Placing my coffee cup on my dresser, I go to my closet and pull out my black pencil skirt with the long-sleeved white chiffon shirt, my heart pounding the whole time I get dressed. My stomach turns, flips, and flops, my armpits start sweating. My shirt criss crosses in the front, and my black pumps complete the outfit. I walk downstairs just as the doorbell rings. I open it up and find Blake in a suit. If he looked good in jeans, he pushes the bar in a suit. His blue suit fits him perfectly, and he pairs it with a baby blue shirt, no tie. The top couple of buttons are unbuttoned, and my hand goes to the inside of his shirt, my finger sliding in. “Look at you all dapper,” I tell him as he looks me up and down.
“You look like a sex kitten,” he says, and I back up.
“Should I change?” I ask him, but his father comes in followed by his mother. “Is this okay?” I ask them about the outfit. His father just nods his head, and his mother smiles at me.
“You look wonderful,” she says, and I can see she is nervous also.
“What time is court?” I ask them. Looking at my watch, I see it’s almost eight.
“We need to be there by nine thirty,” Henry says, and I breathe out and shake my hands.
“It’s going to be fine,” Blake tells me, grabbing my one hand.
“I hate them,” I say, and everyone looks at me. “I hate them for pushing me like this. I hate them for putting this fear in me. I hate them for not supporting them and making the girls go through this. I just fucking hate them,” I finally say. “How long do these things last?”
Henry, who is wearing a black suit, white shirt, and black tie, puts his hands in his pockets. “It can be just today, or it can go on for weeks. It really depends on the judge.”
“I won’t survive if it’s longer than a week,” I tell them and look down, a tear escaping.
“We get to make our argument first,” Henry says. “So you will take the stand today.” He looks at me as I nod my head. “They are going to come at you hard,” he says. “They will try to paint you in a really bad light.” He puts his head down. “And I have no doubt that they will bring up Blake.”
“I don’t care,” I tell them. “I don’t care; we did nothing wrong,” I say, holding Blake’s hand. “Nothing. Blake has the answers to the questions I had, and that is the truth.”
“I know,” his father says. I offer them something to drink, but they all decline. Everyone’s on pins and needles.
“Excuse me,” I say, walking upstairs and closing the door. Putting my hands on my knees, I bend over, breathing heavily. “Oh my God, oh my God.” The tears run down my face, and I think I’m going to be sick. A knock on the door startles me.
“Baby.” I hear Blake whisper softly. “Let me in.”
I open the door, and he takes one look at me. “One last fight,” he tells me.
“It’s the biggest fight of my life,” I reply, and he nods his head. “I’m leaving after this,” I tell him. “The girls and I decided we are moving.”
“What?” he whispers, and I see his face searching mine.
“Yes,” I tell him. “They can have the house; they can have everything in the house. I want nothing.”
“Where?” he asks me, and I didn’t want to tell him like this. The girls wanted to be here when I told him.
“The girls and I were talking, and we really like this little town that we visited. They have great parks, and the zoo is out of this world.” I smile when he finally gets it. “Minus the monkey who tries to steal candy.” He comes to me, pulling me into his arms. “I don’t want to pressure you,” I tell him, and I don’t continue because his lips are on mine. And just like that, the nerves go away, my stomach settles, my hands stop shaking, and my heart beats normal.
“I want you and the girls to come down this weekend,” he tells me, and I just nod my head. “Stay with me.”
“Okay,” I whisper to him. “We have to go,” I say, smoothing down my skirt.
We don’t say anything in the car on the way there. We don’t say anything when we walk into the courtroom. I don’t even turn my head when my in-laws walk in. They hold their heads high as they sit at the table next to us. I don’t even make it seem that my heart is beating so fast I think I may pass out. I put my hands on my lap to stop them from shaking. “Here we go,” Henry says under his breath.
The bailiff announces the judge, who walks in and nods at him, opening the file on her desk. “Your honor, the case of Schneider vs. Schneider.” He turns. “Please be seated.”
The judge starts, “In the interest of not doing any more damage to this relationship, I’m going to skip the opening statements.”
Mr. Feldman jumps up. “Your honor.” And she puts up her hand.
“I think it’s safe to say you are going to tell me what a horrible mother the defendant is”—she leans forward—“but I also have to think about the kids,” she says, “and the fact that after this, it will be hard for everyone to move on. So, in the interest of the kids, we shall refrain from the bashing of both sides. You can still cross-examine.”
I see Henry turn his head and get a nod from Blake. “Mr. Williams, please call your first witness,” she says. My neck gets hot, my knees start to shake, and I don’t know if I can do this.
Henry stands up. “Your honor, the defense would like to call its first witness.” I hear him say from next to me, and I push my chair away from the table when he puts his hand on my arm. “The defense calls Hailey Williams to the stand.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Blake
Forty-eight hours earlier
I pull up to Hailey’s house with my parents. “This is it,” I say to them. “What if she hates me?” I look at them.
“Only one way to find out,” my father says. Getting out of the car, he helps my mother out of the backseat.
We walk up the steps to the door, ringing the bell. She has no idea we were on our way, none. And you can see it in her eyes when she opens the door and sees us. Her squeals of happiness echo on the small porch. She opens the screen door, jumping into the arms of my father. “I can’t believe you guys came and surprised me,” she says. When I finally look at her, her happiness is all over her face. She lets go of my father, going to my mother, who holds her face in her hands.
“My girl is glowing,” she says with a smile and tears. “So glowing.” She looks down at the floor and then up again.
The sound of a truck behind us makes us turn around. I told one person I was coming and that was Jensen; he needs to be here for Hailey.
I watch him step out of his truck and come up the stairs, nodding at me. “Mom, Dad,” Hailey says, moving between them to Jensen’s side, “this is Jensen.” She grabs his hand, and he brings their hands to his lips.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” he says, and if he wasn’t so perfect for her, I might have rolled my eyes.
“This is such a nice surprise,” she says and then looks at us. “What’s the matter?” She spots it right away.
“Shall we go inside?” my father says, and Hailey nods. Her hand remains in Jensen’s as he whispers in her ear.
My mother looks around and tries to make small talk. “This is lovely.”
“Cut the bullshit,” Hailey says. “What’s the matter?”
“Dear, why don’t you sit down,” my mother urges, and she walks to the couch, sitting on it, with Jensen next to her. My parents sit on the other one, leaving me in front of them. “Blake,” my mother says, and I just nod.
“I have something to tell you,” I start saying and hold my neck with my hand. “There is no easy way to say this, so I’m just going to say it. I’m in love.” Hailey’s eyes go wide, and the smile fills her face as tears start to form. “Before you celebrate. I’m in love with Samantha.” Just like that, her face drops; my mother and father quickly look at her while Jensen looks like he’s going to freak out.
“What?” she whispers and gets up, throwing her hands up. “You have got to be fucking kidding me.”
“Honey, hear him out,” Jensen says, and she turns and glares at him, but he doesn’t stop. “Come and sit down and hear him out, and then if you freak out, you freak out.”
She crosses her arms over her chest. “You knew?”
He shakes his head. “I did not, but I think since he dragged your parents here, you should hear him out.”
She returns to her seat next to him, and he puts his hand around her shoulder. She leans into him. “Okay. I’m listening.”
I take a deep breath. “It started when Crystal and I went to see her before you guys moved here. Then she called me, or I called her, I don’t even know anymore,” I tell her, and now I start pacing. “She wanted answers; that is how it started.”
I look at Hailey and see that the tears are rolling down her face. “She wanted to know how it happened. How you and Eric met.”
“What?” she asks on a whisper.
“She wanted to know if he did certain things for you that he didn’t do for her. I don’t know how it happened, but it just did, and then our conversations got deeper. We spoke every single day. And every single day, she got stronger and stronger, except she refused to leave the house.”
“I don’t understand,” Hailey says.
“Her in-laws started treating her differently when she started to question things. She is actually a ward of the state. She grew up and had no one till she met Eric.” I stop talking to see if she is still up to it. “Are you okay?” I ask her.
“I’m fine.” She motions with her hand for me to continue.
“Anyway, they took her in and treated her like she was family until she started pointing out that it wasn’t your fault that Eric cheated. That it was Eric’s fault.” I stop, not sure I should repeat the rest. “They told her if she was woman enough or wife enough, he wouldn’t have gone elsewhere.”
The gasp of shock comes from both Jensen and Hailey, but I don’t stop. “It gets better or worse, depending on how you look at it. She found a letter.”
Hailey sits up straight. “It was a brown envelope. He left his confession of cheating on her along with the picture of you two on your wedding day.”
“Oh my God,” she says, putting her hand to her mouth. “Yeah, and if that wasn’t enough, he basically told her that she made him, but you completed him.”
“Asshole,” Jensen says while Hailey just looks down and shakes her head.
“I can’t even imagine,” she says and looks up. “I don’t understand.”
“It gets worse,” my father finally says. “Her in-laws are suing her for custody of the girls.” Jensen gets up now and storms out of the house, slamming the door. “Um,” my father says, “perhaps I should make sure he doesn’t do anything that will need my assistance.”
“Surely, they can’t take the kids away from her,” Hailey says. “That’s crazy.”
“They are out for blood,” my mother says, getting up and going to her. “They are also kicking her out of the house and tried to seize all her accounts.”
“What?” I say, shocked at the last part.
“She didn’t want to worry you, but they blocked all her accounts even the one she transferred money into. Luckily, she went every day and took out a little bit at a time because she would be stuck with nothing and two girls to feed.”
“I don’t understand what this has to do with me?” Hailey asks just when my father walks in the door with a red-faced Jensen who goes to Hailey and kisses her lips.
“I don’t know how to ask for this, but she has no one. And Dad doesn’t want to put me on the stand. All she has is herself and the letter that Eric …”
“NO!” Jensen says, yelling. “No fucking way is she going in that courtroom.”
I don’t say anything because I would probably be the same way. “I love her with my whole soul,” I start slowly. “I never thought I would be able to love again, but she fixed my broken.” I get down in front of Hailey, taking her hands. “And I want to fix her broken. I want the girls to be happy and not live in fear that someone is going to take them away from their mother. I want her to be able to go to the store without feeling shame or fear.”
“She has no one.” My mother looks at Hailey. “She came and sat in your father’s office with the world on her shoulders. She walks with her head down and her shoulders slumped.” My mother looks at me. “I noticed when we went to the courthouse. Then she almost shrunk into the floor at the restaurant.”
“What do you mean?” Jensen asks.
“She’s so afraid of running into her in-laws that she barely leaves the house. She googles paint colors, so she can bring sunshine into her house. She has her fucking groceries delivered by Amazon, for fuck’s sake.”
“Amazon delivers food?” my mother asks, and my father just shakes his head.
“Hailey, I know you don’t have to do this, and I hate myself for even putting you in this place, especially after everything that she put you through.”
“She didn’t do that,” my mother says loud and proud. “She did none of that.”
“The only one who can help is you. Eric spoke to you about his family or lack thereof.” I get up. “It’s the best shot we have.”
“You love her,” Hailey finally says, getting up and coming to me. “You really, really love her and not because you want to save her, but because she fixed your broken?”
“Yes”—I nod—“with everything I have, I love her. I would carry all her worries on my shoulders. I would step into the ring with the devil for her.”
“I don’t know if I can do it,” she finally says, and I have to accept that. “It’s not because of Eric or what I felt for him; it’s because I don’t want to lose what took me so long to build.”
“I understand.” I smile at her, my heart broken that I even had to ask her. “It’s okay.” I grab her and hug her.
“I’m sorry,” she cries. “I’m so sorry.”
“It’s going to be okay. She has Dad on her side,” I tell her. “He won’t stop fighting and neither will I.” I look at her. “I can’t apologize for loving her. I won’t.”
“The heart knows what the heart knows,” she finally says. We sit, and she asks us questions about the girls, and Mom fills her in, telling them about their camping trip in the backyard. She stays quiet the whole time, and I look at Jensen, wondering if it’s too much for her to take in.
We leave there with her standing on the porch with her arms around Jensen’s waist and his arms around her. “It was worth a shot,” I say quietly as we make the drive back home.
I get into bed, defeated as I try to think of another way to help when the phone rings, showing me Jensen’s name.
“Hello,” I say.
“She’s in,” he says quietly, “but if this breaks her…”
“She has you,” I tell him. “She’ll be fine.”
“She’d better be, or else those fucking people won’t know what hit them,” he says, hanging up, and I finally release the breath I’ve been holding.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Samantha
I don’t think I heard right. I thought he said Hailey Williams. Surely, he’s mistaken. I look at him in confusion with my mouth open, and he just winks at me while the court door opens, and Hailey walks in. Pure class, I see a man following her, and Nanny right next to him.
They walk to Joanne and Blake and sit next to them, Nanny winking at me and looking over at the Schneiders.
Mr. Feldman jumps up. “Your honor, I object. This witness wasn’t on the list.”
“I have her on my list,” the judge says. “Maybe you didn’t get your copy, whatever the case. Please swear in the witness.”
I watch Hailey walk up the two steps to the witness stand. “Please raise your right hand,” the bailiff starts and proceeds to swear her in.
“Please state your name for the record,” Henry tells her.
“Hailey Williams,” she says softly while I look at her.
“Ms. Williams, d
o you know the defendant?” he asks her.
“No,” she says, “I do not.” She looks at me, and a tear rolls down my cheek. “But we had a mutual person in common.”
“Objection, your honor, irrelevant.” Mr. Feldman jumps up, and I finally look over at my in-laws. Sitting there glaring at her, they are like vultures waiting to devour their prey.
“I’ll be the judge of that,” she says. “Proceed.”
“Who did you have in common?” Henry asks, knowing full well.
“I was married to her husband,” Hailey says, and then she looks at my in-laws with her head held high. “Sorry, that isn’t true, the marriage was null and void.” She looks at the judge. “I was the secret wife.”
“Your honor, this has no relevance to the case,” Mr. Feldman says. “Eric Schneider isn’t the one on trial here.”
“Your honor, this is just to show the court that my client was the main person in the girls’ life,” he says, and I know it’s a loophole.
“Proceed,” she tells him. Mr. Feldman sits down, looking down at his papers.
“So how much time would you say Eric spent in your house, pretending to be married to you?” I thought it would hurt a lot more than it did, but it really doesn’t.
“He was there for maybe three weeks a month,” she says softly and then looks over at me. “Sometimes more.”
“When he was at your house, did he call his children?” Henry asks.
“Not that I’m aware of,” she answers honestly.
“Did you guys FaceTime them?”
“No”—she shakes her head—“not once.”
“Did he, at any time, tell you about his children?”
“No,” Hailey says, looking at me, as if she is communicating just with me. “At no time was I aware that Eric was married to someone else or had children.”
“When did you find out?” Henry asks, not giving her a chance.
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