“Nina, your father left you here alone while he went out on a date with your teacher,” Remy said. “He’s a bad role model and a worse parent, and I think any judge worth their degree will agree with me.”
“Remy, don’t do this,” I warned. “This is wrong, and you know it.”
“Do I, Blake?” she asked, cocking her head and giving me a hard stare. “Is it really wrong when our daughter’s safety is at stake?”
“Mom! Dad didn’t do anything wrong!” Nina protested. “I got mad because he didn’t let me have my way when I asked if I could come live with him!”
“And no one thought it might be a good idea to involve me in this conversation?” Remy asked, looking back and forth between Nina and I. “Nina, get your things. You’re coming home tonight, and we’ll see about what happens after the judge rules on my petition.”
“Remy, don’t do this,” I pleaded. “Please. Just don’t.”
“You should have thought of that before you chose your girlfriend over your daughter,” Remy said coldly. She turned and snapped her fingers at Nina and said, “C’mon, get your things! Let’s go!”
“Mom!” Nina protested.
“Do not argue with me, Nina Marie,” Remy warned. Nina’s shoulders dropped as she gave in and slunk off to get her things.
“Remy—” I began.
“Blake, I don’t want to hear another word from you,” she hissed. “You didn’t know where she was last night and we still have no idea where she went. And you work a job that keeps you away from home for 24 hours at a time. It is more than obvious that you do not take your responsibility as a parent seriously enough to warrant shared custody of our daughter.”
“You have no idea what you’re talking about,” I protested.
“And you have no idea what you’re doing to Nina,” she spat back.
“God, you really are a bitch,” I said, regretting the words as soon as they left my mouth.
“I’m sure the judge will be interested to hear how you really feel about the mother of your child,” she said, in a voice that was chillingly calm.
“Do whatever you have to do to make yourself feel better,” I said as my frustration rose. “But Nina is going to hate you more than she already does if you go through with this.”
“Yes, well, that might be true,” Remy said. “But at least if she’s living with me, I know she’ll be alive to do it.”
Having delivered the last blow, Remy grabbed her purse and walked to the front door. Over her shoulder, she said, “Tell Nina I’m waiting in the car.”
I watched as she walked down the driveway and slid into the driver’s seat of her expensive sedan. I knew she wasn’t making an idle threat, but I also knew that her anger at me was clouding her judgment of the situation. I’d fight for Nina, of that there was no doubt.
“Dad, I’m sorry,” Nina said, as she emerged from the bedroom carrying her bags. “I didn’t know that this would happen.”
“Oh, Punkin, I know you didn’t,” I said, as she dropped her bags and threw herself into my arms, weeping like she had when she was small. “Don’t worry, your mom is just upset and scared over what happened. I’ll find a way to calm her down.”
“But she’s going to take me away from you!” Nina wailed.
“No, she’s definitely not going to do that, kiddo,” I reassured her, as I kissed the top of her head. “No one can take you away from me. Not even your mom.”
I held my daughter as she cried and thought about how I was going to counter Remy’s charge that I was an unfit parent. I thought about Emily and how she’d betrayed my trust. If she had only told me that Nina had returned! I was furious with her, but I also knew it wasn’t entirely her fault, it was just easier to blame her — for now.
I had no idea how I’d do it, but I knew I wasn’t going to give up without a fight.
Chapter Forty
Emily
I waited a few days to give Blake some time to cool down, and to give myself time to think about the situation with Nina. I knew that waiting to tell Blake that Nina was safe had been a mistake, but I also felt he’d overreacted. I texted him on Friday afternoon, and by Sunday morning I still hadn’t heard from him.
I made Howard and I a huge Sunday breakfast as I thought about the week’s events. All week, I wondered how Nina was doing. She’d been transferred out of my History class while the school investigated Remy’s complaint against me. I’d explained the situation to my principal, and she’d assured me that while I’d made a questionable decision about informing Nina’s parents, she was fairly sure I’d be given a formal reprimand by the school board. Meanwhile, Blake was obviously avoiding me, and I felt hurt.
“What should I do, buddy?” I asked Howard as he crunched his breakfast on the counter next to me. “Should I keep calling or should I just let it go?”