Page 97 of Single Mom's Guide to Love

I promised Maeve I’d be polite. And I don’t want to start anything. As she said, I refuse to give this man something to use against me.

But what’s the expression though—ask for forgiveness and not permission?

“Just trying to be the best person I can be for Jayce,” I reply. “You understand that, though, right? As a dad. Wanting the absolute best for your son.”

We have our own stare down before Maeve’s words break it up.

“Okay, how about we sit and try to be adults.”

And we do—Maeve and I take one couch as Josh and Vivian take the other. I immediately go for Maeve’s hand, which she gives me. Josh sees that, tries to do the same, but Vivian is using both of her hands to type on her phone.

“I thought we should all meet,” Maeve begins. “It’s been a crazy few months.”

“Yes,” Josh says with a bite. “It would’ve been nice to meet the man who apparently my son is now living with, you know, before my ex-wife married him.”

“That’s understandable, and I apologize,” Maeve says diplomatically. “But maybe we can wipe that slate clean since you also gave me no warning that you two got married. And, correct me if I’m wrong, but I seem to remember you not telling me that you two were dating for months before we met.”

By the look in Josh’s eyes, I’m guessing that point goes to Maeve.

“Fine,” he huffs. “But that doesn’t change anything. I’m still filing for primary custody.”

Interestingly enough, that’s what gets Vivian to start paying attention. I don’t like to judge books by covers—or judge women simply by their clothing and makeup choices—but she doesn’t strike me as a woman who has deep-seated motherly desires.

Take last night, for example. Maeve and I FaceTimed Jayce when we got back from Los Angeles. She does it every night, and I asked if I could join. The three of us were laughing, talking and catching up. And I don’t think he meant to tattle, but Jayce did make mention that he and Josh went to the movies, but Vivian was too busy to go. And when they got home, she wasn’t there either. And while all of that wouldn’t strike anyone as strange, if Josh’s whole argument is that he and Vivian are a family, maybe she should do family things.

But what do I know? I’ve been a stepdad for two weeks and were raised by parents who shouldn’t have had kids.

“Josh, I need to ask you again, why are you doing this?” Maeve asks, a slight bit of desperation in her tone. “Is this what youreallywant? There’s still time for us to figure something outwhere we don’t have to get lawyers and the courts involved. I’d be willing to maybe talk fifty-fifty, or more days a week?”

“It is what we want,” Vivian interrupts, suddenly very present in the conversation. “We’re a family.”

“Oh, you’re here,” Maeve says. Yup. Polite has gone up the spout. “Glad you finally decided to join us.”

Vivian doesn’t respond, I’m assuming because she doesn’t pick up on Maeve’s sarcasm.

“Jayce is happy here,” Josh begins. “He’s stable. He’s not being shipped around. My job is here. So is Vivian’s. You have to get that Maeve.”

“The fact that you insinuate he’s not happy with me is absurd,” Maeve says, her voice growing louder. “Does he stay with my parents or with Ainsley or Stella sometimes? Yes. They’re family. It’s not like I’m asking strangers daily to watch my son. And now I have Logan. You know, because we’re a family too.”

Maeve makes sure to direct that last comment straight to Vivian. I understood the full meaning of what she said without saying it—that we can get married quickly too—but I don’t think Vivian did.

As they say in my new region of the country, bless her heart.

“Twenty-three.”

“Twenty-three what?” Maeve asks Josh. I’m confused as well.

“Twenty-three weeks last year you were gone for at least two days. That’s more than half of the weeks in the year, Maeve.”

“It wasn’t that many,” Maeve defends.

“It was. I checked. That’s a lot of days you were away. A lot of time figuring out what to do with Jayce.”

I glance over to Maeve, who looks like she just got slapped in the face. I hate not being able to do anything right now, but I’ve been in enough board room negotiations to know when it’s not your fight, you stay out of it.

And this isn’t my fight, as much as I want it to be.

“Let’s say it was twenty-three,” Maeve says. “Let’s hypothetically say—Vivian, that means let’s pretend—that you get primary custody because of my absences. That our lives switch up. Do you not think you’ll be taken away for work? You’re going all around Nashville telling anyone who listens that you’re the guy who opened the honky-tonk with Walker Boone. What if you decide to open another location? You might still be in Nashville, but you wouldn’t have the normal, cushy hours that you’ve built for yourself now with one location.”

---