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BRENTON
All I could do was stand in shock as Candace eyed Helen and Helen eyed her back.
“Candace, what are you doing here?” I finally mustered out.
“I wanted to come stay with my pops for a while. Mom was getting on my nerves.”
“I think you two have some catching up to do,” Helen said low and with no emotion.
“Helen, wait.” I tried to grab her but she was already storming off. “Shit.”
“You better get my boots back,” Candace said, still perched on my front step.
“I’m not supposed to have you for two more weeks, Candace. You can’t just break our custody agreement.”
“Mom won’t even notice. She’s barely been home. Besides, she doesn’t want me around anyway. Every time I do see her she just shoos me off.”
“That may be, but we could get in a lot of trouble for breaching the agreement. Can’t you put up with it for a couple more weeks?”
“You’re the one who didn’t want me sleeping at my boyfriend’s. I thought you’d be stoked.” As she said it, Candace motioned toward the road I had just come from.
“Was that him?” I asked, talking about the rusted black car that had nearly killed me.
“Yeah, he dropped me off. I want to start my half of the summer with you early. Aiden gets to be away from her all summer. It’s not fair that I have to put up with mom’s bullshit.”
“Hey, don’t swear!”
“Sorry.” Candace raised her hands and rolled her eyes in a mock apology.
With a sigh, I opened the front door for her and followed her inside. Samson came bounding from the living room and covered her in kisses.
“Samson! I missed you, bud!” Candace yelled, embracing him with a smile. This warmed my heart a bit. I had missed my daughter’s smile.
“I’ll give your mom a call and see what I can do about you staying here early.”
I left Candace in the foyer with Samson, while I dialed up Amber’s number in the backyard. I didn’t want Candace to overhear if the conversation went south. Meanwhile, I couldn’t get my mind off of Helen. She didn’t even look angry when she left. There was no trace of feeling on her face as she attempted to process the sight of my daughter, who she hadn’t known about, on my front porch. I wanted to tell her, but then she had told me she didn’t much care for children after our run in with Carter at Beverly’s. I hadn’t wanted to scare her off after such a stressful night, so I decided to wait. Apparently I waited too long.
“Hello?” Amber answered.
“Missing something?” I asked her.
“Sure am!” I opened my mouth to tell her where her daughter was, but she continued. “I’m missing my damn check, Brenton! How many times do I have to ask? Where’s this month’s child support payment?”
“I wasn’t talking about your money, Amber. I was talking about your child.”
“What do you mean?”
“Candace. She’s here.”
“What?! I still have two weeks, Brenton. Are you stealing her early? Wait until the courts hear about this! That’s practically kidnapping, you know.”
“I didn’t steal her, Amber. She showed up at my front door just a few minutes ago saying she no longer wanted to be with you. She wants to start her half of the summer with me early.”
“And why would I let her do that?”
“Because the only way it affects you is that you don’t have to take care of her for an extra few weeks. I’ll still pay you the child support money in full.”
Amber sounded like she was yawning on the other end. “This is super upsetting to me, Brenton. I feel as if I am missing out on some important mommy-daughter time, but if it’s what our child wants, then fine. You can have her early.”
