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“Yeah! Every week. She came in right—”
“When the bank opened up, yeah.” I scoffed. “That little...” I paused, though, realizing who I was talking to. My shoulders fell, and I took my first sip of what was now lukewarm coffee.
Elroy seemed to catch the shift and settled deeper into his seat. When he scooted the chair forward, it screeched on the hardwood floor, and he made nice with the white tablecloth as if that would remedy the disturbance. When the waitress asked him what he wanted, he asked for a coffee and a bagel, and I ordered their daily special, but I didn’t care to look at what it was.
When the waitress walked away, Elroy cleared his throat, and I met his dark gaze. “We were bros in college.”
I laughed. “You still talk like you’re in college.”
“But you know I always have your back, right?”
“I don’t know, Elroy. A lot’s happened. I don’t expect you to choose sides. I’d never ask that of anyone.”
He shook his head and held out his hands. “No, you don’t get it. I’ve been thinkin’ a lot about you lately. You and Darlene. She came into the bank the other day with Duke, and while they were there, she asked about banks outside the state. A few states, actually. She was thinkin’ about closing out her account since there’s not one outside Texas.”
My head shot up, and I felt fire flooding my body. “What? A few days ago?”
He nodded. “Yeah, wasn’t sure where things were with you guys, but I asked her if I could get both your consents—she was asking if she needed to take you off first. But you are the primary on the account, so we need your consent.”
I glared at my friend. “So you are here asking for myconsent?”
He smacked the table. “Dude, no! Hell no. I’m just sayin’ if she doesn’t have your consent, I thought maybe you never gave it. So I thought maybe you deserved to know.”
I calmed down, trying to soothe the embers fueling my anger. She really was making moves. Jerry was right. All this time, I’d been working on how to be better—nicer, even. But she’d been playing her hand under the table. “Thanks for telling me, Elroy.” I met his gaze and nodded toward him. “I really appreciate it. Really.”
The waitress returned with our food, and Elroy rose from his chair. He grabbed a napkin to nurse his bagel and extended his hand with a sigh. “I mean it. I got your back, whatever it is.”
I reached out to shake his hand and nodded. “Thank you. Same number?”
He smiled. “Same number.”
Before he walked away, I had to know, and he seemed to realize that because he didn’t move from his spot. “How did you know I was here, Elroy?”
He grinned with a mouthful of bread filling his lips. When he swallowed, he cleared his throat again. “I didn’t. Just came in for a bite. Always do.”
“Don’t you have to be at work? Like eight to four or whatever?”
“Yeah, and I’ll make it. It’s just around the block. But I saw you and—man—it’s been a while.”
I nodded. “Yeah. Sure has.”
Elroy left, and I was alone again, sipping my lukewarm coffee. I shook my head and tried to let the anxiety and fear swelling within me flush itself out. Elroy telling me what he did, and then telling me something that Darlene had lied about during our marriage—it hit me like a brick in the head. I wasn’t sure whether her hiding the fact that she saw him at the bank had ill intent behind it, but something in me knew that Elroy hadn’t told me that just to gossip. He never was a gossiper and didn’t usually talk much at all if he didn’t need to. Elroy was a good man; if he hadn’t seen any harm in what Darlene was doing, he wouldn’t have said anything.
I ate breakfast quickly, then decided to call my lawyer on the way to the office. I couldn’t let Darlene walk all over me. I couldn’t let Christie walk on me. No one. No one could walk over me like I was a moron.
“This is Jerry.”
“Jerry, hey, I just wanted to shout something to ya.”
“I have a meeting in about ten minutes. Will it take that long?”
I scratched my head. “No, not at all. It’s about that custody thing.”
“Okay.”
“I don’t know if I want to go through with it yet. But I wanted to know what the chances were of me getting my son.”
Jerry hissed through his teeth, and I pulled the phone from my ear so the sound wouldn’t be so jarring. “Been keeping up your visitations?”
