“Hi,” she said quietly.
“Laura,” Marie said, going to her. “Did you have a wonderful time, my love? Was it all you hoped?”
“It was interesting.” Laura stepped away from the back door as Kate entered the house. “Mom can fill you in. I have to go upstairs and get a few of my things.”
Marie went cold when Kate stepped into her kitchen. This woman was everything she wanted to be and everything she hated at the same time. And now she was fouling their home with her presence.
“Why are you here?” Richard asked, but it was his physical response that made Marie take notice. His eyes surveyed his ex-wife’s body, and then he looked behind her. Once he saw her boyfriend wasn’t with her, he relaxed. What he didn’t seem to notice was that Kate was ready to tear him to shreds.
*
When Richard took an aggressive step toward her, Kate questioned the wisdom of coming here alone. David had offered to come, but Kate knew this was her battle to fight, and she had to do it on her own. Taking a deep breath, Kate realized that for the first time in twenty years, she wasn’t intimidated.
“Do you know where Laura was last night?” Kate asked.
“She was out, but why is that your concern?” Richard dismissed her with a wave of his hand.
“Really?” Kate began. He couldn’t possibly think this was going to work. That after all that had happened she’d shy away from him. “Are we going to do this again? I’m her mother, and it is my concern.”
Marie sniffed. “It’s not like she ever bonded with you, Kate. I mean, I’ve shared more milestones with her than you have.”
Kate really didn’t care what Marie thought, but she felt the need to clarify. “You may think you’re her mother, but I am. I gave birth to her. I would give my life for her. She’s my child, and while you two simply play at being parents, I am one.”
“You’re wasting time, Kate. We’ll get her back emotionally and we’ll gain full custody.” Richard said. “I have pictures of you and your fuck buddy.”
From the look on her face, it was obvious his crudeness surprised Marie, but not Kate. Kate knew exactly what was happening. Her ex-husband was becoming the vile pig she knew he was. He was reducing her relationship with David to crude basics, when plain as day, the sex calendar was on the refrigerator for all to see.
“Richard, honestly, you have a PhD,” Kate said. “Can’t you find a better way to express yourself?”
“You bitch,” he murmured. “You come into my house and tell me how to act?” He was clenching his fists and getting angrier by the second. “What kind of shit have you been telling her?”
He really was clueless. “You truly don’t have any idea where she was last night, do you?”
“She was with her friends,” Richard said. “This is pointless. We’re expecting guests…”
Kate didn’t give him a chance to finish. “She was with a man, Richard.”
“What? No she wasn’t, she was with…”
“A man. A twenty-one-year-old hockey player named Jack Nelson.” She looked at Marie. “He’s not a student. He plays for the Flyers.”
Richard ran a hand through his hair and Marie folded her arms. “And how do you know all this, Kate?” she asked. “Did you introduce them?”
“No I didn’t. She was at a New Year’s party being thrown by a member of the team. Imagine my surprise when I ran into her there.”
He gripped the edge of the counter so tightly his fingers turned white, and if Kate wasn’t mistaken, based on the color of his face, he’d popped a blood vessel or two. This should get him nicely pissed off.
“Laura started dating him in November. She met him when she cut school one day.” Kate decided to drive one of the nails into Marie’s coffin. “She was planning on spending the night with him, but of course you didn’t know that, did you, Richard?”
“No, I didn’t. I can’t believe she’d lie to us like this.”
“She lied to you.” Kate said. “And me, by omission. Marie knew what she was doing, and that she planned to sleep with him.”
Richard focused on Marie, his eyes piercing a hole right through her. “You knew all this?”
Marie was cornered, and not the least bit intimidated by Richard. Which was good from one standpoint; Kate wished she’d stood up for herself more. Unfortunately Marie was messing with her daughter’s life, and that was not okay. “She confided in me. It was something you wouldn’t understand.” Marie stuck her nose in the air and Richard almost exploded. Kate was wondering how Marie would react when that happened. It wouldn’t be long. Richard was thinking, processing what he heard. His eyes were starting to bulge. Any second now…
“I’m her father, you stupid bitch! I don’t care what the fuck you thought.”
“How dare you speak to me that way?” Marie snapped at him. “Control yourself.”
Richard’s temper was ready to flare, but something made him hesitate. Maybe it was because Marie wasn’t a vulnerable eighteen-year-old coed. Maybe it was because there were witnesses in the house. But Kate couldn’t worry about Marie or Richard, she had to keep her focus.
“You both realize this isn’t about either of you,” she said. “It’s about Laura.”
“Laura’s always been fine until you tried to get involved. You’re a pathetic excuse for a mother,” Marie hissed from the doorway.
“I’m a pathetic excuse for a mother? You didn’t know what was going on with her or who she’d been seeing. You allowed her to go out with someone you don’t know because why? He was cute? And then what was the garbage you were feeding her about sex, Marie? That she should just go for it? My poor daughter is so confused, she doesn’t know what to think.”
“She doesn’t need you and your archaic views of sex to pollute her thinking. Laura needed someone to trust, and to guide her. I made sure she understood her responsibilities and gave her the comfort she never would have gotten from you.”
“What responsibilities?” Kate heard Richard ask.
“I told her about birth control, about protecting herself.”
When Kate looked up, Richard looked murderous. “You call that guidance? No one is supposed to touch my baby girl.”
“Richard, really,” Marie sniffed. “I can’t believe you’re so naïve.”
“If that fucking Neanderthal touched my daughter…”
“Then good for him,” Marie shrieked. “I hope he made love to her until she cried.”
That was it. He snapped. Richard lunged toward Marie, but stopped just short of grabbing her when Marie’s hand shot out in a halting motion.
“Do not even think about getting violent with me. I’ll castrate you.”
Still spitting mad, Richard reined himself in, stepping back, but the words were still guttural, angry. “You’d better start thinking about how you’re going to explain yourself to me.”
“Screw you and your ultimatums, Richard. You’d better be prepared to explain yourself to me once that bitch is out of our house.”
Marie shot a wordless dagger in Kate’s direction and stormed out of the room. The woman was one of the most toxic individuals Kate had ever met, but she had had to give Marie credit. She didn’t take Richard’s shit.
Richard slammed his fist into a wall and spun on Kate. “I’ll deal with Laura. You can go.”
His words were typical, but his body language showed tension, weakness, and there was no way Kate was backing down or leaving without her daughter. The son of a bitch was done screwing with her.
“Don’t you dare dismiss me,” Kate said. “Especially considering what’s happened with Laura.”
“Marie’s poor judgment doesn’t change the fact that you are an incompetent mother. Laura will be with me full time, very soon; I’ll deal with it.”
“I’m incompetent? That’s funny. Let’s review. First, we have a joint agreement. While in your care, Laura’s been going out at all hours, several of her teachers have talked to me about her grades falling off, and your daughter, who is still a minor, has been dating a man four years older than her while your fiancée slips condoms into her purse. It’s possible the judge might view that as a tad irresponsible as she’s reviewing your petition for custody.”