“It is, but at least he has Mrs. Daniels. I don’t know what I’d do without her. She’s really good with him.”
During our divorce, Michael fought hard for joint custody of Wyatt. Sadly, it had nothing to do with being with Wyatt. No, it was just another way for him to try to hurt me, to exert his control over me. He thought he was being so clever, but I knew exactly what he was doing. His random calls to check in on his son were never about Wyatt. It was just Michael’s chance to interrogate Wyatt on what I was doing or where I’d been. Pushing for joint custody was just his vindictive way to get my child support reduced, knowing full well that less money would make it difficult for me to make it on my own. It was all just a ploy to make me miserable, and it was working. I didn’t feel like I was making any progress, until I found Mrs. Daniels. The judge suggested her independent service company for Michael’s supervised visitation, knowing they had experience working with children with special needs. With Mrs. Daniels’ background, she knew what to expect with Wyatt’s Asperger’s. He was high functioning, but dealing with all of his little quirks could still be difficult.
“He’s lucky to have her. You both are,” she said, smiling. “I’ll tell you what… why don’t we hit the movies this weekend? We can take the kids with us and grab a pizza after.”
“That sounds great. Wyatt loves Annalise, and he’s been wanting to see that new Charlie Brown movie.”
“Great! It’s a plan then. Having something to look forward to might help me get through the next thirty minutes of Dr. Boring,” Rachel said, laughing.
After class, we both headed over to the gym for self-defense training. Rachel was a little hesitant about taking the class until she met the instructor, Brandon. Even though she spent most of the hour gawking at him, it was nice to have her there with me.
“Is it just me, or does Brandon look like Joe Manganiello?” Rachel asked as we were walking out of the gym.
“Hmmm… no. Not even close,” I told her, laughing.
“Yeah, well, he probably has a girlfriend anyway.”
“For a guy with a girlfriend, he certainly keeps his eyes trained on you,” I told her as my phone began to vibrate in my duffle bag.
“Really? He looks at me?” she asked, like she didn’t know what I was talking about.
“All the time,” I told her, looking down at my phone. My heart dropped when I noticed I had three missed calls from Mrs. Daniels. “Shit. Mrs. Daniels has been trying to call me.” I dialed her number and prayed she would answer.
“Wren?” Mrs. Daniels asked.
“Yes, it’s me. Is everything alright?”
“I tried calling earlier, but I couldn’t get through to you. I knew you had your class tonight, but no one answered the phone there either. I wouldn’t have left, but I didn’t have a choice when I couldn’t get in touch with you,” she explained.
“Left? What do you mean?” I asked, feeling the panic begin to grow in the pit of my stomach.
“My husband was taken to the hospital, Wren. I called one of my associates, and she is on the way over to Michael’s house now to see about Wyatt. Everything should be okay, but I wanted you to know what was going on.”
“Wyatt’s there alone with Michael?”
“Just until Anita can get there. He was fine when I left. Michael was finishing up some work on his computer, and Wyatt was playing one of his video games.” She paused for just a second before she continued, “Wren, you know I wouldn’t have left him unless it was an emergency.”
“I completely understand. I’m on my way over there right now to make sure everything is okay,” I told her. “Thanks for calling to let me know.”
“Let me know if there is a problem. I will call Anita and let her know you are coming.”
“Thanks,” I told her as I hung up the phone. “I’ve got to head over to Michael's and make sure Wyatt’s okay!”
“Why? What’s going on?”
“Mrs. Daniels had an emergency and had to leave,” my voice trembled. I fought back my tears as I started walking toward my car.
Following close behind me, Rachel asked, “Do you want me to go with you? You don’t need to be driving when you’re upset like this.”
“No. I’ll be fine. I just need to get over there,” I explained as I got in my car and started the engine. I didn’t have time to explain why having her there would only make it harder. Michael wouldn’t be happy about me showing up there early, and having someone with me would only make it worse.