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“And now Sebastian does.”
“That wasn’t planned, but he adores her. Wouldn’t have his family any other way.”
In the lot, I explained the various types of evergreens, and Sarah helped customers find their perfect tree. I alternated between the lot and helping Heath secure trees to the roofs of the vehicles. As the day went on, I noticed Sarah checking her phone and looking agitated.
At lunch, I grabbed sandwiches from Mom’s fridge, and we sat on the porch to eat them. “Is everything okay? You looked upset.” I nodded toward her phone, which was upside down between us.
“I keep getting calls from Addy’s dad, Gary.”
I tensed. “Is he in town?”
“He wants to know when he can see Addy. It’s funny because we’ve been wondering, and I’ve reached out a few times with no response. But when he wants something, all of a sudden, it’s an emergency. He expects me to drop everything and give him an answer. The other thing is, I’m not ready to let her go at Christmas. He usually doesn’t take her for long, but I worry he changed his mind and will want to take her for a few days.”
“What does your agreement say?”
Her face pinched. “He gets her for Christmas Day this year.”
“Has he ever had her on the day before?”
“I think he took her when she was a baby, and it was too much. He brought her back in a few hours. When he doesn’t take her when he’s supposed to, he expects other days. I feel like I should give it to him because she should see her father.”
“That is a tough situation. Have you talked to an attorney about it?”
“Not about this. I worry about it every year, and it usually ends up working out. Something will inevitably come up, and he can’t see her. She’s disappointed, and I’m relieved. I feel bad about that.”
“He’s stressing you out. You spend most of the year without him, and then he calls and demands you comply with his requests during the most stressful time of the year.”
She let out a breath. “It’s exactly like that.”
“Where does he live?”
“He’s in California. He works some tech job and makes good money. It means he pays child support on time, but he can’t work anywhere else. That’s where he has to be.”
“That’s what he tells himself.”
“I think it’s true to some extent, and honestly? He’s never been much of a father. We haven’t missed him. I’ve missed having someone to share in the load but not him specifically. If that makes sense.”
“It does,” I said, rushing to reassure her.
Her shoulders were tense. “I’m sorry that he’s intruding on our time.”
“I knew when we started dating that you had Addy and everything that came with that, including her father. I wondered how involved he was. I assumed he wasn’t because you almost never talk about him.”
“He doesn’t utilize his visitation because he’s in California. I worry about the day he asks to take her there. He has the right to keep her for two weeks in the summer, but she’s so young he hasn’t even offered.”
“I’d talk to your attorney and see what she recommends.”
“That’s good advice. I want to hold him to our agreement, but at the same time, I don’t want her to be with him on Christmas Day.”
“Do you get the morning?”
“Yes. Because his family celebrates later in the day.”
“You get the two most important parts of Christmas, and if Addy wants to spend time with him, maybe you should let her go.”
“I’ll talk to her and see what she wants to do.”
“If it were me, I’d adhere to the agreement. No visitation outside of it. If he misses the scheduled times, then it’s his loss. That way you aren’t upset by his phone calls, and there are no decisions to make.”
