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“Kids,” Caleb said, “why don’t you go inside and play while we get your bags ready?”

Levi glanced at me like he was asking permission. I nodded, letting him know it was okay.

When the door closed behind them, I said, “Melinda, what a surprise. I wasn’t expecting to see you.”

She smiled awkwardly between me and Caleb. “I’m sorry I didn’t reach out after you left...”

Caleb squeezed her shoulder, saying, “I’ve been meaning to tell you. Melinda and I ran into each other at the grocery store a few months ago and got to talking, and well... Here we are.”

He squeezed her even tighter to his side, and she smiled adoringly up at him, and it was all... wrong.

“A few months ago?” I asked, doing the math in my head. That was about the time he started watching Levi’s games online. Had Melinda been the one to push him to show up for his kids?

Caleb nodded. “I was going to tell you, but...” His words trailed off.

“Tell me what, exactly?” I asked. “That you were going to surprise the kids with your new girlfriend? That wasn’t fair, Caleb. I could have prepared them to meet her.”

Caleb rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. “I didn’t want you putting bad feelings in their heads.”

The words felt like a slap in the face. “I never told them about you cheating on me, yet you thought I’d turn them against your girlfriend now that we’re divorced? You didn’t deserve it, but no one’s protected you to them like I have.”

Color flooded Caleb’s cheeks, making them ruddy. “I think the trip could be a good time for everyone to bond.”

My jaw fell open. “Wait. The trip? You’re goingtogether?”

Melinda’s eyes were wide and scared. She whispered, “I told you we should have let her know, Caleb.”

But he brushed her off, back to his overconfident self. “You already knew and liked Melinda. The kids know her. She’s a safe person and an amazing mom. There was no need to get your permission, Farrah. Just like you didn’t ask my permission to move into a new place I’d never seen before or, I dunno, sneak off in some guy’s Tesla the night I was there.”

My eyes pricked with angry, embarrassed tears. “That’s not the point.”

“Then what is?” he asked.

Overwhelmed, I said, “I have done everything for these kids since we left Austin.Everything. It’s going to hurt like hell to be away from them this long, and now the trip I’d mentally prepared myself for is some kind of... blended family bonding activity? I feel like I have no idea what’s going on with them, and it makes me worry.”

Melinda held up her hands like she was trying to soothe a wild horse. “I totally understand, Farrah. I don’t want this to be uncomfortable. In fact, I hope we’ll eventually be able to co-parent the kids successfully.”

“Co-parent?” I asked.

Then I noticed it. The giant rock shining on Melinda’s ring finger.

I sat down in the middle of the lawn, unable to stand anymore, and tried to take deep breaths.

“Oh my god!” Melinda came to my side. “Are you okay?”

I waved her off. “Can I have a word with Caleb? Alone?”

Melinda nodded, but Caleb said, “Melinda and me? We’re a package deal. And I’m their parent too, damn it. I have partial custody, and I know I was in a bad way after the divorce, but I’ve stepped up, haven’t I? I’ve started showing up to games, and I’ve made child support payments on time, every time.”

“You have, but that’s not all there is to being a parent. You don’t get to check out and in when you feel like it because you sign a check.”

“I know,” Caleb said.

I pushed myself up from the ground, standing on shaky legs. “Those kids are my world, Caleb. And from now on, you need to tell me when things are changing in their lives here. Both of you.” I pinned Melinda with a stare. “Do you understand?”

Caleb nodded. So did she.

“I don’t like it,” I said.