Eric (Men of Honor 2)

“Yes, where’s my kid?” This has been his new thing lately. The child he’d walked out on had suddenly become the center of his universe, and he seemingly couldn’t live without her in his life. All of this came about after Eric and I met and became serious, of course.

I’m still not sure how he even found out about Eric and me since I certainly hadn’t told him, and I knew for certain that Lora hadn’t either since I practically have to beg her to even call him for Father’s day and his birthday along with a few holidays. But somehow he’d learned about our meeting and the fact that we were getting married just a few short months later and has taken to making a pest of himself ever since.

The same man who’d walked out on me and his daughter after just a few months of meeting his new much younger wife was now affronted that I would marry someone I barely knew as he’d put it. I didn’t bother calling him out on his double standard because the less I say to him, the better, but it burned me up inside that he thought he had the right to dictate anything to me.

When I bypassed his incendiary words that I was sure were meant to start an argument and asked how he even knew about the wedding, he’d refused to say, and once I assured him that there was nothing he could do to stop it, he’d backed off grudgingly. So why he was calling me now again after all this time was bewildering, to say the least.

“Lora is at school, Sam, what exactly seems to be the problem?” I’ve grown a partial backbone since marrying Eric, and knowing that I have his support has gone a long way in helping me not to be as afraid of my ex and his wife as I had been in the past. Whereas I’d have run and hidden in fear from the two of them and whatever new hell they had planned for us, I now felt brave enough to stand up to him.

“I told you, I never gave you permission to take my kid anywhere. I want her back home with me as soon as possible, or I’ll see you in court.” My stomach dropped, and I almost collapsed as my knees began to shake. I know what Eric said, but I’ve been under Sam and Kristen’s thumb so much in the last few years that it was going to take some time to get used to having a say one way or the other.

“I don’t need your permission, Sam…” I started to say that he hadn’t had any interest in Lora these last couple of years and add the fact that she was old enough to choose where she wanted to live, but the next words out of his mouth left me speechless.

“Kristen and I are in town; we’re staying at the Hilton. You bring my daughter to me this evening after school, or there’s going to be trouble.” Why is he doing this? Why all of a sudden has he appeared out of nowhere? He barely remembered Lora, and I was alive when we still lived in the little town where he and I grew up.

He’d even been dismissive when I called to tell him that we were moving away. So why does it matter so much to him that I’ve married someone else? He hung up before I could ask him any of this, and I dropped down on the side of the bed, feeling defeated.

* * *

ERIC

* * *

What the hell could she be up to? She couldn’t be coming after me financially, because that shit was dead in the water. There’s nothing from my past with her that would give Justine pause or have her looking at me side-eyed. So what exactly is it that has Grey and his wife so upset on my behalf?

I pulled down the driveway, expecting I don’t know what, but I breathed a sigh of relief when there was nothing out of place. Janine has shown herself to be very resourceful when it comes to pissing me off in the last few months, and though I’m more than prepared to deal with her fuckery, it’s not for Justine to have to deal with.

I’d promised her when I put my ring on her finger that her life was going to be nothing short of perfect barring natural disasters from now on, and dealing with a long-forgotten ex-wife was not part of the deal in no way, shape, or form.

I got out of my SUV and looked around, expecting to find someone hiding in the hedges waiting to jump out at me or some shit, but there was no one there. I walked into the house and headed to the new craft room I’d set up for my wife so she could make the wreaths and other frou-frou shit she said she’s always wanted to try her hand at only to find it empty.