I squat down so I’m eye level with Daisy. “It’s so nice to meet you guys. Your mom has told me all about you,” I say, and Daisy finally smiles. “We should get going; I live a little far,” I say, getting up. “Is it okay if we take my truck, or did you guys want to take your mom’s?” I ask Lizzie to have her make the decision.
“Can we take Mom’s?” she asks unsure.
“Yup. I’ve always wanted to drive a mini-van,” I say, smiling, and Lizzie even laughs.
“We can watch movies in Mommy’s car,” Daisy says as we walk out of the house. I watch as Lizzie gets in, and Samantha helps Daisy in.
Halfway there, she turns around and looks in the back of the car. “Okay, girls,” she starts, and they both look at her. “Grandma and Grandpa want you to go live with them,” she says. Lizzie bursts out crying, and she reaches in the back to hold Lizzie’s hand. “But I am going to fight them to make sure you stay with me.”
“I don’t want to go,” Daisy now starts. “I want to stay with you, Mommy.”
“I know you do, honey, which is why we are going to meet Blake’s dad. He’s going to help me fight to keep you.”
“Okay,” Lizzie says.
“He’s going to want to talk to you and ask you questions, and you have to be honest with him, okay?” She looks at me as they both say yes. She turns around and looks out the window, a tear coming down.
“I never want to see them again,” Lizzie says quietly. “I’m never going there.”
“Me too,” Daisy says, copying her sister. I look at Samantha, who closes her eyes, putting her hand in front of her mouth to stop the sob. I reach over, grabbing her hand. We pull up to my parents’ house, and I see Nanny’s car right away. I knew my mother wouldn’t let this opportunity pass.
“Ready?” I ask as I shut off the car. Looking back, I see the girls nodding and getting out. I round the car and see that Samantha is carrying Daisy with Lizzie holding her hand. I walk to them, and Lizzie grabs my hand. All of us are connected. “It’s going to be okay, Lizzie,” I tell her, and she just nods.
We walk into the house, and the smell of roast fills the air. That and apple pie. I hear the hustle coming from the kitchen and walk with them. “I’m here,” I say, and my mother turns around and takes in me holding hands with Lizzie.
“Oh my God,” she whispers as she blinks tears away. She takes off her apron and comes to us. “You are so beautiful,” she says to Lizzie who smiles at her. “My name is Joanne,” she tells them as she looks at Daisy, “and you. I’ve never seen a more beautiful five-year-old.”
“I’m almost six,” she says, and my mother laughs. My father comes to her side.
“Hello, girls, I’m so happy you could come and have dinner with us,” he says, holding my mother’s shoulder like he always does.
“Are you going to be the one who is going to fight for Mommy?” Lizzie is the first to ask, and my mother has to look down, and I know why because the tear falls. “I want to stay with my mommy.”
“I’m going to do everything I can to make it happen. I promise,” he says, and then I hear Nanny in the background from somewhere in the house.
“If that doesn’t happen, we can go underground.” Samantha looks shocked and laughs as my grandmother comes in the room with tears in her eyes as she spots me with Samantha. “My name is Nanny,” she says to Samantha. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. And your beautiful girls.” She looks at them and then at me. “Look at you. I never thought I would live to see the day.”
She turns around. “Who is going to help me set the table?” she asks, and Daisy squirms out of Samantha’s arms.
“I do the forks at home. But not the knives. It’s dangerous,” she says, following Nanny. “Lizzie does the glasses,” she informs Nanny, but Lizzie doesn’t leave the kitchen as she looks at my father.
“Mommy said you need to ask me questions,” she says, and he nods at her. “Can we do it now?”
“Yes,” my father says and walks to the study that he converted into an office. I follow him with Lizzie and Samantha.
“Is it okay that your mom and Blake stay in the room, or would you like them to go?” he asks her, grabbing a yellow legal pad.
“They can stay,” she says, and my father points at the big couch he has against the wall. Samantha sits with Lizzie next to her and me on the other side of Lizzie. “I know who you are,” she tells us quietly, looking down and then looking up.
“You’re Hailey’s brother.” I sit here shocked, but not more shocked than Samantha, whose mouth is hanging open.
“I heard Uncle Ethan and Elliot talk in the garage about Hailey’s brother, Blake.” She looks down at her hands. “Are you still going to make sure I stay with Mommy even if Daddy hurt Hailey?” she asks my father the question.
“Yes,” he says right away. “You didn’t do that, and your mom didn’t do that. But your dad did. It’s no one’s fault but his.”
“Okay,” she says, and then he starts asking her questions. She answers them perfectly.
“Can I go see if I can set the table?” She turns to Samantha, and I answer for her.
“Yes. If not, I’m sure my mom will give you something to do.”
We wait for the door to close, and then Samantha looks at us. “I had no idea she would piece it together. I knew she heard them, but …”
“Doesn’t matter,” my father says, getting up. “I meant what I told her. This isn’t on you; it’s on Eric. Your daughter loves you, and from what she told me, you’re a great mom.”
“Thank you.” He nods and walks out. “I don’t think I can ever thank him enough.” She looks at me. “Or you.” She smiles and looks down.
“It’s nothing,” I tell her, and it’s the truth. We would do it for anyone, but she isn’t nobody. She’s somebody.
“Come and eat!” I hear my mother yell, so I get up and hold my hand out to her. Dinner goes off without a hitch, my father taking the chance to ask Daisy questions without her knowing.
When everyone is finally finished, we look at the clock and see it’s already past eight. “We should get going. By the time we get home, it’s going to be past eleven,” she says from beside me.
She thanks my mother for the meal and is a little bit shocked when she hugs her. The girls are all giggly when Nanny tells them the next time, she is going to take them for ice cream.
The kids change right before we leave and are asleep within thirty minutes from leaving my parents. “I think I’m going to sleep for a whole week when this is over,” she says. Leaning her head on the window, she too falls asleep. I pull up to the house, just after ten forty-five, and look over at her. She is softly snoring. I take my finger and rub her cheek softly; she is so beautiful and strong. “You’re home,” I say when she blinks her eyes open. “Go open the door, and I’ll bring the girls in,” I tell her, and she opens the door as I carry in first Daisy and then Lizzie.
“Do you want a coffee before you go?” she asks, yawning.
“No. I’m going to go so you can get some sleep,” I tell her as she walks me to the door. She reaches up on her tippy toes and hugs me.
Her arms go around my neck as she whispers, “Thank you for everything.” I just nod.
“Lock up,” I tell her, walking to my truck. She waits for me to drive away before going inside. Thirty minutes later, the phone rings. “What are you still doing up?” I ask her.
“I couldn’t fall asleep knowing you were driving,” she says softly into the phone. “So it’s just easier if we talk till you get home.”
I laugh, and she asks about Nanny, and how crazy she is. I tell her the story of her husband dying and leaving her a widow with three children and debt. I don’t even see the time fly by, and I’m suddenly pulling up into my driveway a little after eleven thirty. “I’m home,” I tell her.
“Okay,” she says, and she asks me the question she usually does. “What would you change if you could?”
I don’t stop, nor do I hav
e to think twice about it. “I would have kissed you tonight before I left.” I don’t wait for her to disconnect; this time, it’s me who does it.
I walk into the house and am locking the door when my phone beeps. I know it’s from her; I’m just not sure I want to know what she says, but I stop when I read it.
I would have let you.
Samantha
Samantha
I pull on the blue pants, shimmying myself into them. I still haven’t gained much weight back, so they are a little loose. I pair it with a white silk button-up shirt that has vertical blue stripes. Today is our first appearance in front of the judge, and I barely slept a wink last night.
I grab my blue high heels and walk downstairs, opting to leave my hair down. The doorbell rings, and I open the front door to see Blake and his parents. “Come in,” I say, smiling at them, surprised that his mother came.
We haven’t discussed what he said, nor have we discussed my text I sent him after. “I didn’t know that you were coming, Mrs. Williams.” I look at her.
“Call me Joanne,” she says, “Oh, of course, I would come.”
“We really should go, so we aren’t late,” Henry says to me as I turn, grabbing my heels and purse. “Let’s take my car and arrive together, so they don’t get you without me.”
I walk down the steps to the car and sit in the back with Blake. He reaches out to hold my hand. “Thank God tomorrow is Saturday,” I tell him, thankful I’ll be able to sleep in. He just looks out the window and nods. Maybe he didn’t mean it; maybe it was in the moment and now the moment has passed.
My stomach starts swirling when we pull up in the parking lot. I see Ethan’s truck is there. “I think I’m going to be sick,” I say out loud when I didn’t mean to.
“You got this,” Blake says, and I wish I had as much faith in me as he did.
I walk up the steps to the courthouse with Henry next to me, followed by Blake and his mother. We walk in, and Henry walks to courtroom number two. I’m looking down when he stops, and I see why he stopped. In front of the courtroom door stands the Schneiders.
I look at them as my mother-in-law just looks past me, and my father-in-law looks at me with a sneer. Ethan and Elliot don’t even bother making eye contact with me but look straight into Blake’s eyes.
Henry doesn’t even bother giving them the time of day. He opens the door and smiles at me. “Shall we?” he says, and I nod at him.
“How?” I hear Joanne behind me, and I turn to look at her. “How can they treat family like that?”
“Easy,” I say. “I’m not their family.” I’ve come to terms with it.
“Let’s go sit down,” Henry says as we sit down at the table on the left-hand side. The door opens, and the Schneiders walk in with their lawyer. Judy and Adrian sit down next to each other at the table to the right. The lawyer walks over to our table, extending his hand, and Henry takes it.
“I’ve been instructed to offer you fifty thousand dollars for the girls. All she has to do is sign and it can be over.” My skin goes cold, but I’m not the only one. Henry looks at him and leans back in his chair.
“I’d really hate to see you lose in court, so how about they drop this shit and keep their fifty thousand dollars. In the end, they can probably have a relationship with the girls.”
“Not going to happen,” he says.
“I was hoping you’d say that.” He smiles. “Did you get the amended copy of the court papers?”
“No. What are you talking about?” He looks at him as Henry laughs again.
“My bad.” He leans over, opening his briefcase. “I filed this late last night. You should be getting a copy sometime today, but I’ll clarify it with the judge.” Henry hands him the paper; he snatches it and looks back at Henry.
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”
“Nope,” he says, looking at me. “I’m taking this very personal, so I’m coming out swinging,” he says, and the lawyer walks away.
I lean over and whisper, “What is going on?”
“You’ll see.” I look over, and the lawyer doesn’t have time to tell the Schneiders because the bailiff informs us to all rise.
The bailiff tells her, “This is the case of Schneider versus Schneider.”
“Thank you, Todd,” she tells him.
I look over at the judge. “Good morning, my name is Judge Kirk, and I will be the one presiding over this case.” She looks over at us and then opens the file. “Oh, this is interesting. We have a countersuit.” I sit here, looking straight ahead, not showing that I have no idea what all this means. “Mr. and Mrs. Schneider, you’re suing Mrs. Schneider for custody of your grandchildren, Lizzie and Daisy Schneider.”
Their lawyer gets up and says, “Yes, your honor, we have reason to believe she is unfit and is alienating their affections from them.”
I force myself not to roll my eyes. The judge nods to him, and he sits down. “Mrs. Schneider, you are suing the Schneiders for a hundred thousand dollars for the emotional distress of Lizzie and Daisy Schneider.”
I look at Henry, who gets up and answers. “Yes, your honor. The children have just lost one parent and informing them that they might lose another was traumatic, to say the very least.”
She nods. “The court is appointing a social worker to visit the children.” She looks down and reads a paper, then looks up at my in-laws. “I really hope that you know what you’re doing,” she warns them. “They just lost a parent. I would hate for them to lose someone else they love just for spite. We reconvene in two weeks.” She gets up, and we stand, waiting for her to walk out of the courtroom. My head falls right away, and I look over at Henry.
“Oh, by the way, you’re countersuing them,” he says, and I laugh quietly, turning and walking out with him. Elliot comes up to us.
“Sam,” he says, “I’d like to come and see the girls.”
“No,” I say right away, and I think I shock him, but I don’t stop. “I trusted you to take care of them, to take them camping, and what did you do? Do you know Lizzie cried the rest of the afternoon?” I tell him, and he looks shocked. “Do you know every single day Daisy asks me if you’re going to take them away?”
“Sam …”
“No,” I snap and advance on him, but Henry gets in front of me. “I called you and begged you to call me back, but you didn’t even have the gall to call me back, knowing that I was going to be served. You stayed in my house, and you ate at my table. You know damn well I’m a good mom.”
“I’m sorry,” he says softly.
“Yeah, that’s all I get from you lately,” I say and turn around, looking for Blake. I see him right at my back, and I feel good. I feel safe. I feel that it’s going to be okay.
“Mrs. Williams, I would love to have you over for lunch, but I have to be honest, I suck at cooking,” I tell her as she laughs.
“That’s okay, honey, how about we hit a restaurant?” she asks, grabbing her husband’s hand and walking out, leaving me and Blake alone.
He looks around and then comes closer to me, whispering, “How opposed are you if the first time I kissed you was in front of my parents?”
I look at him. “Um … very.”
“Right, so I suggest we speed up lunch,” he says, and my mouth becomes dry. “Shall we?” He ushers me out, but the only thing on my mind is his lips touching mine.
Blake
Blake
I watch her walk to the car with her head down and her shoulders slouched. When my mother chose the deli next to her house, she sat in the corner booth almost sinking to the floor. We all saw it, and I wasn’t the only one who hated it.
“Starting next week, I’m going to make a list of people we can call to the stand on your behalf,” my father says once we get to her house.
“The list won’t be long,” she says quietly. “I think I have Blake and the kids’ teacher, but …” She shrugs her shoulders.
It’s the dreaded time for us to leave, and I have
n’t kissed her yet. I’ve done nothing but think about kissing her. I’ve played the scene over and over in my head.
“What are you guys doing this weekend?” I ask her, stopping the conversation about the trial.
“I have no idea,” she says, looking at me confused.
“Why don’t you and the kids come and spend the weekend with us?” I smile while she tries to swallow. “The city fair is in town, and we could take them to the zoo. Get their mind off all this.”
“But where would we stay?” she asks, and I don’t even wait for her to finish.
“With me,” I say, and she opens her mouth. “I have two spare rooms.” I see the wheels turning in her mind. “Why don’t you ask the kids and see what they say?”
“That sounds like a great idea,” my mother says. “Get them out of the house so they don’t have to think about everything going on.”
She looks around the table. “I guess I can ask them. It would be like a mini vacation.” She gets up. “The bus should be here any second.”
She walks out of the house while we sit at the kitchen table, and I look up. “I really hope you know what you’re doing,” my father says first.
“You need to tell Hailey,” my mother whispers. “She needs to know what’s going on.”
“Mom, nothing is going on,” I say, but even I don’t believe my words.
“If nothing is going on, then why are we here?” my father asks.
“Well,” I say, throwing my hands up. “Come on, we have to help her.” My parents share a look.
“Yes, but we don’t have to bring them home. We don’t have to make sure she isn’t going to break. We don’t have to drive six hours in one day to make sure she and the girls are okay.”
I roll my eyes. “Son, you are so invested and involved, you don’t even see it.”
“Dad.”
“Do you know that when her brother-in-law came to talk to her, you gritted your teeth and flexed your hands every ten seconds?”
Love Series (Complete Series) Page 52