Soaring (Magdalene #2)(118)

“Oh my God,” I breathed.

“Yeah,” he grunted.

Now I understood why he was so unhappy.

“Mickey,” I grabbed his hand and held tight, “I don’t know what to say.”

“What’s there to say?” he asked, lifting our hands and pressing mine against his heart as he shifted closer to me. “I’m stuck. Called Arnie again. The attorney?”

I nodded.

Mickey continued, “He said this is a case of declaring her unfit to raise our children. I’d have to call CPS. They’d have to inspect. I’d have to have evidence. I’d have to have witness testimony. The DUI on record is something but it isn’t enough. And at the kids’ ages, they’re old enough to be deposed. They could get dragged in. Have to talk smack about their mother.”

“It isn’t smack if it’s true,” I shared carefully.

“You’re right. But would you want your kids to sit with some f*ck they don’t know and share their dad is a cheating *?”

No, I would not want that.

I shook my head.

“No,” he bit off. “So I got two choices, keep my kids from her and brace for whatever shit she throws at me. And she was pissed, Amy. She’s got her back up and she’s so deep in denial, it’s a wonder she’s breathing. Or let my kids go to her and wait for the other shoe to drop, maybe this bein’ something that scars my kids in some new way I won’t be able to heal.”

I moved closer to him and pointed out the obvious, “You’re between the rock and the hard place.”

“I am. ’Cept I got one more option, this comin’ from Arnie. Sit down with my kids and see if they wanna live with me, makin’ ’em say they don’t wanna live with their mom. And they might not wanna live with her, but I don’t wanna make ’em share that shit.”

No. That wasn’t easy. I knew it. I wasn’t with my children when they had to make that choice and say it out loud, but I’d seen the way they couldn’t look at me afterward. The sorrow on their faces. It was agonizing.

And it was the beginning of my recovery.

Even though that would be promising in the case of Rhiannon, who clearly needed to be shaken out of her delusion, it was not something to take lightly.

“I would cautiously advise that’s a last resort, honey,” I told him.

“Yeah,” he agreed.

“So, what are you thinking of doing?” I asked.

“Only one real choice,” he answered. “Wait until she f*cks up again. Keep track of shit. Keep an eye on my kids. I don’t, I keep ’em away from her, she’s gonna go at me and then they’ll be dragged in and there’ll be nothin’ I can do to stop it.”

Suddenly, I hated yet another person I’d never met.

I’d hated Martine before I even knew her name. I just knew my husband had fallen in love with someone else.

And now I hated Rhiannon.

“What do you need from me?” I asked.

“You, keepin’ an eye on my kids. Droppin’ by. Comin’ around more often. Givin’ Aisling a good woman to be with. Givin’ my kids healthy.”

I nodded. “I can do that.”

“And I want you in my bed tonight.”

My head jerked back and I blinked.

“But—”

He cut me off, “I’ll get you home before they get up. Not a fan of sneakin’ and won’t ask you to do it often. But I had a shit day. I’m gearin’ up to face a shit time I don’t know how long it’ll last or how bad it’ll get. Right now, I wanna go in there and sit on my couch with you, relax, drink a beer then go to sleep smellin’ your hair.”

“I can do that too,” I said immediately.

Then I held my breath as I watched Mickey close his eyes and turn to face the dark of his backyard.

I pushed closer, pressing my hand in his at his chest, and called, “Mickey.”

He opened his eyes but kept them to the yard.

It took time and I gave him that time before he looked at me. “What if she gets behind the wheel with my kids in the car and she’s shitfaced?”

“You talk to them,” I answered firmly. “Do it trying not to bring Rhiannon into it. But Ash is a freshman. High school kids, they do stuff. They party. You could couch it in a warning they have to be smart about that, tell Cillian you’re talking to him at the same time to save time or something, and you do this inflexibly so they get your meaning.”

“They’re not dumb. They’ll get my meaning. My whole meaning, Amy.”

Regrettably, I had a feeling they would.

“Then be certain they know at any time with anyone, if someone wants them to get in a car with a driver who’s inebriated, then they can call you to come and get them and there will be no recriminations.”

“My son doesn’t have a phone,” he told me. “Rule is, they gotta hit fourteen.”

“Maybe you should break your rule, Dad,” I said, giving him a weak grin and a weaker tease.

Mickey stared down at me, a muscle ticking in his cheek, unsurprisingly not ready to lighten the mood.

Then he growled, “Could strangle that bitch.”

I pushed even closer.

“I thought I’d scarred my own kids beyond healing, honey,” I told him. “And tonight my son came over of his own choice just to have dinner with his mom and watch TV. Proves you give them good, they’ll respond. You said it yourself, they’re not dumb. Yes, all this is terrible. But one day they’ll see how hard you worked to give them safe and healthy, and they’ll appreciate it. But you just giving them safe and healthy, you’ll get them through.”