Page 71 of Dibs
My head fell back against the headrest and I let out a sigh of relief. If Miguel had laid a hand on my sons, I wasn’t sure I could have stopped myself from going back there.
Still, I was worried about Tyler since he hadn’t answered my question about whether or not he was okay. I decided I would take him aside once we were at the hotel, in case he didn’t want to say anything in front of the others.
We pulled up in front of The Grand Resort. Chase popped the back open so we could grab our luggage and then he handed the keys to the valet.
After Chase checked us in, we headed to our rooms. We’d requested for them to be adjoining and Chase and Jase would share one room, while Tyler, Dylan, and I would have the other. While the hotel was able to accommodate our request, Chase and Jase were going to have to share a king-sized bed, while my room had two queens. It would’ve been nice to share a bed with Chase, but we still hadn’t stayed overnight together when the boys were around.
We each entered our own room, but we quickly opened the doors connecting the two spaces.
“Dylan, come here,” Jase called out, and Dylan ran to his room.
Taking advantage of being alone with Tyler, I sat on the bed opposite of the one he was lying on, texting on his phone. “Hey, are you sure you’re okay?”
He kept his focus on his cell. “I’m fine.”
Those fatherly instincts were prickling again. “What happened back at your mom’s place would be a lot for anyone to process. It’s okay if you’re upset or confused.”
“I’m not upset or confused. I’m pissed,” he clipped.
I was slightly taken aback by his confession. Tyler and I had similar personalities, and it took a lot to rile us up. “That’s okay too, but we should probably talk about it.”
He turned his gaze my way. “The things Miguel said about you and Chase …”
“He’s an asshole.” I wouldn’t usually talk shit about someone in front of Tyler, but after what happened earlier, it was the only word I could use.
He blinked and I could see tears welling up in his eyes. “He scared me. I thought for sure he was going to fight you when you came to get us.”
“Why didn’t you call or text me?”
“Mom took our phones and would only let us use them when she was with us. We snuck them out of her room when you showed up. We tried to text you, and Dylan texted Jase when you didn’t answer.”
I’d left my phone in the car when I walked up to the house, and hadn’t checked it after we took off because my focus was on making sure Tyler and Dylan were okay. “What the hell was she thinking?” I asked, mostly to myself.
Lisa had her issues with being a crappy mom, but I’d never known her to be downright hateful.
“Please don’t make me go back there,” he pleaded. “She’d said some things in the past that were homophobic, but ever since she started dating Miguel, she’s gotten a hundred times worse. I don’t want to be around that.”
“I’m going to do everything in my power to make sure you’re not put in a position like that again,” I promised. “In fact, I’m going to call my lawyer right now. Why don’t you go hang out with your brother.”
I pulled my phone out of my pocket and pushed call on the contact I had saved.
“Thompson Law Firm,” the cheery receptionist greeted.
“This is Gage Statler, one of Kyle O’Neill’s clients. I’ve got an urgent matter I need to discuss with him if he’s available.”
“Okay, can you please hold?”
“Sure.” I stood and paced while listening to the classical music pumping through the line. A few moments later, the line picked up.
“Gage, you’ve managed to catch me between meetings. Is this about your request to modify your custody agreement?”
“Yes, I need to get it changed ASAP.” I explained everything that happened earlier in the day in great detail.
“Okay, we need to get an emergency hearing set. I’ll get the ex parte application drafted and emailed to you for your signature. When do you get back in town?” Kyle asked.
“We’re flying home on Sunday.”
“Okay. I’ll have Linda call you once we have a court date. She’ll send you an email with all the details. In the meantime, enjoy the weekend with your boys, and let me worry about the legal stuff.”
