Right With Me - Stacey Lewis Page 0,46

Seth decides to take me to court, I won’t be able to afford the type of lawyer he’ll get. Maybe if he paid the alimony and child support that he’s supposed to, but it’s been sporadic and never the amount it should be.

Looking down at Connor, who’s playing on the floor with a couple of his trucks, I hold out a hand. “You ready to go, sweetie?”

Blue eyes that match his father’s look up at me and he grabs my hand, using it to pull himself up to standing. Once he’s steady, we leave for Mitchell’s apartment.

Dinner goes well… I guess? I don’t really remember. As much as I hate to admit it, I wasn’t fully present all night, and I’m sure I made a very crappy impression. All I could think about was Seth wanting to be part of Connor’s life after so long. I guess a year isn’t that long, but if, heaven forbid, Connor didn’t live with me? I’d see him every single chance I could. Seth not wanting to be bothered is something I just don’t understand.

Back in the apartment for the night, I get Connor ready for bed, doing only the bare minimum because after spending all evening playing with Evie and Ben, he’s so tired he’s almost falling asleep in the tub. I wouldn’t even bother with a bath, but I think he wore more mashed potatoes than he put into his mouth.

As soon as he’s in his pajamas, I take him back to his room. We sit in the glider beside his toddler bed and rock as I read his current favorite book, but he doesn’t last more than a few pages before he’s snoring lightly. I smile down at him, running my finger down his soft little cheek. The love I feel for him isn’t something I can put into words. It’s just there and infinite. Never-ending and true.

I’m just pulling the door to his room shut when there’s a loud knock on my door. My first thought is Seth. Is he showing up hoping to have time with Connor? Who else would be coming here so late at night?

Checking the peephole is something I know I should do, but I’m so panicked I bypass it completely. The door opens, but it’s not Seth on the other side… it’s Mitchell.

Chapter 23

Mitchell

Hailey was preoccupied all night. She missed things the kids said to her, picked at her food, and basically ignored me. Ben watched her closely all night, and I know he wasn’t impressed. I didn’t need him to tell me, but he didn’t wait long after the door shut to tell me I needed to cut her loose and find someone better. Someone who is good with him and Evie. The funny thing is, she was and is good with Evie. I’m not sure what happened tonight.

It kills me to wait until Evie’s in bed, but as soon as she is, I head for Hailey’s apartment, telling Ben to keep an eye on his sister until I return. It probably makes me an awful parent to leave my thirteen-year-old in charge of my sleeping eight-year-old, but I’m not going very far and he has my number if anything happens.

My fist pounds on her door much harder than I plan, but I own it. I need to talk to her, to find out what happened to her between the playground and dinner. I don’t think it was just the stress of eating dinner with my kids either, so she better not give me that shit.

She opens the door and I watch as her body relaxes the moment she realizes it’s me at her door.

“Who were you expecting?”

Hailey blinks up at me, a little lost. “Huh?”

“Just now. Who were you expecting to be at your door? And, why didn’t you check your peephole.”

Her spine goes rigid and she draws herself up to her full height. “That’s none of your business, and how do you know I didn’t?

“C’mon, Hailey. I’m not stupid. If you’d checked the peephole, you wouldn’t have been shocked to see me instead of whoever else you were expecting. Who was it?” Jealousy explodes in my veins, making my voice harsher than I intend, but fuck it.

She still swears she wasn’t expecting anyone, and it pisses me the fuck off. Instead of standing here in the hallway arguing with her, I push my way inside her apartment. Hailey probably thinks I’m a dick for doing it, but at the moment I don’t