My Best Friend's Ex (Daring Divorcees)

by Shannyn Schroeder

  She slipped out the back door to her place. Every time she tried to make a decision in the best interest of the kids, she screwed it up. She had no idea what she was doing. There was a reason she wasn’t a mother.

  Leaving her camera bag on the counter, she went upstairs, sat on her bed, and stared at her closet. Her suitcase was right there. It would take her less than thirty minutes to pack and get a ticket to London. She could just go early. By the time she finished the job, things here would be settled. All decisions would be firmly up to Trevor and she wouldn’t have to take the heat for anything.

  She grabbed her bag and flipped it open on her bed. As soon as she turned back to the closet to pick out clothes, Trevor’s words rang in her head: you always run when you think you’re going to be left.

  Damn it. She hated when he was right. She did run. But she’d also told him she was done running. Time to follow through.

  “Callie?” Trevor called from the stairs.

  “Up here,” she answered as she scooped her suitcase back up.

  He stopped abruptly when he reached her room. “What’s going on?”

  “Nothing.” She tucked her bag back in the closet.

  “Callie.”

  Turning to face him, she took a deep breath. “Just a little freak-out. Old habits, you know.”

  Concern filled his face. “What happened?”

  “Nothing really.”

  “It must’ve been something to make you want to run.”

  She sighed and sank onto her bed. “Hannah came to me all like, ‘Dad won’t listen. You have to talk to him.’ Then she told me it was about going to the other side of the world and I was like, ‘No way.’ She got mad and stomped off. That was bad enough, but then Evan looked at me and said I’m not their friend anymore.”

  Trevor sat beside her and laughed. Actually laughed.

  “I don’t see what’s so funny.”

  “Welcome to the world of parenting. Hannah tried a work-around and got mad because it didn’t get her what she wanted. Do you have any idea how often she tried to play me and Lisa against each other? As far as what Evan said, he’s probably right, but I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing. If you’re friends with them, it’s harder to parent.”

  There was that word again. “Parent.” He was right. She had wanted to be all in on this family thing, including the tough parts of parenting.

  She laced her fingers in his and leaned her head on his shoulder. “Thanks. I needed to hear that.”

  “What do you think about Hannah? Do you really think it’s a bad idea for her to study abroad for a year, or did you just say that to have my back?”

  “Do you think I’d not give my honest opinion?” She chuckled.

  “I guess not.”

  “She’s so young. The world is a scary place. I did tell her maybe later, after we have a chance to investigate the program and check out all the options. She didn’t want to hear that, either.”

  “I don’t know if I’ll ever be okay with sending her that far away.”

  A sudden thought struck Callie. “What about if you didn’t have to send her alone?”

  “I’m pretty sure most places would frown on a dad tagging along for her semester.”

  Callie straightened. “No, I’m talking about taking her with me to England when I go. It’ll be for a few weeks, and she might miss the beginning of the school year, but the experience would be good for her. It would give her the taste of traveling she wants. You wouldn’t have to worry about her safety because she’d be with me.”

  Trevor studied her a minute. The silence nearly broke her. Maybe he didn’t trust her to be alone with Hannah out of the country.

  “I’d still worry. About both of you. But we can talk about it.”

  Callie wrapped her arms around him. Every time she thought she knew what to expect from him, he surprised her. “I love you,” she whispered.

  “I love you, too.”

  …

  Three weeks later, Callie was once again packing her suitcases. It was time for her trip to Great Britain, but this time, she looked forward to the work because she had her very own assistant. Hannah was joining her for the two-week tour. Callie had been surprised when Trevor agreed, because Hannah would miss the first day of school orientation.

  She’d never seen Hannah so excited, though. She’d done nothing but talk about all the places she wanted to visit. Luckily, since Callie was there to take tourist photos, she was getting paid to take Hannah on a tour. It was the best of both worlds.

  Trevor was tense at the thought of Hannah being so far away, but Callie understood that was normal parental worry. The important thing was that he trusted Callie to take his daughter.

  Callie hauled her bags over to the house. They were all going to have dinner together tonight. Then Trevor would drive them to the airport in the morning. Evan would drive himself to the jobsite to get to work. Callie smiled. Trevor had been true to his word. Over the last few weeks, he’d really worked on being less controlling.

  Their family wasn’t perfect, but they fit together well. Callie was insanely happy.

  At least until she walked through the back door of the house and heard the one voice that had the ability to always ruin her good mood. What the hell was Diane doing here?

  Callie froze and although it was juvenile, she eavesdropped.

  “How can you trust that woman to take Hannah thousands of miles away? She’s not her mother.”

  “Hannah is well aware of who her mother was. We all are, including Callie. But she’s part of their lives. She’s not going anywhere.”

  “You don’t understand the influence she can have, Trevor.”

  Callie’s stomach turned. God, why would Diane do this to her? She knew Diane didn’t like her, but to try to ruin her relationship with Trevor and the kids… Straightening her shoulders, she rolled her bags through the kitchen and into the living room. Diane and Trevor sat across from each other. Both of them shut their mouths at her entrance.

  “Hi,” she said, cautiously.

  “Hey,” Trevor said. He rose and took her bags from her, leaving her with nothing to cling to. He tucked them in the corner and came back to her. Taking her hand, he pulled her to the couch.

  “What’s going on?”

  “Diane drove here to talk to me about Hannah going on the trip with you.”

  Callie pressed her lips together. She didn’t want to spend her last night in Chicago fighting with Diane. Plus, why the hell should she have to?

  Diane glared at her.

  “Forgive me for being rude, Diane, but it’s none of your business. Trevor has given Hannah permission to take this trip, and that’s all that matters.”

  Trevor laid a hand on Callie’s thigh, and her entire body tensed. Please don’t change your mind to appease this woman.

  “Actually, Diane, this was a decision Callie and I made together. I told you weeks ago that we’re a couple.”

  He had? He hadn’t said anything to Callie about it.

  “So she gets more of a vote on my grandchildren’s lives than I do?”

  “Callie and I are in love. We are a couple. We are raising the kids together. If you can’t accept that, I don’t know what to tell you. I don’t want to keep the kids from you, but I won’t have you bad-mouthing Callie to them. They love her. So do I. She’s not going anywhere.”

  Diane sniffed. “Except to Europe.”

  “It’s a two-week trip, Diane. It’s work for me, but it will be a great experience for Hannah,” Callie said. She hoped simple logic would help.

  “This time it’s two weeks. What about the next trip? What about when you go to dangerous locations and Hannah thinks it will be fun?”

  Callie clenched her jaw. Logic wasn’t helping. She should’ve known better.

  Trevor took her hand and interlaced his fingers with hers. “I trust Callie to make positive, safe decisions for the kids. We talk through things together. If there’s another trip Ha
nnah wants to take with Callie, we’ll discuss it.”

  Callie was stunned. Words completely left her. Trevor was not only standing his ground with Diane, but he was defending Callie to her.

  Diane’s face grew pink. “It seems as though she already has her hooks in you, and no matter what I say, you won’t listen.”

  “Not when it comes to my relationship or what I allow the kids to do.”

  Diane stood. “Would it be all right for me to say goodbye to the children?”

  “Of course. Like I said before, I want you to be part of their lives, but if you want a relationship with them, you’ll have to accept Callie. We’re a package deal.”

  Diane simply looked from Trevor to her and then turned to go upstairs to see the kids.

  Callie’s stomach flipped. As much as she didn’t like Diane, she didn’t want to cause a rift between the kids and their grandparents. They sat in silence until Diane came back. Callie still wasn’t sure what to say.

  Trevor walked Diane to the door and locked up. Callie stood and waited for him to come back. Simply having Diane out of the house eased the tension in her. When he neared, she wrapped her arms would his neck. “So I have my hooks in you, huh?”

  “Oh, yeah. Stuck deep, too.”

  She laughed and pressed closer to him. “Thank you for that.”

  “For what?”

  “For standing up to Diane. For making me and the kids a priority. For explaining that we’re a team, even if she doesn’t want to accept it.”

  “I know I avoided fighting with her before, mostly because I want the kids to know their grandparents, but they don’t get to make rules for my life. This is our family.”

  Those were the best words to hear. Callie loved having a family of her own.

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  Acknowledgments

  To my Panera Supper Club pals—Sunday nights are the most productive of the week because of you. You were awesome in helping me create Craft Beer Guy. Thank you for the brainstorming and beta reading and critiquing—during drafting and again when I was banging my head during revisions. You guys are awesome.

  And to my kid, who wants credit for supplying me with the one word I needed during revisions.

  About the Author

  Shannyn Schroeder is the author of the O’Leary series and the For Your Love series, contemporary romances centered around large Irish-American families in Chicago, and the Hot & Nerdy series about nerdy friends finding love. When she’s not wrangling her three kids or writing, she watches a ton of TV and loves to bake cookies.

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