Page 8 of Alec’s Dream

“Really. It’s just a misunderstanding. Doug has his weekends mixed up.”

“Didn’t—”

“Alec, please, it’s nothing. I’m really sorry he came here. Even sorrier you and Jocelyn were here. I’ll have a word with Jonny and he’ll remind Doug Little Lights is off-limits. You have my word it will never happen again.”

Alec was looking at me like he didn’t believe me. Not any of it. I didn’t need any more trouble, and one look at Alec told me he was the kind of trouble I couldn’t take on.

Doug was a dick, a loud, foul-mouthed asshole, who was all bluster.

Alec was nowhere near a dick and it only took a glance at the man and you knew he wasn’t about bluster and being loud—he was no bark and all bite.

It was time to put an end to this.

“Listen, I have to go get my kids. Again, I promise that will never happen again.”

“Right. Take care of yourself, Macy.”

It wasn’t until after I’d picked Caleb up from little league football practice and Rory up from her after-school program and we were home that I thought about Alec and his reaction to Doug. Alec hadn’t brought up my negligence, he hadn’t questioned Jocelyn’s safety while she was in my care—he’d been concerned about me.

What was that about?

I also hadn’t allowed myself to think about the angry glint in Alec’s eyes when I’d turned around and saw him staring at Doug’s back as he left the daycare.

Nope. Not going to think about Alec at all.

I had bigger things to worry about, namely my ex who’d started a new game, a game I didn’t have a good feeling about because it involved my children.

It hadn’t taken Doug long after the divorce to start reneging on the custody agreement. His weekday visit was the first to go. He fought to get alternating Wednesdays with the kids. The weeks he didn’t have that visit he had the whole weekend. That was what he said he wanted. He fought tooth and nail to get to see the kids six days a month.

My parents told me to go for full custody, Jonny told me, my attorney told me, pretty much every person who knew Doug told me to get my kids away from his poison but I couldn’t do it. Rory loved her dad, mainly because when she was around Doug had a personality transplant and he was sweet as could be to her. Seriously, it was freaky as shit. Total case of the body snatchers the way Doug was with Rory. Which was worrisome. Everyone told me that, too. But stupid me, always looking for the silver lining, I was happy Doug wasn’t his normal dickhead self to my girl.

But long ago he’d stopped seeing the kids during the week and then he’d gone months without picking them up for his weekends. Now, he was up my ass calling me, showing up where I was, telling me he wanted time with his kids.

At first, I thought he’d pulled his head out and wanted to start being a good dad. But now I wasn’t so sure that was it. When Doug did see the kids he was no less sweet to Rory, he seemed to be trying to reconnect with Caleb, but Doug did it in a way that made Caleb uncomfortable which made me very uncomfortable.

This led to me not allowing Doug to take the kids except when I was legally bound to allow it. It also meant when Doug demanded to see them and I said no, we fought. The first few times Doug had shown up when I told him not to, it meant there was an ugly—and I mean U.G.L.Y. fight on my front porch.

Caleb had heard, and I slid past guilt straight to angry.

Now I was forced to hide my kids when Doug threatened to show up.

Sometimes I found things for us to do that would take us from the house early, other times I relied on my parents and they took the kids for the day so when Doug came by the house and banged on my door, then preceded to shout the neighborhood down, Rory and Caleb didn’t hear.

So there I was sitting on my shitty couch, in my shitty little house, my kids sleeping in their beds, thinking on how much I despised Douglas Spencer.

And just like all of the other times I’d done this very thing, my eyes burned with it, my throat clogged with shame. I didn’t hate Doug because he’d shitted all over our marriage, I didn’t even hate him because he’d destroyed my dreams. I detested him because he’d broken our family and in doing that he’d hurt my kids. Every time I saw the hurt in my son’s eyes that revulsion grew.

I was hanging on by a wing and prayer. The thinnest of strings, and I wasn’t sure how much more I could take before I snapped. No, that wasn’t true, I’d hold on—for my kids.

4

Alec awoke before dawn.

After checking that Jocelyn was still asleep, he made his way downstairs, started coffee, and fired up his laptop.

Before the joe had even finished brewing, he had Macy and Doug Spencer’s divorce decree pulled up. He was surprised to see it was only four pages and that included the custody agreement.

Alec poured himself a cup of coffee and went back to his too-big-for-a-single-man dining room table and reread the document. The only asset the couple had shared was their home, which was sold to pay off debt. There was no mention of the contents. No bank accounts to split. No investments. Macy had taken her car, Doug had taken his pickup, and she’d walked away. No alimony. No child support.