I'd known this would happen. Had known from the second I'd started wanting him again that it would end exactly like this.
“Soren?”Jamie was waving his hand to get my attention, and I realized I'd completely zoned out while he'd been trying to show me the next part of the pattern.
“Sorry, bud.”I refocused on him, or tried to.“Show me again?”
He demonstrated the rhythm, and I watched his hands move but couldn't make my brain process what he was doing well enough to give useful feedback.
My phone buzzed in my pocket, and I almost ignored it because I was supposed to be teaching. But the buzz came again immediately, insistent in a way that made alarm bells go off in my head.
I pulled it out and saw Talia's name on the screen with a single word in the preview:
Talia
Pineapple
I was on my feet before I'd fully processed the decision to move, already grabbing my jacket and looking for my keys.Jamie's grandfather appeared in the doorway with a mug of coffee and a concerned expression.
“Everything okay?” he asked.
“No. I'm sorry, I have to go. Family emergency.” The words came out too fast, tripping over each other in my rush to get them out. “Can you tell Jamie I'm sorry? I'll make up the lesson, I promise.”
“Of course. Go. Be safe.”
I was out the door and in my car within thirty seconds, hands shaking so badly I could barely get the key in the ignition. My mind was racing through every possible disaster that could have triggered the code word.
The drive home took twenty minutes that felt like hours. I broke at least three traffic laws and didn't care, because all I could think about was that single word sitting on my phone screen like a bomb.
I pulled up in front of the house and the first thing I noticed was that everything looked normal. No police cars, no ambulances, no obvious signs of disaster. But Talia's text meant danger, and I trusted her judgment more than I trusted my own eyes.
I took the stairs two at a time and burst through the front door already braced for whatever crisis was waiting inside.
What I found was worse than anything I'd imagined.
My parents were sitting on the couch in my living room like they had a right to be there. And standing next to them was a man in a suit I didn't recognize, holding a leather briefcase and looking at me with the kind of professional courtesy that made my skin crawl.
Talia was standing near the kitchen, arms crossed and face pale with fury. Micah was on the other side of the room looking like he wanted to disappear into the walls. And Poppy wasnowhere to be seen, which sent a fresh spike of panic through my chest.
“Where's Poppy?” I demanded, and my voice came out harder than I'd meant it to.
“In her room,” Talia said quietly. “I told her to stay there.”
I looked at my parents, then at the suit, then back at Talia. “What the hell is going on?”
The man in the suit stepped forward with his hand extended like we were at a fucking business meeting. “Mr. Vale, my name is Richard Morrison. I'm an attorney representing your parents in a custody matter.”
I didn't shake his hand. Just stared at him and felt the bottom drop out of my world.
Custody matter.
Those two words rearranged everything I thought I understood about this situation.
“They're trying to get Poppy back,” Talia said, and her voice was shaking with barely controlled rage. “They showed up with a lawyer and court paperwork saying they want to regain custody.”
The room tilted again, and I had to grab the back of a chair to keep myself steady. “You're fucking kidding me.”
“I assure you this is quite serious,” Morrison said in that calm, measured attorney voice that made me want to punch him. “Your parents have retained my services to file a petition with the court for modification of the existing custody arrangement. They believe they've made significant progress in addressing the issues that led to the initial loss of custody, and they wish to be reunited with their daughter.”
“Bullshit.” The word came out flat and hard. “They haven't addressed anything. They're the same manipulative, alcoholic nightmares they've always been, and they're not getting anywhere near Poppy.”
