Page 57 of Roll With The Punches
Ed called him about a minute later. “You havegotto be fucking shitting me.”
“No!” Brandon snorted. “I take it that’s the stench of desperation I smell?”
“Most likely. I told her attorney last night that we were going to drag her ass back to court for full child support if she didn’t sign the modification. What the hell does he think he’s going to achieve?”
“I don’t know, but I told my VP months ago I was living with Stu and Jeff. He and his husband and their wife weren’t shocked at all.”
Ed snorted. “Seriously?”
“Yeah. He’s based out of Atlanta, but I’ve known that for a couple of years. He doesn’t make a big deal about it. Most people don’t know. And both Jeff’s boss and Stuart’s boss know about us and don’t care. In fact, Stuart’s boss is Walter’s ex-father-in-law. You know, Walt and Holly?”
“No shit! Kimbra’s father?”
“Yeah. He knows some of Walt’s friends are poly and he doesn’t care.”
“Kimbra’s an attorney. Damned good one. We’ve worked together before.” Ed laughed. “So I get to add attempted extortion to the list of things we’re going to nail his balls to the wall for. Nice.”
“Part of me feels sorry for Tracey.”
“Don’t you dare, Brandon.”
“I said part. Not a very large part, either, but I think she’s backed herself into a corner and ended up with an abusive asshat.”
“Yeah? Well, people in hell want cold water, too. Doesn’t mean it’s your job to take care of them.”
“I didn’t say it was. But she’s the mother of my child.”
“Don’t you go soft on me.”
“I’m not. I just wish she’d grow a pair of her own and leave the asshole. This is only hurting Emma.”
“If people like her got smart, people like me wouldn’t have as many billable hours to charge.”
“True.”
Brandon opted to keep this to himself though, for now. When he got off the phone, he continued on to work.
Except…throughout the day, he grew more uneasy. He’d be going out of town in less than a week, and Tracey knew that.
In fact, she might have told Pat that.
Scratch that, he had to assume she’d told Pat that.
I’ll wait until we go to bed to tell them. I don’t need Emma hearing this and freaking out.
* * * *
Jeff stared at the fuse box for a minute, confused, trying to remember what he’d been about to do.
Dammit.
Maybe he wasn’t feeling as good as he thought he was. He’d been taking ibuprofen all day, and the aches and pains weren’t as bad, but he still didn’t feel…right.
At lunch he stopped by the store and grabbed some Gatorade to keep himself hydrated, and by the time he returned home that afternoon he almost felt back to normal. A little achy still, but not a fraction as bad as he had felt the night before.
Except now Brandon seemed to not feel well.
Shit. Hope I didn’t give it to him.
