Maude plowed ahead with her lecture like she thought she might not get another chance. “She has self-confidence issuesand anxiety about the fact that you gave her up. She thinks you didn’t want her.”
She could relate. “Right.”
“If I give you custody back, you have to be one hundred and ten percent reliable. Do you understand? You can’t be unpredictable or fun. You can’t be the fun one. You have to be a responsible adult. You’re dealing with a traumatized child. This can’t be about you and your baggage, or about what’s best for you, it has to be for her, and what’s best for her.”
“I am. I am good for her.”
“If you get your shit together and don’t stuff this up, I’m open to it.”
Ronnie laughed, tingling. Adrenaline rush, full-body chills. “Thanks. I appreciate that.”
“I have conditions.”
The bottom dropped out of her stomach. “Right.”
“Do you want to meet up to talk about it?”
“No, not really. Could you email the list to me? That would be easier. Maybe email it to the lawyer so she can forward it to me?”
“You want to pay a woman a hundred dollars to forward you an email?”
“I’m supposed to keep a paper trail of everything. Trying to do everything right.”
“Better late than never, I guess. It’s not a long list. I’ll email it to the lawyer. You’ll see. It’s all normal stuff.”
“Thanks.” She felt hot, like she might be sick, and tried to imagine what someone smart would say. “Did you want to schedule a time to meet with her together?”
“Maybe later. The hearing’s not until spring. My list will give you something to work on. At some point we should sit down with Rainbow and explain it to her.”
That sounded like a terrible idea, and also completely unnecessary. Having her and Maude in the same roomunsupervised could go south fast. “I would need the lawyer to be there.”
Silence on the other end.
Next to her, Reg had started listening in. He had figured out who she was talking to.
“Still there?” Ronnie asked.
“I’m still here.”
“She’s our lawyer. She represents both of us.”
“Don’t be a bitch about this.”
“I’m not. This is important to me. I don’t want anything to go wrong.”
“Don’t blow it.”
“I won’t.” Ronnie had to keep her ex happy. If Maude walked away now, Ronnie might never get another chance, and Rainbow would end up in court petitioning for emancipation, becoming a bitter, disgruntled teenager. “Thanks for doing this. Thanks for helping me.”
“I’m doing this for Rainbow, not for you.”
“Right.”
“Kisses.”
“Bye.” She hung up and slid the phone back into the pocket of her hoodie.
Reg held out his hands expectantly. “What did she say? Is it still a yes?”
