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She shakes her head. “I hate this.”
“So do I, but I’m not giving in to her. I won’t give up Nash, either.”
“Nor will she,” Zara says. “She loves her son.”
“I know. If I didn’t believe that, I’d never have agreed to let Nash live with her. She may be difficult, selfish, and downright argumentative… her methods may not be the same as mine, but she loves Nash just as much as I do.”
“Then why does there have to be so much conflict?”
“Unfortunately, conflict and Sabrina seem to go together.”
We both turn to Ezra, watching as his fingers fly over the keyboard, before he grabs the mouse, moving it up a little, and clicks.
“That’s done,” he says, letting out a sigh, and resting his elbows on the desk.
“Okay.” I stand, pulling Zara to her feet. “Thanks for your help, Ezra. Let me know when you get a response.”
“They’ll have to speak with Mrs. Pope to get her instructions, so I doubt we’ll hear anything today.” He turns to Zara. “Try not to dwell on it too much. These things have a habit of dragging on, but we’ll get it resolved, don’t worry.”
He must have heard what we were saying, and I smile at him, nodding my head, as we make for the door. Zara still seems on edge, despite Ezra’s words, and even jumps when his computer pings behind us. I’m going to have to do something about that, and I rest my hand in the small of her back, as I reach for the door handle.
“That was quick,” Ezra says, and we both spin around, turning to face him.
“What was?” I ask.
“They’ve come back already.”
I feel Zara stiffen beside me, and put my arm around her, guiding her back to Ezra’s desk, where we both sit, facing him once more.
“She must be at their offices,” I say, and he nods his head.
“It looks that way.”
He rests his hand on his mouse, scrolls up and down, frowning, and turns to face me. “She’s saying you can only continue to have access to Nash on the current basis if you agree that Miss Howell won’t be in the apartment at the same time as him.”
“Absolutely not.”
Zara grabs my hand. “Wait a second. Don’t just say ‘no’ like that. I can…”
“You can what?” I turn to face her. “You can go somewhere else every weekend? I don’t think so. Aside from the fact that I’m damned if we’re giving in to Sabrina’s demands, Nash loves having you around.”
She smiles up at me, and I turn to Ezra again. He leans forward, holding up a forefinger. “Before we go back with a hasty response, can I just say I feel like we have the upper hand here?”
“What makes you think that?” Zara asks, and he turns his attention to her.
“Because our earlier message made it clear to Mrs. Pope’s lawyers that their client had lied to them. Now, they’re backtracking, because they’ve realized they don’t have even a hint of a case.”
I move to the edge of my seat, although I keep hold of Zara’s hand. “Okay. Go back and tell her I don’t want her boyfriend collecting Nash from school anymore.”
He nods his head. “That’s fine, but how does it address her demand?”
“It doesn’t, but if you’re right and we’ve got the upper hand, I may as well try to get something out of it. So, tell her I’ll collect Nash from school every afternoon from now on. I’ll take him back home to her, except on Fridays, when he’ll come back to my place and spend the weekend with me and Zara.”
Ezra smiles and starts typing, while I turn to Zara. We know Sabrina’s waiting for our reply, so there seems little point in leaving, but I can sense her anxiety, and while I’d love to lift her onto my lap and hold her close, this doesn’t seem the right place for that. Instead, I grip her hand in mine and gaze into her eyes, hoping she’ll draw some strength from me. She sighs and leans her head on my shoulder, and doesn’t move an inch, even when Ezra stops typing and raises his head to face us.
“Let’s see what they make of that,” he says, sitting back, his eyes fixed on me. “If you want my opinion, your ex wife doesn’t like the idea of you being with Miss Howell… or anyone else, for that matter.”
“That’s not my problem, though, is it? Nash is the only connection between us now, so she can’t dictate my life, or how I live it.”
