She smiled then, her real smile that only appeared when she was truly and deeply happy. “I thought about taking my maiden name back, you know? Once the divorce is final. But Caitlyn Caldwell always had a nice ring to it. Much better than Caitlyn Zelner.”
I rounded the counter and pulled her into my arms, hugging her tightly. When I pulled back, I smoothed a stray piece of hair back and looked right into her eyes. “I’ve always been fond ofCaitlyn Zelner. But I’m honored that you not only chose to take my name, but that you’re keeping it. We’ll figure it all out.”
Was it an ideal situation? Not exactly. And the divorce would probably take longer now that we had to work out child support, custody and visitation, and a hundred other little things I couldn’t think of now. But it didn’t matter. Iwasso very proud of Caitlyn, and I was confident that in the end, we’d find the right solution for all of us.
Chapter 1
Law
Iwas tired all the way to my bones, but as my parents’ house came into view, I breathed a sigh of relief. I’d had to work late since a semi-emergency had cropped up, and I had to rely on my mother to pick up the kids from after school care and watch them until I could get free. My job, in general, was fine. I didn’t love it, but it served its purpose. I’d thought getting a degree in computer science had been the smart thing to do, since it was such a wide and varied field. I didn’t count on how much I would hate being cooped up indoors or dealing with morons who didn’t know how to use simple programs though. I needed to look at making a change, but now was not the time. Caitlyn was moving permanently soon, and my kids needed as much stability as possible at the moment.
But the day was done now, for all that it was after seven, and I could collect my children and take them home. We’d only been back in Phoenix for two days, and they were still a bit wound up from our Thanksgiving trip to New York, seeing Uncle Charlie after all these months, meeting the kitten, playing with the dogs,and being the center of attention of a vast and loving network of people.
Truth be told, I’d enjoyed the hell out of it too. Perhaps I had my own vacation hangover and that accounted for some of my weariness.
I walked into the house without knocking and was immediately assailed with suspicious silence. My kids were awesome, loving and generous, kind and well-behaved. What they weren’t was quiet. So the fact that I didn’t hear them talking, or the familiar sound of videos on the tablets, made my Dad-senses tingle.
“Hey I’m here!” I called after I shut the door behind me. “Kiddos?”
Tristan came rocketing around a corner, full tilt and straight for me. I almost didn’t crouch down in time before he barreled into my legs. I managed to catch him in my arms, and he squeezed me extra tight before grabbing my face.
“Daddy can we go to Adonald’s? Marlie’s super hungry.”
“She is?” I lifted my eyebrows, trying to figure out if he was, in fact, advocating for his sister, or if he just wanted a Happy Meal. Since it was so late, I had thought my mother would have given the kids dinner. “Didn’t Grandma feed you?”
“Of course I did!” The affronted tone had me snapping my head up to find my mother standing in the doorway to the kitchen. Her expression was one of outrage, like how could I even suggest otherwise. “We had a very nutritious,well-balancedmeal. Marlie has chosen not to eat. She’s still sitting at the table until she cleans her plate.”
Red alert. I stood quickly, only taking a brief second to make sure Tristan was stable. I strode across the room until I was inches from my mother. Keeping my voice low, I said, “I’ve told you, we don’t do that in our house. Weneverforce our children to eat.”
Mom sniffed, nose in the air. “It’s impolite not to eat what you’re served. And I don’t know what this ‘we’ is. You and Caitlyn are divorced.”
I opened my mouth, ready to lay into her, but I caught sight of my eight-year-old daughter, still sitting at the table, food untouched in front of her. Her expression was blank, and her ponytail was coming undone, a sure sign she’d been tugging at her hair. I instantly changed track, knowing Marlie needed me more than I needed to get into it with my mother.
Stepping around my mother, I headed straight for Marlie and crouched down beside her. Catching sight of the plate, I instantly knew what the problem was. Salad? My mother thought a heaping plate of greens with the barest hint of chicken was an appropriate dinner for children? Harper and Tris were fans of salad, as a side dish, but Marlie didn’t like all that lettuce. The texture felt bad in her mouth, apparently. She was good with all the toppings, but not lettuce itself. No wonder she hadn’t eaten.
“You okay, baby girl?” I whispered. Marlie’s lip trembled but that was it. She didn’t say anything. And that was all the answer I needed. “Go get your stuff, Marlie. Help Tristan pack his bookbag up so we don’t leave anything, okay?”
Marlie gave the barest of nods and slipped off the chair. My mother huffed.
“Marlie needs to—”
I stood so fast my mother took a step back. “I parent my children. Not you. Where’s Harper?”
For a second, I didn’t think Mom would answer. But there must have been something on my face—I was trying not to look murderous—that had her sighing, as though I was just so exhausting.
“In that back bedroom. It seems she’s entered the insolent stage and—.”
I didn’t listen to another word out of her mouth, just stomped my way past her. I softened my steps as I approached the room and knocked on the closed door before I cracked it open. “Harper?”
“Dad.” The relief in her tone nearly brought me to my knees. For all that she was eleven and really gaining her independence, she was still a little kid and she needed me. I quickly entered the room, shut the door behind me, and crossed right to her, sitting beside her on the bed. She immediately leaned into me.
“What happened?” I asked softly, putting my arm around her.
“Grandma didn’t tell you?” She peered up at me, eyes so much like my brother’s. Not only the color, which was a slightly warmer brown than my own, but the expression. I’d seen that exact fear and wariness in my brother’s eyes too many times to count.
“I want you to tell me.”
She nodded and took a deep breath, knowing she was safe now that I was here.
