Ty’s phone beeped from within her purse. She was quick to retrieve it and take a look at the screen.
Memphis:Where are you?
Before Ty could text out a response, another text popped in.
Memphis:I’m here at your place. I really need to talk to you.
Ty:I took Lucas to Holly and Margo’s…
She stopped there, not so sure she wanted to tell him the rest just yet. But if she kept it from him, it would look like there was something to hide.
Ty: Sorry,I took Lucas to Holly and Margo’s. I’m here at Eric’s cabin to lock down a visitation plan. Can I come to your place afterward?
Three small dots bounced as he texted a reply. A moment later, they disappeared.
“Is thathim?” Eric asked.
Ty glanced up at him through her lashes. Already she regretted being so upfront about her feelings for Memphis. She should have known he’d use it against her in some way.
Her phone let out another beep.
Memphis:How long have you been keeping this from me?
Ty flinched back, her brow furrowing with confusion. Her hands were shaking now.
Memphis:Obviously you’ve been talking to him behind my back. Planning for him to come out here on some trip. You gave him a freaking massage, which is something you haven’t even done on me. I thought you canceled our date because you were upset, but you really did it so you could hang out with him instead?
Ty shook her head, darted another look to Eric, and then dropped it back to her phone. The last thing she needed was to put on a show for a man that could take her to court and paint an unfair picture of her. It would be averyunfair one at that. Ty hadn’t so much as dated until Memphis came along. And in the months that they’d been dating, their relationship had been virtually drama-free.
A random recollection came to mind. The Halloween party, where Memphis drank so much he was stumbling all over the place. Could an isolated instant like that be used against her too? She could picture little Lucas sitting on the stand while they interrogated him.
“Excuse me for a second…” She fisted her phone and hurried toward the front door.
“Trouble in paradise?” Eric asked in a sing song tone.
Ty ignored him and pulled open the door, then tugged it closed behind her. In the twilight glow, she made her way to a small huddle of short pine trees beside the cabin. It had cooled down now that the sun dropped, and she couldn’t help but shiver against the chill as she tapped the screen to call Memphis.
One ring.
Two.
“Hi,” Memphis said, his voice raspy.
“You have the wrong idea about all of this,” she said.
“Oh, I do? Did you give him a massage today or not?”
“Yes, but—” She stopped herself from saying the rest. If he knew that Eric snuck in without her knowing who he was, Memphis could really go off.
“Listen, I have a lot to tell you. But I can’t have you flying off the handle and throwing fists. Since you’re in Lucas’s life too, those types of things could be used against me.”
“Usedagainstyou? Tsk, the woman I love—who says she loves me too—is giving her ex-husband massages and spending time with him at his cabin, and you expect me to stay calm?”
“I expect you to trust me,” she corrected. “Idolove you. But if you become a liability, I’ll have to cut you out of my life and don’t think I won’t do it.”
The line went silent.
Ty’s heart dropped in the moment of shock. She hadn’t meant to say all of that. But the fear of losing Lucas was hitting her like a freight train.
