Page 36 of Soaring Free
Pippa places her hand on my arm, silently reminding me to keep it together. “What my client means to say is that this is not even a realistic offer, let alone one we would ever entertain accepting.”
“Your client still has the right to see the entire offer.” Shane grins. Pippa rolls her eyes but opens the folder and flips through the pages. In addition to the reduction of the lump sum by forty percent, he now has the house as contested property. So, inaddition to screwing me over financially for everything I helped him build, he now wants to literally take my home? We agreed that I would stay in the house until the girls were through school and out of the house. Before I can say anything, Pippa clears her throat.
“Now boys, I thought we were all professionals here, but this offer is quite honestly insulting to my client and what she is owed, as well as insulting to my time for completely wasting it with this rubbish. We previously agreed that the marital home would go to my client as the children reside there.”
“You wanted to include the penthouse, so I thought we should include all properties, regardless of where the children reside. And in fact, maybe my next offer should include pushing back on some of the previously agreed upon custody terms.”
“What?” I whisper. He doesn’t want custody, that was the whole thing he wanted to get away from. Shane doesn’t want to be the suburban dad and live the family life. He wants to live the big city life, with a full social calendar, and freedom to do whatever he wants.
“You seem to forget we are here today because you chose to literally burn my previous offer. And my next offer? It will make this one look generous.” Shane glares at me, and while I may recognize the dimples on his face, I do not recognize this version of the man I was with for fifteen years. I don’t know this man at all.
“Please remind your client that he can direct any communication to me directly and not to address my client if he is going to be aggressive and unnecessarily rude, Mr. Clark.” Pippa’s demeanor has shifted, and I suspect the dragon that I’ve heard about is about to make an appearance. Kyle leans over to whisper something to Shane as he waves his hand away dismissively and shakes his head.
“Listen, I know my wife. I know she doesn’t want to deal with any of this, but the settlement offers will only be reduced from this point forward. And the longer you drag this out, the longer it will take for you to try and find the next perfect littlecookie-cutter suburban man that can play house and be a puppet for your entire family.” An image of Theo suddenly comes to mind, and I don’t fight the smile that appears. “What are you smiling about? Do you think I’m joking?”
“Oh. Nothing. I just think it’s adorable that you think I’m waiting on anything from you to live my life on my terms.” Pippa begins to stand and I follow her lead, picking up my handbag—one that Vivian gave me. I doubt he would know the difference, but I wasn’t going to use a handbag that he gave me in one of his many apologies over the years. “You seem to think you’re in charge of not only this divorce but also have any say whatsoever in how I live my life now.”
“What does that mean, Savannah?” Shane narrows his eyes at me.
“Just that I’ve always believed in happily ever after, and even though you no longer factor into mine, I still believe in them.” And maybe, just maybe I can still have my own one day.
“Oh, yeah? What kind of man is going to get involved with a housewife in the middle of a divorce, with three children, and an overbearing family? I’m sure whoever you find after this is settled will be just that—the one that settled with you and will only be able to stand in the shadow of what I left behind.” He could have slapped me and it would have hurt less than those words. Not only that someone would be settling with me, but also that my girls are somehow a negative factor in my life. Those are his girls too. What an asshole.
“As you are both now legally separated while we proceed with this divorce, my client’s current and future dating life is none of your concern, Mr. Williams,” Pippa speaks up.
Shane snaps his head to Pippa, and for the first time today, he looks surprised. “What current dating life? Are you dating already, Savannah?” Now it’s my turn to be smug and instead of answering him, I follow his lead, giving him my own smirk before I follow my attorney out of the conference room. “Savannah, I asked you a question.” He is irate that I’m walkingaway from him—and the irony is not lost on me. “Whoever they are, they still won’t ever be enough for your family.”
“I don’t know, I think the poker game went pretty well the other night,” I say, knowing I’m not dating Theo, but he did spend time with my brothers, and I know the poker game is a torpedo that will hit its intended target.
As Shane stands, he places his hands on the table and leans forward. “You are full of it. There’s no way your brothers already invited someone you’ve been seeing for five minutes to their weekly game.” Shane was invited to poker night a few times years ago, but he only went once. After blowing my brothers off too many times, they stopped inviting him. In Shane’s mind, he wasn’t invited to join anymore, but it only ended up like that because he failed to reciprocate my brothers’ efforts in having a relationship with him. Somehow, he became the one left out, but if he had the balls to mention it once to them, I’m sure they would have invited him again. But that doesn’t seem to be convenient to Shane in whatever version of history he now believes to be true.
“Who played poker with your brothers, Savannah?” The smug Shane that I found when I walked into this meeting has transformed to an angry, and dare I say, maybe even jealous man. “I want a name, Savannah!”
“See you gentlemen in court.” Pippa places her hand on my lower back and guides me out of the room with Shane still calling my name as though I owe him an explanation. I don’t owe the man anything at this point.
As we walk out of the conference room and toward the lobby of Brown, Lewis, and Williams, Pippa tilts her head to the side, hums, and leans in close to me, speaking just above a whisper. “I need you to follow my lead and trust me right now, okay? Can you do that?” She leans back and looks at me as I nod, not sure where she is going with this since we just left the meeting and are already on our way out. She opens the door to a ladies’ restroom and indicates for me to follow her inside.
“Sorry, that pen got ink on my hand and I just need to wash it off quick.” Her hands are clean, she didn’t get any ink onthem, but I follow her to the row of sinks as she continues, “Like I was telling you earlier, my contact said the feature article will include other high-profile women that are going through a contentious divorce. Of course, the article won’t include any ongoing litigation information but really will focus on the mental load of being a mother navigating a challenging chapter in life. They think they might even get the ex-wife of the Stars quarterback to do it too; she gave that incredible interview toPeoplelast year about her messy divorce.”
What is going on right now? Pippa nods at me and glances at the closed stall door in the mirror reflection. “I would have to think about it, I guess. I don’t think I’d want the girls involved, but I think it’s something any mother in my position could connect with.” Or not since I don’t know what we are talking about, but I must be on the right track because Pippa’s eyes dance with delight as she grabs a paper towel to dry her hands.
“Absolutely. And the photoshoot could be in your kitchen and really show you in your element, people will love to see a sweet mama like you, oooo maybe baking cookies for your girls. We can lean into the wholesome image, and it would go without saying that any man who would walk away from a catch like you must be out of his mind.” She tosses the paper towel into the wastebasket just as the toilet flushes and the stall door opens. A woman I don’t recognize gives us a tight smile as she goes to wash her hands. “Oh my goodness, I didn’t realize anyone else was in here. My apologies! Have a nice day, ma’am!” Pippa gives her a big smile and we turn to leave. She gives me a small shake of her head and I know to wait to ask her what the hell that was about.
Once we’re next to her car, she glances around before saying anything. “You did great!”
“At what? I’m not even sure what I did,” I admit.
“Well, I’m sure you’ve heard that sometimes I’ve been known to breathe fire, right?” She wiggles her eyebrows as I glance back at the building we just left before nodding in response.
I am so lost right now.
“Well, there is a weapon that can be more powerful than even a fire-breathing dragon when used properly … and that weapon, my dear, is gossip.”
Chapter twenty-two
Gigi snuggles into the couch with her favorite stuffed giraffe, a constant source of comfort for her since Pippa gave it to her as a present when she was a baby. She may be cozy now, but Gigi is less than impressed with the hot pink cast that will be her new accessory for the next month or so, but I’m grateful she didn’t need surgery today. My phone vibrates in my pocket and I glance down, smiling at the name on the screen. I sent Savannah a text earlier, asking her to call me and let me know how today went when she had a moment.
“I’ll be in the kitchen, Princess. If you need anything, holler, okay?” I kiss her forehead as she nods, her attention fully focused on the television screen and her favorite cartoon princess.
