Page 9 of The Ex Next Door
Amy resisted lecturing him on being sure he wanted to be married, andstay married, especially after children. It wasn’t any of her business, plus, Declan had waited so maybe he was ready. A lot of people said she and Rob had been too young to have kids in their early twenties. They were right about Rob, but not about Amy. She was happy to be a young mother and only wished she hadn’t married a jerk.
“Well, I wish you luck.”
You’ll need it,she wanted to say.Okay,no, Amy. You’re not going to do this. You’re not going to join the bitterly betrayed club of divorced single moms. Be nice.Declan wanted to fall in love and get married. It was a worthy goal. At least he wasn’t stuck in an eternal adolescence, or like Rob, feeling that he had to revisit the one robbed of him.
“Thanks!” He and his lawn mower turned to go, but then he stopped. “And if you ever need anything, I mean anythingat all, please let me know. Walk right over.”
“Okay.”
She would. Amy wasn’t too proud to understand she might be in over her head.
Help would be welcome, even from the ex next door.
Chapter Four
When Rob hadn’t arrived, or called, and it was close to noon, Amy broke down and called him.
“Hey, Ames! Whassup?”
God help her, he sounded like an overgrown frat boy lounging poolside. If she recalled, having only seen the place once, the apartment complex had a pool. She was pretty sure Rob had chosen it for that reason alone.
“What’sup?” Amy hissed. “Where are you? The kids are waiting.”
“That’s today?” A splash in the background. “I thought it was next weekend.”
“No, Rob. Youknewwe were moving in yesterday when you had to pull a late one at the office. But this is your weekend.” She lowered her voice and walked out of the living room into her bedroom to shut the door. “I assumed you’d at least take them today. They really want to see you.”
“Aw, damn. Unfortunately, I already made plans.”
“Cancel them. They miss you. These are yourchildren.”
“You don’t have to tell me that, Amy. Ease up on the hostility, ’m kay?”
“You haven’t evenseenhostile from me. Keep it up, and you will.”
The way Amy had always looked at the world, if you hurther children, you hurther. There was zero degree of separation. The mama cub came out in full force. It was actually better for someone to hurt her rather than one of herchildren. Hurting her child was like ripping out a piece of her heart, then trampling on it and expecting her to be fine with it. She’d always thought this sort of thing would come into play with a class bully or mean girl and not their own father. But if it were up to her, Rob would not hurt their children any more than he’d already managed just by being himself.
“If you had let mefinish, I would have explained that I’ll cancel my plans and pick up the kids. It will take me about thirty minutes to get there. Have them ready and waiting for me curbside, ’kay?”
“Better yet, why don’t I just throw them to you in the car as you swing by? All you have to do is open the door and slow down a bit.”
“That’s notfunny. I don’t want to waste any more time, that’s all. I’m already late. Besides, if I come inside they’ll want to give me the grand tour and we’ll waste more time.”
She wanted to scream that it was his fault he was late today, his fault she was unpacking her entire life, his fault her children had to live in this cottage without their father. His fault foreverything. But she wasn’t going to go down that road. She refused to become a bitter woman. Rob hadn’t cheated on her, at least. Best to look on the bright side.
“Daddy’s on his way!” Amy said cheerfully, for David’s sake.
He’d gone into somewhat of a funk when Rob hadn’t shown up earlier, shuffling around the living room and kicking empty boxes. Naomi, for her part, had curled up with a book.
“Why is he late this time?”
Her little boy sounded bitter, and there went another slice of her heart.
“Oh, you know how it is. Traffic, probably.”
Rob had decided to rent a place thirty minutes away in Houston, as if he wanted to put more distance between him and his family.
“Yeah,” David huffed. “Traffic.”
