She turned and looked at me, her eyes narrowing and lips pinching. A flash of anger. I could see it, feel it, but she bit her tongue.
“Look, I recognize this—me coming here like this—isn’t an ideal situation for either of us. But I need you to sign these papers.”
A mix between a snort and a laugh escaped out of my mouth. “You show up here after sixteen years. No word or any sort of communication and demand that I sign those bullshit papers.”
“I’m not demanding. I’m asking you. Please?”
I would’ve sworn there was a desperation in her plea, but I pushed that thought right out of my mind. Savannah was nothing if not manipulative. How else could I have believed her lies of forever?
Never again.
“Please,” I mimicked. “Why? So you can go off and marry whatever sucker you had a kid with?”
Savannah gasped, her lips falling ajar.
“What? Are you trying to lie your way into another ring when having his kid didn’t work?”
“Mama didn’t have me.”
The kid’s voice jolted through me, surprising me. Next to Savannah stood the same little boy from the night at The Rustic. He had big copper eyes, shiny jet-black curls, and a very fair, golden complexion.
I searched his face to see any hint of his mother in it.
“Mama’s not my birth mom. My real mommy died when I was four. She was friends with Miss Savannah. But after she died, Miss Savannah adopted me, and she’s my Mama now,” he explained.
“Aiden,” Savannah scolded in a whisper. “I told you to wait in the car.”
“I was, but it got hot, and my battery died.” He held up the tablet as proof of why he hadn’t followed her directions.
“Go back in the car. Turn the air conditioner on and use my phone to watch videos while I talk to Mr. Ace.”
Something heavy sat on my chest during this exchange between the two of them. It made sense why I couldn’t find a hint of Savannah in the little boy’s features.
“Is that true?” I asked as the boy got back in the car. “Did you adopt him?”
“Yes, but he’s every bit my son as…” She trailed off.
I didn’t want to hear the last part of that comment.
My gaze bounced between Savannah and the car where the boy sat. I stared down at her as she shifted from one foot to the other.
“You want a divorce?”
She paused but then nodded.
I ignored the piercing feeling that went through my chest. I had every mind to slam the door in her face, but suddenly a second idea formed. Maple’s reminder from earlier about how having a family looked good to the upper levels of our branch.
Maybe I could get something out of this.
I stepped closer to Savannah. “I’ll sign divorce papers under one condition.”
Her forehead wrinkled as I stepped forward. “Everyone has conditions,” she mumbled and sighed. “What are yours?”
“You will give me the next six months of your life.”
A confused expression passed over her face. “Say that again?”
“Has your hearing faltered in the last sixteen years?”
