Page 4 of Broken & Bossy
Halsey. Of course.
I let it ring four times before I hit accept and put her on speaker.
“What did you say to her?” is the first thing out of her mouth. No,hello. No,how is she?
“Good morning to you, too,” I say, starting the car. “What did I say towho?”
“Our daughter,” she snaps. “About last night. Don’t play dumb, Gray. You probably told her I blew her off.”
My grip tightens on the steering wheel.
It baffles me that she thinks I’d say something that devastating to our kid.
“She asked if you were still coming. I told her you got held up and that it wasn’t her fault. I covered for you.”
“Don’t know if I believe that,” Halsey huffs. “Last time she came over she wasn’t herself with me. You’re probably filling her head with?—”
“If she’s acting off with you, it’s probably because she keeps falling asleep crying in my lap because her mom doesn’t show up,” I say flatly. “She woke up this morning and asked if she’d done something wrong. I spent twenty minutes convincing her she hadn’t.”
“God, you always make everything so dramatic,” she bites out. “You know how badly it reflects on me if she starts saying shit like ’Mommy doesn’t want me’? Do you have any idea what that does to my relationship with her?”
“I’m very aware of what this does to her,” I say, jaw ticking. “You didn’t text. You didn’t call. You just… didn’t come. That’s twice now in the last month. What exactly did you want me to say when she asked where you were?”
A sharp exhale through her nose. “I told you something came up.”
“You texted me at eleven-thirty after she finally cried herself to sleep,” I remind her. “She doesn’t see the excuses. She just sees that you weren’t there, and I have to come up with something on the spot so she doesn’t think her mother is abandoning her.”
“Oh, that’s rich, coming from you,” she snaps. “Mr. ‘Sorry, sweetheart, Daddy’s got a meeting.’ Maybe if you’d stop trying to be the hero?—”
“I’m trying to be her parent, Halsey,” I cut in. “One of us has to show up.”
“You’re acting like I’m activelydamagingher?—”
“Her teacher stopped me today. Said she’s been quieter. Clingier. She said Pen’s been telling the class her family is ‘broke up.’ Wonder where she got that language.”
Halsey scoffs. “You expect me not to tell my friends my marriage broke up? She listens, Grayson. Kids aren’t stupid.”
“I know she listens.” I grip the steering wheel harder. “That’s why we’re supposed to be careful with what she hears.”
“Don’t you dare put this on me,” she says, voice rising. “You’re the one who wanted out, remember? You walked. It’s not my fault she sees me actively grieving our marriage and then gets confused when youdon’t.”
I close my eyes briefly at the red light.
I walked. Yes. Because Halsey turned into the worst person in the world the second we got married, and she was already pregnant. Because she openly told me that she only agreed to marry me because I wassecure, because I hadmoney, because I could help get her to places she wanted to go.
And I stayed three years longer than I should have because I didn’t want my daughter to be a split-household kid. We both made choices.
“I’m not doing this right now,” I mutter, light turning green. “I have to get to work.”
“Of course you do,” she huffs. “Work first, as always. Just… fix whatever’s going on with her.”
There’s a bitter laugh bubbling up that I swallow down. I always have to fucking fix it. “Whatever.”
“I’d say thanks, but you don’t want to hear it.” A beat. “Tell her I love her.”
“You could tell her yourself if you actually showed up on your nights.” The words slip out before I can stop them.
Silence crackles over the line.
