The problem wasn’t proving she was a good mother. That part was obvious to anyone after spending a few minutes with them. The problem was optics. Jeremy could spin the circumstances he put her in just enough to make Tess’s life look like a storm waiting to happen. And judges didn’t like that. They liked stability. Structure. Security. A predictable environment that benefited the child. Luke already had that with Tess; I just had to find a way to prove it so they wouldn’t blink twice at Jeremy’s claims.
I reached the point of frustration with myself that I ended up at the gym, which was a rarity. I wasn’t one of those guys who threw weights around or swung at punching bags.
Except today I was.
I took all my anger out on the bag, the sound of my gloves meeting it echoing through the gym. Anger at Tess’s situation, atoursituation. The helplessness I felt Thursday when she collapsed in on herself at my feet, and the piercing cry she made that ripped my heart clean in two.
I’d felt like a failure that day. But it had lessened when I followed her upstairs to her childhood room, where she and Luke had been staying. It felt like I’d pulled back another layer of her and been transported into a time capsule. But what made me smile was that just about everything was purple.
I’d helped her get into bed and sat with her until she fell asleep, her hand tightly clasped in mine like she was afraid to let go.
And the second my foot landed on the ground floor, the interrogation began. Claire and Delilah alone were barely manageable, but the two of them together? With Savannah thrown into the mix? Forget it.
So I told them what Jeremy was planning. Claire looked like she was going to combust, her face red with her anger. Savannah was already strategizing different angles for me to use in court. And Delilah…she stormed outside and came back with a loaded shotgun, demanding to know where Jeremy lived so she could kill him.
I told them I’d handle it, and I would…
I just didn’t know how yet.
“You hit the bag any harder and it’ll start swinging back,” someone said behind me. I turned, finding Weston glancing between me and the bag with an amused look.
“Just have a lot on my mind,” I murmured, placing a hand on the bag so it’d stop moving. “What are you doing here?”
“PT on my shoulder,” he replied, waving his left arm around in a large arc to warm it up. “Got cleared to lift weights finally.”
I nodded. “I bet you’re relieved.”
He grabbed a five-pound dumbbell and started doing lateral raises, watching his form in the mirror. “Yeah, gotta stay sexy for the wedding. I want Sav tospontaneously ovulate,” he said with a smirk. I choked out a laugh, having never heard that before. “Or that’s what Delilah called it, anyway.”
“She’s a piece of work,” I chuckled, shaking my head.
“No kidding. Whoever she ends up with needs to have the patience of a saint.” I nodded and grabbed the thirty-pound dumbbells, settling on a bench next to him while I did some overhead presses. “This wedding stuff is testing mine, that’s for damn sure,” Weston said, wincing while he tried to lift a ten-pound dumbbell over his head.
“How so?” I grunted.
“You know Sav isn’t like the other girls, she’s bougie. She wants the whole nine yards. But it can’t just be something simple like Colt and Britt’s, it’s gotta be big. Totally not my style, but she’s got me wrapped so tight around her finger that I’ll say yes to whatever she wants.” His eyes flick to mine in the mirror. “I guess that’s love, though, right? If it were up to me, we’d just go down to the courthouse and sign a marriage license.”
I was smiling, halfway distracted, when it hit me.
Marriage.
The thought landed so suddenly, I almost lost count of my reps.
It was insane. Absolutely insane. There was no way we could do that.
And yet…the more I thought about it, the better it sounded. Two loving, supportive parents and two incomes once Tess finished her course. It was a judge’s dream.
I nearly dropped the dumbbells on my head before I set them down. “I have to go,” I said suddenly, replacing the weights.
Weston eyed me warily. “You good?”
“Yeah,” I rushed out, barely able to stay in this conversation, too busy thinking about the one I was planning to have next. “Just forgot I had something to handle. I’ll see you later.”
Weston nodded, continuing with his workout, while I bolted out of the gym like it was on fire. I pulled out my phone, sending Tess a quick text before I headed towards the coffee shop.
I was practically vibratingin my seat when Tess walked into the coffee shop. It was one of those places with broken-in leather couches, hardwood floors, alcoves for studying, and trendy coffees the diner didn’t offer. And the nosiest woman on Earth didn’t own it, which was desperately needed for this conversation.
“Hi,” she said, smiling softly down at me.
