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“It’s not fair!”

“It’s not,” Savannah agreed. “It’s really not.”

Brinley pouted, but she didn’t continue to argue. Savannah wasn’t sure why, because any other time something like this hadcome up, Brinley had thrown a fit the size of the sun. It had lasted for days, and she was fairly certain she hadn’t seen the end of this argument.

“I’m not worth you fighting with Daddy.”

“Brin! Of course you are.” Savannah moved swiftly, wrapping Brinley in her arms and dragging her in for a tight hug. “You’re worth every fight and more, trust me on that. I love you so much.”

Brinley sniffled, but wrapped her arms around Savannah’s middle and hugged her back. Savannah held on tightly until Brinley shifted to move away. She wiped her face and then grabbed her plate. “Does this mean Fallon can come over more?”

“What?” Savannah frowned.

“I know Daddy doesn’t like Fallon, so if I’m staying with you all the time, does that mean Fallon can come over more?”

God bless the logical mind of a nine-year-old. Savannah shook her head instantly. “No. I don’t think Fallon will be coming over anytime soon.”

“Why not? Did Dad do something to her?”

“No.”Well, yes, he had.Savannah ignored that. He wasn’t the reason Fallon was avoiding them, at least not from Savannah’s understanding. It had far more to do with what Fallon thought Savannah should be doing about the situation and what Savannah wasn’t doing. “Like I said before, Fallon and I had a disagreement.”

“About what?”

“It’s really not something you need to be worried about.” Savannah shoved a forkful of food between her lips, chewing rapidly. She hated talking about this. She just wanted to move on. If Fallon was going to hold her ground that Savannah should be doing things that she wasn’t, then that was going to be an argument they would continue to have.

Fallon wasn’t Brinley’s parent, and she didn’t understand the situation fully. She’d stated very clearly since they’d met that they were to keep each other at an arm’s length, and they weren’t dating, they weren’t in a relationship, so the personal things had to be kept to a minimum.

And that landed them exactly where they were.

On a pause—an indefinite pause.

Savannah wasn’t sure that Fallon would ever budge from her position, and really, what right did she have to judge Savannah’s parenting and decisions? She hadn’t been there when Savannah had chosen to leave Forrest or the fight that happened just to win fifty-fifty custody the first time. She had no idea how broken Savannah had been from day one.

The knocking was sharp on the door.

Savannah tensed, her entire body a live wire, waiting to strike the nearest object. “Brinley, go to your room.”

“But Mom—”

“Room, now.” Savannah put her plate down. Her hands shook as she stood up and made sure that Brinley had scampered to her bedroom and shut the door. Savannah snagged her phone off the coffee table and started the long, slow walk toward the front door.

There wasn’t another knock.

There wasn’t pounding.

But Savannah was ready for whatever Forrest had in store for her. She had the police dialed in, and she was ready to make the phone call and leave it on so they could hear absolutely everything. Savannah sent one last glance back toward Brinley’s bedroom as she reached the door. Leaning forward, she put her face to the peephole and instantly relaxed.

Fallon.

twenty-seven

“What’s wrong?” Fallon’s heart was in her throat, but Savannah stood in front of her like she’d been smacked in the face by a wombat on Mars.

“N-nothing’s wrong. Why are you here?”

Fallon narrowed her eyes in confusion. When she’d gotten the text, which had been odd in and of itself, she’d texted back. When she’d heard nothing, she’d called, and now she was standing in front of Savannah after hearing nothing for the last forty minutes and fearing the worst.

“Is he here?” Fallon said, wanting to force her way inside if Savannah and Brinley were in some type of danger. She might have been the only person that Savannah could reach to help her with whatever situation she was stuck in.