“It’s pepper spray. Just in case. Keep it with you at all times.”
She cringes as I lay it down on the kitchen table beside her. “You’re scaring me. What do you think is going to happen?”
“I just… I think it’s good to be prepared.” And then I scribble down my phone number on a piece of paper. “Call me anytime. I want to help you.”
She manages a smile. “I may need help finding a good lawyer. One who isn’t too expensive.”
“You’re in luck. I’m a lawyer. And I’m not too expensive.”
I want to help this girl. And I know exactly how to do it. Enough messing around. I have that photo of April with Mark Tanner. All I had to do is show it to Elliot—that will be the end of their marriage. He won’t understand about her cheating, even if he has done it himself.
I can stick it to April and give Brianna a happy ending.
Chapter 49
The day of the fall carnival was just about the worst day of my life.
In the ambulance, Leo told me what happened. Bobby wanted a turn on the slide, and when Leo told him it was his turn, Bobby pushed him off the edge of the bouncy house.
Leo could have died. I could have lost my son that day, thanks to April’s little monster. The teacher told her repeatedly that he should be in some sort of therapy. But she won’t send him. In her eyes, he’s perfect. Like mother like son.
I keep reliving that moment when I saw Leo drop off the top of that bouncy castle. I thought for sure he wouldn’t survive. I thought I was going to run over there and find him dead on the ground. But by some miracle, he survived. He had a broken arm, but he was okay. He didn’t even need surgery—just a cast.
That night, I’m saying a prayer of thanks that Leo is still with us. Every time I think about it, I feel sick. For a long time, I’m going to see Leo plummeting off that slide every time I close my eyes.
I give Leo an extra squeeze when I put him to bed, being careful of his broken arm. I thought after all the excitement of the day, he might have trouble falling asleep, but his eyes are drifting shut before I even close the door to his bedroom.
I go to Tristan next. He’s lying in bed, his eyes so big and wide that I can almost see them glowing in the moonlight. It looks like he might need an extra squeeze too.
“Is Leo going to be okay?” he asks in a tiny voice that makes him seem younger for a change.
“He’s fine.” I lean in to kiss Tristan on his smooth forehead. “I promise.”
His lower lip juts out. “Bobby pushed him. I saw it. Everyone saw it.”
“I know.”
Tristan gives me a hard look with his dark, penetrating eyes. I swear, he’s going to be a prosecutor someday just like I used to be. “So what are you going to do?”
Great question.
“I’m not going to let anything like that happen again,” I promise him.
My conversation with Tristan has gotten me fired up. After I kiss him good night, I go downstairs and start ranting to Keith. Unfortunately, that proves a bit frustrating. Keith is upset too, but he wasn’t there. There was never a moment when he thought our son might be dead. He just got a call from me saying Leo had a broken arm. So he’s not as fired up as I am. Or even as fired up as Tristan.
“I think we should sue them,” I say to Keith, as I pace across the living room. “Don’t you think so?”
He’s sitting on the couch, doing something on his phone. He doesn’t even look up. “Sue who?”
“April and Elliot!” I nearly scream at him. He never listens to me.
“For what?”
“Parents can be held civilly liable for any minor child’s willful misconduct.”
Keith lifts his eyes just long enough to roll them at me.
I plant my hands on my hips. “Why? Am I wrong?”
“You’re not wrong. But what are we going to do? Sue your best friend? Anyway, everyone will take April’s side.”
My mouth falls open. “Why do you say that?”
“Well, you’re not exactly Miss Congeniality, Julie.”
“Excuse me?”
“I’m just saying…” He shrugs. “Everyone loves April. She’s very likable.”
“And they hate me?”
He shrugs again.
“Well, gee,” I say. “If I’m so goddamn unlikable, why did you marry me in the first place?”
“Beats me.”
I glare at him.
He rolls his eyes again. “I’m just kidding around. Relax, Julie. Leo’s fine. Just let it go.”
But I can’t stop fuming. Moreover, I’m starting to wonder what I’m doing here, in this marriage. It isn’t like I haven’t thought about leaving. I mentioned it to my mother, and she quickly shot the idea down. Keith is the man you chose. That’s true, but I’m worried I may have made the wrong decision.
And I can’t help but think about Riley Hanrahan.
I got together with him a few weeks before my wedding. One thing led to another… and yes, I was unfaithful that one time. But I couldn’t help myself.
Afterward, while Riley and I were lying in bed together, me curled in his muscular arms, he said to me, You’re not really going to do it, are you? You’re not really going to marry that guy?
His words irked me. He knew we were getting married. Everything was nonrefundable. Well, who am I supposed to marry? You?
He jerked away from me, hurt in his light blue eyes. Good to know where I stand, he muttered under his breath.
I didn’t say it to be mean though. I didn’t think there was any chance Riley would ever ask me to marry him. But at that moment, I wondered if I was wrong.
But no. He wouldn’t. And I didn’t want to wait any longer. As my mother constantly was reminding me, my biological clock was ticking.
I don’t regret the decision I made. After all, I’ve got Leo and Tristan. I wouldn’t trade them for anything else in the world. And anyway, that’s the least of my problems right now. I’ve got to figure out what to do about April.
_____
The next day, when Elliot is leaving his office for the evening, I’m waiting for him outside my car.
He comes out at nearly eight o’clock at night. I made up some story for Keith about a friend I’m going out for drinks with. Keith gave me a look. He probably thinks I’m cheating on him, but he didn’t try to stop me.
Elliot is wearing a gray suit and tie, and carrying a briefcase stuffed to the brim as he strides in the direction of his Tesla, parked right next to my SUV. Elliot Masterson is a handsome man. You can’t deny that fact. Unlike my husband, who managed to gain an impressive eighty pounds during the time we’ve been married, Elliot has kept in shape. He started to lose his hair a few years ago, and then he just shaved it all off. But it works for him. Before Sean Cooper came along, he was easily the sexiest guy on the block.
“Julie?” Elliot looks surprised to see me. “What are you doing here? Is everything okay with April?”
“Not exactly.” I shift my purse with the incriminating photograph inside. “Can we talk?”
“Uh… sure.” He rubs at his bald scalp. “You’re kind of scaring me, Julie.”