Nate squeezed my hip reassuringly.
“I have lawyers,” threatened Tia. Gone was the fake smile. “The court will not let you keep his daughter from him.”
“You will leave right now, or we’ll be calling the police,” Nate spoke calmly, with a level voice.
Tia leaned forward and pointed a finger at us. “You have not heard the last of me.”
She turned around and stomped toward the SUV. “Hurry up, Frank. I need to call my lawyer.”
Frank turned to follow her. He took two steps then glanced back. “I’m—“
He shook his head, interrupting his words and hurrying toward the car.
We didn’t say a word until the white car turned out of the trailer park.
“They can’t be serious,” I whispered.
Nate turned me to face him. He grabbed my face gently, his calloused palms resting against the soft skin of my cheeks.
“Riley. It’s going to be okay. Understand?”
I nodded slowly.
“What’s going on?”
We turned to see Wren standing at the end of the driveway.
“What were Frank and his new girlfriend doing here?”
I licked my lips and turned to face her. The concern in her face was evident.
There was no lying to her. She was practically an adult. She already knew something was wrong.
“Tia and Frank want you.”
She walked toward us slowly. “Want me? In their wedding, you mean?”
“No, they want you to live with them.”
Wren’s face turned ashen. “Why? He’s never wanted me before.”
“Tia.”
“No.”
I nodded. “I think she’s imagining a Yours, Mine, and Ours remake.”
“I’d rather live under a bridge.”
“I know. You don’t have to worry; I’ve been the only legal guardian after Mom. And it’s all followed the proper channels. I think the court will look favorably at us if they decide to pursue it. They might just decide her kids are enough. You know how Frank gets stressed thinking about how much money it would cost to have you live with him.”
Wren finally smiled at that. “You’re right. This is totally Tia’s doing. Frank would have a heart attack imagining feeding me or buying me clothes. Imagine if I asked him to pay for college!”
We giggled at that. “He’ll forget all about it and remember that it’s not a good idea.”
Wren smiled and relaxed her stance. “All right, well, I came back because it’s our show night.”
I hugged Nate. “We’re going to have a girls’ night and catch up on some TV shows. I’ll talk to you in the morning.”
He studied my eyes and frowned, not liking whatever it was that he saw. “Have a good night. Text me.” He planted a kiss on my forehead and slowly drew back. I wanted nothing more than to latch onto him like a professional clinger, but I needed to be strong for Wren. Show her that I wasn’t worried about Frank and Tia’s visit. If I didn’t follow her inside, she’d know something was wrong.
“Goodnight,” I said as I smiled at Nate. I gave Wren a playful push toward the door. “Come on. I’m getting used to those subtitles.”
I spent the rest of the evening watching a Turkish drama. It was the perfect thing to distract us from Frank and Tia. We had to focus on the subtitles the entire time. Eventually, Wren fell asleep on the bed where we’d made a cozy nest to watch the show on my laptop.
That girl could sleep at the drop of a hat.
I stared at her relaxed face with the intensity of a predator about to launch onto a kill. I wanted to study every feature, memorize it. I couldn’t lose her. She was my baby. She was my sister. Frank and Tia didn’t know how she easily fell asleep or how she had bad allergies during harvest season and needed an inhaler. They didn’t know she was scared to death of her science classes, worried she’d have to dissect something.
Why was my world falling apart right when it had begun to feel so right?
I slammed the bottom of my fist against Nate’s front door repeatedly. The door popped open under the force.
Nate came walking down the hall, wearing a pair of basketball shorts and no shirt.
“You broke my door,” he teased. His smile dropped when he saw my red, puffy eyes.
I hadn’t been able to stop the tears that had started when Wren fell asleep. I knew I needed someone else to tell me it would be okay. So, I’d donned my slipper flip-flops and darted across the dark street, hoping Nate would still be awake.
“Come here.” He held his arms out, and I flew to him, letting the tears flow freely.
I’d never had the luck to be a pretty crier; I wish I had.
But Nate had seen me cry before. It was not a surprise to him.
We stood there for a long while before Nate picked me up and carried me toward his beanbag couch. It was like something straight out of a college dorm, and I was determined to drag it to bonfire night one of these days.
After a few minutes of letting me ugly cry against his T-shirt, he said, “I’ve been looking into the legalities of Frank trying to get custody of Wren, and I really think we could push the abandonment angle.
“We could try, but I think he could claim that he routinely came to visit her.”
“It doesn’t matter. I’ve been doing a lot of research about it, and I think, with a good lawyer, you would win this case, hands down. He hasn’t contributed in any way, not with the care or the finances. He had the chance to take care of her when your mom got sentenced, and instead, he let that responsibility fall to you. The courts are going to pay attention to those kinds of details. I’m
