Her gaze swept by me, not even acknowledging my existence. She froze as she took in the twins. Their eyes were big and unblinking as they stared at their grandmother. It felt like there should have been some kind of dramatic flair, maybe some music, or maybe one of the animal documentary voiceovers explaining the scene.
There wasn’t. Instead, the three of them stared, finally meeting each other for the first time.
I cleared my throat and gave Lawson and Lee a shaky smile. I purposely dressed them the same for my own humor. Olivia would never tell the difference between the two. It was a petty move, but I’d do whatever I could to stack the deck in my favor, and I knew the twins hated when people mixed them up. They always made sure to dress differently.
“Olivia, please meet Lawson and Lee, your grandchildren.”
“Oh. Where are my manners?” She stood up and walked over. Holding out her hand, she said, “It’s a pleasure finally meeting the two of you. It’s been overdue for quite some time.”
They looked at her, then at her hand, wondering what they should do with it. I bit back a snicker. Our household were huggers. We didn’t do handshakes. If Olivia had motioned for a fist bump instead, they would have been down for that, but I was pretty sure the woman didn’t even know what one of those were.
Olivia frowned, letting her hand drop. “Right, please have a seat and we can order our drinks. Who is who?”
Lee raised his hand slightly. “I’m Lee, ma’am.”
“Lawson,” Lawson replied.
“Okay.”
Lee moved for a chair, and I noticed how Olivia noted that. When she had turned her back to go to her own chair, I tugged on Lee’s shirt to move him back and motioned for Lawson to take the seat instead. They both looked at me like I was crazy, but Lawson was a good little soldier and sat down. Lee took the seat on the other side of Olivia.
I smiled at both of them, and took the final seat strategically located between the two of them.
“So, Lee,” Olivia said. “Tell me something about yourself.”
Lee frowned and raised his hand to get her attention. “I’m Lee.”
Olivia’s brows furrowed as she looked between the two of them, completely confused. I could see the calculation in her eyes. She had seen Lee go for the seat where Lawson was now.
I snickered, unable to hold it in. That caught her attention, and her laser focus landed on me. “Is something funny, Madison?”
“Not at all.” I shook my head. The laughter was trying to bubble out, and it took everything in me to keep it down. I had to get my entertainment where I could. Otherwise, I was going to go stir crazy.
Olivia huffed and focused back on Lee. “I apologize for the mix up. Will you tell me about yourself? What do you like to do? What grade are you in? Do you like to read books?”
“Really?” I asked, unable to help myself. “You don’t know what grade they’re in?”
Her eyes narrowed. “Do you really want to do this here?”
I ground my teeth together before I forced the tension out of me. “You’re right. I apologize. Please, continue. Don’t mind me.”
Lee looked over at me, and I gave him a small smile. He blew out a breath and faced his grandmother. Brave dude.
“I’m in first grade. I don’t know how to read that well still. And I like sword fights. I also like the idea of traveling. We haven’t gone anywhere yet, but Mama used to tell us all the time about the trips she used to take.” His frown deepened, and he looked at the table. “Mama wanted to wait until we were older to travel.”
In a soft voice, Olivia asked, “Where would you like to go?”
“Everywhere,” Lee said, and Lawson nodded his agreement. “We asked Sissy if we could go to Egypt. We also want to go to Ireland. Oh, and Japan. Australia would be fun.”
“Yes, seeing the kangaroos would be so cool,” Lawson said.
The smile on Olivia’s face nearly did me in. This was not where I had hoped the conversation would go, and I could already see Olivia trying to figure out how to use this information.
“Well, did your Mama tell you about how she did a lot of traveling with me? In fact, next weekend I’ll be in Florida to see some friends. They don’t live all that far from Disney World.”
“Really?” Lawson asked. “I want to go there.” He looked at me. “We’ll be able to go there soon, right?”
I barely hid the wince at his question.
Olivia’s smile widened, and I was tempted to learn how to growl as a human. It would have been the perfect moment.
“We’ll get there eventually,” I answered vaguely as I tried to figure out how to make that trip possible. We were in the middle of the school year. Summer would be best. No way was I going down there for the holidays. When was their spring break? I’d have to look into it.
“I can take them for a weekend sometime in the future. It’s no problem for me.”
I moaned. She’d said exactly the right thing, and I could practically feel the twins brimming with excitement at the idea of a grand adventure. Their first grand adventure was going to be with me. I wanted to be a part of that.
“I’ll consider it,” I answered vaguely. “Can we order now?”
It took a while, but I managed to find something on the menu for the kids. They didn’t even have a children’s menu here, and everything was more expensive than a person should be spending on one meal. Lawson ended up settling on plain noodles with his sauce on the side. Lee went for fancy mac ’n’ cheese that I had a feeling had too much junk added to it and he was only going to pick at it.
Olivia got Lawson talking about his favorite TV shows until dinner arrived. The moment the plates were put in front if the kiddies, I could tell right away they weren’t into it. Lee did a good job pushing his food around his plate, and Lawson was not impressed with the sauce. Or the multi-colored noodles. Green, brown, and yellow noodles did not look appetizing.
I begrudgingly gave Olivia credit. She was able to get them to like her. She weaved fun tails about her travels with Mandy, and the kids ate it up. Lawson looked like he had stars in his eyes, and that wasn’t something I had been able to get him to do in a long time. Acrid bitterness built up in my stomach with a dose of fear in there.
She was going to win them over. They were going to want to stay with her. I knew it. It was hard to focus on eating. The chicken tasted like ash and the rice like dirt. I wasn’t even going to attempt to try the vegetables. I was sure that’d taste like something much worse.
“Excuse me,” I said, standing up.
“What’s wrong?” Lee asked.
I gave him a tight smile. “Nothing, just need to go to the bathroom. Do either of you have to go?”
They shook their heads.
“Okay. I’ll be right back then.” I rubbed both their heads, messing up their hair on purpose before running away and smiling at their grumblings. As soon as I was out of sight, my smile slipped away and I had to blink furiously as tears pushed forward.
This was what losing to Olivia felt like. What it always felt like. It was like she had magic and could put anyone under her spell. And she was doing that now against the twins, and I was powerless to stop it. Wasn’t this what court was about—who the twins liked best? What if they liked Olivia more than they did me? She had so much to offer them. They could see the world if they lived with her. Me? It’d take me a bit more time to be able to bring them across the world. I could do it, yes, but I couldn’t do it at a drop of a hat like Olivia could.
With shaking hands, I dug out my cell phone and went to Koen’s number. I had programmed it into my phone when I got his card.
“Hello,” he answered after the second ring. His voice was professional but unsure.
“Mr. Weiss?” I asked in a low whisper.
“Maddie?”
“Yes.”
“What’s wrong?”
“I… I just… Part of the custody, does it take into consideration what the kids want?”
“Well, yes. The judge will choose based on what’s best for the children and usually, if they’re old enough, it ends up being who the kids prefer. Is everything okay? What’s going on?”
I licked my lips and looked behind me as if Olivia was going to be standing there catching me snitching to my lawyer.
“I’m at dinner with Olivia. The twins love her. What if they want to be with her?”
He was quiet for a moment, and I could hear something shuffling on the other side. “I’m assuming you haven’t talked to them about her wanting custody?”
I shook my head and then felt silly, remembering I was on the phone with him. He wouldn’t have seen it.
“I thought so,” he responded.
Surprised, I pulled the phone away to make sure I hadn’t accidentally turned on the video feature. I’d done that before. Nope, still set to audio only. “How did you know?” I asked.
Koen chuckled. “I’m good at my job. Your silence was enough. I think you don’t have to worry. There is a difference between them liking her because she can offer them dreams, and them wanting to live with her. She can offer them the world, and I’m sure she’s doing that now, but in my experience, kids know. She hasn’t been in their life ever. They know that. They won’t choose her just because she can offer them trips around the world or fancy toys or big bedrooms.”
“You have to be psychic,” I mumbled.
“Just good at my job. I’ve seen parents do it all the time, hoping to buy off their kids, so to speak, to choose them over the other. But it usually fails. They’ll be desperate for her attention because she’s family, and I’m sure she’s playing up her connection with their mother. That’ll draw them to her. But at the end of the day, it’ll be you they want to go home with. It’ll be you they look to for help with homework, to be tucked into bed, to play with.”
I sniffed back tears, feeling his words so deeply that I wanted to cry. But I was in the middle of a fancy restaurant. I couldn’t cry here.
“Are you sure?” I asked.
“Yes.” No hesitation. And that alone meant everything to me. “Now, go fix your makeup, because you were probably crying or about to, and go back to dinner. You have this, Miss Daniels. Olivia Hansen has nothing on you. I know it. I haven’t seen you with the twins, but I know it. You are a good person. You’re the one always there when others need your help. Let the twins be there for you too.”
My shoulders slumped as all the tension fled from me. “Thank you. I don’t think you understand how much I needed that.”
“I think I get it. You’re in a difficult position and your stepmother is going after you hard, even if she isn’t doing it head on. She’s playing a very intricate strategy game, and I’m going to make sure she fails. That’s my job, okay? Your job is to keep fighting for your children, keep standing in front of them. Keep them safe and I’ll pave the way for you. Okay?”
“Yes.”
“Good girl. I’ll talk to you later.”
I probably should have felt offended he called me a girl, but his words had felt like a pat on the head instead. I liked it.
“Bye.” I reluctantly hung up the phone, wanting to talk to him longer. But he’d served his purpose, and I felt a million times lighter. Koen may not realize it yet, but the man had powers.
After quickly cleaning myself up in the bathroom until I was presentable again, I went back to dinner.
“What took you so long?” Olivia asked. “I hope everything is okay.”
I brushed off her fake concern. “I went to the bathroom. I think you can guess why it took me a while.” I raised an eyebrow at her.
Lawson understood and giggled. Lee’s nose curled up, but he was a gentleman and didn’t say anything.
Dinner went by fast after that. Olivia continued to talk with the boys, leaving me out of it. I didn’t mind. I didn’t have anything to say to her. The check came, she paid, barely glancing at the receipt before she was handing over the card.
“Okay, guys,” I said. “Bathroom is right over there. Go wash your hands.”
They shuffled away, careful to stay out of the way of the servers.
“I’d like to see them again,” she said.
I stilled.
“When?”
“I’ll look at my schedule and let you know. I want to take them out alone. I don’t need you chaperoning them.”
I didn’t want to commit to anything so all I said was, “We’ll see.”
“You can’t keep them away from their grandmother,” she said.
“Oh?” I asked, meeting her eyes finally. “Tell me, Olivia. Where is Dad? Why isn’t he here too?”
She winced, and I nodded. “I thought so. I bet he doesn’t even know you’re here.”
“It’s not like that.”
“Really? You aren’t trying to curry favor with them, win them over? Go behind your husband’s back? Again.”
“Do not talk to me like that, Madison.”
“Don’t play games with me, Olivia.”
We glared at each other until Lawson and Lee came back.
“Are we leaving now?” Lee asked.
“Yeah,” I said and stood up. I placed my hand on both their backs and gave them a nudge toward the exit. I glared at Olivia. “It was nice to see you. When you wish to see them again, please contact me and we can set something up. Of course, I’ll be there with them. I hope you can understand. After all, I want them to be comfortable, and they don’t do well with strangers.” That hit exactly where I wanted it to when her expression hardened.
As we made our way out of the restaurant, leaving Olivia to stare after us, I said, “Let’s go get some real food. I think a Five Guys is nearby.”
That got them excited.
I grinned. “I’ll even let you guys order milkshakes.”
“Oh, yes. I’m starving,” Lawson said, rubbing his belly.
“I know, little man. Me too.”
And that was how I won against Olivia.
Chapter Nine
I glared at the overcooked pancakes. In my defense, I was trying to multitask and cook the sausages at the same time as the bacon and the pancakes. Between the last time I burnt the bacon and this time, I forgot how much attention the strips of meat needed when they were being cooked. Which led to burnt pancakes.
Breakfast was a fail. Again. I was oh for two this week in feeding them a real, warm breakfast.
Hoping to hide the burnt side, I flipped it on the really pale side and piled the sausage and bacon on top. The last touch was a good dousing of syrup. I was lucky this was a syrup-loving household. If we could, we would all swim in a pool full of that sugary sweetness. And I liked it even more because it was a good way to hide my screw-ups.
They needed the extra boost of sugar, anyway, since I was going to go to that park Dayton mentioned. We needed fun. I needed fun. I made the silly mistake of checking my work email this morning and saw that I lost another client. Not even through a phone call this time, but through a darn email. There was something infuriating about being broken up with through an email. I couldn’t even appropriately confront them and call them all idiots. I already knew they had nothing in the works. They needed me, and I had been pulling their butts out of the hole they dug themselves into. Well, they could bury themselves again. It wasn’t my problem anymore.
Why the hell were my clients dropping me? Was there someone else better and at a lower price? If so, who? I kept my ear to the ground and listened. I was one of the best in Boston. I knew that and so did my clients. I worked miracles for a few of them, but now they were tossing me to the side. I hated that. Hated feeling useless. I busted my ass for nothing apparently.
I wished they crashed and burned hard.
Releasing a breath, I took that wish back. I didn’t want to waste any good wishes on old clients who didn’t even have the balls to face me.
“You burnt the pancakes again,” Lawson so kindly pointed out as he poked at his dish.
“I d
id no such thing.”
“Yeah huh.” Lee grabbed one and flipped it over to show me the nearly all black side.
“They’re supposed to look like that,” I defended. They both gave me disbelieving looks, and I huffed. “Just eat your food so we can get your Halloween costumes.”
Their eyes lit right up. “We get to go this year?” Lawson asked.
I frowned. “Why wouldn’t you go trick-or-treating?”
They exchanged looks.
Lee shifted in his seat. “Because you’re busy.”
“Who said I’m busy? I’m not busy.”
“Isn’t taking care of us hard?” Lawson asked.
I fought to keep my expression from turning hard. They would think I was mad at them when that was far from the truth.
“Have I ever said it was hard?” I asked.
They shook their heads.
“Then why do you think that?”
They shared a look, and I narrowed my eyes.
“Spill. Who’s talking out of their a-a-… who’s talking?”
Lee nudged Lawson. Lawson finally spoke, though reluctantly, like he was giving up a comrade. “Jamie. She said that her mom has trouble taking care of just her and there’s only one of her, so you must be having double the trouble because there’s two of us.”
“Jamie’s a classmate?” I asked.
They nodded.
“Well, let me say this, she’s not telling the truth. The level of hard is different for everyone. How can I be having trouble when I have two amazing young men supporting me? You guys are good boys. You don’t even cry when I say no.” I sighed. “Kind of a disappointment really. I read up on kids throwing tantrums and you haven’t even had one yet. You’re being too good. Be bad. I always wanted to give a kid a good spanking.”
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