Page 49 of As It Was (Strawberry Springs #1)

CAIN

Strawberry Springs Neighborhood Watch

Jackie Anne

Can we all just agree to be nice to Cain this weekend?

Comments:

Kerry Winsor : Oh no. Is it time?

Jackie Anne : Can’t confirm or deny.

Kerry Winsor : Well, there’s my answer.

Mollie Wilson : This is not the weekend for drama. That’s all I’ll say.

The Friday that I’d been dreading came far too soon.

When I wasn’t busy with the animals, I was working out how to get Eric to Waldren.

He had been demanding, trying to get me to come all the way to where he’d just moved to in Nashville.

He’d also asked questions that told me he had no idea what he was doing.

I warned Eric that it might be hectic, and every part of me wanted to take him and run .

According to my lawyer, that was a bad idea. I needed to let this happen and see if it caused any issues. He said I was lucky Judge Marlon had sided with me at all. I needed to stay in his good graces.

Mollie had been extra helpful, and I still didn’t know how to thank her. She’d been cooking meals and not complaining when I spent extra time with Eric. Some nights, I fell asleep in his room, worried that he would be gone when I woke up. Each time, she smiled and told me things would be okay.

I owed her. And when this weekend was over, and Eric was back with me, I would figure out some way to repay her.

In the end, Waldren won when he told me he didn’t have a car seat for Eric, and I prepared to be in the car for six fucking hours.

But when I walked out of the house, Mollie was leaning on my truck.

“What are you doing?”

“We’re taking my car.”

“We? And why your car?”

“Mine is comfortable for long trips, and it has some features that make highway driving easier.”

“You still didn’t say why you’re going with me.”

“I’m not leaving you to deal with dropping Eric off on your own,” she said. “This is hard. For both of you.”

She looked at Eric, who was pressed against my side. “I want Mollie to go,” he said softly.

I sighed. “Are you sure about this?”

“I wouldn’t offer if I wasn’t sure,” she replied. “Let’s go.”

I put Eric’s seat into her car and we headed out. She even offered to drive. I was grateful, because I wasn’t sure if I should be behind the wheel of a car while so nervous. I dreaded every second as we got closer to Nashville, and I could tell Eric did too .

Waldren lived in a high-rise apartment, one that screamed money. The lobby was all marble and the doorman gave me an odd look when we walked in.

“There he is!” Waldren announced when he saw Eric. “My kid.”

“Hi,” Eric said quietly.

“Why so bored? You’re gonna have a blast here! And I can finally invite my girlfriend over.” He muttered the last part, and I knew he was still lying to her about raising Eric.

“Maybe this weekend should be for the two of you.”

Waldren ignored me. “I have games and movies. I bet you’ve never seen any of that.”

“He has,” I replied dryly. “But he prefers to play outside or with his toys.”

Waldren glanced at me, his smile dropping. “I bet you taught him that.”

“It just came naturally to him.” I crossed my arms. “Now, I brought his car seat. You want it?”

“No, I don’t plan on leaving the house with him.”

“You need to order one, at the very least.”

“I’ll do it when he’s playing games.” Waldren waved me off, and my fists clenched. Why was he brushing off anything to do with my kid?

I pushed the thought back. I’d never let myself think about him as mine, but those letters from the town had gotten to me.

“You should do that, considering Judge Marlon is watching this closely ,” Mollie said.

“Fine. Fine. You two worry too much. Come on, Eric, let’s go play.”

Eric looked between me and Waldren, and my heart broke.

I knelt to his level. “It’ll be okay. I’ll be back Sunday.”

Eric nodded. We’d already been over the details of the situation time and time again. He knew he had to do this, just like I did.

But damn if his wide eyes didn’t kill me.

I hugged him tight, trying to keep myself together before letting him go. Waldren walked off with him and up the stairs.

“I fucking hate that guy.”

“Me too,” Mollie muttered. She glared up until her phone went off.

“Who was that?”

“It was Tammy. She texted me to ask if we could come by the diner.”

“We, as in both of us?”

Everyone in town knew that Eric wasn’t going to be with me for some weekends. I’d told everyone the court battle results myself, including the split custody. But I hadn’t told anyone when, mostly because I didn’t want them to ask me questions while I was adjusting to the change.

“It seems so. Want me to tell her it’s not a good time?”

I let out a sigh. Tammy was one of the first people I’d trusted, and though it was typical for me to hide when things were rough, I didn’t want to turn her down when she was obviously trying. “We’ll go. No promises on how social I’ll be.”

“You’ll do better than you think,” she said with a smile. “I’ll tell her.”

“I regret this,” I said when we pulled in. There were cars everywhere, filling up almost every space available. “Since when is Center Point packed on a Friday night?”

She laughed. “I did give you an out, but I think it’ll be fine. You might need the distraction. ”

Tammy was waiting for us. “Welcome, you two. Whatever you get is on the house.”

“Really?” Mollie asked.

“What do you know?” I added.

“Yes really, and I know a few things.” She gave me a sad smile. “But I’ll ignore it if you don’t wanna talk about it.”

“Who talked?”

“No one,” Tammy said. “But we’re not dumb. Jackie told us to be nice to you this weekend, and I knew they would start the whole split custody nonsense within weeks.”

“They did,” I said. “Thank you for offering free food, but I’ll still pay.”

“Nope. I won’t let you.”

“But—”

“Do you think I won’t shred a card if you hand it to me?” She raised an eyebrow, and Mollie laughed.

“She’s not the one you try to out-stubborn, Cain.”

“No one in this town is,” I muttered as I sat.

Tammy smirked before getting our drink order. While she was gone, I only had a few minutes to check my phone for an update on Eric before someone else was at our table.

“Hey, Cain.” Atticus gave me a half smile. “You know how I like to cook. I made extra of my bread with the eggs I buy from you.” He set down a loaf on the table. “You should have it.”

“Oh, uh, thanks? But if you want it?—”

He waved his hand and disappeared before I could finish my sentence.

“What was that?”

“Not sure, but this bread looks so good.”

“Everyone is acting?—”

“Cain!” a high-pitched voice called, and Kerry waltzed up to the table. “I brought cookies!”

“You too?” I asked. “I mean, I appreciate it, but?— ”

“Well, we’re trying to be nice since this is the weekend—” She stopped herself. “I mean, uh, this is a completely and totally normal weekend.”

“You know.”

“I do. Sorry. But it’s not in the Facebook group.”

“Then how did Atticus know?”

“I think we all figured it out, so you better prepare yourself.”

“To be in the gossip mill again?”

“To get taken care of. Don’t you know how we do that?”

“Not really.”

“We give food , silly. We did for Donny’s funeral, though now I regret that.” Her face morphed into disgust as she talked about Jackie’s ex. “And we’ll check in.”

“But I don’t need all of this.”

“It’s not about what you need . It’s about us caring to help where we can. Obviously, we all wanted you to keep sole custody, but Judge Asshole decided not to do that.”

“Judge Asshole ?” I laughed. “Interesting name.”

“Our letters were very clear.” She crossed her arms. “But whatever. We can do other things to support you.”

I had no idea what to say, but the heat creeping up my cheeks was unmistakable.

“Look at his face ,” Mollie said as she laughed. “You’re gonna break him.”

“Between you and me, that’s the goal. We have a lot of time to make up for. Enjoy the cookies.”

I took them numbly, wondering if this was what I’d been missing out on. If this was what Mollie had seen in Strawberry Springs.

People came up to us one by one, dropping off different things for no reason. They didn’t mention why, but as the pile of stuff on our table grew, so did my gratefulness.

“I’m glad we brought your car,” I said as we left. I’d tried to pay, and Tammy had brought out the shredder and let it run until I’d put it away. “I don’t think all of this would have fit in the truck.”

“Definitely not. How are you feeling?”

“Like I’m not alone. I see why you like it here so much.”

Mollie gave me a smile before walking over to the driver’s seat.

It took us a while to get everything put up, but once we were done, the silence of the house got to me. I hated not having Eric here to play with his toys or talk to, so Mollie put on her friend’s show in order to pass the time.

It helped.

By the time we were caught up, she was texting Wren to tell her how much she loved it, and I felt like things were okay, like I could do this if I had to.

I only hoped Eric was fine too.

We went to bed early, as if that would pass the time just a little faster. My nightly routine felt empty without me putting Eric into bed, but Mollie pulled me into her room and held me tight.

“Are you okay?” she asked in the dark of the night.

“No, but I don’t feel alone. And that’s close enough.”

Her arms squeezed and I fell asleep within minutes.

My phone rang before the sun was up. I was in a deep sleep, but the second I heard it, I was wide awake.

“Hello?” I answered, trying to get the sleep out of my voice.

“Cain?” Eric asked.

I sat up in a second. “Eric. What’s wrong?”

“I ... I need help. You know how you said there were adult drinks I should never have? ”

My stomach sank. “Yes.”

“Waldren had some. And then he drove me to some weird place in Nashville. It’s called a club.”

“ What? ” I ground out. I was going to kill him . “Is he in the car?”

“No, he’s inside. He left his phone. And he drove weird.”

“Hang up and call 911. Tell them what you told me. Do not let him drive you anywhere.”

“O-okay.”

“Good job calling me,” I said.

“I don’t like him, Cain.” His voice was quiet. “I wanna come home.”

“Yeah, I don’t like him either. Call who I told you to call, and I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

“You’re coming to get me?”

“I’ll always come and get you.”

When I hung up, Mollie was rubbing her eyes. “Is something wrong?”

“Very. I’m gonna go get Eric. Waldren drove drunk with him in the car.” I threw my clothes on, trying to keep a handle on the rage I felt.

“What the fuck?” she said, getting up to do the same thing. “Obviously, I’m coming with you.”

“I can’t promise this is gonna be the safest ride you’ve ever been on. I’m not wasting time.”

“You should call Mike,” she said. “I bet he could give you a sheriff’s escort.”

I didn’t want to do anything but get to Eric, but she had a point. Mike sounded annoyed that he’d been woken up, but when I asked, he said he would escort us. He even sounded as angry as I felt when I told him what had happened.

Eric obviously had done what he was told, because the police called me minutes later to tell me he was safely in their custody, and I needed to come get him. Mollie got in touch with my lawyer to let him know what had happened, and to file for sole custody since Eric had been in danger.

I was seeing red by the time we arrived in Nashville, and neither Mike nor Mollie could stop me from getting to Eric the second I was in the police station. Neither tried, but my heart had been pounding from the second I’d gotten the first phone call, and I needed to see him with my own two eyes.

Eric was in a waiting room, looking downtrodden but otherwise fine. When he saw me, his entire face brightened, and I wrapped him in the tightest hug of his life.

“Are you okay?” I asked, pulling away to check every inch of his skin.

“The police got him. Was what he did bad?”

“Very bad,” I said. “You could have been hurt.”

“Oh my God,” Mollie said. “It’s so good to see you.”

“Mollie’s here?” Eric asked.

I nodded. “And the sheriff from home. He’s the reason I could get here so fast.” I looked over at Mollie. “Where is he?”

“Getting the details from the officers who picked Eric up,” she said. “And asking if he can cuss out Waldren.”

“He can get in fucking line,” I muttered.

“Bad word,” Eric said.

“Yeah, but when someone does something like this to my kid? I can’t hold it back.”

Eric stared for a long time before hugging me tightly again, and I took a second to revel in having him back.

“Dang city cops won’t let me at him,” Mike muttered. “But good news, they called Judge Marlon and he granted temporary sole custody.”

“Temporary?” I growled.

“That’s just what it’s called,” he explained. “But I asked if it would be made permanent, and more than likely yes. Waldren’s gonna be lucky not to be in jail .”

“He should be,” I muttered. “What was going through his mind?”

“He was mad the whole time I was there because his girlfriend did something.”

“Did she dump him?” I asked.

“Yeah, that. He was really mad. He barely even talked to me. He almost left me by myself, but I told him he couldn’t do that.”

It would have been better for him to have been alone, but I didn’t want to make him feel any worse.

“Still,” Mike said. “You’re good to take him home ... though you probably would have done that anyway, and I wouldn’t blame you.”

“Thanks,” I said.

“Glad I could help. And I’m glad you’re back where you belong, little man.”

“Me too,” Eric said. I let him go, only for Mollie to hug him the second I did.

Mike smiled. “Some little family you have here.”

“Yeah,” I said, watching Mollie fuss over every little part of Eric. “But I’m happy to have it.”