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“Because I can’t prove to anyone that she really was going to run off with Lucy, and I can’t prove that I didn’t choose to eat those cookies. It wasn’t like she did anything to me or Lucy while I was asleep, so with the circumstances, it would be a massive risk to try to take it to trial.”
“So then, if they’re going to ignore all that and just let her off, then why is she taking a deal that’s going to put her in jail for a couple of months?” Cassie demanded. “It seems to me if there is any reason for her to go to jail at all, then they ought to be locking her up for a long, long time.”
“That’s how I feel about it,” I admitted. “But as my lawyer explained it to me, you can’t charge someone with a crime that they didn’t actually commit. Sure, there are charges that say intent to do something, but I don’t have any proof. I was the one who let her live with me for a week, and then I chose to eat the cookies. Sure, I didn’t know they were spiked, but she didn’t force me to do shit. At least, that’s her argument. The one thing she did do she can’t deny is breaking all that stuff in the kitchen.”
“So, out of everything she’s done, the only thing she’s going to go to jail for is breaking some dishes?” Cassie asked, letting the disbelief show in her tone.
“It’s the only thing I had to nail her on,” I said with an angry shake of my head. “Destruction of property, and since it was under fifteen hundred dollars’ worth of damage that she did, it’s going to be considered a misdemeanor.”
“My God,” Cassie said. “I can’t believe she can get away with all that.”
“There is one good thing,” I told her. “And that’s the fact that she got a no-contact order placed on her right now, and it’s going to continue with the sentence.”
“Is that forever?” Cassie asked.
“As forever as they can be,” I told her. “They do have expiration dates, but anyone who has one in place can go to the court and apply to have them extended, which you better believe I’m going to do. And I’m going to keep doing it long into Lucy’s teenage years.”
“I would do it all the way until she turns eighteen if I were you,” Cassie said. “And maybe by that time, Lucy herself is going to understand how terrible her mother is and won’t want anything to do with her.”
“Well, I’m not going to be the kind of parent who poisons Lucy against her mother. I’ll be honest with her on facts, but I’m not going to plant any extra ideas in her brain. On the same note, however, I’m not going to give Jordan any access to her in her formative years. That’s not happening, no way.”
“Good for you,” Cassie said. “You definitely have a more mature outlook on this than I ever would. And I guess we can take a small victory in the fact that she’s not going to be able to have contact with you regardless. When Lucy is eighteen, she can do what she wants in regards to her mother, but you don’t ever have to deal with that woman again.”
“Exactly,” I said. “I’m having it worked out in the future if there is any reason for her to get a hold of me, which I can’t see why there would be, but if there is, then she’s going to have to go through the court and my lawyer. Never again am I ever going to have to deal with her showing up anywhere, and if she does, there are some heavy consequences, trust me.”
“Thank God,” Cassie said. “From the little I interacted with her, it seemed like she’s the type who only does something if there are severe consequences if she doesn’t.”
“When I look back, I still don’t know what I was thinking when I married her. The level of disdain she and I have for each other now, it’s crazy.”
“Some people are really good at putting up a good front, and from what it sounds like, she’s one of those people. I mean, you let her stay with you for a whole week before that breakdown, so I’m guessing she was behaving.”
“Still,” I said. “I’m just glad that it’s done. I struggled with a lot of guilt with everything, but after that outburst, I was done. I’m glad to finally be able to put it to rest in my own mind and not deal with the guilt over her not being in Lucy’s life. While I hate the thought of having to do that to Lucy, it’s for the best.”
“Well, it’s one of those situations that’s out of your control,” Cassie told me. “It’s not like you don’t want Lucy to have her mother in her life. Her mother has just proven not to be fit.”
“It helps that now I don’t have to worry about her not having a motherly figure in her life though,” I said with a warm smile toward Cassie. “That was one thing that ate me alive for months whenever I would keep Lucy from her mother. I don’t want her to grow up without having that in her life. “
Cassie smiled and reached for my hand, giving it a gentle squeeze as she did.
“I’m not going anywhere,” she promised me. “You can bet on that.”
“Good,” I said as I raised her fingers to my lips and kissed them. “You know, I was worried how attached Lucy was going to get to you at first, but I’m pretty sure now I’m the one I should be worried about because I’m pretty damn attached.”
“Don’t worry,” she laughed. “Because I’m attached to you, too. Both of you.”
I gave her another kiss, this time on the lips before we turned back to our lunch. I had to admit that I never thought things could turn out this well, even if it didn’t look like my ex was going to get the sentence I thought she should.
But then, knowing I had Cassie at my side made a huge difference in every aspect of my life.
I felt like I was finally back in control, no longer just spinning my tires while I did my best to raise my daughter properly.
I felt like I was going places once again.
And it was a feeling that couldn’t be beat.
Chapter Twenty-Five – Two Days Later
Cassie
