“Your buddy?”
“Coert,” he bit off. “He’s the sheriff and he’s a friend of mine. Good friend. We’ve known each other awhile and we’re pretty tight. But he wasn’t the one who pulled her over. He was the one who didn’t slap a DUI on her the last time she pulled that shit, because that was her first time, but also because he’s my fuckin’ buddy, but I’m guessin’ she forgot that part.”
“So…so…” I stammered. “So she’s making this out to be you targeting her in an attempt to get custody of your children when you had nothing to do with her being picked up for drunk driving?”
His mouth got hard but he still forced through it, “That’s what she’s makin’ it out to be. Called it my ‘grand scheme.’ Said her blood alcohol level was negligible, just over the edge, proves I’m out for her and roped Coert into that shit, and if they try to put that on her permanent record, she’s fightin’ it. Also said I started this scheme even before we split. Said if I didn’t back down, stop maneuvering, she was gonna fight me tooth and nail. And she said if I tried to keep the kids from her, she’d have me arrested for kidnapping.”
“Oh my God,” I breathed.
“Yeah,” he grunted.
Now I understood why he was so unhappy.
“Mickey,” I grabbed his hand and held tight, “I don’t know what to say.”
“What’s there to say?” he asked, lifting our hands and pressing mine against his heart as he shifted closer to me. “I’m stuck. Called Arnie again. The attorney?”
I nodded.
Mickey continued, “He said this is a case of declaring her unfit to raise our children. I’d have to call CPS. They’d have to inspect. I’d have to have evidence. I’d have to have witness testimony. The DUI on record is something but it isn’t enough. And at the kids’ ages, they’re old enough to be deposed. They could get dragged in. Have to talk smack about their mother.”
“It isn’t smack if it’s true,” I shared carefully.
“You’re right. But would you want your kids to sit with some fuck they don’t know and share their dad is a cheating asshole?”
No, I would not want that.
I shook my head.
“No,” he bit off. “So I got two choices, keep my kids from her and brace for whatever shit she throws at me. And she was pissed, Amy. She’s got her back up and she’s so deep in denial, it’s a wonder she’s breathing. Or let my kids go to her and wait for the other shoe to drop, maybe this bein’ something that scars my kids in some new way I won’t be able to heal.”
I moved closer to him and pointed out the obvious, “You’re between the rock and the hard place.”
“I am. ’Cept I got one more option, this comin’ from Arnie. Sit down with my kids and see if they wanna live with me, makin’ ’em say they don’t wanna live with their mom. And they might not wanna live with her, but I don’t wanna make ’em share that shit.”
No. That wasn’t easy. I knew it. I wasn’t with my children when they had to make that choice and say it out loud, but I’d seen the way they couldn’t look at me afterward. The sorrow on their faces. It was agonizing.
And it was the beginning of my recovery.
Even though that would be promising in the case of Rhiannon, who clearly needed to be shaken out of her delusion, it was not something to take lightly.
“I would cautiously advise that’s a last resort, honey,” I told him.
“Yeah,” he agreed.
“So, what are you thinking of doing?” I asked.
“Only one real choice,” he answered. “Wait until she fucks up again. Keep track of shit. Keep an eye on my kids. I don’t, I keep ’em away from her, she’s gonna go at me and then they’ll be dragged in and there’ll be nothin’ I can do to stop it.”
Suddenly, I hated yet another person I’d never met.
I’d hated Martine before I even knew her name. I just knew my husband had fallen in love with someone else.
And now I hated Rhiannon.
“What do you need from me?” I asked.
“You, keepin’ an eye on my kids. Droppin’ by. Comin’ around more often. Givin’ Aisling a good woman to be with. Givin’ my kids healthy.”
I nodded. “I can do that.”
“And I want you in my bed tonight.”
My head jerked back and I blinked.
“But—”
He cut me off, “I’ll get you home before they get up. Not a fan of sneakin’ and won’t ask you to do it often. But I had a shit day. I’m gearin’ up to face a shit time I don’t know how long it’ll last or how bad it’ll get. Right now, I wanna go in there and sit on my couch with you, relax, drink a beer then go to sleep smellin’ your hair.”
“I can do that too,” I said immediately.
Then I held my breath as I watched Mickey close his eyes and turn to face the dark of his backyard.
I pushed closer, pressing my hand in his at his chest, and called, “Mickey.”
He opened his eyes but kept them to the yard.