"Would you rather lose your daughter?" she asked. "You're trying to balance your relationship and friendships with her age level. It's not her fault she came to the conclusion she did..." Cessily paused. "No, we make it about something that could be triggering to Faith. Suicide, pornography - " She gasped. "A sex tape he thought may have been leaked!"
I chuckled. "Yeah, that would do it. But let's hold off on that until we know if she told her mom?"
"No, I agree," she promised. "I just can't imagine what else they could have on you. You're an amazing father, Luke. From the sounds of it, a bit of a pushover, but it works with Faith."
"She's a good kid," I said. "She's not having an easy time, but she is agoodkid, Cess. She just wants to be happy, and I'm trying so hard to make that happen. I just wish I could tell her about us so she'd stop being so mad at Violet and Ash."
"Not sure it would help," she told me. "Luke, even if you said it was allowed, she still wouldn't understand. She's not old enough to grasp monogamy, let alone polyamory! All you'd be doing is taking a risk that you'd lose custody of her. Possibly even visitation."
"I know," I said. "But she's crushed and I hate it."
"It's only one more week," Cess assured me. "Spend time with her, Luke. Spoil her. Go riding with her, or shopping, or anything else to remind her why she wants to live with you." She reached over and touched my arm lightly. "Yes, I'm telling you to bribe your kid. It's one week, and the worst-case scenario is that you'll give her good memories of the time she lived with you. There's no downside."
But there was. So many downsides, and losing my little girl was the greatest of them all. Still, I'd try. I'd bust my ass to make it clear this could work, but it sucked. Teenagers were not supposed to be the ones in control, and if my daughter figured out that she had all the power right now, this was going to become a nightmare.
Chapter Sixty-Two
While Luke was out with Cessily, I decided to handle a few things before we brought up the hay. The first was fueling up his old truck. When Luke got home, I knew we'd all end up talking about the mediation, but the bales were done, and we needed to move them up by the barn sooner rather than later. I also had nothing else to do. Since Violet and Ash really needed to talk, I figured I'd make myself scarce.
I was down at the gas station, waiting for the tank to finally be full, when I made the mistake of leaning against the truck. That put me facing the grill, and I couldn't miss the little blue sedan parked in front of it with out of state plates. Kindle's car. My guts clenched. I'd honestly thought we were done. I was sure he'd headed back to Colorado by now, so what the fuck was he doing here?
As soon as the pump stopped, I headed over there. Yeah, I knew it was stupid. That was where Ash had been jumped, and everyone knew I was just as "gay" as he was. Still, if Kindle was there, well, I wanted to know what the hell was going on. I pulled up right beside the doors, got out, and headed in.
The door chimed when I yanked it open. My feet stalled out just inside, and I scanned the room. Those were some old farmers. That was a pair of moms trying to socialize while their kids squealed beside them. A group of guys who were probably supposed to be working. Paul Simmons.
Wait. The man across from Paul, sitting with his back to me... No. That wasn't possible, but I was pretty sure it was my ex. Pushing Luke's keys into my pocket, I decided to head that way just to be sure. I didn't make it far before Simmons noticed me. He lifted a hand, warning his guest, and they both turned just as I reached the table.
That was definitely Kindle.
"What the hell are you doing talking to him?" I asked, the question for either one.
It was Kindle who answered. "I need a job, Cy. In case you missed it, money doesn't grow on trees."
"Uh huh." I tilted my head at Simmons. "You know he hates gays, right? What are you really doing, Kindle?"
"He's helping me," Mr. Simmons said, his tone just a little too smug.
My eyes never left my ex. "Really?"
"Cy, you didn't give me a choice," Kindle tried.
I just braced my hand on the table and leaned right into his face. "I didn't ask you to come here. I didn't ask you to fuck Jonathan. I certainly didn't ask you to ruin my life, so try again."
He leaned back. "I'm sorry. I spent everything I had to get down here, and I was so sure you'd listen to me, but you didn't."
"Yeah, yeah," Simmons grumbled. "I'm willing to pay for information, Mr. Marshall."
"Doctor," I corrected. Then I realized what he said. "What did you tell him, Kindle?"
"I'm sorry," he gasped. "I didn't think anything of it. He just offered me five hundred bucks to let him know how it went when I stopped by."
When Luke had claimed to be my boyfriend. When Violet had threatened him. When Ash had kissed me to make it clear I was taken. A million little details from that event spun through my mind, but I couldn't figure out why Simmons would care about any of them. Except the part about Luke. He was trying to make that man pay, and this would do it.
"You do realize that Violet isn't selling even if you break her heart, right?" I asked, looking over at the man. "She's not a little girl, Paul. I promise that if you do chase off her boyfriend, all she'll do is double down, and you don't want to see that. Right now, she's playing nice."
"Uh huh," Simmons said. "And the last time someone said something nasty about her, she ran off for a couple years. Not my fault that man's digging his own grave."
"Sounds like a threat," I countered.
