She leaned back, put her hands on his cheeks and gave him a soft kiss. “Be proactive. I’ll help if you need or want it, but don’t sit back. Sitting back tends to give you blisters on your ass. I know. I did it for years and shouldn’t have.”
It was one thing she’d learned. Never stay quiet. If something feels off, check it out, then check it out a second time. Maybe a third.
She wouldn’t be a pushover ever again. She wouldn’t take someone’s word if her gut was telling her that wasn’t the case.
This time, her belly was erupting that Brennan better have a plan or at least look at all options.
Did she know Rene?
Nope. Only what Brennan had said about his ex, but it was enough for her to voice her opinion that women like Rene normally had a reason for everything they do.
And considering he was so protective of Becca, carrying her everywhere to avoid a simple stumble, you’d think he’d be jumping all over this.
“What do you think I should do?”
“Call your attorney for one. Give him a heads up. Find out what legal recourse Rene has. You’ve kept all the documentation for years, I’m assuming.”
“I have. Sounds horrible, but I know every visitation Rene has had. The dates of our communications and information that is passed on.”
And that was the guy she loved. He prepared himself, if not obsessively.
Did being thrown off course make it difficult for him to think right now?
“There you go. If you’ve been preparing this for years, don’t wait for her next move. One thing about custody cases, I think they try to give someone a chance. She has no criminal record, correct?”
“Not that I’m aware of, but I’ll have someone look into it.”
“That’s a first step. You should email her the questions that you can come up with. Put it in writing and show that you’re not shutting it down but want to know why she reconsidered. How she’s going to do this with her career. If that is the biggest obstacle, she could change it, ask not to work every other weekend or days during the week. That is the easiest thing to overcome onherend.”
“You’re not making me feel any better,” he said, his arms tightening on her. She knew it was involuntary, but she was trying to think logically for him while he got his wobbly legs back under him.
“I want to do that also, but there are more important things to focus on. She could be in a relationship with someone who has a job that will be around more.”
“I’m not letting some stranger watch my kid,” he argued.
“Things you have to find out.”
He dropped his forehead to hers. “Why is this happening?”
“Because life happens, Brennan. We both know that. Wouldn’t you rather be one step ahead than six behind?”
“You’re right. Everything hit me at once. My mind rationalized nothing is happening today so I didn’t jump into Daddy mode ready to fight off the bad guys.” That was more like it. “I’ll go call my lawyer now. Just the thought of things happening. I live here, she lives there.”
“And she will argue that you could return to the Boston office. That you can take turns getting Becca on the ferry. There are many suggestions she could come up with to make her look like she’s willing to compromise and you’re not.”
He growled and it wasn’t what she was going for.
“This fucking sucks.”
There was a knock at the door, then it opened, and Kelsey was standing there.
“Ohhhh, getting a snuggle in,” Kelsey said.
She rolled her eyes and stood up. “Not quite like that.”
“I’m going back to my office to take my mind off of this while I get my ducks in a row. You can fill Kelsey in if you want; otherwise I’ll do it later.”
“Yikes,” Kelsey said when Brennan left and shut the door. “What’s going on? Neither of you is crying or fighting, thoughBrennan looks like someone just stole the last peanut butter cup after a raging hormone fit.”
