As they walked across the street to the park, she noticed that a few women’s heads turned. Josh was still a good-looking guy, just as he’d been in high school. She heard enough via the local grapevine to know that he went out on plenty of dates with young women who didn’t know they should avoid him. Even so, she’d never interfered in his personal life, beyond trying to make sure he’d be there when Kevin needed him.
As soon as they sat down, she told him, “Don’t you dare ever again take money—my money—that’s meant for our son and spend it on anything but Kevin. He was heartbroken when you didn’t show up.”
Josh’s expression was like thunder, although his anger didn’t stop him from chowing down on his free chicken fillet roll. “I told you something came up.”
She hadn’t yet taken a bite of her sausage roll, and she was glad she hadn’t, because her stomach was getting tighter with every second she spent with her ex. “I don’t want to hear your excuses,” she replied. “And don’t you dare ever again put Kevin in the middle when it comes to my personal life. You should never have told him to ask if Nash and I are dating. It’s none of your business.”
But Josh didn’t look the least bit remorseful. “After the way you were sucking face with Nash at the café a few days ago, I needed to know for sure if it was true that you’re not quite the Goody Two-shoes you’ve always made yourself out to be.”
“I can’t believe your nerve!” Steam was practically coming out of her ears. “You actually think you can weigh in on my life when you’ve gone from woman to woman the whole time you’ve been back in town?”
“At least I’m not pretending to be holier than thou,” he spat. “At least I’m not hooking up with someone with a prison record. At least I’m not dating someone who has been in the press countless times over the years for partying and womanizing and drugs.”
“Watch yourself,” she warned, her voice coming out as a low growl. “Nash’s life, past or present or future, has nothing to do with you.”
“It sure as hell does,” Josh countered. “If you’re hooking up with a guy with an arrest record, that puts Kevin at risk. What if Kevin sees the two of you partying rock-star style and decides to start drinking or doing drugs? What kind of a role model is a guy like Nash Hardwin for our son?”
“A hell of a better role model than you!” Ashley snapped, losing her patience once and for all. “And Nash doesn’t drink or do drugs. So that ridiculous scenario you just came up with will never happen.”
“So that’s how it is? You’re talking shit about me to our kid, while building up the new guy, even though he’s got a rap sheet?” Josh stood up, making sure he took his food with him, of course. “You’ve left me no choice, Ashley. If you continue to see Nash in any capacity at all, if your eyes so much as meet across a room, I’m going to take my case to the courts.”
“What case would that be?”
“The case that you’re an unfit mother. The case that you should lose custody of Kevin. The case that I should be his sole parent and provider from now on.”
She jumped to her feet, her meal flying off her lap and onto the lawn. “You wouldn’t dare.”
“Want to bet? You’ve given me nothing but attitude since the day I came back. And now look who’s on the back foot.” His eyes were bright with something that looked a heck of a lot like revenge. “Now look who’s creating a bad environment for our son. It’s not me. It’s you. One wrong move, and it’s over for you, Ashley. Over.”
With that final shot, he walked away, leaving Ashley standing there with grilled onions from her sandwich sliding down her leg. Her heart was pounding, her stomach was twisted in knots, and she felt like she was going to vomit.
All of her worst fears felt like they were coming true.
* * *
When lunchtime rolled around, Nash and Kevin ate the sandwiches Ashley had made for them, then Kevin went to model for Zara in a photo shoot for her new line of glasses frames for teens.
Nash was working on connecting the plumbing under the kitchen sink in the van when a car pulled up nearby. A man who looked vaguely familiar stepped out of it.
“Hi, I’m Flynn Stewart. I’m engaged to Ashley’s sister Cassie.”
As Nash shook his hand, his face and name suddenly rang a bell. “We’ve met, haven’t we? You’re a screenwriter, right?”
Flynn nodded. “I left Hollywood last year and moved to Bar Harbor. Best decision I ever made.”