Dominate

by Amy Daws

  After everything Gareth said on the car ride to my house, I can no longer fool myself into thinking what we have is casual.

  Gareth Harris doesn’t do casual.

  Looking back, I’m not sure he ever did.

  The rest of the week, Gareth and I spoke about how we will handle our relationship for the next few months. For now, we’re going to keep it out of the public eye. At least until the World Cup is over. The attention the Harris family will get if all four brothers are selected to play on the team will be quite intense, so keeping us quiet is best for all involved.

  I drive into the large Coleridge Estate, pulling around the fountain to park. Margaret’s dog, Rex, comes bounding up from behind the house with my beautiful Sophia hot on his heels.

  “Mummy!” she squeals and sprints straight to me, her brown hair tied back into a neat low ponytail like it always is when she spends the weekend with Margaret.

  “My Sopapilla!” I squeal back, slamming the car door and dropping down into a squat with my arms wide open.

  Sophia barrels into me at full speed and knocks me off balance, toppling me backwards onto the rough gravel. Rex pounces over to us, nosing his wet snout in between our faces as Sophia giggles and tightens her grip around my neck.

  “Ouch, Soph! When did you get so strong?” I ask, giggling back and struggling to sit up with her all over me.

  “I’m almost eight, that’s why!” she exclaims gleefully, then finally releases my neck enough so I can sit up.

  “Look at us! We’re a mess!” I retort, wiping off the dust that’s all over my jeans.

  She kneels in front of me and smiles.

  “You look like you’ve grown!” I state excitedly and squeeze her black jacket around her neck a bit.

  “I have. And I have another loose tooth. See?”

  She wiggles one of her upper teeth and I nod with wide eyes. “Oh yeah, that’s going to come out really soon.”

  “I’ve been trying not to touch it so it falls out at your house.”

  “Oh? Why is that?”

  “Because Freya gives me ten quid for each tooth!” She giggles.

  “She what?” I exclaim, my jaw dropped. “I didn’t know that.”

  She nods eagerly. “She told me not to tell you.”

  “You two shouldn’t be keeping secrets from me!” I jest and roll onto my knees to tickle Sophia’s sides. “What else have you been hiding from me, huh?”

  “Nothing, I swear!” She laughs happily, and I laugh right along with her. I don’t know if it’s because I was on a trip but, damn, I’ve missed this kid.

  “Are you quite done?” Callum’s curt tone cuts into our fun as he stares down at us from where he stands by the fountain.

  My smile falls when I see Callie holding onto his arm. She’s dressed in yet another miniskirt with metallic sheen tights and a pair of stiletto boots that look a hell of a lot more ridiculous than Sophia’s pink outfits that Margaret insists she never wear to the country.

  The crunch of gravel by the house has my gaze snapping over to where Margaret has just come out. She cinches her white cloak up around her neck and makes her way over to Callum.

  “Sloan,” she says crisply, tilting her head down at Sophia and I. “Sophia, those are new trousers.”

  “Sorry, Grandmama,” Sophia chirps.

  I move up into a standing position and dust Sophia’s bottom and legs off before doing the same to my own.

  “No matter, they’ll wash,” Margaret replies, her tone softer than I’ve ever heard. She looks me up and down next. “You look like you’ve gotten some sun, Sloan. Were you travelling for business?”

  “Pleasure,” I reply with a polite smile. “I was wondering if I could have a word with you and Callum for a moment before Sophia and I head out. Do you have a little time?”

  Margaret nods and I feel Sophia staring up at me. I crouch down beside her and push a strand of hair back from her face. “Sweetie, why don’t you go out to the stables and see if that black cat is still up in the hay mound?”

  “He is, Mummy! Come see!” She moves to drag me away, but I still her motion with my free hand.

  “I need to talk to your grandmother and daddy. You go and take some pictures for me, okay?”

  Sophia’s eyes light up when I hand her my phone. Without another word, she dashes off to the back of the estate with Rex nipping at her heels.

  I stand back up and tighten my black jacket around my body. The February air is cold on my face, but not as cold as Margaret’s calculating stare.

  Before I have a chance to say a word, Callum’s voice cuts into my thoughts. “Well, I may as well tell you before you hear it from Sophia. Callie and I are engaged.”

  Callum stands up straight, one hand grabbing the edge of his suit jacket, the other wrapped tightly around Callie’s waist. I look down and see the enormous diamond glinting on Callie’s ring finger.

  “Wow,” I reply, my voice hoarse in my throat. “So soon?”

  Callum scoffs. “It’s hardly soon, Sloan. We’ve been seeing each other for quite some time.”

  I shake my head stupidly. Of course they have. They were together before Callum and I separated. My voice is tight and flat when I reply, “Well, congratulations to you both.”

  Callie giggles and drops her head on Callum’s shoulder, her foot kicking out playfully as Callum grabs her manicured hand and kisses the top of it. “It just happened Friday night.”

  “So, Sophia knows already?” I ask, wondering if she was there for the proposal since it was his week with her.

  “We told her along with Mother this morning.”

  “I see,” I reply, my mind putting together the fact that Callum and Callie were likely not with Sophia and Margaret this weekend.

  I look over to gauge Margaret’s reaction and find her staring off into the distance. Her arms are wrapped tightly around herself, appearing completely disinterested in the conversation.

  I clear my throat to drop my little news on them which is certainly much less exciting. Maybe this engagement of Callum’s will work out in my favour. “I wanted to let you all know that I’ve started seeing someone.”

  Callum’s eyes narrow and I look away from him to Margaret. “It’s not an engagement or anything, but we’re serious. I felt like you guys needed to know because he’s a soccer player for Manchester United and a bit of a high profile one at that.”

  Margaret’s eyes snap to mine, her brows puzzled in amazement. “What is his name?”

  I sniff once and force myself to maintain eye contact when I reply, “Gareth Harris.”

  “Oh, for God’s sake,” Callum jeers, his voice taking on a smug tone. “I knew it wouldn’t take long for you to start screwing one of your clients.”

  “Callum!” Margaret retorts, her tone scathing, eyes sharp.

  “Mother, this is completely improper,” Callum argues, smoothing his hair back like the arrogant asshole that he is. “What kind of example will it be for Sophia to see her mum wrapped up around one of those barbarians?”

  “Gareth is not a barbarian,” I reply through clenched teeth.

  “He’s a Harris Brother!” Callum retorts. “Couldn’t even manage to shag a player from a proper family at the very least? That Harris family is as common as they get.”

  I inhale and exhale slowly through my nose, my hands balling into fists at my sides. “His family are good people, Callum, and Gareth is quite possibly the best of them. He just received an award for that youth enrichment program he runs. He hasn’t met Sophia yet, aside from at that camp you enrolled her in without my knowledge, but he’d be a great example for her.”

  Margaret’s eyes swerve to Callum. “You didn’t tell her about the camp?”

  Callum baulks half-heartedly. “She would have said no. Sloan is always going on and on about Sophia’s health.”

  “Callum Coleridge,” Margaret seethes. “She is her mother and the one who was by her bedside when Sophia was ill. She is the one mos
t knowledgeable about her health. What you have done is unconscionable.”

  “But, Mother,” Callum whines.

  Margaret rolls her eyes, her gaze looking off into the distance again. “Callum, leave us.”

  “Leave you?” Callum argues, his head darting back and forth between me and his mother.

  Margaret cuts him a hard glower. “Go check on your daughter.”

  Callum’s jaw moves up and down as he attempts to speak but can’t figure out what to say. In a huff, he storms off to the stables, leaving a dazed Callie behind.

  Callie stares at Margaret. “What should I do?”

  Margaret’s eyes fly wide. “Go with him!” She flicks her wrist at Callie, who quickly scampers off, nearly tripping as her heels get stuck in some gravel.

  Turning back to me, Margaret eyes me for a moment, then states crisply, “Walk with me, Sloan.”

  She tosses the tail of her cloak up tightly around her neck, her lips puckering as she braces against the cool breeze. I follow her around the side of the house to a Victorian wall garden area that’s full of neatly trimmed shrubs that are brown from the cold winter. She stops to pick up a dead branch and drops it into a rubbish pile alongside the house.

  “The grounds crew was supposed to pick up this pile weeks ago,” she tuts, shaking her head in disappointment. She resumes her walk with me keeping pace with her and finally looks over at me and states, “My cancer has spread, Sloan.”

  I nearly trip over myself from her drastic change of topic and have to compose myself to reply, “I’m sorry to hear that, Margaret.”

  She looks forward, her pointy chin jutted out with determination. “The doctor says I have weeks, maybe less.”

  My breath exhales from my body. As many times as I’ve wished death on this woman, it somehow doesn’t seem nearly as appealing as it once did. “Sophia will be crushed.”

  “You won’t,” she muses, sliding her eyes to me.

  “Margaret—” I begin to argue but she cuts me off.

  “Let’s not beat around the bush here, Sloan.” She stops in her tracks and turns to look straight at me. “You don’t like me and I have issues with you, but the fact of the matter is your issues pale drastically in comparison to that floozy my son has wrapped around him like a second skin. And your issues with me pale drastically in comparison to the ones you have with my son, who is as pompous of an arse as I’ve ever seen.”

  My hand flies to my mouth to cover the laugh that threatens to escape. I manage to purse my lips together and nod.

  “But the only thing you should trust is my affection for Sophia. That has never faltered.”

  All good humour is drained from me as I nod again. “You have been very good to her.”

  She inhales deeply and gazes back in the direction of Sophia. “I’m convinced that Sophia is the only thing that has kept me alive these past few years.” She coughs gently and I swear I see a tear form in her eye. “But even that brown-eyed angel can’t stop what’s going on in my body, which means we need to settle things before my time comes.”

  I eye Margaret with genuine sympathy. “What is it that you need from me, Margaret?”

  She cuts her eyes to me again. “Are you serious about this Harris fellow?”

  I’m surprised by her question because it’s not where I thought her mind was going. I’m also not sure what my answer should be. Do I minimise what Gareth and I are to lighten the severity of her reaction? Or do I tell her the truth and speak from my heart?

  I exhale heavily. “I’m very serious.”

  “And is he serious about you?” she retorts back.

  I nod, looking down and thinking back to our conversation in the car and the promise he made to me. “He says the moment he can win over Sophia is the moment he will know he can marry me.”

  Margaret has no outward reaction to the emotional response I just gave her, but she gives me a crisp nod like we’ve concluded some sort of business transaction. “Very well. I need you to know that I don’t trust that Callum will have Sophia’s best interests at heart when it comes to her future. I never realised how disinterested he was in fatherhood until the divorce. The past several months have been very eye-opening.”

  “Okay,” I reply curiously, unsure where she’s going with this.

  “I am the one who urged him to put Sophia in the Kid Kickers football camp. I wanted him to get involved with the charity we’ve participated in for years, and I thought it would be a good opportunity for him to see Sophia be a part of something she loves.”

  “You’ve been a charitable donor to Kid Kickers?” I ask, my jaw dropped in disbelief.

  “Yes, we have,” she replies firmly. “We’ve been involved ever since Gareth Harris started the program years ago. When they reached out for sponsors to grow the program outside of the city, I pushed Callum to get involved. However, he can’t seem to get his hands off that bloody awful woman long enough to get anything accomplished. And I’m far too old and unwell to fight with him about it.”

  “I had no idea,” I reply, marvelling over the woman in front of me right now. Maybe I never gave Margaret a chance to open up to me like this before. Maybe if I had, we wouldn’t have been enemies for so long.

  “We’ve had our differences, Sloan, but Callum’s remarks about the Harris family are quite unfair. I want you to know that you won’t be hearing any argument from me in regard to your relationship with Gareth Harris. Lord knows he is far and away more admirable than that tramp Callum has attached himself to.”

  “Why are you telling me all of this, Margaret?”

  “Callum has become a tremendous disappointment to me, and I refuse to let Sophia go down the same path.” She turns and begins walking again as I hustle to keep up. “That is why I’m going to tell Callum that the fifty-fifty custody agreement is no longer necessary and we will be amending the terms.”

  “What?” I exclaim, running up to look Margaret in the face. “What are you amending them to exactly?”

  “Callum has no interest in seeing Sophia every other week. He hardly sees her when he does have her, and I don’t want Sophia’s brain rotting away on the sofa with that woman he’s chosen to marry. I’m going to urge him to revise the custody to every other weekend. Would that be satisfactory to you?”

  I can’t breathe. I can’t breathe. I’m sucking in air, but none of it is getting where it should be.

  “A simple nod of the head will suffice, Sloan.”

  I nod. I nod so hard I think my head might fall off my neck. “Do you think he’ll agree to it?”

  “He will if I tell him to,” she replies, raising her chin high in the air.

  My body sags with relief. She’s right. Callum is completely ruled by his mother. I suspect the only real reason he wanted to move back to England was to secure his inheritance before she passed away. Margaret’s estate is worth a lot of money.

  “I can’t thank you enough, Margaret,” I croak, my throat closing up with barely contained emotion. “This means the world to me.”

  Margaret’s expression shows zero emotion when she turns to face me straight on. “I’m British, Sloan, so please take what I’m about to say as a one and only occurrence.” She looks me in the eyes, and I swear I see a flicker of admiration on her face as she adds, “You’re an excellent mother, and Sophia is very lucky to have you.”

  Tears. Tears, and smiles, and head-nodding are all I can feel outwardly as my heart reaches out to the woman whom I thought hated me for all these years. I manage to find my voice enough to reply, “Thank you, Margaret.”

  And without another word, she turns to walk away.

  THE SMILE ON SLOAN’S FACE is permanent as she sets the table in her kitchen, humming a tune and doing fancy twirls every few steps as she goes back and forth for more supplies.

  I sit at the table watching her hips sway and her chestnut hair flip. It’s been a week since I last saw her, and she mentioned on the phone that she has some news to share with me, but she wanted
to wait until she saw me.

  “Are you going to tell me why you’re so happy?” I ask impatiently. “Don’t get me wrong. I’m enjoying the show, but the suspense is killing me.”

  Sloan sets a plate down in front of me and smiles. “Yes, I’ll tell you.” She takes a deep breath and sits down on the chair beside me. Splaying her hands out on the table, she looks at me and says, “Margaret and Callum sent a new custody agreement to my lawyer today.”

  My body instantly stiffens. The truth is, any time Callum’s name is mentioned, I tense. I hate that wanker. “What kind of new agreement?” I ask, my tone wary.

  Sloan bites her lip and surprises me when a huge smile spreads across her face. “Callum wants to revise our agreement so he only has Sophia every other weekend now, instead of every other week.”

  My brow furrows in confusion. “Wait, are you saying he wants less time with her?”

  “Yes,” she replies with wide eyes. “It was Margaret’s idea.”

  I sit back in my chair as I attempt to understand. “This doesn’t make any sense. You said when he asked you for a divorce, he threatened to go for full custody.”

  “I know.”

  “So, what’s changed?”

  “Margaret’s changed,” Sloan answers and props her elbows on the table. She proceeds to tell me all about her talk with Margaret last Sunday. About Callum’s new engagement and how disgusted Margaret is by the way her son has been behaving. She even tells me about the Coleridge connection to Kid Kickers and how disappointed Margaret is in Callum’s lack of interest.

  I shake my head as I digest all this information. The truth is, I already knew the Coleridge name was involved in my foundation, but I wasn’t sure to what level. And Callum’s name has never been attached to anything, so I assumed it wasn’t him specifically. But the biggest matter at hand is the change he’s requesting with Sophia.

  “So you’re saying Sophia is going to be around a lot more?” I ask, looking at Sloan, who’s watching me with anticipation.

  “Yes,” she replies with a smile and stands up to continue setting the table. She opens a drawer and grabs some silverware while adding, “The new arrangement goes into effect when Margaret passes away. Kind of morbid, I know, but I signed the new papers two days ago, so it’s really happening!”