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“Needless to say, my step-mom wasn’t happy.”
He chuckles. “Yeah, she looked pretty mad.”
“He’ll be on bed rest for the next couple of weeks. If he shows up at work again, I have permission to kick him out.” Gray laughs, but I sober quickly.
Just then, the coffees arrive. Mike beams down at me and places the mugs in front of us, a few moments later he returns with the treats.
“Thank you.” I smile.
“Well, now, you’re very welcome.” He takes off to greet some new patrons and I notice Gray’s face has fallen.
What happened today with his ex pulling that stunt wasn’t cool, and I think that’s why he looks so down. “Is everything okay, Gray?”
His eyes land on mine again. God, he’s beautiful. I swallow, remembering this is supposed to be a professional meeting about his impending divorce settlement.
He sighs, his gaze holding mine. “I did something,” he says at last. “Something bad.”
I stare at him, unable to comprehend what he means. “With what?” I ask, frowning.
“My ex.”
I blink a couple of times, still unsure where he’s going with it.
He sits back and sighs again, like he’s annoyed with himself. I can see that something is unsettling him.
“What about her?” I prompt.
“I called her earlier,” he says. “I blocked her months ago. But I had to get it off my chest with the shit she pulled today.”
I stare at him. “And how did that go down?”
He sighs. “It wasn’t the greatest conversation, and don’t worry, I didn’t say half the shit I wanted to. I was frustrated, though, and insults were thrown back and forth.”
“Okay, while that’s understandable, she could use that in court if it came to that,” I tell him. “So you need to talk to me before you do that again. In fact, I’d really prefer it if you didn’t call her at all. She’s obviously out for blood, so any little thing that she can use against you, she’ll use willingly.”
He swallows, his Adam’s apple bobbing in his throat. “Of all the things she could hit me with, it has to be Coyote Run. You don’t know what this means. She knows what she’s doing and I’m sad to say I took the bait.”
I kinda know. He laid it all on the table about his plans for that land.
A look passes across his face, as though he can read my mind. Then he averts his gaze, looking down. “I guess you do know some of it.”
“We will supply a copy of the title to her lawyer on Monday showing your ownership of the land came long before you met Keira. They have no grounds for Coyote Run,” I say. “None at all. It isn’t part of the prenup, so there is no reason to worry. It won’t stand up in court, and all she’ll do is waste money trying to prove otherwise. But Gray, you can’t call her again.”
“She’s probably on the phone to her lawyer right now,” he sighs. “I can’t even believe I spent ten years with this person and now I don’t even recognize who the hell she is.”
“It happens a lot. People change.”
“Or they don’t. Maybe she has always been like this, but I was too blind to notice.”
I’ve seen it so many times that nothing shocks me anymore. “That can happen.”
He gives me a solemn look, one that indicates he regrets contacting her. “I’m a schmuck for calling her. It won’t happen again.”
“Good. I’m only saying this to protect you,” I say. “I understand your desire for closure, but based on my observations, she's desperately hanging on for dear life.”
“Tell me about it.” Silence hangs between us, then, “I want this to be over. I want her completely gone from my life forever. I’ve been thinking about it since I left the office and I want to propose a new settlement for the alimony. We discussed previously me giving her the Nashville property, since she has no entitlement to it as per the prenup, but now I’m proposing we sell the property and split it fifty fifty. And then she gets her alimony outright.”
I nod. “It sounds more than reasonable to me. Based on what I know about her, she won't appreciate any changes to the settlement, even verbal ones.”
