“And me.”
The words startle me. They come from so close. The voice is so familiar but so out of place. I feel like my anxiety and angst over everything in my life right now has caused me to snap, and now I’m imagining Chloe’s voice. But when I turn in my seat, she is actually here standing in the aisle between the rows of seats. Just behind her in the doorway is Aspen, looking flushed and breathing hard like she’s running or in labor. Chloe’s long, silky, dark brown hair is pulled back in a low ponytail. She’s wearing the camel-colored dress coat she had on the day I met her and badgered her into renting me the apartment.
She clears her throat. “My name is Chloe Hale, your honor, and I’m Mr. Hawkins’ landlord.”
“We’ve covered the confusion about why Mr. Hawkins left River in your care,” the Judge replies. “I’m not going to reprimand a paramedic for helping out in an emergency. I’m focusing on his involvement and lack of disclosure about a car accident.”
“Yes sir, and I feel what I have to say is relevant to that as well,” Chloe pauses. “It was my husband who died in that crash, and I was also in the vehicle.”
The Judge is thunderstruck. I hear Bethany’s mother gasp and her father utter a swear word under his breath that the judge is too far away to hear. Bethany must be in shock too, but I don’t turn to look at her to find out. I keep my gaze firmly on Chloe. I can’t believe she is here.
“So, if no one has any objections, perhaps Ms. Hale should be our first character witness,” the judge pauses and no one objects, so he nods at Chloe. “Please go ahead.”
She takes a deep breath, her eyes landing on mine briefly before looking back to the judge. “I met Mr. Hawkins at his family’s restaurant and found out he was looking for an apartment with two bedrooms, which I had available. He wanted it because River would have his own room. He is a dream tenant. He’s quiet, doesn’t throw parties, and pays rent on time. But then I had a bad fall and no one to call to care for me, and so I called him. And he came. He took care of me and nursed me through a concussion. At this point, I wasn’t a friend. I was just a landlord. Someone whose name he knew because he wrote me a check once a month. But he still took care of me. Just like he tried to take care of our neighbor when her house caught fire in the middle of the night.”
Chloe pauses and her eyes dart to Bethany’s table for the briefest second before they dart back to the judge. “Had I known what we had in common—that Logan had been in the car that killed my husband and almost killed me five years ago—I would have never been at his family’s restaurant, and I never would have let him view the apartment, let alone rent it. And I definitely wouldn’t have relied on him when I was concussed or asked him on a date after that. Or fallen in love with him. Because I never would have seen past that piece of information. It would have clouded everything, even though he wasn’t even conscious in the car. But the Logan I did get to know these last few months is conscientious and hardworking. He goes above and beyond for friends and family and is a loving and levelheaded father. I think one of the reasons I have such a hard time reconciling what I now know we share in the past is that it’s not something I could imaginethisLogan being a part of. I can’t hold him responsible for that because he was sick. Alcoholism is a disease. This Logan deserves my apartment, my friendship, and my heart. But most importantly he deserves full equal custody of his son. This Logan has earned that, in my opinion.”
The room is deathly silent except for a small sniffle from Ma, who has tears streaming down her cheeks. The judge stares at Chloe unblinking for a long moment and then clears his throat. “Thank you for that, Ms. Hale.”
Chloe nods and moves to a seat at the back, next to Aspen who is breathing normally again. Jake speaks, Cookie speaks, Terra speaks and gives stats and facts about the effects of denying parental rights on the child, like the diligent therapist-in-training she is, and then the judge sighs and says he doesn’t need to hear anything further. Every beat of my heart after that is so full of fear, it’s physically painful. He looks over at Bethany and then at Manuel. “I understand the concern now, and so I’m making this decision crystal clear. Mr. Hawkins will have custody of the child, River Charlie Hawkins, every other weekend for forty-eight consecutive hours and alternating holidays, as well as two evenings a week at the discretion of the parents. I want you, Ms. Bard, to stop spending so much time and effort digging for reasons to exempt Mr. Hawkins from your child’s life. If I see you in here again on another trumped-up claim, or if you do not follow this agreement explicitly, I will reverse it and River will live full-time with his father while Ms. Bard will have every second weekend.”
“But…” Bethany’s dad starts to interrupt, his face red with anger.
“No buts,” the judge cuts in sternly. He then looks over at me. “We do need you to have a stable living environment, however. While you arrange a new place of your own, the child can and will spend his weekends with you at your parents’ home if they agree.”
“We agree!” Ma calls out, and the judge frowns at her outburst but nods.
The judge stands and we all follow. “Thank you,” I say.
“Don’t thank me. You’ve clearly earned this,” he says. “The paperwork will be drawn up, and you’ll both sign before leaving here today.”
He walks out of the room. Bethany stands, and I turn and face her. She’s not glaring like I would expect. She looks more sad than angry. I walk over to her even though I can hear Jake whispering adamantly, “Don’t do it, bro.”
Bethany’s dad puffs out his chest. “There’s no need to gloat.”
“Dad, just stop,” Bethany snaps, and her parents glare at her and then storm out of the court room. Bethany turns back to me. “I only want the best for River. You were…you were the worst partner ever and a shitty dad.”
“I was. But Bethany, come on. I’ve changed.”
“Because of her.” That trademark Bethany bitterness is back. Her blue eyes are icy. “She gets the boyfriend I was trying desperately to help you become.”
And that’s where this has been coming from. It’s not that she doesn’t see I’ve changed, she’s just upset I did it without her. I sigh and reach for her hand. “Beth, I didn’t change for another woman. I changed for me. I changed for River and that’s it.”
She nods but she’s frowning.
“We want the same things—a happy, safe, and healthy son. And I want you to be happy too, Beth.”
“I want that for you. I’m glad you found it. It just…stings.” I hug her as she confesses that, but she pulls away abruptly. “See you Friday when you pick him up.” She turns and leaves.
I walk back over to my family, who all start hugging me. Terra grabs me by the shoulders. “Aspy texted me while Chloe was speaking. She discovered how Bethany found out. Mrs. Green. I guess Chloe confronted her asshole ex-brother-in-law and told him about knowing you, and he then visited Mrs. Green in the hospital and told her everything.”
“She’s going to write about it on the blog, I know it,” Ma gasps.
“It’s a violation of the non-disclosure he signed. We can sue him,” Declan announces. “That guy will owe us every single cent we gave him.”
“I don’t want to deal with this right now,” I tell them honestly as my eyes dart around the room. “I have River, and that’s what counts. Now I just need to talk to Chloe.”
“I think she left,” Jake says, and my heart sinks.
