The Parent Trap

by Lee McKenzie

  Casey grinned. “My mom keeps hers in her briefcase. It’ll be easy to find.”

  “What are we going to do, send fake text messages?”

  “That’s what I was thinking. But first I’ll talk to your dad after school and you’ll need to go to the store and talk to my mom.”

  “About what?”

  Two more kids came into the atrium and joined the group at the next bench. Not wanting anyone to hear what they were up to, Kate leaned in so Casey could whisper the rest of the plan into her ear.

  “What do you think?”

  “It’s brilliant,” she said. “That’s definitely a high five!”

  * * *

  AFTER WORK THAT AFTERNOON, Sarah set her briefcase and car keys on the counter while she unpacked a bag of groceries, stowing frozen dinners in the freezer and assorted packages in the pantry. She never felt like cooking, but lately she didn’t much feel like eating out, either.

  Casey came in and lounged against the island. “What’s for dinner?”

  “I picked up some things we can heat up in the microwave. I hope that’s okay.”

  “Sure. Do you mind if I use your phone to look up something? I just remembered that everyone wants to see a movie on Friday. I’d like to see what’s on.”

  “Help yourself.” Once she’d put everything away, she folded the reusable grocery bag and stuffed it into a drawer. “Would you like to have dinner now?”

  Casey put her phone back on the counter. “Maybe later. I need to talk to Henry about having him take some photographs for the yearbook. Come on, Petey. Let’s go.”

  Just as well. She could feel another headache coming on. Kate had come to the store that afternoon to tell her that her father had said no to the part-time job because he wanted her to spend her time on schoolwork. Talk about a flimsy excuse. Kate was keeping up with all of her assignments now, he’d told her that himself. This was about him and Sarah. She never would have pegged him as the vindictive type, but why else would he make his daughter stay away from her?

  There was nothing she could do about it, though, and right now she needed a Tylenol.

  Her phone buzzed as was she leaving the kitchen.

  Casey came to see me about the soccer team. Very upset. Can we talk?

  Paolo’s at 7? Jon

  Why would Casey be upset about the soccer team? And if she was, why hadn’t she said anything ?

  Sarah called Casey and heard her phone ringing inside her backpack. That wasn’t going to work, so she called Henry’s house. His mother told her they’d taken the dog for a walk.

  If she didn’t know better, she might think her daughter was trying to avoid her. She checked her watch. Six-thirty. She’d better go meet Jonathan, she decided. This could be something really important. She scribbled a note and left it on the counter where Casey would see it when she came home.

  * * *

  JON DIDN’T THINK he had ever been so disappointed with anyone. Casey had stopped by his office after school, on the verge of tears, and told him that her mom wanted her to drop the soccer team because she had too many other commitments. He’d met a lot of kids throughout his career and few were as capable as that girl was. Plus, she was one of his best players and the assistant captain. He was actually a little disgusted to think Sarah would use her kid to get back at him.

  He was pretty sure Kate didn’t know about this. She surely would have said something to him if she did.

  “Dad?” she called from the foyer. “Casey and I are taking her dog for a walk. I’ll see you in a while, okay?”

  “Okay.” He still needed to make dinner, but this let him off the hook for a bit. He picked up the TV remote, thinking maybe the news in the rest of the world was even worse than it was in his, when he heard his phone beeping. Hoping it wasn’t even more bad news, he followed the sound and found it where he’d left it on the counter by the coffeemaker.

  Kate came to the store today. Very upset about her job. Can we talk?

  Paolo’s at 7? Sarah

  Why would Kate be upset about her job? The way she talked about it, it was the best thing in her life right now. And if she was upset, why hadn’t she said anything to him about it? He called Kate’s phone and heard it ringing in her bag in the foyer. It was now six thirty-five. If he wanted to get to the bottom of this, he’d better go meet Sarah. It’s not as though he had any other options.

  * * *

  JONATHAN WAS ALREADY at Paolo’s, sitting at a small table tucked away in a corner of the restaurant when Sarah arrived.

  He stood and waited until she was seated before he sat back down again. He looked tense.

  “Hi.”

  “Hi,” he said. “I got your text message.”

  “I didn’t send you a text message. I got yours, though, asking me to meet you here.”

  “I didn’t send one, either.”

  He leaned back in his chair and she could see the light come on for him at the same time it did for her.

  “Kate,” he said.

  “And Casey. Those two little monsters.”

  “Casey came to see me in my office this afternoon,” he said.

  “Kate came to see me at the store, too.”

  Maria scurried over to take their order.

  “Coffee, please,” Jonathan said.

  “I’ll have the same, please.”

  Maria nodded and headed back to the kitchen.

  “The text message you didn’t send said she went to your store today, and then something about her being upset about the job.”

  “She did come to see me. She said you had changed your mind about the job and weren’t going to let her take it after all.”

  He gave his head an exasperated shake. “Let me guess. You received a message that said Casey came to see me about the soccer team.”

  Sarah nodded.

  “She said you were making her drop the team because she had too many commitments.”

  She stared at him in stunned surprise, and then she started to laugh. He joined her.

  “I would never pull her off the team.”

  “And I’m as excited as Kate is to have her working for you. She’s applying herself at school, being more responsible...well, except for this.”

  Sarah laughed again. “I wonder whose idea this was? Casey’s or Kate’s?”

  “I suspect what one doesn’t think of, the other one does.”

  That was true. The coffee arrived and Sarah busied herself with the cream and sugar, suddenly feeling self-conscious because she knew he was watching her.

  “I like it sweet.”

  “I can see that.”

  She took a few sips, inhaled the rich scent of the dark Italian roast, then set her cup down. “So, how do we handle this?”

  “I’m guessing we shouldn’t ground them.”

  She was glad he could still make her laugh. “Oh, I think we can be more creative than that.”

  He held up his cup and she tapped hers to it. “While we think about that, I want to say I’m really sorry about the other night. You’ve already been a big help with Kate and I had no business trying to pressure you into doing something that made you uncomfortable. I was way out of line.”

  “I’m sorry, too. I’ll admit I was surprised, but I completely overreacted.” And she had been more surprised by his feelings for her than the proposition. “The thing is, I rushed into a marriage once before and it was a total disaster, almost from the beginning. I promised myself I would never do anything like that again.”

  Jonathan appeared to be searching for words. “You thought I was asking you to—” He gulped some coffee, sputtering a little before he continued. “To marry me?”

  “Well, no, not exactly. I thought...I don’t know what I thought. I didn�
��t know exactly what you wanted from me, and I panicked.”

  He leaned on his forearms. “There’s no way you could have known what I wanted. I didn’t know myself. But I’ve had a couple of sleepless nights to mull it over.”

  That made a couple of sleepless nights times two. “And did you figure it out?” She held her breath while she waited for his answer.

  “I want you in my life. I want you and your daughter in mine and Kate’s.”

  She started breathing again. “I’d like that, too. For me and Casey.”

  She reached across the table and he took her hand. “If there’s even a remote possibility that you’d be with us in court that day...and I’m not saying I need you there, but I would like to have you there. If you’ll agree to come with us, it’ll be a privilege to introduce you as my friend and Kate’s mentor.”

  She felt herself tearing up. “Of course I’ll go. I wouldn’t miss it. And if there’s anything else...”

  He shook his head. “No, that’s it. The rest is up to me and Kate, and a whole lot of luck.”

  For several minutes they drank their coffee in silence and she realized it was the most comfortable she’d been a long time. He knew how to let her be. No one else had ever done that for her.

  “So what are we going to do about those girls?” she asked.

  “What do you have in mind? I’m not very creative when it comes to this kind of thing.”

  Sarah grinned. “I am. I was thinking a little dose of their own medicine.”

  He chuckled at that. “I was thinking we should thank them for setting us up, but I like your plan better.” He took her hand again, ran his thumb across her palm. “What are you suggesting?”

  She pulled her phone out of her bag. “I say we send our daughters a text message and say we’ve agreed that a time-out for both of them will be the best thing for everyone.”

  “Oh, now you’re thinking like a teenager.” Jonathan took his phone out of his jacket pocket.

  They tapped out messages to their girls, reading them out loud, making each other laugh before they sent them.

  “You two lovebirds, you are wanting to order some food?” Maria stood beside their table, beaming.

  Jonathan leaned back in his chair and smiled at her. “Hungry?”

  “Starving.”

  “What about the girls?”

  “If you ask me, we should let them stew for a while.”

  “I like the way you think.”

  Maria set menus on the table, went away and came back with a lit candle. “Very romantic, yes?”

  It was romantic, and even better than that, it felt real.

  * * *

  KATE KEPT AN eye on the driveway from her bedroom window and she could see Casey doing the same. Their parents had been out for more than two hours, and after she and Casey had received those text messages, they were both trying to figure out if that was a good thing or a not-so-good thing.

  Finally two pairs of headlights pulled into the yard, first Sarah’s and then her dad’s. He stepped out first, jogged around Sarah’s car and opened the door for her.

  Kate’s phone buzzed to signal an incoming text. It was from Casey, who was watching from her room next door.

  They’re here! Wonder what took so long.

  Don’t know. Do U really think R plan backfired?

  Hope not. L

  Me 2

  She saw Sarah take her dad’s hand, watched him help her out of the car.

  They don’t look mad.

  She hoped Casey was right. Sarah closed her car door and then they stood there, probably talking. It was too dark to tell, but they looked the opposite of mad.

  Can’t see much.

  Me either.

  She and Casey had been stunned by the messages from their parents. Hadn’t they figured out that this had been a trap? Or were they messing with them? Did they think it was funny, or were they mad at them?

  Sarah looked up then, first at Casey’s bedroom window and then at Kate’s. She said something to her dad, and then he held out his arms and Sarah stepped into them and... Ha! She fired off another message.

  Do U C what I C?

  Yes! High 5!

  And they each slapped a palm to the glass.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  ON THE DAY of the custody hearing, Jon and Sarah and Kate and Casey made the trip by car and ferry to Vancouver. He’d never been to court before and had no idea what to expect. He’d felt somewhat reassured, though, when his lawyer told him the courtroom would be closed. Child custody cases were closed to the public, so it would be the four of them, plus his lawyer and Georgette’s lawyer.

  Finding out his ex-wife hadn’t been able to make the trip here had been no surprise and a huge relief. He couldn’t tell if Kate shared the sentiment, and he sure wasn’t going to ask.

  After they arrived, Kate had spent nearly an hour in the judge’s chambers. She’d seemed quietly confident when she emerged and disinclined to discuss what she and the judge had talked about.

  Finally, half an hour later, they were ushered into a small courtroom and shown where to sit.

  A clerk stood and faced them. “Madame Justice Constance Burgess presiding. All rise.”

  Everyone stood as a small woman with wiry brown curls entered, black robe swishing around her, and took a seat behind the large desk at the front of the room.

  They all sat again, and Sarah placed a reassuring hand over his.

  Finding out that a female judge would hear the case had unnerved him. Would a woman be more inclined to think a child should be in her mother’s care?

  Judge Burgess perched a pair of reading glasses on the end of her nose and opened a folder on the desk.

  “In the case of Georgette Ogilvie and Jonathan Marshall...” She peered over the top of her glasses at Georgette’s lawyer and speared him with a sharp gaze. “Where is Ms. Ogilvie?”

  He stood. “My client is unable to attend today, Your Honor. She resides in Europe and she had prior commitments. She’s asked that I speak on her behalf.”

  Sarah squeezed Jon’s hand and glanced at him. What he saw was his own resentment mirrored in her eyes. All this, and Georgette couldn’t be bothered to show up?

  “She resides in Europe?” the judge asked. “Europe is a big place.”

  “In the south of France, Your Honor, but she and her husband travel extensively. You may recall she used to be—”

  “I know who she is,” the judge said. “Thank you.”

  The man sat.

  The judge turned a few pages, some quickly; others she scanned more slowly. She took off the glasses as she looked up and set them squarely on the stack of papers.

  “Mr. Marshall, your daughter and I had a very nice chat. She’s a charming girl. Bright, too, but I’m sure you know that.”

  “Thank you, yes.” He pushed off the seat but she waved him down. “No need for all that up and down. We’re having a conversation here.”

  Good to know.

  “Kate, is this your friend Casey?”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “Nice to meet you, too, young lady. Kate tells me you’re a soccer player.”

  “That’s right. Kate’s dad is my coach.”

  “Good for you. I kicked a few balls in my day.”

  Surely she meant soccer.

  “And you are Sarah Stewart, Casey’s mother.”

  “I am.”

  “Kate says you own a clothing store and that she works for you.”

  “That’s right.”

  The judge considered that for a moment. “She’s a little young to have a job. What does she do for you?”

  “She only works a few hours a week, contingent on keeping up at school, m
ostly doing window displays and helping customers. She also set up and maintains a Facebook page for the store.”

  “I see.” Her honor turned her attention back to Kate, smiled and softened her tone. “You’re an enterprising young woman. I meet a lot of teenagers who would love to be paid for spending time on social media.”

  Kate and Casey put their heads together and giggled. Regardless of what her decision was going to be, Jonathan liked the woman’s droll sense of humor and appreciated how she immediately put the girls at ease.

  “Mr. Marshall. I’ve read your statement. It’s was very thorough.”

  “Thank you.” Should he be thankful? He wished he knew. This woman would be a fierce opponent at a poker table.

  “Is there anything you would like to add?”

  If there was, it had leaked out of him the minute this woman stepped into the room. Besides, he had poured everything he could think of into that statement, slaved over it for hours. Then Sarah had read it and said it was so touching, it made her cry.

  “No, Your Honor. But thank you.”

  She picked up her glasses, put them back on and straightened the stack of pages in the folder. “All right then. I’ve reached a decision and I see no point in prolonging this.”

  Georgette’s lawyer cleared his throat. “Your Honor, if I may.”

  She paused. “No, you may not. I read Ms. Ogilvie’s statement as well. I assume that if she had more to add, she would be here in person.”

  Sarah’s grip on his hand tightened. She was a lifesaver, and he was hanging on for dear life.

  “But she’s—”

  “I have a dim view of parents who file for custody and then can’t be bothered to appear in my courtroom. But you can tell her that had she been here, my decision would be the same. Kate Marshall will remain in her father’s care and custody.”