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Chapter Thirty-Nine
Hadley
I turned and saw Lilly glaring at us. Her eyes were incredibly focused and very, very angry as she noticed Eli in Elijah’s arms.
I only felt guilty for a fraction of a second before I realized I had no reason to be. Elijah was my boyfriend. He was great with my kids—Lilly’s grandkids. What Scott didn’t do and all the times he never sought to see them, Elijah made up for.
“Lucy, Meme Lilly is here.” Understanding flashed in Elijah’s gaze as I spoke, but he made no move to hand Eli over to me nor did I to try to take him.
Lucy was in a good mood and it showed. She didn’t seem upset when she saw her granny. It didn’t even seem like she was thinking about the last time she cried with her. For that, I was grateful.
“Meme Lilly,” Lucy said and stepped over to her with a smile.
It was a reluctant one since she was still glaring at us, but she gave a brief one as she looked down at Lucy. “You were supposed to come see Daddy this weekend. What happened?”
Um, what?
Lucy tilted her head. “We went to Elijah’s tattoo shop!”
Oh, fudge. I knew things were going to get bad by the way Lilly’s entire face crinkled with furious lines as she skimmed over me. “You what? You never answered Scott’s calls or texts when he called to see them this weekend. And you took them to a tattoo shop instead?”
I frowned. “Scott never called or texted—”
“Don’t lie! He told me he did!” She screeched, face turning blood red.
My face was equally hot. I glimpsed around as people strode by. I couldn’t believe she’d act this way in public. Nor could I believe she’d lie about something like that. Maybe Scott lied to her? Either way, she had no right to confront me.
“Mommy?” Lucy seemed anxious as she walked over to me.
“What is this on her hands?” Lilly rushed over and latched onto Lucy’s arms. She tried to pull away, but Lilly gripped her too tightly as she glared at the fake tattoos.
“It’s my pony and puppy,” Lucy smiled a bit as she spoke until Lilly opened her mouth.
“What is wrong with you?” she snapped, her voice full of scorn. Her eyes dilated while her mouth curled like an angry dog.
“What do you mean? They’re fake tattoos. I’m sure Scott had them dozens of times as a kid.” I reached down and pulled Lucy away from her grandmother.
“That’s beside the point. You think I’ll idly sit back and watch you bring such a bad influence around my grandkids? Look at him.” She gestured toward Elijah. Hissing, she added, “Tattoos are so disgusting and say a lot about a person’s character.”
“I don’t like when you yell, Meme,” Lucy said frowning.
“Meme is trying to take care of you.” She patted Lucy’s head. Lucy stepped back immediately which earned me a scowl.
“Let’s not have this discussion in public,” I offered nicely despite the anger and hurt I felt. “You’re scaring Lucy. This isn’t the way to act.”
“Having two kids doesn’t mean you know things.” She put her hand in my face and that was when I felt Elijah moving behind me. “I’ve raised three, and there’s no way I’d separate a dad from his babies the way you have!”
“Hadley said she’s not doing this here, so I think you should move along so we can finish shopping.” Even while trying to sound nice, Elijah’s personality and stature was just too big and demanding to ever seem anything but rude.
Lilly became rigid with rage. “Shopping? You’re not their family. You don’t even belong in this conversation.”
His nostrils flared as he held Eli closer. His eyes were wild and angry as he glowered at the elderly woman. “That’s where you’re wrong. They’re my business because I care about them. I’m not going to stand back and allow you to hurt them like the last time they saw you.”
She gasped and her accusatory gaze landed on me. “How could you do this to Scott?”
Elijah tossed his hand up, clearly getting frustrated. “She’s done more than enough. If he really wanted to see his kids, he’d make an effort. All of you would instead of throwing your blame on someone else.”
She scoffed. “Wow. Spoken perfectly from someone who knows so little. Has she told you that? She’s the one that never lets Scott see them!”
