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“Yay!” Stevie’s happy voice rang out.
Josie giggled against my lips, and I couldn’t stop my own smile.
51. Josie
Tyler told me he loved me last night, and I naively thought that’s how our story would end. I thought we made it to our happily ever after.
I just wish we knew then that big earthquakes were coming our way.
I had taken the rest of the week off work, but at the end of the school day on Tuesday, I ran up to the school to drop off more detailed sub plans. I thanked God I went when I did, because what I saw in the parking lot made me break out in a run.
“What are you doing?” I practically shrieked as I bolted through the snow to reach them.
“Josie! Help me!” Stevie screamed in desperation. She was sandwiched between a weathered looking woman in her sixties with botched bleach hair and a balding man with a beer belly. They both had a firm grip on Stevie’s arms and were practically dragging her to a beat-up, old minivan.
“Stop being so dramatic,” the woman snarled at Stevie. I immediately knew the woman must’ve been related. She had the same blue eyes as Stevie, but on her, they looked ice cold.
I immediately dialed Tyler and hoped he’d pick up right away. My body was shaking with a panicked rage I’d never felt before. “You cannot take a child from school,” I shouted. “This is illegal.”
“She’s our grandchild,” the woman snapped at me. “We have rights to her.”
I felt like I’d been knocked back by those words.Where the hell was Tyler?The terrified look on Stevie’s face was making me edge on hysteria. There were still five minutes until the final bell rang for the lower elementary school students. Tyler had to be getting here soon. I just needed to stall until he got here and solved this.
“You had no rights to Fiona as soon as she turned eighteen, what makes you think you’d have rights to her baby?”
“Fiona was an ungrateful little bitch,” the woman sneered. Stevie cried out against her cruel words. “We deserve a do-over.”
“Show me that you have rights. Show me DNA proof. Show mesomethingthat permits you to take her,” I demanded.
The woman’s voice dripped with disdain as she said, “We’ll show you a court order, honey.”
Tyler’s large truck swung around the bend. He immediately threw the door open and ran, leaving his truck in the middle of the parking lot with the keys still in ignition.
But before Tyler could even reach us, the old man threw a folder at his face. “You’ve been served, dipshit,” he grumbled.
Tyler threw the folder to the ground and his face turned a deep shade of red. “Get your hands off my daughter, right now,” he growled in a menacing tone.
But the woman actually laughed evilly in his face. “Oh, that’s cute. I can see what my slut of a daughter saw in you.” Then she addressed me. “Honey, why don’t you show me whathehas that says he can take her. He’s not even on the birth certificate. Wecouldcharge him with kidnapping. But don’t worry, we won’t.” Her wrinkled face broke into a crazed smile. “He’s our little cash cow for the next ten years.”
Tyler’s face scrunched in confusion as they just continued forward and started forcing Stevie into the van.
Stevie started flailing her arms and legs, kicking against the two of them. But when the grandfather grabbed her waist and lifted her off the ground to shove her roughly in the car, I threw myself at Tyler to stop him from doing something he’d regret.
His entire body was trembling violently as he looked down at me furiously like I was a traitor.
“Calm down,” I begged. “Violence willruinyour chances of custody. The school has cameras. This will all be on tape.”
When I knew he was no longer in danger of throwing punches, I reached for the folder on the ground and quickly tore it open to read the contents inside.
Stevie was screaming hysterically from the car now. “Daddy! Don’t let them take me!”
I’d never heard her call him by that title before. From the desperate look on Tyler’s face, he was thinking the same thing. Her screams were torturous to him.
“I promise I won’t skip class anymore!” she screamed. “I promise I’ll be good! Please! Daddy!” The hysteria in her voice was like a knife to the heart for me, so I couldn’t even imagine the mental turmoil Tyler was experiencing.
Tyler rushed forward to face her through the dusty back seat windows. “It’s okay, baby. Stay strong. I’ll get you back. I’ll get you back, I promise.”
Clearly unafraid of running him over, the minivan lurched forward. Tyler followed the van, shouting promises to her until he couldn’t anymore.
