"You okay?" Brody asked, releasing me so he could lean back and look at me.
"I'm fine," I assured him. "I was upset while she was here, but now I hope she slithers back under a rock."
"Slithers?" he asked, his lips twitching.
"Well, she did remind me a little of a snake getting ready to strike."
Brody shook his head. "What did she say?"
"Ugh. Do I have to repeat it?" I asked.
"Absolutely."
I sighed. "Well, first, she tried to convince me that you were getting back together and that my continued presence in Jacks' life would only confuse her. Then she offered me a hundred thousand dollars. When I told her that the two of you were worth more than that to me, she offered me a quarter of a million dollars. After I turned that down, she threatened me with vague and nefarious deeds."
"Nefarious?" Brody asked. The muscles in his jaw ticked and I could hear his molars grinding.
"Evil, bad, malicious. Don't you read?" I teased, trying to lighten the mood. It wouldn't help matters in the least if he got upset and went off on his ex.
"And then?"
"I told her that I hoped she didn't fall into a lake because I wanted a chance to push her in myself."
And that did the trick. Brody stared at me as though I had three heads. "You said that?"
"Yeah. It's difficult to tell what her exact expression was but the best I could tell, she appeared severely constipated."
Brody chuckled. "I bet she had no idea what to say to that. Monica isn't used to hearing the word 'no'."
I shrugged one shoulder. "Then it's past time for her to learn what the word 'no' sounds like." Then I frowned at him. "If she's never heard the word, how did you end up getting divorced?"
"I never told her no. I just told her that I wouldn't stay married to someone who constantly cheated on me. She chose to ignore me. So I filed for a divorce. And during that time, we only spoke through our lawyers. It's only been the past few months that she'll deign to call me."
"I don't get it," I said.
"What?"
"How is Jacks such a wonderful, well-adjusted child when one of her parents is like...well, Monica?"
Brody sighed and released me, putting a little distance between us. "I do everything I can to shield her from any tension between Monica and I. And I try not to say anything derogatory about her mom when she's around. Or ever. I don't want to get into the habit of badmouthing Monica because it would make it a lot easier to slip up in front of Jacks and say something I shouldn't."
I nodded. And yet again, here was proof that Brody was better at this whole adulting thing than I was. But I also saw his point and I was going to try to follow that. It wouldn't be good for me to say negative things about Jacks' mother either. I didn't want to put her in a position where she felt that she had to choose between the two of us.
"So what are we going to do?" I asked him. "Because I have a feeling I provoked her today."
"We'll have to wait and see. And I'm going to talk to her and let her know that I don't appreciate her approaching the woman I love and offering her money to leave me."
I had a feeling that would go over as well as my conversation with her had today.
"Whatever happens," he continued, reaching out and taking my hand. "We'll deal with it together, okay?"
I had to hand it to him. When he said that to me, I believed him completely.
Too bad he lied.
27
When Brody called me later that night, I was smiling. On the nights that we didn't have plans together, he called me in the evenings and we talked. It wasn't the same as seeing him and holding him, but it was still better than nothing.
"Hey, you're calling earlier than usual," I said by way of greeting.
"Yeah. Something came up and Jacks is with her grandparents tonight. I was wondering if I could come over."
He didn't sound very enthusiastic, but I wrote it off to the trouble Monica caused earlier.
"Sure. I'd love to see you."
"I'll see you soon," he said.
Sierra was still in Dallas, but she was supposed to be coming home later tonight. She said she would call me when she was on her way, but I hadn't heard from her yet. She hadn't mentioned Ben, but I hadn't asked. I figured that conversation would be better face-to-face over ice cream.
When the doorbell rang, I pulled the door open and pretty much jumped on Brody.
"Hey! I'm glad you were able to come over tonight."
I got my first obvious clue that something was wrong when he didn't give me his trademark tight squeeze. Instead, he set me away from him, his hands gentle but insistent.
"Brody?" I asked.
He took a deep breath but I already knew what was coming. It didn't lessen the pain when he said, "I think we need to take a step back for a while."
"What?"
His eyes were distant and cold, chips of emerald ice. "Jacks said something today that concerns me and I think it's best if you and I take a break from seeing each other until I'm sure that she really is okay with it."
I opened my mouth and then shut it immediately. What could I say to that? If I argued, I was being selfish and didn't take Jacks' feelings into account. If I didn't argue, then I didn't really care about him either. Proverbial rock meet hard place.
"What did she say?" I asked. "Did I do something to upset her?"
Brody shook his head. "As much as I hate to admit it, Monica was right. You and I are moving far too quickly for Jacks to adjust. I thought she was handling it until today. She asked me if you were going to be her new mommy and if that meant she wouldn't be able to see her real mommy anymore. Then she started crying."
My heart broke a little. I never wanted that sweet girl to hurt. It was clear that she needed more time to figure out what was going on.
My lips were numb when I asked, "How long do you think this break will need to be?"
"I don't know," Brody answered. "But it will be a while. I want her to feel confident and calm when you're around, not scared or uncertain of what your role in her life will be."
I wanted to say something, anything, to change his mind. To convince him that we could make it work, that I would do anything to make Jacks feel better.
"What about Sunday lunch?" I asked. "Are you still going to bring her? She'll be seeing me then." I couldn't prevent the last sentence from coming out with a bit of snark.
"We won't be there this weekend because we're going to take a short trip before school starts. But after that, it's really up to you."
And just like that, he pissed me the hell off.
"Up to me?" I asked, my eyes narrowing.
"If you think it's best if we don't come, I'll defer to your—"
I lifted a hand, stopping his words. My heart ached and my blood pounded, furious and hot, through my veins. "Won't Jacks also wonder why I'm suddenly not in her life at all anymore? I agree that she should be your first priority in this mess, but it was my impression that jerking my presence out of her life completely and without explanation might hurt her more."