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PARKER
Every time that I have to say goodbye to Easton, I feel sick to my stomach. Especially knowing that Ellen is going to take him to see Heather. I don’t want my son in and out of a rehab center, but it’s part of the agreement we made seven months ago. She would go to rehab and get the help she needed. Meanwhile, I wouldn’t file for full guardianship.
I should’ve washed my hands of her and Ellen then. Instead, I let my guilt cloud my decision, and now I’m paying the price.
“You need to talk to him about Heather,” Ellen tells me, taking a step back when I reach for my son.
The two days she’s had him have left me at a loss that I can’t seem to get used to, no matter how many times we do this. Although Ellen is bringing him back early and it messes with the staffing situation tonight, I’m relieved to have him home. With me. Where he belongs.
“He cried when she tried to hold him. He doesn’t recognize her, Parker.” Blowing out a disgruntled breath, she levels me with a scowl. “It’s wrong.”
“Are we really having this conversation again?” If Heather was that bothered about Easton recognizing her as anything other than a stranger, she wouldn’t have been so selfish. She would’ve put him first. Cared for him the way he deserves to be cared for.
“Summah! Summah!” he calls, spinning and trying to get down from Ellen’s hold to find Summer behind me. “Down,” he keeps telling Ellen as she turns to block his sight of Summer.
“Can’t you see how awful it is that he is more excited about a stranger…your staff than he is about his mom?”
Ignoring her remark, I take Easton from her, planting a kiss to his head as I lock eyes with Summer and take a deep breath.
It’s not awful at all, I think as she disappears into the store cupboard behind the bar.
“He likes Summer because he sees her every day.” I blow out another exasperated breath, trying to keep my cool so that we don’t make a scene in front of my staff and hotel guests.
It doesn’t work though. Ellen is getting more and more worked up by the second.
“You realize that this could impact my daughter’s recovery?” she snaps just as Summer comes back out of the storeroom.
“Your daughter would have hurt my son. Your selfish daughter neglected him and—”
“She was sick!”
“She is selfish!”
“And you’re not? Living in this place. In a hotel room? What kind of life is that for a child?”
Zoning out to collect myself, I focus on the screen of my MacBook that’s on the bar. Photos of East transition on and off the screen. Meanwhile, her accusative question keeps sniping at me. There’s nothing wrong with our apartment. It’s got everything we need, and it’s convenient. I can be there for East all the time and run the business.
Glancing around us, Ellen stomps her foot. “You need to fix this situation, or I’ll be forced to do something about it myself. It won’t be pretty, Parker!”
With a pinch to Easton’s chin, she glowers at me before turning on her heels and heading out of the bar.
I take a moment to compose myself. All I can do is hold on to my son tighter. Ellen likes to throw threats around. With a mother like her, it shouldn’t surprise me that Heather is the way she is—rotten to the core. And while I hope she gets fixed, I’ll never trust her with my son. In my eyes, she will never earn the right to call herself Easton’s mother again.
My phone rings in my pocket as I put East down on his feet, and he runs to the bar. No doubt to ask Summer for slices of the fruit garnishes she’s preparing for tonight.
The sitter’s name beams at me, and before I answer, I know that I’m about to have a staffing problem on my hands.
“Hey, Aline.”
“Parker,” she replies in her singsong Brazilian accent. “I got your message earlier, but I’m only back in town tomorrow. On my calendar, it said that Easton was with Ellen today.”
“She had to bring him back early.”
“Oh, I’m so sorry. I can ring a few amigas and see if they can help you out…”
“No, don’t worry, I’ll figure it out.”
“Desculpa.” Sorry, she sighs before hanging up.
