Page 22 of Soaring Free
Moron.
I guarantee he assumed I wouldn’t look into it or question what he told me needed to happen. But that’s not my fault he was foolish enough to once again underestimate me.
“Come on, Shane, walk away.” Kyle pushes Shane toward Cooper and Jimmy before turning back to me. “Savannah, I…” Kyle swallows and shakes his head, his eyes wide at the display of Shane’s aggressive behavior. “Are you okay?” I’ve known Kyle and every other partner at the firm for years; they have been to our house for barbecues and holiday parties, and I’ve never had an issue with anyone except for one rude receptionist a few years ago.
“I’m fine, Kyle, thank you.” I barely have time to respond before Theo has his hand around my lower back and is ushering me away from him while glaring at Shane’s legal team. When Theo’s hand touches my lower back, Shane starts yelling—yelling!—in the courthouse.
“Harrington! Get your fucking hands off my wife!” I lean toward Theo, alarmed by Shane’s behavior. Has he lost his damn mind? “She is not yours, get away from her!” Shane continues to yell at us as Kyle, Jimmy, and Cooper try to hold Shane back while two deputies rush to separate us from my irate ex. Theo’s hand firmly guides us as we walk out of the courthouse, with a deputy following us to the door.
Theo looks physically pained as we quickly exit the courthouse and he guides me to the side of the building. Once we’re around the corner, he turns to inspect me, as though there will be a visible wound to discover from that interaction. Shielded from any prying onlookers, I close my eyes and take a deep breath—or at least try to. Theo gently brushes a rogue hair back from my face as he checks me over for physical injuries. “I’m sorry, Savannah. I should have been waiting closer. I was talking to his team about something, but at this point, I think you should consider just running everything through our legal teams. I should have been right outside the door. Are you hurt? Did he touch you?”
“He didn’t hurt me, he’s just so mad. I don’t think he would have physically hurt me, but honestly, he should be embarrassed by his behavior.” Lifting a hand to smooth my hair, I realize my hands are trembling, so I try to shake them out and take another deep breath. “I hope one of his clients saw his tantrum. What was he thinking? Has he lost his damn mind?” I huff and try not to show how much that threw me for a loop. It’s not that I thinkhe would’ve put his hands on me, but Shane has never raised his voice, let alone spoke to me with such … hatred. I think that’s the closest word for the vitriol spewing from him when he cornered me. I think he hates me, but right now I’m too damn pissed off to care, and I will not let him make me cry, especially in public like this. Blinking quickly, I look up to try and keep the tears back. I will not break for him, not here, not in this moment.
Theo rubs my arm and searches my face. “Let’s go get some lunch, okay? We can go to the diner and I’ll even buy you a milkshake.”
“A milkshake?”
He shrugs. “I mean, it works when I need to cheer up my sister or daughter so I thought it might be a universal girl thing.”
A small laugh escapes at his reasoning. “I think that’s universal for most people, regardless of their gender. Okay, let’s do it, just so long as it’s not the same place Shane is going to be. I don’t want to be anywhere near him right now, or for the foreseeable future.”
“Absolutely. Kyle mentioned Shane has a hearing this afternoon in Nashville, so I doubt he has time to go to the diner. If he’s there, we will just leave, okay? I won’t let him corner you like that ever again.”
I brush another rogue piece of hair from my face and nod, allowing Theo to guide me to his sleek black Lincoln SUV. He opens the door, like a gentleman should, and the short drive to the diner is silent as I try to process everything that just happened. When I walked into the courtroom with Theo at my back, Shane just about snapped the pen that was in his hand at the opposing table. I made sure not to make any eye contact with him, as though he was invisible to me, despite him hissing at me in a hushed tone, “What the fuck are you thinking?” as I took a seat across the aisle. I wanted to say that I was thinking this would be an effective strategy in riling him up and he was proving me right once again, but I followed Theo’s advice and kept the bitchiest mask firmly in place. At one point, Shane’s attorney Kyle was spewing a completely false narrative of our marriage and myentire body was vibrating from anger. Without even looking at me, Theo reached over, placed his hand next to mine on the table, and leaned ever slightly into my arm, calming me by knowing he was with me and I was not alone.
After we order our food, I can tell Theo is trying to keep things light by talking about our girls, how fast this school year is going, and anything that does not include my asshole ex.
“Thank you for today,” I tell him sincerely as I play with the straw in my Diet Coke. “It’s in my nature to take care of things, and others, but I’m not always the best at allowing someone else to take care or help me. So, thank you for doing just that, and not making me feel … weak in the process of doing so.” I look up and meet his vivid gray-blue eyes that aren’t just looking at me, he is actually seeing me, and maybe even seeing beyond what I allow most to be able to know.
“There’s nothing wrong with needing someone else, and in fact, I don’t think allowing someone else to stand with you makes you weak, it makes you smart to know when you aren’t meant to fight a battle alone.” Who knew this tall, dark, and handsome man was also so wise? “But I also get it. I know it’s in my nature to figure things out on my own, but life has taught me that sometimes I can be just as strong—if not stronger—with the right partner and team.”
“And does that philosophy extend to your personal life as well? Are you and Gigi’s mother able to be strong partners and co-parents?” I don’t know the details, but I know he’s a single dad, or at least is single to the best of my knowledge, and I’ve never met Gigi’s mother, which is odd in a town the size of Forrest Falls.
Theo tilts his head and looks out the window. “I keep information about her mother pretty close to the vest.”
My cheeks heat with a wave of embarrassment at my faux pax. “Oh goodness, my apologies. I didn’t mean to overstep, Theo. I just thought you might have some insight into co-parenting with an ex, you don’t have to share anything, I’m sorry. Please excuse my oversight.”
Our food arrives before he can reply. After placing the napkin on my lap, I pick up the spoon to stir my soup, but Theo leaves his sandwich on the plate and leans forward, crossing his arms at the edge of the table.
“You didn’t let me finish, Savannah. I keep information about her mother pretty close to the vest for most people.” The silence after that statement is deafening.What does that mean?
“Well, I mean, I get it, I’m the soon-to-be-ex-wife of your mortal enemy.” I laugh to try and lighten the mood, but Theo slowly shakes his head before taking a deep breath.
“You are most definitely not most people.” Before I can dwell on that comment, he continues, “Gigi’s mother was the daughter of a distant family friend and we were actually set up on a date by one of my uncles, and I should have known better. That particular family member is every bad cliché of a trust fund baby, and I shouldn’t have trusted his judgement, but Blake was beautiful and charismatic. It was easy to be drawn to her, but I figured out too late she was playing a very specific game with me.”
“And what game is that?”
“A game that I believe involved tampering with birth control options. I couldn’t prove it, but I suspect she poked holes in the condoms.” I grimace, that’s awful, but he clearly knows that. “I know, I should have been a better judge of character. But she ended up pregnant and as soon as that happened, her true colors came shining through.”
“What were they?”
“Just another run of the mill gold digger, they’re a dime a dozen, but she thought she struck the jackpot landing a Smith-Harrington. She thought I would marry her and give her exactly the life she wanted, but her idea of parenting included an entire team of nannies, foreign boarding schools before even out of primary school, and a life of leisure without any of the responsibility of parenthood.” Theo throws his napkin on the table and takes a long drink of his iced tea. “That wasn’t how I grew up and I had no interest in raising a child without beingpersonally involved, let alone shipping them off to Switzerland before they turned ten years old.”
“Ten?! They’re still babies at ten! Well, not quite babies, but I think my girls will still be my babies when they’re in their twenties. I could never send them away for school so young. I don’t even like to think about them going far for college one day.” I push my food away, I didn’t really have an appetite today anyway, and that’s before discussing mothers bailing on their babies.
“Exactly, that’s an expected response from a mother. But Blake … she wasn’t really made to be a mother. She tried different angles but couldn’t get me to agree with her plan, so a few months before she gave birth, she gave me an ultimatum.”
“Uh oh. I don’t like ultimatums.”
