Earning Yancy (19 page)

I glanced briefly at the cup before lifting my eyes back to his and raising an eyebrow, but I didn’t say anything.

“So it’s going to be like that?” he asked in a sullen voice.

“Yes. It has to be.” Coop reached a hand across the table toward me, but I jerked my fingers out of reach. “Don’t touch me,” I hissed.

He looked at me with that same puppy dog expression he wore early in our marriage if we had a tiff. The one that once tugged on my heartstrings. Now, it only pissed me off because I knew he was trying to manipulate me.

“Get to the point, Coop. You have one minute,” I said, looking pointedly at my watch.

He blinked, an expression of anger flashing over his face so quickly that I had to wonder if I’d imagined it. “Yancy, can’t we just talk? Catch up?”

I shook my head. “Fifty seconds.”

He huffed out a breath and finally got to the damn point, and it was completely unexpected. “I want you back, Yancy. I made a terrible, terrible mistake and I’m incredibly sorry for everything.”

I remained seated, immobilized by his words. The ability to breathe, blink, or speak disappeared due to the shock. The surprise was followed closely by rage that overwhelmed the anger I’d felt toward him last week. It burned through all my inhibitions, all my instincts to avoid an argument or a scene, and erupted in my gut. Then, when my muscles began to function again, I slammed a hand on the table, making the cups jump. “WHAT?!”

Heads turned our way, but I didn’t give a damn. Of all the audacity, the gall. I envisioned, with incredible clarity, balling my right hand into a fist and landing a vicious right hook to Cooper’s jaw and I was always the first to preach that violence wasn’t the answer. The only explanation was that my ex had finally managed to drive me insane.

Instead of taking a swing, I shot to my feet, grabbed my purse and marched toward the door, calling over my shoulder, “That’ll happen just as soon as Hell freezes over, Jesus returns to Earth, and the Cowboys win another Superbowl. Meaning,
never
!”

I made it outside before Coop caught up with me. He snagged my arm. “Yancy, wait…”

I jerked out of his grasp once again. “In case you didn’t get it the first or second time I pulled away from you, I don’t want you to fucking touch me, you sonuvabitch! I cannot believe you have the nerve to say those words to me after you
abandoned
me and your daughter when we needed you the most!” I took a deep breath and realized that screaming at him wasn’t going to solve this issue. When I could speak at a normal volume, I said, “The answer is no, Coop. And it will stay no. You lost your chance at ever regaining my trust when you disappeared all those months ago. Do you realize that your little girl wouldn’t even recognize you anymore?”

Something that looked very much like pain sliced across his features. “Yancy…” He lifted his hand to touch my arm again. Obviously, he wasn’t listening when I told him to keep his hands to himself.

Suddenly, I was yanked behind a wide set of shoulders that were cloaked in a black wool coat.

“Don’t fucking touch her,” Charles growled.

A small part of my brain stepped back and said,
That’s hot!
The rest of my mind was frozen in shock. I could feel the tension radiating from Charles’ frame.

As soon as Cooper saw Charles, his eyes came to mine and grew hot with anger. “Really, Yance. You brought your new boyfriend? What happened to Ms. Independent, huh?”

Charles snapped his fingers in Cooper’s face. “You look at me.” When Coop’s eyes returned to his, I thought for a split second he was going to try to hit Charles, but he didn’t. His jaw working, Charles stared him down. “I just watched you manhandle the woman I care for a great deal, then, when she tried to get away, you tried to put your hands on her again. Any
man
would step in to protect his woman, exactly like I’m doing now.”

I ignored the flutter in my belly when Charles said the words,
his woman
, and laid a light hand on his rigid arm. “Forget it, Charles. We’re done here. Let’s just go home.”

Cooper looked down to where my hand was on Charles’ arm before his eyes lifted to bore into mine. He laughed bitterly. “We’re not done by a long shot, sugar,” he spat. “You’ll be hearing from my lawyer very soon.”

I stared at him. “Excuse me?”

“I’m going to sue you for full custody of Carolena.”

I gaped at him for a good ten seconds and watched as satisfaction crept across his face. Then I threw my head back and laughed hysterically. I leaned against Charles, gasping for breath as I giggled and pointed at Coop.

I managed to calm myself and wiped my eyes. “Oh, thank you, Coop, for proving exactly what a manipulative piece of shit you are.”

He was glaring at me, anger and confusion on his face. “We’ll see how long your laughing when the judge grants me sole custody.”

In a flash, I was around Charles, rising on my toes and pointing a finger in Coop’s face. “You listen to me, and you listen good. You requested a divorce after our daughter was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis, then you proceeded to disappear and stopped making child support payments within six months. I have documented every single damned thing you’ve done and even contacted the Attorney General’s office about this. You will never, ever get custody of
my
daughter.”

I saw something in his eyes when I mentioned the Attorney General and immediately knew that his repentance and begging had something to do with that. Since I was tired of looking at his face, I didn’t say another word, but I decided I would follow up with my case worker. It had been almost two months since I’d checked on the progress of my legal action. I was done giving Cooper Stevens the power to hurt me.

I turned and looked up at Charles. “Let’s go home. I’m hungry.” Without looking back, I walked to my car and climbed in.

I watched as Charles stared down Cooper before walking to his own vehicle. When he got in, I started my car, waved for him to follow me, and drove away.

O
n the drive
home, I blasted the music. I decided to make an Angry Girl playlist on my phone. I had a feeling I would need it before I was done straightening out the mess that Cooper seemed intent on creating.

Charles pulled into the driveway next to me and jumped out of his car. He rounded my hood as I opened my door. He crouched by my seat, his eyes studying my face.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

I blew out a breath and nodded. “I’m angry, but not like last week. When he insisted on talking to me in person, I suspected it would be something I wouldn’t like.” I lifted a hand and cupped his cheek. “Thanks for insisting on coming with me. I think things might have gotten a lot worse if you hadn’t intervened.”

I leaned down and kissed him. He smiled slightly, but didn’t say
I told you so
, which I appreciated.

“Do you want to stay for dinner?” I asked.

Charles frowned. “I would love to, but my mom is having Family Dinner Night. She insists we all get together for dinner once or twice a month. If I back out, she’ll want to know why and she’ll insist that I bring you. If she does that, I guarantee she’ll have homemade cookies and bridal magazines waiting for you at the front door.

I giggled. “Worried I’ll start picking out a wedding dress?”

A strange look came over his face, but he didn’t get to respond because my front door opened and I heard the loud squeals of my daughter. I looked up to see Kathy standing on the porch, wearing a worried expression.

“I should get inside,” I said. “I doubt Coop will get custody, but I do want to talk to Tanya. She’s a lawyer and she’ll be able to tell me what to expect.” I hesitated. “While I would love to meet the rest of your family, maybe now isn’t the best time.”

His face seemed to tighten slightly, but Charles nodded without saying anything and straightened, stepping back so I could get out of the car. I grabbed my stuff and he took my laptop bag, carrying it to the front door for me.

“Hi, beautiful,” he said to Carolena. She grinned at him. He looked at Kathy. “Hey, Kathy. How are you?”

She didn’t smile, but her eyes warmed. “I’m fine.” She turned her gaze to me. “What’s wrong?”

“It’s a long story. Let me get inside and out of my work clothes and I’ll explain.”

Kathy nodded and stepped into the house. Charles brought in my bag and set it on the floor.

“I’ll call you later,” he said, leaning in to kiss me.

“Kiss! Kiss!” Carolena demanded.

I grinned as Charles leaned over and gave my daughter a loud smacking kiss on her cheek. She loved it and let loose a huge belly laugh. I couldn’t believe how quickly she’d warmed up to Charles. Then again, she’d never had a man, other than my father and her uncles, take an interest in her. Seeing him with my daughter, I yearned to see Charles with his niece and nephew or maybe even with his own children.

He came back, curved his hand around the back of my neck, and leaned down so our faces were a few inches apart. “Look, I’m going to call my mom and tell her I’m not gonna make it. You need me and I can deal with her foaming at the mouth over the idea that I’m getting serious with a woman and keep her off your back.”

At his offer, my chest felt tight, as though it couldn’t contain my heart. “No, I’ll be okay,” I murmured. “I’ll probably spend half the night on the phone anyway. I need to make calls to Tanya for legal advice and I’ll also have to contact my parents and let them know that Coop’s back. I’m not looking forward to that.”

“Yancy.” His voice was low, warning me that he didn’t want an argument.

“Seriously, Charles. You have a life and a family. Spend time with them and I’ll see you tomorrow.” I stared into his eyes, my jaw set.

Charles must have understood that I was digging in my heels, because he nodded. “I’ll call after dinner. If I can get out of there early enough, I’ll swing by.”

“That sounds wonderful.”

He gave my neck a squeeze. “Okay. If you need me or your ex turns up, call me.”

I nodded and watched as he left. When I turned, Kathy stood in the foyer, Carolena perched on her hip, and her eyes worried.

“So tell me what’s going on.”

“Give me a couple of minutes to get into something more comfortable and I’ll meet you in the kitchen,” I said. Even I could hear that my voice sounded tired.

She nodded and headed toward the back of the house. I realized I still had my purse over my shoulder and I dumped it on the bench by my laptop bag. I kicked off my shoes, scooped them up, and headed up the stairs.

Once I had changed into a pair of black yoga pants and a loose t-shirt, I made my way back downstairs and into the kitchen. Carolena was in her high chair, snacking on some fruit, while Kathy appeared to be making dinner.

“You didn’t have to make dinner, Kath.”

She glanced over her shoulder at me. “Hon, when you came up to the porch, you looked like you were about to fall over. Now, you get yourself a glass of wine and sit down and tell me what’s going on.”

I did as she directed, settling in a chair at the kitchen table. By the time I finished repeating the story, her eyes were bright with anger and her mouth was thin.

“Cooper Stevens is a jackass,” she muttered. “I should have smacked him when I had the chance.”

Since Kathy had been babysitting Carolena since she was six weeks old, she’d met Cooper. He’d left almost a month after she started working for me, so she had seen the entire divorce and the toll that suddenly becoming a single parent had taken on me.

“I won’t argue with you, especially since I think you’re right,” I said, sipping my wine.

Kathy asked me more questions, none of which I could answer since I didn’t know what had caused Cooper to show up out of the blue or what I would do in response. She also wouldn’t let me help make dinner, so I simply sat and watched as she put together a taco salad for me and a little plate of beans, meat, and some veggies for Carolena.

“You’re not going to stay and eat?” I asked.

She shook her head. “No, I have to get home. I called my husband when you told me you would be late and told him I expected dinner on the table when I got back.” She grinned. “After all my years as a housewife, it’s his turn to cook while I work.”

I chuckled and thanked her for making dinner and for listening. She gave me a hug and told me to eat all of my dinner or she would know. After she left, Carolena and I ate together while I tried to talk to her about my day, forcing myself to keep my voice light. She babbled and clapped and then smashed all of her food into a big pile.

We ran through our normal evening routine, which helped take my mind off Cooper. We played in the living room for an hour, then I bathed her and gave her a breathing treatment. By eight, she could barely hold her eyes open. I relished our quiet time before bed, rocking in her glider while I sang lullabies.

Even though I was almost certain he stood no chance of gaining even joint custody, there was still a small part of me that worried. Fathers had rights, I wouldn’t deny that, but Cooper’s actions hadn’t been those of a father. They had been the choices of a selfish coward. My daughter deserved better. She deserved someone like Charles.