“You do,” I say. “Dad has damaged us all enough. We’re not letting him anywhere near you two after he finds out about this. You’ll stay here for as long as we think is necessary to keep you safe.”
Sonya turns her anxious gaze on me. “You think he’ll hurt us? Like physically?”
“There’s no telling what he’ll do.” We don’t want to tell them about his threats against Mom if we don’t have to.
“He’d never hit us,” Tonya says. “That’s not his style. He’s never acted like he’d do that.”
Mom, Ash, and I exchange looks, and Mom says, “He has with me.”
Both girls gasp.
“He hits you?” Tonya says, eyes wide.
“No, but he has threatened to.”
Sonya rushes over to Mom’s side and throws her arms around her. “Mom! How could you not tell us? Why didn’t you leave him before now?”
Tonya embraces Mom from the other side. “We would havemadeyou leave him if we knew. I’m so sorry we didn’t see what was happening.”
“It’s all right, girls,” Mom says as she pats their legs, since there’s nothing else she can do with the two of them basically wrapped around her. “It wasn’t your job to see. And telling your children such a thing isn’t anything most parents want to do.”
Tonya lets go of Mom, takes a deep breath, and says, “Okay, we’ll stay here with Randall on Thursday. But only because we don’t want you three to worry about us, not because we can’t handle Dad.”
Ash says, “Good. Now, there’s another secret I’ve been keeping from you, but this is one you’re going to love, and I’ll need your help with it.”
Sonya beams and claps her hands together. “You and Leslie are getting engaged!”
He chuckles. “I hope we are, but you have to promise not to let anything slip to Leslie about it.”
“We promise!” Tonya says, bouncing in her seat. Much like Ash, she’s not one to hold a grudge. “What do you need help with?”
“I need you girls to find out her ring size. Think you can manage that without her knowing what you’re up to? You can let Wendy in on it if needed.” He shoots a quick glance at me, and I nod. I know what he’s doing—giving the girls a distraction from the divorce—and it seems to be working.
“Psh.” Tonya flicks her wrist at us. “Child’s play. We’re on it.”
forty-six
I’m reading a book on my couch, trying not to wonder how things are going at Randall and Ash’s apartment, when my phone rings.
“Hello?” I say into the receiver.
“It’s me,” Leslie says. “Ash is picking me up in a couple minutes. He’ll have the girls with him, and he’s dropping all three of us at your place. We’ll be there soon.”
“Sounds good. Did he say how things went?”
“He didn’t say much, but he said it was better than he anticipated.”
“That’s good. I’ll see you in a few minutes.”
While I wait, I set out some snacks in case the girls are hungry. Soon, I’m buzzing them up, and a minute later they burst into my apartment. Well, Tonya and Sonya burst in. Leslie calmly enters behind them and gives me a wide-eyed look. I force myself not to giggle.
The sisters both take their shoes off inside the door, give me enthusiastic hugs, and then descend upon the snacks. They load up their plates, plop down on the couch, and kick their bare feet up onto the coffee table, making themselves right at home.
“What’s happening here?” I whisper to Leslie as I pour us each a glass of wine.
“Beats me. I thought they’d be upset, but they seem the opposite.”
I take a seat by the girls and let Leslie claim the easy chair.
