She answers the call, and I watch her face shift from tired to guarded in half a second.
“What do you want, Derek?”
I can’t hear his response, but I can see the way her jaw tightens, the way her free hand clenches into a fist.
“I’m not discussing this with you right now.”
More talking on the other end. Rachel’s face goes pale.
“You’re insane. No judge is going to—” She stops. Listens. “That’s a lie, and you know it.”
I stand up, moving closer without thinking. Whatever Derek’s saying, it isn’t good.
“I have to go.” Rachel’s voice is shaking now. “Don’t call me again.”
She hangs up before he can respond and immediately sits back down on the swing like her legs won’t hold her anymore.
“What did he say?” I ask.
“He’s filing for emergency custody. Says I’m putting Tommy in danger by being at two fires. Says I’m unstable and the viral videos prove it.” She presses her hands over her face. “He’s using the internet harassment as evidence that I can’t provide a stable home.”
“That’s garbage.”
“That’s Derek.” She drops her hands. “He’s going to win, Theo. He’s going to take Tommy away because I keep being in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
“No, he’s not.” I sit back down beside her. “We’re not going to let that happen.”
“How are you going to stop a judge from seeing what everyone else sees? That I’m a walking disaster who attracts fires like I’m cursed?”
“Because you’re not cursed. You’re a good mother who got unlucky twice.” I take both her hands this time. “And when this goes to court, we’ll have witnesses. We’ll have testimony from people who know you’re stable and loving and exactly the kind of parent Tommy needs.”
“Like whom? My unemployed self? My brother, who’s about to leave for six months? The internet mob that is calling me a jinx?”
“Like me. Like Cole. Like Marco. Like Dorothy and everyone at the church, Tommy’s teachers, and the entire town that actually knows you instead of just reading about you online.” I squeeze her hands. “Derek doesn’t get to win because some strangers on the internet decided you’re cursed. That’s not how this works.”
She looks at me with those green eyes full of fear and hope and exhaustion. “You really believe that?”
“I believe in you. That’s all that matters.”
She leans forward and rests her forehead against mine. We stay like that for a long moment—breathing together, holding hands, the world narrowing down to just this porch and this moment.
“Thank you,” she whispers.
“For what?”
“For making me feel less alone. For caring. For being here when you could’ve walked away and made your life a lot simpler.”
“Simple’s overrated.” I pull back just enough to see her face. “Besides, I don’t want simple. I want you. However complicated that gets.”
The back door opens. Jake’s voice carries on. “Rachel? You out here?”
We spring apart like guilty teenagers. Rachel smooths her hair. I pick up my water bottle like that was the only reason I came out here.
“Yeah, I’m here,” Rachel calls back.
Jake appears in the doorway, looking between us with an expression I can’t quite read. “Everything okay?”
“Fine. Just needed some air.” Rachel stands up. “Theo was keeping me company.”
