Page 91 of Steele

“I don’t think she’s going to have much to say to me either.”

I followed him. Once I was wearing my cut and sitting on my bike, I sent a text to Jaymi.

Brett: Case dismissed.

I followed it up with another.

Brett. Thank you for believing me. I love you.

Now, I was going to head over to the MC, switch my bike for the hearse, and surprise my baby girl by picking her up from school.

Jaymi

My phone sat on the edge of my desk all morning waiting for a text or call from Brett. At first recess, I figured he had to be in court. How long did a restraining order hearing last? If the order was made permanent, would he have to go to court to see Lili? I couldn’t imagine how he felt sitting across from Natalie. Actually, I could. He had to feel the same way I did sitting across from Astrid. Both women had the power to change our lives.

Lili’s laughter pulled me from my thoughts. She sat in the corner of the classroom with Caydee. They were supposed to be working on matching the color wheel, but the girls had giggled most of the morning. A sound I’d desperately missed.

My phone vibrated, and I snatched it off the desk. A text from my OB/GYN. They could get me in today at 3:45. I just needed to text yes to confirm. If I hurried and left with the kids at the dismissal bell, I could just make the appointment.

I was torn. I wanted the appointment. I thought I’d have to wait a few weeks to get in, but if Brett lost the appeal, he was going to need me. I chewed on my bottom lip. He was going to win. Of course, the case would be dismissed. Natalie lied.

I replied to the text, taking the last-minute appointment. I rested a hand on my belly to calm the butterflies. With the appointment confirmed, I could go back to worrying about the case. Just as I set the phone down, another text came through.

Breath caught in my chest. I stared at the words from Brett. My tummy tumbled as I read them again. Case dismissed. I love you. God, I loved him, too. My gaze snapped to Lili. And I loved his little girl.

I knew we’d figure out how we fit together. He’d have to be careful about what he said to Lili. He couldn’t tell her about me. She might mention it to her mother. Everything was about to change. Weekends would be hers. Weeknights would be mine. Our lives couldn’t overlap. Not yet. Everything I’d felt so certain about, suddenly I wasn’t so sure.

I responded to his text.

Jaymi: I love you, too. I’m going to the women’s clinic after work.

Brett: Are you okay?

I smiled.

Jaymi: Yes. Don’t buy any more condoms.

He responded with the hot, sweating emoji. I was just as impatient to have him inside me with nothing between us.

The afternoon passed in a blur. My thoughts were never far from Brett. When the final bell rang, my purse was already over my shoulder and my water bottle dangled from my fingers.

Lili rushed over to Taco’s terrarium as she put on her backpack. She peered through the glass and spoke to the spider. “See you tomorrow.” She smiled and swished her way over to me. “He likes me.”

“Of course, he likes you. You’re a very good friend to him.” She greeted him every morning and said goodbye to him every afternoon.

“Do cats eat spiders?” She walked next to me out of the classroom and out the main doors.

“Yes, but they probably shouldn’t. A spider like Taco could make a cat sick.”

“My cat, Pillar, caught a mouse in the kitchen. My mom was mad, but Ornery said Pillar earned a special dinner. I had a tuna sandwich, too, but Pillar threw up.” She continued to rattle on, and I’d stumbled in my steps.

Brett waited on the sidewalk in front of the school. Sunlight reflected off his mirrored sunglasses. His jaw tightened and, with the tilt of his head, his gaze focused on the little girl next to me. The corner of his mouth lifted.

With his new haircut, Lili hadn’t noticed her dad. He was in a throng of kids, yet he was all I could see.

“Lilibug.”

She stopped talking, and her gaze jerked left then right. Confused, she turned around in a circle. A soft whimper escaped her lips. “Daddy?” she whispered.