Page 47 of Like Home
She collects her things and places a hand on my shoulder, indicating for me to follow as she moves towards the door, “Come on Summer, let's go check out the other room.”
“Okay.” I stand and give a tight-lipped smile to Jared and his lawyer. I keep pace with Nia and Greg back down the short, darkhallway and into a smaller room to the right. Greg stays by the open door and gestures for us to walk deeper into the room.
My eye is immediately drawn to the large, slightly tinted window that takes up nearly the entire back wall. Despite the room’s smaller size, the window makes it feel much less claustrophobic than the conference room we were just in. A smaller table, clearly only meant to seat four or so people, is in the center of the room with a few worn office chairs surrounding it. Nia leads me to the left side of the table and sets her briefcase and folders down.
Greg smiles at me, the corners of his eyes crinkling behind his glasses, “Alright ladies, I’ll be back shortly. I can have Amy bring you some coffee? Water?”
“Water please,” I say, suddenly feeling the way my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth with nerves.
“Same for me. Thanks, Greg,” Nia says as he leaves the room and shuts the door. We can hear his muffled voice as he speaks briefly with his secretary.
Nia and I pass the time sipping on the small bottled waters that Amy brings us and rechecking the custody documents Nia had drawn up over the last few weeks. Just as I’m elbows deep in legal jargon (way too many “heretofores” for my taste), Greg knocks on the doorframe before entering the room.
“So, let’s hear out your custody terms,” he says, crossing the room to sit in the chair opposite us. He pushes his glasses higher on his nose and looks down at the papers on the desk with a concentrated frown.
We proceed to describe the same custody agreement I have now, with a few more specifications for holidays and weekly visits. Nia and I had discussed asking for more custody as a preventative measure, since Jared threatened me with demanding full custody, but ultimately decided on what I think will be best for Emma. She deserves to have two equally present parents.
“That’s basically what we have going now and it seems to be working well for Emma. Ultimately, that’s what I care about. Ijust want to do what’s in her best interest,” I finish before taking the last, now lukewarm, swig of my water.
We had gone over point by point the details of both of our proposals and found only a few discrepancies that I was happy to concede to prevent a fight over ultimately pointless issues. I’m shocked that Jared didn’t demand full custody or some other ridiculous concession, but I can only assume his lawyer or Greg talked him down.
Greg, who had been taking diligent notes on a legal pad throughout our discussion, makes a few last-minute scribbles and says, “Well. It seems like you and Mr. Forrester are on the same page for the majority. Although—and I have his permission to bring this up—he does have concerns about a certain Mr. Ryan Garrett whom you are currently engaged in a romantic partnership with. Here’s a copy of the police report he filed with the local PD he gave me. Now, when I went and looked up the police report, it seems as though the investigators found nothing to charge Mr. Garrett with as Mr. Forrester allegedly began the fight and Mr. Garrett acted out of self-defense.”
I cross my arms and say, “That’s exactly what happened. Jared was going to hit Ryan, and Ryan hit him first so he would stop fighting. Is this police report anything that could hold up in court?” I gnaw on my lip worriedly.
“Likely not. You aren’t married to Mr. Garrett, nor is he currently living on your property. Who you spend recreational time with isn’t truly of his concern.”
“What’s in his realm of concern though? Can he object to Ryan spending time with her?” I ask.
He tilts his head back and forth before stating, “Yes and no. He could technically stipulate that Emma shouldn’t meet Mr. Garrett until your relationship has progressed past a certain point. Usually, six months is the standard for such an agreement, providing that said romantic partner doesn’t pose a risk to the child.”
“He’s trying to say that Ryan poses a risk though, isn’t he?” I feel my temper rising with each word. He just can’t let me be happy. Hehasto drag me down into his miserable bullshit.
Nia places a soothing hand on my arm, “He is, but as Greg said, the police report won’t hold up in court and honestly could even backfire since he’s the one who instigated. If that’s all he has against Ryan, it’s not much. No judge would agree that Jared has a say in your private life.” I take a deep breath and nod, feeling slightly better.
“So, Mr. Forrester obviously has an issue with this new romantic relationship of yours. How do you feel about a six-month stipulation like I mentioned earlier? It would be a compromise, I understand, but it might be worth it to keep this from going before a judge. We can even ensure that the six-month rule would apply to him as well.” Greg flicks through some forms when he finishes speaking and hands one to me.
As much as it sucks, it seems like the best alternative. “Okay, I can do that. If that will end this and keep it from getting worse, I’m fine with that. That’s only another three-ish months anyway.” I’m choosing to be petty and count from when I first met Ryan rather than when we started dating.
Greg nods and says, “Alright, but know that if you’re found in violation, it could mean Jared has the right to take it to court, and it could be used against you. Just have to let you know.” I nod back and bend my head over the form, signing next to the highlighted areas. “Perfect! Back in a jiffy. I’m going to make sure this works for Mr. Forrester, then after meeting with you all again, I’ll draft a new custody agreement and have it to your lawyers over the weekend.” He gathers the paperwork together into a tidy pile and bustles out of the room.
As I drive home from the mediator's office, I let loose a big breath, feeling each muscle unclench one by one. Jared had (grudgingly I’m sure) agreed to the custody agreement, including the six-month wait on introducing new significant others. While Nia’s legal fees took a chunk out of my savings, it was nothing compared to what it could have been if Jared had pursued litigation. I’m still pissed he brought that bogus police report to the meeting, but I’m trying to let it go. I need to be civil for Emma’s sake. “For Emma”has been my constant mantra as of late.
I grab a celebratory overpriced coffee and pastry on my way home and decide that Emma and I will spend the rest of the afternoon playing “spa day.” It’s something we’ve done since she was two. We put on face masks, take a bubble bath, and when she holds still enough, I paint her nails. I could use some relaxing girl time after all this. I pull into the driveway and sit back in the peace of my car, relishing the quiet before going inside.
The late afternoon sunlight dapples through the leaves of the large oak tree out front, and the grass has that lime green, nearly yellow tint that it gets in the summer. I watch as bees buzz lazily around the potted lavender bushes on the front porch, gilded by the golden light. It feels a little like magic. I can almost hear my mom saying,It’s going to be okay.And this time, it really feels like it.
CHAPTER 31
Ryan
Islide a deep-blue button-down short sleeve shirt over my shoulders and make quick work of the buttons. I clasp my dark, slim-profile watch onto my left wrist and take a cursory look in the mirror. I’m supposed to grab Summer for the Springview Fourth of July festival in less than ten minutes. We’re meeting my sister and her family there. I’m running a little behind because my sweet, elderly next-door neighbor had some issues with her wiring again.
I smile to myself at the memory. I’m pretty sure nothing is wrong with the wiring of her house. She’s clearly loosening her lightbulbs to give me a reason to come over. When I suggested that it appeared two of her lightbulbs just needed to be tightened (and how odd that it’s a different set of lightbulbs than last week) she adopted a confused look, brows drawing together while she put on a show of leaning heavily on her cane.
I told her I’d be happy to spend some time with her whenever I was available, but she just said, “I’m not sure what you mean young man. Are you suggesting I did something untoward to get you over here? Alone?”
“Yes,” I said, laughing. I told her again that I would stop by ina few days. I caught her sly smile before she covered it with a cough into her elbow.
