“He doesn’t have to let you talk to her, and his lawyer pointed that out. I already knew this, though, and I said I’d send the cops over for a well-being check. The lawyer didn’t want that, so he put me on with Rick over conference. I told him to call you. He said he wouldn’t, that he was spending time with his daughter. I asked to speak with Angie. The lawyer said Rick didn’t have to do that, but he did. She got on the line, and I asked if she was okay. She said yes. I told her you were thinking about her and missing her a lot. She said she missed you and loved you, that she missed me, and that she hoped I could come to one of her games. I asked if she wanted to leave Rick’s house. But before she could answer, the lawyer hung up. So I don’t know. It’s a fucking mess, and I’m gonna go ahead and get a court date, I think. Some things need to change.”
Lucy’s heart was in her stomach, and she was pretty sure she was about to throw up. She didn’t hear a lot of what he had said, except that Angie was okay. “So, she’s okay?”
“She sounded upset, but she wasn’t crying. I don’t know.”
“What do you think I should do? Should I go over there?”
“There is no point. He’ll call the cops, and then someone will get arrested, more likely you since you’d be on his property.”
Lucy looked down at the ground, sucking in a breath. “So just wait till tomorrow?”
“Yeah, talk to her tomorrow, and if you want to proceed, I’ll arrange for a date.”
“Okay,” she said, nodding slowly and feeling a little better. Not much, but at least she wasn’t about to lose her shit anymore. Clearing her throat, she said, “Thanks, Dad.”
“Anytime. Keep documenting, Lucy. Everything. We’ll get this fixed.”
“Okay.”
“And maybe you can get me that hockey schedule so I can come,” he said and Lucy froze. She could tell him to fuck off, tell him to go to hell, but it wasn’t in her. He didn’t have to help her, especially with how hateful she had been since the divorce, but he was helping. He was there for her.
“Let me think about that.”
“Of course,” he said, and that surprised Lucy. She expected a fight. “Call me tomorrow.”
“I will.”
“Oh, are you dating someone?”
Lucy paused. “Why?”
“Lawyer says that Rick wants there to be a no-contact clause between the guy and Angie. That he is a pedophile. Since I know you haven’t brought anyone around Angie since you left Rick, I’m sure this guy is decent. So I told him again to take a flying leap. I wanted you to know that, though.”
Digging her nails into her palms, she shook her head. “He’s not a pedophile, and that won’t work, not only for me, but because Angie loves Benji.”
“I figured. Call me tomorrow after you speak with her. We’ll go from there.”
“Okay. Thanks, Dad.”
“Anytime,” he said and then she hung up, looking over at Benji.
“What did he say?” he asked, tucking his hands into his pockets.
As she explained what was said, what her dad wanted to do, Benji listened and nodded. Throwing her hands up, she shook her head. “This is a fucking mess.”
He nodded, pulling her into his arms. “It is.”
“I don’t want to go into a custody battle, Benji. He says you’re a pedophile, and I swear he is doing this to hurt me. He knows I’m finally happy and that Angie is happy. It’s such bullshit.”
Looking up, she found anger in his eyes. “He can say what he wants, but we know the truth. Angie knows the truth.”
Nodding her head, she bit her lip as she gazed into his eyes. She couldn’t do this to him. It wasn’t fair. He was such a good guy. Any girl would be so lucky to have him, and here she was, with her nails in him while the clusterfuck of her life unfolded. “This is your chance, Benji. Before it gets to be too much.”
His brows touched as his lips curled. “Wait, what? No,” he said, holding his hands up and glaring at her. “Don’t tell me you’re saying this is my chance to get out.” She just looked at him and he shook his head, framing her face before pressing his nose to hers. “We’ve got this, we.”
As she leaned into him, nuzzling into him, she was surprised.
Surprised—because she was starting to believe him.
“I want cake by the ocean.”
Glancing over at Lucy as he drove to Audrey Jane’s, he smiled as the popular song by DNCE played. Her fingers were laced with his, and while she was off in a distant world, Benji knew they were going to be okay. Nodding his head, he said, “Hey, we’ll be in Florida in January, right? We’ll have cake.”
She exhaled a long breath. “Something to look forward to.”
“Yeah, it will be great,” he said, squeezing her hand. “I get to see you in a bikini.”
She looked over at him and he waggled his brows. Thankfully, she smiled. “Will you wear a Speedo?”
He scoffed. “Dick’s too big for that.”
Snorting with laughter, she brought his hand between both of hers in her lap. “Of course, how silly of me.”
“That’s what I was thinking,” he said and she laughed louder, her whole face bright as she leaned back in the seat, looking over at him.
“You’re great.”
He nodded. “I know.”
But the tension of the situation with Angie still weighed heavily on both of them. He knew she wasn’t his kid—he got that loud and clear—but that didn’t stop him from loving her as much as he loved Lucy. He may have fallen for Lucy first, but Angie was right behind her. Since the beginning, though, he had cared about her. He understood her, enjoyed her silliness. He thought she was an awesome kid, and his stress, his ache in his heart, was more caused not because of how much he hated seeing Lucy so upset, but because he was afraid Angie was scared. He wondered if she knew she couldn’t call Lucy. That Rick was keeping them apart.
It freaked him the hell out.
But he was going to stay strong for Lucy.