“How about we talk to Edward and see about some horseback riding on Sunday afternoon? They’d enjoy that, and it may make you more comfortable being in your own environment.”
She’s quiet for too long, and I’m about to remind her she agreed to give this a chance when I hear a very bleak and faint, “Okay.”
It’s not exactly what I’d hoped for, but it’s time to move on. “Baby, you have a huge log of orders, and I have cookies to bake.” I try to lighten the mood.
She raises on her toes, bringing her lips to mine. “I love you.”
•—•—•—•—•
Connie breezes into the storefront, smiling at people as she passes, but when she hits the table, her lips form a hard line.
“Did you at least get me a coffee?” She sits.
“Nope.” I take the last bite of my chocolate chip cupcake and slide my plate to the side.
“Since you’re obviously done, we can go somewhere else. Somewhere with a little more privacy.”
“I don’t need privacy.”
Her face heats up as she leans in. “There are people here that work with me, and I prefer not to have our personal business as the source of office gossip.”
“If you wanted discretion, you wouldn’t have grabbed my dick in the middle of a restaurant on Friday night, and you would have chosen a better swimsuit to parade around in yesterday. You wanted a public statement, and you’re going to get it.” I don’t attempt to lower my voice and notice a few heads turn our way.
The waitress appears, and Connie’s fake smile returns as she attempts to keep up appearances. As soon as she’s out of earshot, the venom returns.
“How fucking dare you? You’re lucky I even showed up.”
“If you didn’t show, the next request would have come through my lawyer, which would require you shelling out four hundred dollars an hour to communicate through yours. Consider this a courtesy.” Once again, I talk openly and hear the lady to our right smother a giggle.
Connie’s face now flames. As much as I like pissing her off, it’s time to move forward.
“Maya and Cole came to my house last Thursday under some pretty heavy confusion. Maya especially. I don’t appreciate you filling their heads with lies about my relationship with Darby.”
“I didn’t fill their head with lies. We thought you were out of town on business, and then your picture was plastered all over the place with that woman. I told them the truth. If anything, you’re responsible for this ‘heavy confusion’.” She air quotes the last words.
“Cut the bullshit, Connie.”
The waitress arrives with her coffee and backs away uncomfortably.
“There’s no bullshit, Pierce. You embarrassed your children, and you need to apologize. You’re acting like a fool over an old girlfriend, and it’s not fair to put Maya and Cole through it.”
“How fair is it to let the kids think we’re working on moving in together? Then, when they find out about Darby through your underhanded ways, convincing them she’s replacing them?”
Her eyes grow wide, and her pupils flare angrily. “Living together is best for the children.”
“That is never going to happen, and you know it. There was no doubt in my mind you were going to act like a bitch about Darby being back in my life, but I’m not going to let you poison our kids with your fucking antics. We’ve always had an agreement that the kids would be shielded from the truth about our past. But when you told Maya that Darby was replacing you and them, I was forced to stand in my kitchen, face my teary-eyed little girl, and delicately explain that her parents are never going to be together.”
“Great example of parenting, Pierce. You want your kids to know they are the result of a casual relationship?”
“Don’t go there and put this shit on me. You opened that door, and I handled the damage control.”
“Damage control? You want to talk about damage control? How do you think it made them feel when they saw you hanging all over that bitch? They were devastated and humiliated.”
“That’s where you’re wrong. You manipulated that situation, throwing it in their faces, and then used their vulnerability.”
“Hardly the case. I was upfront and honest. You left me no choice but to tell them who that woman was.”
“As much as you’d like to keep thinking this is about Darby, it isn’t. It’s about your choices in parenting and the way you are raising our kids when they’re with you. Leaving your computer open, calling other women floozies, letting our eleven-year-old have apps on her phone that I don’t approve of, and letting her see things she has no business seeing. Cole and Maya exchanged words in front of me that pissed me the hell off, and I’m not having it. They are kids, Connie, and you tried to turn them against me. Your plan rebounded.”