“That’s what Connie told us,” Mom says, nodding along with him.
“No. What you could do is let Lara and I sort this out. You could have at least consulted with us, with me if no one else, before you took a step like this. How are either of you any better than Nathan right now?”
“We’re reacting to his stupidity. If he hadn’t pulled that bullshit with the lawyer, then we wouldn’t have had to do this,” Dad says.
“You still didn’t have to do this,” I counter. “You could have acted like grown-ass adults and let Lara and me handle it.”
“Do you really think she’s not going to go along with her father? She hates you, Ethan. Not that I can entirely blame her, considering what happened between the three of you.” Mom pins me down with that look, the look I hate under the best of circumstances.
“I know I can trust her because she’s been above-board the whole time,” I say.
“As far as you know, you mean,” Dad says.
“She’s been completely above-board, and I know she has,” I insist.
I close my eyes and clench my teeth. I know my parents are trying to look out for me, and for Riley, in their own weird way, but this is just going to make everything a million times worse.
“We wanted you to know because the court is probably going to want to hear from you, and I’m sure they’ll want to hear from Lara too,” Mom tells me, and she’s using that gentle tone she always uses when she wants to convince me to do something.
“I’m definitely going to talk to Lara about this. Thanks for throwing a monkey wrench into an already screwed-up engine,” I say, shaking my head again. “I need to head out. I can’t believe the two of you.”
I turn and leave without saying a proper goodbye, because while I’m not furious with my parents, I don’t actually know how I feel exactly. I’m frustrated, but I know they’re just trying to do something they think will protect me.
I get my phone out of my pocket as I climb into my car and wait until I get to a place where I can stop for a couple of minutes before I dial Lara.
“Hey, Lara. Listen, we need to meet up like… right now. I don’t know what you’ve got going on, but shit is going down,” I say, as soon as the call connects.
“Wait, what’s going on?” Lara sounds like she might have had to pull over to take my call and I remember that normally she actually goes to the office. Her day’s about to get as screwed up as mine has become.
“My parents counter-sued,” I say.
“What?” The word comes over the line as almost a shriek, and I hold the phone away from my ear cringing.
“Yeah. That’s why we need to meet up. Can you come over to my place?”
“Fuck. Yeah, give me like… thirty minutes. I need to call work and let them know.”
“Me too,” I say. We don’t say anything else, but both get off the phone, and I call my boss. I tell him that something’s come up with Riley, which isn’t a lie, but it’s only part of the truth, and that I can’t come in today. He tells me that he’ll get my work for the day covered. He knows there’s been a lot of shit going on since Alexis died, and I think he’s just grateful I haven’t gone off the deep end.
Before too long I’m driving back to my house, trying to think through the mess that my parents have just made a million times worse. How the hell are Lara and I going to figure this shit out? How in the world are we going to make any of this work, and how can we keep Riley from finding out how much her grandparents are screwing with her life?
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Lara
I’m almost shaking by the time I get to Ethan’s place and shut off the engine in my car. Between my dad’s insanity, and his parents’ reaction to it, I have no idea what either of us is even going to do. Not to mention there’s no way to really keep Riley out of this, poor girl.
I’d been on my way to work when he called, since it was his parents’ day to take care of Riley, I’d known immediately that there was something really, truly wrong for him to have called me like that, and the first words out of his mouth did nothing to put me at ease. My boss hadn’t been exactly happy to hear that I needed to call out for the day, but she knew better than to argue from the tone of my voice. I’m sure I sounded pissed and harried in equal measures.
“Hey, come in,” Ethan says, answering the door a second after I knock. We’re both in work clothes. Mine are a little more dressed up than his, but I have to admit that he looks good, better even than he does when he comes by to pick Riley up. I see him give me a quick double take and then we’re both walking into the living room, sitting down.
“What the hell is going on?” I bring my hands up to my face. “Everything has gone crazy.”
“Yeah, it has,” Ethan says. He sighs, and I look through my fingers to see him shake his head.
“So, they’re suing my dad. What exactly are they trying to do?”
“According to them, the only option is to ask to have Alexis’ last wishes put aside and grant me full, sole custody of Riley, with control over visitation,” Ethan explains.
“So basically, because my dad is trying to screw things up, I get punished too,” I say bitterly.
“That’s the shape of it, yeah,” Ethan agrees. I groan and clench my hands into fists. I know Ethan’s parents are just trying to keep his position as Riley’s dad secure, but I can’t believe
