was being determined. The plan was for Josie and Katie to get used to each other gradually. Adam had gone back to the judge and asked for an amendment to the visitation order to include supervised visits until both parties agreed.
Josie had been agreeable to everything. She sure was playing the part of a well-intentioned mother to a tee.
I took Kyle’s hand, lacing our fingers together. Katie was digging in the sandpit, unaware of how her life was about to change. That was the amazing thing about children. Aside from being resilient, their ability to focus on what was in front of them, tuning out everything else was something I wished I remembered how to do.
“You just have to be civil. And remember this is for Katie. To keep her here with us.” I lifted his hand and pressed it to my chest. “We’re in this together.”
He ran his fingers down my cheek. “Have I told you lately how amazing you are?”
I tapped my chin. “Not in the past ten minutes, no.”
He leaned forward and kissed me. A slow, tender touching of lips. “Let me rectify that then. Whitney Galloway Webber, you’re amazing.” He pulled back and looked at his phone. “She should be here.”
I glanced toward the parking lot and could see a slim figure with long brown hair making her way in our direction. “Is that her?”
Kyle’s entire body tensed. I could practically smell his anxiety. “That’s her.”
Josie Robinson made her way over. She was pretty, with a sweet, heart-shaped face that made her look a lot younger than she was. She was also much shorter than Kyle, and when he stood up to greet her, they looked awkward beside each other. Seeing them together, I honestly couldn’t picture them as a couple. They didn’t fit. That was obvious.
But the way Josie looked at Kyle was telling, and it put me on edge. She gazed up at my husband as if she were parched, and he was a tall glass of water. This was a woman in love to the point of agony.
“Hi, Web,” she said, her eyes never leaving his face. Her voice was high pitched, like a child’s. It was a little off-putting.
“Hi, Jos.” Kyle reached out for my hand, pulling me up to stand next to him. “You remember Whitney Galloway—well, it’s Whitney Webber now.” He put his arm around my waist, but it wasn’t done with affection, but more as if he were making a point.
I saw the hurt flash in Josie’s eyes. She didn’t exactly try to hide it. Her brown eyes drifted down to where Kyle’s arm rested around my middle. She wouldn’t make eye contact, looking instead over my shoulder. “Hi, Whitney. I suppose congratulations are in order.”
“Thanks, Josie,” I said, almost feeling sorry for her. I had been that woman once. Hopelessly in love with a man that could never, would never, love me back.
“I shouldn’t be surprised the two of you ended up together. She was always there between us, after all.” Josie sounded so incredibly bitter. Her lip curled, and there was a flash of anger that she quickly tamped down.
“You’re right. I never got over Whitney. We both knew that.” Kyle pulled me tighter against him as if he wanted to mash us together. I wasn’t sure why he was being so needlessly hateful. Why rub our relationship in Josie’s face?
I pulled away slightly, not wanting to be a part of whatever this was. “I hear you’re staying in town for a while.”
Josie’s eyes zeroed in on Kyle again. “Yes. Until things are settled.”
Why did it feel like she didn’t just mean regarding custody?
“Do you want to see Katie?” I asked when neither Josie nor Kyle said anything else. Kyle looked angry and defiant, the exact opposite of our plan to remain calm and collected. And Josie came across like a lovesick schoolgirl. It was all very uncomfortable.
Josie snapped out of her Kyle fixation and looked around, her eyes drifting right over Katie, who was only ten feet away. “Where is she?”
How does she not recognize her own daughter?
I tried not to judge her too harshly for that. She hadn’t been around Katie since she was a few months old. Even though Kyle had sent her pictures, it wasn’t the same as seeing someone in real life.
But still …
Kyle knelt down beside Katie. “Hey, Bug, there’s someone I’d like you to meet.” He lifted her into his arms, not caring in the slightest when she rubbed sand