Lionel’s lawyer pulled a pen from his pocket and pushed it over to Lionel. “Sign it. It’s the only way you’ll have any chance of seeing your daughter again. And I’ll be honest, Lionel, the last thing you need is more legal trouble right now.”
My ex-husband snatched the pen from the table and scribbled his signature on the top page.
“This doesn’t change anything,” he said. “You’re still a selfish bitch, Emily, and you always have been.”
“Now, now, Mr. Blue,” George said. “There’s no cause to speak like that.”
Lionel scribbled a few more signatures on the next few pages and then all but jumped out of his seat. He stormed out of the office.
His lawyer stood with a weary sigh. We watched him place his pen and other documents back in his briefcase and leave without another word, a look of utter defeat on his face.
“I can’t believe it,” I whispered. “It’s all over.” I let out a yelp of joy. “It’s all over. Thank the Lord.”
“Yes, Emily, it is,” George said. “I’ve been doing this a long time, so I don’t see any reasons why the court won’t accept it.”
Euphoria washed over me. Tears of happiness dripped down my cheeks, but a few slivers of doubt remained even in my wond
erful haze.
“How did you find out all that about Lionel?” I said.
“Logan Hawkins called me to pass along the information,” George said. “That was when he also made the offer about funding any legal expenses, regardless of what was involved.”
I shook my head. I couldn’t believe it. After the way I treated him, he had still helped me.
“Go out, Emily,” George said. “Have a good time. I’ll have that paperwork in front of a judge by Monday, and you’ll have full custody. If Lionel wants to behave, then we can think about changing the custody arrangement, but now you’re the one who makes the call, not him.”
I smiled warmly. “Thank you, George.” I closed my eyes.
“Thank you, Logan,” I whispered.
Chapter Thirty-six
LOGAN
By Saturday afternoon, I was sitting in my living room sipping on some coffee and going through some work emails on my phone. In theory, I worked Monday through Friday, but the world didn’t stop because I left the office, so I spent a lot of time reading and writing emails and texts even on the weekends.
Silence reigned in the house. The boys were asleep in another room, and Arla wasn’t there, as I’d given her the day off. I wasn’t so helpless that I couldn’t survive a couple of days without her.
Still, it was hard to sit there by myself. Even with my work to distract me, it was hard for my mind not to drift to other topics, such as a certain brown-haired woman and her rambunctious daughter.
When I’d talked to her lawyer the other day, he seemed downright delighted at the information I’d passed along. I wasn’t sure how much help it’d be or not, as it wasn’t like I had a bunch of evidence to back it up. I figured, though, the truth would be enough to unnerve Lionel.
I still had no idea if that information had actually helped Emily. She still hadn’t responded to my previous text, so I didn’t bother trying to contact her again.
I also resisted the urge to contact my mother or Sally. Our mothers might have set us up, but our relationship needed to live or die by our own actions. The last thing I needed at this critical point was an overbearing mother pushing away any chance of us getting back together.
It was hard to know what to do. There was no reason we couldn’t be together.
I understood that Emily pushed me away because of Lionel’s threat, but I also wondered if she thought there was nothing there in our relationship to save.
I tapped over to my contacts list on my phone, my finger hovering over her name, hesitating.
The question of whether I should call Emily hung in my mind. I wanted to contact her, wanted to help her understand that I was only angry at Lionel and not her. I wasn’t sure if she thought I was mad at her or not, but it might explain why she hadn’t contacted me.
Another part of me fought against calling her. If I called her and she turned me down again, that would mark the end of any relationship. It’d be time for me to move on, or at least go back to what I had before. In other words, go back to having nothing and no one.
What were we together? I really didn’t know. Lovers? Friends with benefits? Friends with temporary benefits?