by Lee McKenzie
Now he was angry. Really, really angry. “Kate is not in trouble with the law. We had a misunderstanding, she was upset and she made a mistake. Why can’t you—”
“Jon, I really have to go. We’re on our way to a dinner party and I don’t want to keep Xavier waiting. ”
His phone went dead. He stood there a few seconds longer, pressing his forehead against the cool glass. How on earth was he going to explain this to Kate?
“Who thinks I’m in trouble with law?”
He swung around to find her standing at the island...where he’d left the court documents.
“What’s all this?” she asked.
“I didn’t expect you to be up this early.”
“The doorbell woke me up. What’s all this?” she asked again. “Was that Mom? What’s going on?”
After he had just told his ex-wife that Kate needed a chance to express her opinion on this, he couldn’t very well keep her in the dark.
“Have a seat. I’ll make breakfast and fill you in.”
* * *
SARAH FASTENED THE week’s worth of invoices with a paper clip and set them aside. Next up were yesterday’s credit card receipts, which she hadn’t had time to enter online yesterday because she’d had to pick up Casey and Kate at the school so they could have dinner and get ready for the dance. But first she needed a break from her Saturday morning paperwork.
“And another cup of coffee,” she decided.
Downstairs in the kitchen she filled her mug, rinsed the carafe, stirred cream and sugar into her coffee, and sipped some on her way back to her office. “Ahhh. Perfect.”
This would see her through the rest of the morning until it was time to get ready for work. She was halfway up the stairs when the doorbell rang. Likely someone here to see Casey, but she was out walking the dog so Sarah turned around and went down to answer it.
“Jonathan, hi. How are—” She cut herself off as soon as she saw the look on his face. “What’s wrong?”
He jabbed his fingers through his hair and left them there while he shook his head. “I hate to bother you...I know you’re busy...but I was wondering if you could spare a few minutes.”
“Of course. Come in, come in. Coffee?” She held up the mug cradled in her hands. “I just drained the pot but I can make more. Come on into the kitchen.”
“I don’t want you to go to any trouble.”
“It’s just coffee. No trouble at all.”
She led the way and offered him a seat at the island. That’s when she noticed the envelope in his hand. He didn’t say anything as she poured water into the coffeemaker and scooped coffee into the basket. He really wasn’t himself and she assumed his concern was due to whatever was inside that package.
She left her mug on the counter next to the coffeemaker and took another out of the cupboard, then she sat across from him. “Okay, what’s up? I’m guessing it’s not good.”
“It isn’t. In fact I can’t think of anything worse.”
For a man whose daughter had run away less than a week ago, that was really saying something. She reached out, put her hand on the back of his, and waited for him to speak.
“Is Casey here?” he asked.
“She’s walking the dog.”
“Ah.”
“Why?”
“I was wondering if maybe Kate had already talked to her.” He turned his hand and wrapped his fingers around hers, as though he needed something to hold on to.
“I don’t know. What’s in the envelope?”
“Court documents.”
She felt her eyebrows go up. “This doesn’t have anything to do with the girls’ little escapade the other day, does it?” Surely she would have heard something, too, if it did.
“Yes. No. Not directly.”
Whatever it was, she could see this was hard for him. Rather than keep pressing, she had to let him get the story out his way.
He pulled some official-looking documents out of the envelope. “These are from Georgette’s lawyer. She’s applying for full custody of Kate.”
Sarah opened her mouth. No, there were no words, so she snapped it shut.
“She wants to take her to Europe and enroll her in boarding school.”
Sarah was off her chair in a flash, dragging her hand out of Jonathan’s in the process. “You can’t be serious. Boarding school? What did Kate say when you told her?”
Or maybe Kate wanted to go and that’s what had Jonathan all tied up in knots?
“She said no way. She says we’re ruining her life, that she hates her mother, and that she’ll run away again if we make her go.”
“The poor kid. I don’t believe for a minute that she’ll run away again, but I’ll be happy to talk to her, if you like.”
“That would be great. I know she respects what you have to say.”
Obviously the same couldn’t be said about the girl’s mother right now. “Thank you. That means a lot.”
The coffee was ready so she poured a cup and passed it to him, then returned to her seat with hers.
“Have you talked to your lawyer?” she asked.
He looked defeated. “No. I called and left a message so he’ll probably call on Monday.”
Sarah was willing to bet Georgette and her lawyer had purposely timed it so these papers arrived when Jonathan’s lawyer wasn’t available, leaving him to stew about this all weekend. What a hateful thing to do.
“I’m sure you have nothing to worry about,” she said. Which was a big fat lie and they both knew it, but she pressed on with it anyway. “You’re a great dad and Kate belongs here with you, not locked away in some hoity-toity boarding school. Besides, that must cost a fortune.”
“For Georgette, money isn’t an issue.” He gulped a mouthful of coffee. “And because there’s a lot more money in her bank account than there is in mine, she believes the court will rule in her favor.”
“Money isn’t everything. Kids need a family, not a fortune. They need parents to be there when they need them, setting an example for them. You’re not just Kate’s father, you’re the role model who shows her how to live her life. Who’s going to fill that role at a boarding school?”
Jonathan shook his head. “I don’t know anything about boarding schools.”
“Neither do I.” But she knew that the kids who went there wouldn’t get to spend much time with their families. “Has Kate talked to her mother about this and told her how she feels?”
“No, not yet. And as it turns out, that’s part of the problem. Georgette called her several times this week and Kate never answered. Now, along with being convinced I’m an irresponsible parent who doesn’t supervise his kid, she thinks I’ve turned Kate against her.”
“Oh, for heaven’s sake. That’s ridiculous.”
“To you and me, yes, but not to Georgette.” He drained his mug and set it on the counter.
“Would you like more? I made lots.”
“No thanks.” He stood and stuffed the pages back into the envelope. “I’ve taken up enough of your time, and I know you have to go to work this afternoon.”
She walked with him to the front door. “If you and Casey don’t have plans tonight, you’re welcome to join us again for dinner.”
“Oh, thank you. That would be great but Liz Jacobson, the veterinarian who looks after the animals at the shelter, is having a barbecue for the volunteers who work there. She invited me to go with Casey. Petey’s going, too.”
“Sounds like fun.” Poor guy. He definitely wasn’t having any.
She reached up, placed her hands on either side of his face and trained her gaze on those very sad but oh-so-blue eyes. “If there’s anything I can do, I want you to call, okay? That goes for Kate, too.”
He leaned in and touched hi
s forehead to hers. “Thank you. That means a lot.”
“I’m serious about that. Anything.”
* * *
KATE GRABBED HER phone when it rang, then hit cancel when her mother’s picture flashed on the screen.
“Ugh! I hate you. Go away.”
She pulled a pillow over her head and snuggled a purring Princess a little closer. She’d hated it when her parents split up, but she finally got used to living with just her dad. She’d hated it when they’d moved to Serenity Bay, but she already liked it here. She’d made new friends who turned out to be way cooler than she’d thought they’d be, and now she practically had a boyfriend. Last night he’d held her hand in the restaurant and again in the backseat of her dad’s car on the drive home. He might even have kissed her if her dad hadn’t been hanging around, waiting for her to come inside and for Henry to go across the street. Still, she’d gone to bed squee-ing over the hand-holding, then woken up this morning and squee-ed some more. And then her mom had to go and ruin everything...everything...with this stupid plan to send her to boarding school.
She pulled the pillow even tighter over her ears when her dad knocked on her bedroom door.
“Go away. Please.”
The door opened. “It’s me. Casey. Your dad said it was okay for me to come up.”
She flipped the pillow onto the floor and sat up. “You heard what happened?”
Casey nodded. “My mom told me.”
“Come in and close the door. I’m glad you’re here. I need to figure out what I’m going to do.”
Casey toed off her shoes and sat cross-legged on the end of the bed. “My mom said nothing’s been decided yet, not until you go to court or something.”
“You don’t know my mom. If she wants something, she gets it. When she first went to Europe, she didn’t want me there so she left me with my dad. Now she’s mad at him because she thinks it’s his fault I ran away, so she wants to stick me in a boarding school.”
Her friend made an I-told-you-so face.
“I know, I know. It was a dumb thing to do but nothing bad happened. At least not till this.”
“We’ll figure something out,” Casey said.
“Like what?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. We’ll come up with a plan.”
“I’ll tell my mom that I’ll run away again if she sends me away to school.”
“Right,” Casey said, and she was actually laughing. “’Cause that worked so well last time.”
Princess stretched and then nudged Kate’s hand. “So what sort of plan do you have in mind?”
Casey gave her a sly little smile.
“What? Have you thought of something?”
“Well, maybe. Remember that first night you came to my house and you said that if our parents...you know, got together...then my mom would let me have a dog and your dad would get off your case?”
“Yeah, I remember. And then we got them to take Petey for a walk and saw them making out.”
“Ew. They were just kissing.”
Kate laughed. “You’re so naive. Has Dex kissed you yet?”
Casey’s eyes went wide. “No!”
“The two of you were pretty hot on the dance floor last night, and he had his arm around you the whole time we were at the restaurant.”
Casey blushed like crazy. “What about you and Henry? Holding hands under the table, as if no one could tell.”
“You could?” Rats. She’d liked believing it was something only she and Henry knew about it.
“Has he kissed you?”
“No. My dad wouldn’t let us out of his sight last night.”
Her friend grinned at her. “Parents, huh? But I’m still having a hard time imagining Henry kissing anyone.”
“Um...why?”
“Because. He’s Henry. I’ve known him since we were little kids and it’s weird to think of him that way.”
“Well, I just met him and I can tell you it is so not weird.”
Casey pulled her ponytail out of its elastic, smoothed her hair back and refastened it. “Enough about kissing boys. We’re talking about the problem with your mom.”
Thinking about Henry was a very nice distraction, but she was right. “Okay, we’ll save the boy talk for later. What were you saying about your mom and my dad?”
“Just that I think you might have been right. I think they do kind of have a thing for each other, and I’m pretty sure my mom’s almost ready to let me keep Petey, and you said yourself that your dad has eased up on all the rules.”
“I guess.” Kate rolled Princess onto her back and scratched her belly. “But what does that have to do with me being shipped off to boarding school?”
“Well, if the judge knew your dad was seeing someone—”
“Someone like your mom.”
“Yes, and if the judge knew that the person your dad was seeing was practically like a mother to you, maybe the judge would let you stay here.”
Kate slid off the bed and grabbed a comb and hairbrush off her dressing table. “I’m going to fix your hair. That ponytail has got to go,” she said. “I’m not sure about our parents, though. I was watching them last night and they hardly talked to each other.”
“They danced together.”
Kate brushed out her friend’s hair, then reached for a magazine she’d been reading and flipped it open to a page of celebrity hairstyles she’d noticed. “I’m going to try this one.”
Casey glanced at it. “I can’t wear my hair like that. Why don’t you do yours that way?”
“Yes, you can. And it’s easier to try new styles on someone else first. Now hold still.” She swept Casey’s long blond hair to one side and pinned it. “Anyway, like I was saying, our parents just had one dance. Otherwise they seemed to ignore each other.”
“They were chaperones,” Casey pointed out. “And they weren’t exactly ignoring each other this morning when I came back from walking the dog.”
“Really?” Maybe this was a possibility. “What were they doing?”
“I came up the back stairs onto the deck so I could wipe off Petey’s paws before I let him in the house. I could see down the hallway to the front door, and they were standing there with their arms around each other.”
“Making out?”
“Would you stop saying that? It’s gross. And no, they weren’t. They were just standing there holding on to each other.”
Interesting. “I’ll bet my dad wanted to talk to her about the papers my mom sent.”
“Maybe. Anyway, I think they like each other and it might not take much, you know, to convince a judge.”
Kate slid another pin into Casey’s hair and finger-combed the waves into a cascade over one shoulder. “There. You look just like Carrie Underwood.”
“Let me see.” She hopped up and looked at herself in the mirror over Kate’s dressing table. “Okay, yes, it’s nice, but I can’t wear my hair like this when I’m at soccer practice or working at the animal shelter.”
“Sure, but you can when you’re on a date with Dexter.”
Kate laughed when Casey’s face turned pink. She was tempted to tease her some more, but decided against it. “So, about our parents. This might work, but we’ll have to figure out how we’re going to pull it off.”
“I’ll think on it,” Casey said. “Now can I have my ponytail back?”
“Sure.” Kate plucked the pins out of Casey’s hair and redid the classic ponytail. She was glad her friend had come over. She’d needed the distraction. “We should call Alycia and see if she wants to hang out this afternoon.”
“Sure. My mom’s at work so she won’t mind.”
And here’s hoping Alycia mentioned it to Brody and that he would tell Henry and Dex to join them.
“Just don’t say anything to anyone about my mom or the whole boarding school thing, okay?”
“Not a word.”
“Thanks. Besides, if our plan works, it’ll be just like the whole mess never happened.”
“It has to work,” Casey said.
And they sealed the deal with a high five.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
JONATHAN DIDN’T CONNECT with his lawyer until school was dismissed on Monday afternoon. After ten minutes on the phone with the man, he felt as though he’d been lashed to a railroad track in front of a locomotive on full throttle. Being awarded initial custody of Kate had been a straightforward matter.
Now things had changed. Georgette still traveled a great deal, but she did have a permanent residence. Her income was substantially higher than Jon’s and she had a wealthy new husband. And then there was the not-so-insignificant matter of Kate recently being a runaway. Judges always based decisions on the best interests of the child, and under ordinary circumstances they most often ruled in favor of the mother. In this case, it was almost certain. The only positive thing he’d heard was that the judge would want to meet privately with Kate to find out how she felt about the current and proposed situations.
Kate wanted to stay in Serenity Bay. More likely because of her friends than her father, but he’d take it. Her grades had improved, and she was genuinely sorry that her impulsive decision to take off had precipitated Georgette’s change of heart. Now the most he could hope for was that the court would see he was a responsible father who was making a good home for his daughter. And he hoped Kate would show the judge that she was a kid who made a mistake and was now trying to make up for it.
His lawyer said the hearing would be scheduled in a couple weeks, so they had time to prepare. And then he’d asked something entirely unexpected. If there a woman in Jon’s life, and therefore potentially in Kate’s, that might tip the balance in his favor.
He’d had to be honest and say no. Sarah was technically in his life but she wasn’t in his life, not in the sense the lawyer was talking about. Still, she had offered to help.
