The Good Father

A busy man. An important one. But he evidently had time for a glass of tea. In lieu of the swim he’d been about to take?

The pool was kidney shaped. Had a basketball hoop at one end, a hot tub off to the side and was surrounded by landscaped flower beds.

If they hadn’t divorced, this could have been her home...

“Did you talk to Jeff?” The question was a little more baldly stated than she’d intended.

“Of course. I said I would.” Sitting across from her, he raised an ankle to his knee and gazed out toward his yard.

“You told him you’d seen Chloe and that she was fine?” She glanced at him and then away.

“Yes.”

“How did he react?”

Brett’s gaze landed on her, and Ella lost her breath. “He was grateful that I’d checked up on her for him.”

“Did

he ask how you found her?”

“I didn’t give him a chance. Before I told him I saw her, I told him I contacted you and asked you to arrange a meeting for me. After all, he knew I showed up because you contacted me saying you were worried about him.”

It had happened exactly as he said.

“And?”

“He was glad to hear that she agreed to see me. He sees that as a good sign.”

“Good sign?”

“Jeff wants his wife home. He wants to save his marriage. But he’s unsure of Chloe right now.”

That was what they needed. For Jeff to understand that if he didn’t get help, he risked losing his family forever, not just for now.

“Did he say anything about how he thought to go about saving the marriage? Like getting help for his anger issues?”

“He already told Chloe he’d go to counseling with her.”

“He needs to go to counseling himself, Brett. To figure out how to handle himself in stressful situations. Then he can talk about possible marriage counseling.”

“Is that what Chloe wants? For him to go to counseling? Is that what she’s waiting for?”

“He needs to figure out why he’s suddenly getting physically aggressive with his family when he’s angry. And do something about it. She’s waiting for him to realize he has to take accountability and make changes before she can safely return home.”

“There’s no way she’s afraid of Jeff. I talked to her. She didn’t exhibit any sign of fear. On the contrary, she misses him.”

“She’s not afraid of him. She’s afraid of what might happen in the future if he doesn’t get help.” Ella hadn’t forced Chloe to leave. Chloe had asked for help.

And not because of one incident, but because of two years of escalating ones.

Brett didn’t say anything. Ella let the subject of counseling go for the moment, afraid that he’d have to leave before they talked about her most prominent concern.

“Did you know that he’s calling her?”

Brett didn’t respond well to drama. To sensationalism. The most efficient way to deal with him was to take all the alarm out of her tone. She knew that. And tried her best.

But damn, sitting there with him in his backyard, such a romantic setting...or maybe it was the caffeine in the tea...she could feel her heart racing.