Rachel’s head whipped around to face the judge. “He’s been cheating on me!” she screamed. “The bastard’s been fucking hisboss’s wife,who also happens to bemy mom!”
My jaw dropped, along with my belly.
Now it made sense. Evan didn’t pull Rachel up on her behavior toward Gabby because he was a total suck-up and she was the boss’s daughter.
And then he took an evenbiggershit on his own doorstep and started an affair with Rachel’smom?
Jeez, and I thought Hambleton High was incestuous.
Oh my God.
Evan’s standards were sketchy, but this was lower than a rattlesnake's belly.
My ex-husband stood still, his eyes widening in shock and his mouth opening and closing as if he were catching flies. “How?—What?—Who?” he stuttered.
“I went back to the house to grab my wallet,” Rachel yelled. “Dad was waiting outside for you! He’s got a video of you and her fucking.” Her face screwed up. “Mymother, Evan! My fuckingmother! You cannot bebelieved!”
Evan’s face turned ashen.
Rachel let out another war cry, somehow managing to escape the clutches of Evan’s dad and the court official. She flew towardmy ex, landing a hard, stinging slap across his face that seemed to ricochet around the room.
What happened next was a blur. There were shouts and the scraping of chairs, and someone shrieked, not Rachel that time, but Evan’s mom.
The doors flew open again, and four security guards stormed the room and tried to peel Rachel off my ex-husband, who by then was on the floor trying to ward off the flurry of slaps she was aiming at him.
Gabby stared at the scene with tears in her eyes, and I pulled her close as she burrowed her face into my shoulder.
DJ glanced down at his dad with his lips pursed angrily, shaking his head in despair as he watched security half-drag, half-carry a kicking and screaming Rachel out of the room.
Kennedy, ever the consummate professional, blinked and took a deep breath before composing herself and turning toward the judge. “Your Honor,” she began, projecting her voice to drown out Rachel’s fading screams. “I’d like to request an emergency recess so that Ms. Woods can calm her children and deal with the distress to her family.”
The judge slowly closed his eyes, no doubt praying for God to give him strength before he stared back at Kennedy and bit out, “Granted. You have thirty minutes.” He glowered at Evan, who seemed to shrink back from the judge’s fury.
“Mr. Palmer, you’re bleeding all over my courtroom. Adjourn yourself to the restroom and deal with your appearance. The court will reconvene in thirty minutes. You are not, under any circumstances, to communicate with anyone but your counsel during that time. Do I make myself clear?”
Evan nodded, his face a bloodied mess. Then, he stumbled out of the courtroom with his lawyer flanking him.
I pulled Gabby to my side and rested my hand on DJ’s back, guiding them outside with Kennedy, Donovan, Atlas, and myfriends at my back. When we reached the hall, we saw Sophie and Freya waiting on the chairs, talking animatedly.
Freya jerked her thumb down the corridor. “We’ve just had the pleasure of watching the woman who called our beautiful Gabrielle nasty names get arrested for disturbing the peace and aggravated assault. I have a feeling they’ll be throwing the book at her, seeing as she did it in front of a shitload of witnesses and a family court judge.”
“Did Daddy really do the nasty with Rachel’s mom?” Gabby breathed.
Freya pulled my daughter in for a hug and slid her arm around her back. “Sometimes the people we love do things we can’t condone or support. You don’t have to agree with them, honey, and you can make your feelings clear, but it doesn’t automatically mean you have to hate them. It’s okay to have complicated feelings about the people you love. Family dynamics can be tricky.”
I caught Freya’s soft gaze and smiled because she was the perfect person to talk to Gabby and DJ about this. Her dad had done things in the past that had hurt her too, things they were still trying to work through.
“How about we take you two for coffee,” Sophie suggested, glancing between Gabby and DJ. “Your mom, Donovan, Atlas, and Kennedy need to discuss what happened and plan a way forward.”
DJ’s head twisted in my direction. “Is that okay, Mom?”
I squeezed my son’s arm. “Of course it is. Just make sure you're back in time for the court to reconvene. I think we all know which way it’ll go, but let’s show the judge some respect, and all be there together when it’s officially decided.”
“I’ll make sure they’re here,” Freya assured me, steering Gabby away.
Sophie grinned and linked arms with DJ, murmuring, “Have fun!” as they followed.
Atlas jerked his head toward the same room we’d sat in earlier, and Donovan wrapped his arm around my neck and pulled me in close as we headed there.
