As she drove out of the parking lot, Liam sighed. “I’ll miss them if we leave, Trixie.”
Trixie stood beside him with her nose twitching beside his pocket.
Liam patted her, then reached for the cookie Oscar’s teacher had given her. “Don’t tell Oscar you had a piece of cookie before bedtime.”
With a happy woof, she devoured half of the bone-shaped treat in one gulp. Liam smiled and walked back to The Welcome Center. Whatever he did, he wouldn’t be the only one who’d miss being in Sapphire Bay.
CHAPTER 12
Chloe satat her kitchen table with a half-empty mug of coffee beside her laptop. She’d started work an hour earlier today to give her time to come home and call her lawyer before Oscar finished school. It was hard enough dealing with what was going on, but upsetting Oscar would be worse.
Taking a deep breath, she picked up her phone and found Laura’s number. Her fingers hovered over the call button as a mix of anxiety and determination settled in her chest.
“Time to get this over with,” she whispered to herself, pressing the button.
The phone rang twice before Laura’s receptionist answered the call and put Chloe through to her lawyer.
“Hello, this is Laura Henderson.”
“Hi, Laura. It’s Chloe,” she said, trying to keep her voice steady.
“Chloe, I’ve been expecting your call. How are you holding up?” Laura asked gently.
“I’ve been better,” Chloe admitted. “An email came from Paul’s lawyer today. I wanted to discuss it with you.”
“Yes, I saw the email as well,” Laura replied. “Paul’s requesting visitation rights with Oscar.”
Chloe’s grip tightened on the phone. “He wants Oscar to spend school holidays with him in Washington, D.C., and he’d like to visit here every second month for a week.”
“That’s correct,” Laura confirmed. “Receiving the email must have come as a shock.”
“It did.” Chloe sighed. “I don’t want Oscar being away from me for that long, especially with Paul. He’s barely been involved in Oscar’s life.”
“I hear your concerns,” Laura said reassuringly. “The only positive thing in this situation is that visitation is less invasive than shared custody. With visitation rights, Paul wouldn’t have any authority to make decisions regarding Oscar’s education, healthcare, or general welfare. Those decisions would remain solely with you.”
“But how can I make sure Oscar’s safe when he’s with Paul?” Chloe asked, her voice tinged with worry. “Paul’s history with gambling and... other issues doesn’t give me any confidence that he’ll keep Oscar safe.”
“That’s something we can address,” Laura replied. “As we discussed in our last call, I’ll petition the court for supervised visitation based on Paul’s past behavior. We’ll need to compile evidence of his gambling addiction and any other relevant issues, such as the affairs you mentioned during your divorce.”
Chloe nodded, even though Laura couldn’t see her. “I have records of his gambling debts and some emails that might help.”
“Excellent,” Laura said. “The more information we have, the stronger our case will be. Family courts prioritize the child’s best interests, and if we can show that unsupervised visitation could be detrimental to Oscar, the court may mandate supervised visits.”
“Do you think that’s likely?” Chloe asked hopefully.
“It’s certainly possible,” Laura assured her. “I’ve seen cases with less evidence result in supervised visitation. We’ll need to present a comprehensive file to the judge.”
Chloe exhaled slowly, feeling a small measure of relief. “Okay, I’ll gather everything I have and send it to you.”
“Good,” Laura said. “In the meantime, I recommend not discussing this with Oscar until we have more concrete information. We don’t want to cause him unnecessary stress.”
“I wasn’t going to mention it to him,” Chloe replied. “I don’t want him to worry.”
“That’s good. Is there anything else you’d like to talk about?” Laura asked.
“Not at the moment. Thanks for all you’re doing for me.”
“Anytime, Chloe. Don’t hesitate to call if you have any questions or concerns,” Laura said.
