as I handed it to her.
I didn’t answer, but let her unfold it and smiled when I heard her gasp.
“I can’t accept this,” she cried, the cheque shaking in her hand. “No way. Take it back.”
She shoved the cheque at me, but I took a step back.
“It’s yours and Frankie’s. It’s all the money that you never took from me after that prick Josh stuck his nose in. I had it put into a bank account. I thought maybe I’d give it to you when he went to Uni or got married, or bought his first house, but the time seems right now. And just so you know, I’ll be going back to giving you regular payments.”
I folded my arms over my chest, daring her to disagree but she didn’t speak and just stared down at the cheque.
“Thirty-two thousand pounds, Sam,” she whispered. “You can’t afford this.”
“I told you, it’s what I was paying, plus some interest. I just had my solicitor pay it straight into a bank account instead, so I’ve never missed it. At the moment he’s the only one that can draw from it, but we can change that if you’d prefer to leave it there and draw from it when you need it. Personally I’d prefer you take the cheque and pay it into your account, mainly because I know you won’t use it otherwise.”
“No I won’t,” she snapped. “Really Sam I can’t take it.”
“It’s for Frankie, Maisie,” I whispered leaning closer to her, getting in her space. “So take it.”
Her breath hitched and I knew then that I affected her and I might have a chance.
She looked at me warily, her eyelashes fluttering as I knew she was working through everything that I had said.
“If I take it, I want it to go into an account in Frankie’s name and for us to be co-signatures on it.”
I nodded. That I could live with, even if I’d wanted it to provide her with some security too.
“That’s it though, Sam. When the time is right, we co parent Frankie, but you and I isn’t happening.”
My eyes studied her carefully, taking in the heaving of her chest, and the blush and goose bumps on her skin.
“We’ll see,” I said. “Because by the time I’m finished, you’ll wonder how you ever thought we wouldn’t work.”
Maisie’s mouth dropped into a perfect ‘o’, and before I did anything too stupid I dropped a kiss to the top of her head.
“Tell Frankie I’ve gone home to change but I’ll be back to take him to school.” Maisie opened her mouth to protest, but the tilt of my head must have told her not to bother. “I want to be sure he gets in safely and you and I need to talk to the school about who is allowed to pick him up, because I’m going on that authorised list.”
Leaving her staring at me and gripping the cheque tightly, I let myself out feeling a new determination to be the best dad I could be for my son and the best man I could be for the woman who I wanted to be mine.
Samuel
the past
I looked down at the letter in my hand and read the contents again. No way was it fucking happening, I was not going to be accused of not providing for him. We’d agreed that I’d send money every month and if I was happy to stick to it then so should she.
Maisie’s solicitor had contacted mine to say she didn’t want my money any longer, because apparently her partner had insisted he would provide for her son. He sounded like a controlling knob to me and while I might have been just as big a knob in the way I’d abandoned my responsibility of him, I wasn’t totally heartless. I knew kids cost money and just because Maisie wasn’t single any longer, it didn’t mean she shouldn’t take the cash. She didn’t have to spend it, she could save it for Frankie and I was going to try and make her see sense.
A flash of red caught my eye and screwing up the letter, I stepped out of my car.
“Maisie!”
I’d been waiting outside her office for around an hour, waiting to talk to her and there she was. I hadn’t seen her for a few years, we lived on opposite sides of town and I suppose we’d both actively avoided each other, and I couldn’t help but notice how good she looked. The red coat she was wearing was pulled in with a belt, showing off her slim waist, her long blonde hair hung down her back in loose curls and when she swung around to see who was calling her, questioning, big brown eyes stood out from beneath her fringe.
“Sam?” She took a half step back, her bag falling from her shoulder.
I walked toward her, still gripping the ball of paper in my hand.
“W-what’s going on?” she stammered.
