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“No. You are.”
“No. I couldn’t ask him for money. I know that —” she broke off abruptly. The little bit she knew about the finances on the ranch was information that she thought she should not share with Chalmer, even if she thought that it might keep him from being misguided in the amount of money he thought the ranch had.
“Oh, yes, you can. You can, and you will.” He smiled evilly. “If you don’t, I’m not going to bring your baby back to you.”
“No. You don’t get to take my children.”
“I think we should share custody. And it’s time for my turn. Are you going to deny a father the right to see his child?”
“Yes. I am. You lied to me. You told me you weren’t married. I never would have been with you to begin with if I had known that you had a wife and a child at home.”
“Whatever. You can pretend that you have values and morals all day long if you want to, but we both know that you don’t.”
“I do. When it comes to that. I mean, I’ve changed.”
He laughed, like the idea of her changing, of her being better than what she used to be was ludicrous.
She couldn’t believe she’d ever been with this person. The difference between him and Ezra was so stark. Ezra had given her all the grace she needed to cover all the mistakes that she’d made, and he believed that she truly was trying to be better. Not only believed, but encouraged her in that direction.
Now she actually was scared. What if he did take her children? Did he have a right to them?
She knew the ranch didn’t have an overabundance of money. So if he didn’t think he could take the children, and he wanted money for them... What if Ezra couldn’t pay?
“You’re not on their birth certificates. I never put you there. So I think that means that you don’t have any right at all to them.”
“I can demand a paternity test.”
“I guess you’d have to go to court for that.” She figured that would take money. Surely. And maybe he wouldn’t want to put the expense out in order to claim the kids. And then she thought of something. “And, if you prove that you’re the father, then you should be paying for your children. There’s a whole bunch of years you didn’t pay a cent for. You owe me.”
“Now you just wait here a minute. I shouldn’t have to pay for these kids. It wasn’t my idea for you to get pregnant.”
“You were there too,” she said, with a little bit of irony in her voice, although she was too scared to really appreciate it to the fullness that it deserved. Eugene squirmed, and she realized herhand had tightened around him, until she was pressing both of her children against her body. Like that would somehow keep them safe.
“I don’t think that’s legal.” He lifted his chin and crossed his arms over his chest.
He’d come in, but he hadn’t made any effort to interact with his children, or to touch them in any way. That made Alaska a little bit sad, but not too terribly much. Ezra was more than willing to be a father to her kids, and she appreciated that more than she could say. Probably more than anything else he had done.
“Is it legal for you to take your child and then demand payment from my husband in order to get him back?” she said, saying a small prayer that God would give her the courage to continue to face him. She felt like maybe her words were getting through, and Chalmer was rethinking the whole idea of kidnapping his kids.
“I never said it was. You’re the one that’s all the sudden doing everything according to the law.”
She pressed her lips together and didn’t say anything
“Now. Are you going to hand them over, or am I going to have to take them from you by force?”
“I don’t want you to take them at all,” she said, racking her brain for what she could do to try to thwart him, but short of putting a child down and picking up a weapon, she was stuck. And she wouldn’t be able to outrun him with a child on each hip.
“You didn’t answer my question. Give me the kid.”
“No. They’re mine. And you’re not taking them.”
She’d no sooner said that, then Chalmer took several quick steps forward and shoved her as hard as he could. She hadn’t been expecting it, and then she was concerned about making sure Alice didn’t land under her when she fell, so she tried to land on her back, so that she didn’t hurt either one of her children, but in the process, she twisted to the side and struck her head on the corner of the table. The blow stunned her to the point where she couldn’t make her arm hold tight, and he was able to grab Alice.
“You can keep that one. He’ll be a pain in the butt, sniffling the whole time.”
Chalmer walked toward the door. “Get your husband to pay, and I’ll bring her back.”
Alaska tried to shake off the fog and the blackness pulled at her vision. Eugene had fallen out of her arm, and lay crying on the floor. She struggled to her hands and knees, with the sole intent of going after Chalmer to get Alice back.
