agreement, a custody arrangement that suits us both and will give Bree and I time together.”
“The arrangement we have now is just fine. I’ve never kept her from you. You did that all on your own.”
“You’re right. But things are different now and I’ve changed. And we need to make sure it’s legal and binding.”
“You don’t trust me? That’s rich. This is about getting back at me, isn’t it?”
“This is about doing what’s best for our daughter,” he said softly, with no smirk or hint of vindictiveness. “If we can’t reach an agreement on our own, I’ll be forced to contact my attorney.”
“Go ahead,” she said, daring him, hoping he was bluffing. But then, Neil didn’t bluff, did he? She swallowed back the sick feeling in her throat. “You’re not taking my daughter from me.”
“I don’t want to take her from you. I want to be a part of her life. And, more importantly, I want to prove to her that’s what I want.”
But all Maddie could think about was that he wanted Bree. He had everything she didn’t. Money, fame and powerful friends and acquaintances. She had her pride, her family and her connections in town, but was that enough up against who he’d become?
“Go ahead,” she said. “Contact your attorney. But you’ll have a fight on your hands.”
“I’m sorry it has to be this way.”
She almost believed him.
* * *
THE PAPERS CAME two weeks later, enough time for her to worry over it every day, to wonder if he’d go through with his threats, his promise. Enough time to keep him in the forefront of her mind.
Oh, who was she kidding? Maddie wondered as she sat at the kitchen table late that night, the words on the pages blurring in front of her. Custody arrangement, best interests of the minor child, shared custody, agreement for said child to spend time with father.
She pressed her fists against her temples, shut her eyes. He was doing it. He was trying to take Bree from her.
And still, she missed him. Missed the person he’d become. Had wanted nothing more than to forget about him, to forget about their time together and how she’d almost been such a fool over him again.
“Mom? You okay?”
Maddie lifted her head to see Bree in the doorway, her feet bare, in her pajamas, her hair sticking up on the side. “Hey,” Maddie said, trying to smile and shuffling the papers together. “Why are you up?”
“I just finished reading,” she said, holding up her latest book. Maddie had to give it to Neil—that credit line at the bookstore had gone over better than anything else he could have done. “I wanted a drink.” She looked at the papers. “What’s that? A new contract for a job?”
Maddie opened her mouth to tell her that’s exactly what it was, to lie to her baby’s face, but then she remembered that Bree wasn’t a baby anymore. She was a kid, but she was quickly growing up, and hadn’t Maddie been the one to tell Bree to always be honest? That they needed to rely on each other to be truthful?
“Sit down,” Maddie said. “I need to tell you something.”
Bree sat on the edge of the chair. “Is everything okay? Is it Aunt Fay? Did she hurt herself again?”
Fay had started therapy but they all walked on eggshells around her, worried about saying the wrong thing, looking at her the wrong way, fearful of hurting her tender feelings.
“No. Aunt Fay is fine.” Maddie inhaled deeply. “These papers are from your dad’s attorney.” She worked hard not to let any of her resentment or fear leak through into her voice, kept her expression clear. “Your dad wants us to share custody of you.”
“Like you do already?”
“More than that. He wants us to legally agree that you can spend more time with him. One weekend a month and anytime you have a school break of at least four days and...two months during the summer when he’s not playing hockey.”
Bree ran a fingertip across the table. “Oh. He wants that to be like a rule?”
“Sort of. If we agree to it, it’ll be put into effect and it’ll happen. It won’t be him calling when he wants and asking you to come and you having the choice not to go. Right now, I have full custody and he has visitation rights but he wants it to be more. More scheduled. He wants it to be, as you said, a rule so that every month,