“I’m glad you like it.” He made a sandwich for himself and sat down, eating heartily and reaching for his coffee as the front door opened and banged closed.
He knew that sound too damned well. No one banged that door like Jenn, and the click of her heels was enough to set his teeth on edge. “What are you doing here?” he asked calmly, because he didn’t want to upset Jameson.
“Hi, Mommy,” Jameson chirped. He got up from the table and hurried over to her. She knelt down for a quick hug, but that was it. Jameson returned to the table, watching her.
“I heard that you were seeing someone,” Jenn said as though she had just found out some great secret.
Brendan blinked. “I am?” That was news to him.
“My mama saw you out to dinner with Dwayne Phillips, and according to her, you two looked pretty chummy.” The challenge in her eyes was confusing. Jenn had never been all that interested in him. It had taken him three years and Jameson to figure out that what she loved was the horses and very little else.
“Dwayne?” He shook his head. “As usual, you and your mother put two and two together and came up with nineteen.” Dwayne had asked him out for advice on proposing to Melissa. But Jenn was always about wanting what she thought someone else had. Before they married, he made sure she knew that he had had relationships with both men and women, but her jealousy only seemed to come out at the thought of him with another man. Not that he had dated anyone.
“Mama didn’t seem to think so.”
He wanted to snap at her because neither of them was the brightest bulb on the string, though they both thought they were rocket scientists. “It doesn’t really matter. Our divorce was finalized six months ago. So what are you here for?” He made a mental note to change the locks on the house.
“Can’t I see my son?” Jenn asked pointedly.
Brendan said nothing, but rolled his eyes. She was only interested in Jameson when she thought he could get her something. She had every-other-weekend visitation, but the last two scheduled visits, she had been out of town.
“I need to make sure he’s all right.” Her eyes grew dark and hard as steel. “I have to make sure that he isn’t being surrounded by anything or anyone that isn’t good for him.”
So that was what this was about. Some rumor got started by her mother, and Jenn was suddenly going to be mother of the year and protect her son from whatever delusion she was under.
“That’s enough. I suggest you leave now. I didn’t invite you in, but I am asking you to go.” It was his turn to be hard and strong. “Jameson, say goodbye to your mommy. She’s got to begoing now.” He waited for her to turn and then walked Jenn to the door. “Call before you come next time. This isn’t your home any longer, and you have no rights here. Not that you ever did.” He’d inherited the land and everything on it, and his father had seen to it that Jenn got none of it.
“You can’t kick me out like this,” she hissed.
“Yes, I can, and I am. You need to go.” She had been stubborn before, but this was a whole new level. “If you want to visit, you need to call. You have Jameson in ten days, and you can spend time with him then. Pick him up on Friday at six and have him back by Sunday at six.” He reiterated the rules to make sure she understood that he wasn’t going to allow her any leeway.
“Or what?” she snapped. “I’m tired of this. I’m going to be calling my lawyer and….”
“What? You haven’t bothered to take your son six times in the last five months, and you missed your last two weekends. You don’t have a leg to stand on. I documented everything and made sure my mother was here as a witness. So what you’ve got is a whole lot of hot air. So go, and you have a nice day.” He stood in the doorway once she stepped outside, watching as she got in her huge, old car and drove away, spraying dirt as her car fishtailed into the street.
“Is mommy gone?” Jameson asked from behind him.
“Yeah. She had to go.” He refused to say anything bad about her in front of Jameson. No kid needed that. “Did you finish breakfast?” Jameson nodded. “Then go put on your boots and we’ll go out to see the horses.” Brendan closed the door and went to finish eating.
He andJameson had an amazing day. Jameson said hello to all the horses and fed them carrots. All the animals on the propertyseemed to love him. In the afternoon, Brendan’s mom came to take Jameson to her cottage in Green Ridge Village retirement community so Brendan could have some time alone. It was great for her. His mom adored her grandson and spoiled him rotten, and it gave Brendan some time to get the house cleaned and to spend time in the workshop.
“Brendan!” Henry, a very promising rider, called out, a touch of panic in his voice. “Three of the horses just ran past the door.”
“Shit,” he swore under his breath, and raced out of the shop, running to the front in time for two additional horses to follow. He whistled, and two of the horses stopped. He and Henry were able to get them into their stalls. A section of the paddock fence was down, the rails lying on the ground. Nothing broken, just the fence rails pulled away. Brendan secured the rails back into place before going after the remaining horses. They were all together, and with Henry’s help, they were able to lead two of the horses back, the third following behind.
“Who would do this?” Henry asked. “I was in the stall with Perseus, and suddenly there were horses running past the door. I didn’t see anyone out here.” They got the horses back into their paddocks, and Brendan made sure all the gates were closed.
“I have a pretty good idea.” This was just the sort of thing that Jenn would do just to show him that she could make his life difficult. As a rule, she could be nice enough, as long as she got her own way. But once he told her no or didn’t provide what she thought she needed, she was a very different person. Self-entitled didn’t begin to cover it, not for a second.
“Should you call the police?” Henry asked.
“There was no real damage, and the horses are all fine. Thank you for helping with them. I appreciate it very much.”
“You’re welcome,” he said, and went back in the barn.
Brendan pulled out his cell phone and scrolled through his contacts before making a call. He knew it was Sunday and that it wasn’t likely anyone was in the office, so when the call went to voicemail, he left a message for the lawyer who had handled his divorce and the custody settlement, saying that he was having issues and needed some help. Brendan left his phone number before hanging up.
With that done, he returned to his workshop and the bits of timber inside in the hope that some sort of inspiration might strike. It didn’t, and he ended up working on a piece that he’d been trying to get the proportions right on for the last three weeks. After finally making progress, he closed up the shop, checked that each of the horses was where they should be for the night, and headed to his mother’s to pick up Jameson.
