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“I’ll draft everything. You can hold off on filing.”
I nodded tightly, my throat constricting. I couldn’t tell her what to do. Not yet.
“Thanks for meeting with me. Please call if you have any questions, and I’ll be in touch once the paperwork is ready to be filed.”
I stood with her and followed her to the receptionist’s area. I shook her hand and said something about it being nice to meet her, or at least, I think I did. My mind was still in that conference room, running through the worst-case scenarios.
I’d returned home for a fresh start, but it felt fleeting. As if it were only a matter of time before something happened to yank this temporary arrangement and happiness away from me. Filing that paperwork would only make it happen sooner.
Maybe it would be better to settle it before school started. Otherwise, I risked Melanie yanking her out of her new school.
I cursed myself for not insisting on something, even a temporary custody agreement, before Melanie left. I probably could have said something to get it. I might need it for school or doctor visits. I was just happy I was getting anything, or maybe I was too scared to ask for what I wanted.
I could call her and tell her what I was thinking. That it would be a good idea to put something in writing. To protect both of us. If she didn’t respond favorably, I had Avery and the court system at my disposal. Satisfied I had a workable plan, I headed home.
I was grateful for any time I had with Kendall. After years of only seeing her sporadically, this was a dream come true. I didn’t want to do anything to change what we had now, but it would be better in the long run to protect both of us.
At home, Kendall was leaning over the countertop with some contraption with a bag and a tip.
“Is that icing?” I asked when a white substance poured out onto the cupcake.
Kendall pursed her lips in concentration. “I’m practicing.”
“Did Sophie tell you to?”
Kendall nodded, her focus on the design she was etching onto the cookie sheet in front of her.
“Have you talked to your mom lately?” I asked her.
Kendall looked up at me before turning her attention back to her work. “Yeah, why?”
“She mention anything about—” Where she was, what she was doing? I ran a hand through my hair. Christ. What was I doing? Pumping my daughter for information about my ex's whereabouts. I promised myself I’d never do that. I wouldn’t put Kendall in the middle.
“I told her about registering for school and taking baking lessons.”
“She say what she was up to?” There. That was innocent enough, but I still felt a little guilty for inquiring at all.
“I asked when she was coming back, and she said she didn’t know.” Kendall readjusted her grip on the tool, the only indication that her mother’s answer bothered her.
I wanted to reassure her, but it was difficult. Selfishly, I wanted this time with her. Melanie wasn’t used to sharing Kendall with anyone, and I was waiting for her to waltz back into Kendall’s life and take her back. There was nothing stopping her.
Avery’s words were haunting me.
Kendall set the tool aside, straightened, and focused on me. “Why? Did you talk to her?”
I shook my head. “I send her updates like you do, but she doesn’t tell me what’s going on with her.”
We never had that kind of relationship. She’d texted when she discovered she was pregnant, and she kept me up to date about doctor’s visits. Later, she’d tell me about Kendall meeting various milestones, but the smaller details like what Kendall feared or what she wanted out of life were noticeably missing.
Maybe Melanie thought I hadn’t wanted to know about it, but I had. I wanted to know everything. I just wasn’t aware of what I was missing.
Now that I lived with Kendall, I knew she was scared about starting a new school and making new friends. That she missed her old school but was making new friends here with Drew and Sophie. I wasn’t sure what kind of support system Melanie had for her in Indiana, but here, she had me, my parents, and Sophie’s family. Her world was slowly expanding, and I hoped Kendall would be happy here.
“What if Mom comes back? Will she take me home?”
Pain sliced through my chest that Kendall still thought of Indiana as home. It was premature to think Kendall had started to think of my hometown as anything more than a temporary stop, but I’d still hoped for it.
“She hasn’t told me her plans,” I admitted.
