Page 88 of The Haunting Plot

An alarm goes off on my phone, and I pull it out of my pocket, smiling at the words “Leave now to drop off Jane.” My eyes find Raven again, and I nod in thanks.

“Alright, kiddo. We should probably head out,” I say, walking to the door to pull on my shoes.

“Do we have to go?” Jane whines as she trudges over.

“I promised your mom I’d have you to her by nine.”

“But I don’t wanna leave. McKenna and I were having so much fun. I wanna stay here forever.”

“I’d love that, but it’s your mom’s day. Maybe next weekend, okay?”

She sighs and slips on her shoes. “Okay.”

There’s a knock on the door right as I grab the knob and pull it open to find Jocelyn’s face scowling back at me.

CHAPTER 21

RAVEN

Why is she back? The last thing she said before leaving yesterday was for Sawyer to drop Jane off at her place. It’s why I set that reminder alarm for him.

“I was headed to you. What are you doing here?” Sawyer asks.

“Go. We got this,” Summer says, turning to distract the kids.

“Give her hell,” Bella says out of the side of her mouth.

Mustering every ounce of patience I have, I march to the door.

Jocelyn groans, waving her hands in the air. “Oh my God, why can’t you ever check your goddamn phone? I’ve texted you a dozen times with the schedule change. You’re a grown adult, and you’re fully capable. This is why we never worked. I can’t carry everything by myself, Sawyer.”

I place a hand on Jane’s shoulder. “Why don’t you go wait in the car?”

She walks down the porch steps as I usher Sawyer and Jocelyn outside and close the door behind me.

Turning to Jocelyn, I cross my arms, doing my best to keep my voice even and calm as I push down the tide of rising emotions. “Don’t talk to him that way. Would you talk to Tommy that way?”

I can feel the tension in Sawyer’s body as he wraps an arm around my waist. Jocelyn takes a step toward me. “Excuse you? That’s different. Tommy’s a kid.”

“A kid who is forgetful and scattered. Who can never remember a pencil for class. But he can’t help it. His brain is operating on a different system, and instead of criticizing him for constantly forgetting his pencil, you could just show up for him with a sharpened one every day.”

Jocelyn’s mouth snaps shut, and I look at Sawyer.

“Sawyer operates the same way. His brain is constantly running, making life-changing decisions on his job. Sometimes the pencils fall through the cracks. And it’s not because he doesn’t care about the pencils. He just needs a partner who understands that he’s never going to remember the pencils, and that doesn’t mean that he doesn’t care. He’s a good man.” I turn to her. “But if pencils are super important to you, he’s not the one for you because you’ll always equate his lack of pencils to a lack of caring about you.” I turn back to him, locking eyes with his. He’s got that goofy grin on his face, and I can’t help but smile. “But I don’t give a fuck about pencils.”

“No offense, but this isn’t any of your business.”

“Offense absolutely taken. As the mother of the kid who provides your kid with unconditional support and pencils, and as the woman who loves the man you’re berating, this is one hundred percent my business. ADHD is hereditary. And since you’ve written off Sawyer as a terrible husband when he has been nothing but kind and supportive to me, it’s my duty to defend him. You’d never treat Tommy this way. I’ve seen how you’ve gone above and beyond to advocate for him so he gets what he needs. But I don’t think Sawyer was a terrible husband. He’s a man who needs support, and you didn’t give him the support he needed. He needs someone who’ll accept him for who he is and not try to change things about him that he has no control over. You didn’t do that for him. That doesn’t make you a bad person. It just means the two of you aren’t a good fit. But you’re still co-parenting. That means he’s only obligated to provide for Tommy and Jane’s emotional needs, and he does. In spades. He’s an excellent dad. But he no longer has to provide for your emotional needs, so you need to stop expecting that of him if you want to have an amicable relationship.”

She looks like she’s been slapped, and I decide to shut my mouth so she can take in my words, prepared for her to yell or storm off. Most people don’t appreciate my brutal honesty, but I’ve always been incapable of sugar-coating things.

“You two deserve each other,” she spits as she stomps off.

“We absolutely do,” Sawyer says, stealing the words from my mouth as he leans into me and kisses my head.

The car door slams, and she backs out of the driveway. I drop my head, trying not to let the anger in my chest take over. “Sorry, that was too much. I’m too much sometimes.”

“You’re not too much. You’re everything.”