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My heart sank. I should have known she’d want to try and get Mitch and Deanna on side but it never occurred to me. I figured she’d have just played the doting mother card and hoped they warmed to her. If she’d gone over partially to try and talk them round… either she was taking her game playing up a notch or… she was actually being genuine. Maybe she had changed as much as Radleigh had. She’d been a bitch to me, but what if she really wanted him back? What if she’d grown up now and wanted to make up for the crappy things she’d done in the past?
“Can I please just get Jessica and get out of here?”
“Sure.” Mitch nodded. “Deanna’s taken her in the kitchen. She didn’t think you’d want Jen trying to play mom to your daughter.”
True story. My stomach knotted at the idea of her being anywhere near Jessica. Jen was trying to cast herself in my role in so many ways already. I wouldn’t have her swooping in and trying to show off how great she was with my child.
“Thanks, Mitch. I’ll go and get her and try to be out of here before Radleigh gets in.”
I didn’t give him a chance to say anything more, I just wandered through to the kitchen where Deanna was reading a colourful-looking book to Jessica at the kitchen table.
“Hi,” I said, smiling as I approached them. Just like always, Jessica’s face beamed when she saw me and she wriggled on Deanna’s lap in excitement.
“Hey,” Deanna said. “Did you have a good day?”
I nodded, taking Jessica from her and holding her close to me. There it is. Everything is right with the world again. “It was exactly what I needed. The make-up trial went brilliantly, and spending the day with Bree always cheers me up.”
“Good.” Deanna nodded in the direction of the living room. “I’m guessing you want to make a quick getaway?”
“Yes please. Thank you for keeping Jessica away from her. I know it sounds petty but…”
“It doesn’t at all. Mitch is a little kinder than me. He doesn’t want her here, but he also knows she won’t disappear easily. I have no interest in anything she has to say, and I don’t want her trying to make it look as though she can breeze in here and take everything from you. Maybe a time will come when Jen and Jessica will have to meet, but not now. Not so fast. I’m wise to her. She wants to be here when Radleigh gets home so it looks like we’re all having a cosy chat. Having Jessica here is a bonus I won’t let her take advantage of.”
I smiled. “What would I do without you?”
“You’d survive.” Deanna laughed. “But I’m glad I can be here for you.”
“Me too.”
After saying a quick goodbye to Deanna and Mitch, I grabbed Jessica’s stuff and quickly left the house, only to run into Radleigh as he got out of his car.
Seeing him when I was trying to get away wasn’t what I wanted, but the second my eyes fell on him, my resolve to escape vanished. God, I loved his just got out of work look. His hair was still wet from the shower he’d taken before he left, and he wore blue jeans and his Westberg Warriors t-shirt which clung to his chest in a way that made me want to drag him home immediately.
Except I couldn’t.
“Hey,” he said as he locked his car door and walked towards us. Jessica reached out for him and he took her from me and hugged her tight. “God, I missed you, Jessi.” As she wound her arms around his neck, he reached out for me and put his arm around my waist. “I missed you both.”
“I missed you too.” As much as I wanted to resist, I couldn’t help it, I put my arms around him and breathed him in.
“I know why you’re leaving so quickly,” he said, nodding towards Jen’s car. “But I didn’t invite her here. I wasn’t expecting her.”
“I know. But apparently she wants to talk to you about something, so… I guess we should let you go.”
I said the words as if it was okay with me, but inside, my heart began to crumble because I was letting him go to her instead of asking him to come back. To tell him I’d made a mistake and I needed him back with me and Jessica where he belonged.
Except I couldn’t do that. It wouldn’t solve anything. Wouldn’t stop whatever questions he had about her he needed to find the answers to.
Radleigh looked down at me, his eyes searching mine. “Can I see you both soon? Tomorrow maybe, after work?”
I nodded. “Of course. I told you, you can come over any time.”
He gave me a sad smile before turning his attention to Jessica, who had her head rested against his shoulder, a look of bliss on her face that made my heart ache again. “Daddy has to go now, Jessi,” he said softly. “But tomorrow I’ll come see you and Mommy.”
I reached for her, but instead of coming to me, she clung tighter to Radleigh, as if she understood
that he wouldn’t be home tonight. The ache in my heart spread to my gut, then slowly outwards through my body until I thought the weight of it might crush me. Jessica might have only been nine months old, but she was aware of more than I would have believed possible.
“Come on, sweetheart,” I said gently, reaching for her again. “Time to go home.”
