Page 19

Morgan

___________

I stare down at my watch as Andy and I get settled in the courtroom. The judge isn’t seated yet, just us, the bailiff, and the rest of the staff required in the room.

Five minutes to go until Brittany is late. I know that Andy thinks this will be cut and dry if she doesn’t show up, I just don’t believe it. Nothing with her has ever been easy. Nothing has been so simple.

No one has heard from her or seen her since she showed up at my house two weeks ago to try to kidnap the girls. Not even any phone calls or emails. She hasn’t shown up at the arena once.

I’m more surprised than I am happy about it. She’s as dramatic and egotistical as they come, why hasn’t she done anything? Whatever scheme she’s going to try to pull next is going to be big… I can feel it.

The bailiff asks for us to stand while the judge stalks in and takes his seat, waving his hand for us to sit. He goes through his spiel, glancing around as he introduces himself and the case.

“And where is Brittany Bale today?” He murmurs and blinks at the empty table as if a lawyer is going to pop in and answer him. Andy clears his throat and stands.

“Your honor, in the documents in my hand, I have proof that Mrs. Bale tried to kidnap their three daughters from their home, without any conversations with their father, Mr. Morgan Bale. He was away for work when she showed up and pushed herself inside of Mr. Bale’s home.

She attacked the nanny and frightened the kids.

She admitted to being homeless and having no money, wanting to extort more from Mr. Bale, even after she signed the divorce papers, giving Mr. Bale sole custody of the girls once approved.

He gave her a check for thousands of dollars when she packed up her belongings and wanted to leave their home.

She traveled around Europe until she ran out and wanted more. ”

The judge pinches the bridge of his nose and asks for the bailiff to come gather everything from Andy, allowing him to read through it. “I understand you also signed a prenuptial agreement with Brittany Bale prior to your marriage, correct?”

We nod and he leafs through until he can find that and read through it before the other documents. “You already had one child when this was signed and she still signed away her alimony and any monetary stipends if she is caught with infidelity. Do you have proof of that?”

Andy stands and pulls out another file from his briefcase.

“Right here, your honor. Phone records, printed messages from her social media accounts from the men themselves, and signed witness statements from others that they had relations for months behind Mr. Bale’s back.

I also have written statements from their house staff that she refused to parent or be a mother, paying them off to care for them while she went on trips when Mr. Bale was out of the state.

She would lock herself in her room, drink copious amounts of wine, and ignore the kids completely. ”

The judge shakes his head and reads through everything the bailiff continues to hand him. “Does she have any friends or relatives nearby that she could be staying with?”

I shrug. “She’s not close with her family, but they do live here in St. Paul. They haven’t seen the children since Nessa was born over four years ago.”

He sighs and glances over to my attorney and purses his lips.

“She had ample time to meet with a public defender if she could not afford an attorney. She was sent letters and phone calls, from what I can see on the records. She was in town two weeks ago, trying to extort money from Mr. Bale and isn’t here to tell us her side, whatever that may be.

” He grabs a pen and signs a few documents.

Waving to the bailiff to bring everything back over.

“I am temporarily awarding you full custody of your three children, along with the restraining order, and the divorce is now final. You do not owe any alimony or living wages to Brittany Bale. If she is so inclined to try to open a case against you in the future, you may have a long fight on your hands depending on what she tries to throw at you. From what I can tell, she signed all of these documents of sound mind. Good luck.” He stands and leaves the room and I let out a long, slow breath.

Andy claps my back and shakes the bailiff’s hand before he pushes me towards the door and down the hall towards the parking lot. “How do you feel?”

I press my lips together and unlock my car, leaning against the door. “I have no idea… I expected her to show up. I also didn’t expect for it to be so… quick and painless. I didn’t think he would proceed with the divorce without her here.”

Andy chuckles and swings his briefcase out in front of him. “I’ll head back to the office to make sure everything is updated. If you hear from her, call me. I’ll call our PI friend and have him look around for her, see what she’s up to.”

I shrug and open my door, slumping down into the seat.

“Just… Fuck. I don’t care about sending her money if it’s done through the courts.

She told me she was going off with a rich boyfriend and they were happy to go traveling around Europe.

Obviously shit went down between them and he stole her jewelry, money, and expensive clothes for whatever reason.

I don’t want anything bad to happen to her…

I just want her out of my life and away from the girls unless she gets some help. ”

He nods and knocks his fist on the roof of my car. “We’ll figure it out. I’ll call you with updates… The PI sent me an email this morning that he’s back in St. Paul from his trip to San Francisco. I haven’t had time to read through it but I’ll forward everything to you.”

My heart starts to pound… Lillian. I hope it’s good news. Betty’s children are hopefully going to get in a bit of legal trouble for all they’ve done over the years. I just pray that she can mentally handle all of this such a short time after Betty passed away.

I’m just glad that she was able to at least see her and speak to her. My chest hurts when I think about all that she has been through and endured. She’s the strongest woman I know… and I hope that she accepts my offer for us to get to know each other better than the surface level.

The girls utterly adore her and I’m close behind them. She’s stunning, intelligent, caring, and kind. She’s confident, sarcastic, and hopefully mine. I know that she felt rejected when I asked for her to wait, but it just… felt wrong to touch her while I was still legally tied to Brittany.

Now that it’s over, I’m officially divorced. I have full custody of my kids… We need to celebrate. All of us.

I smile and wave at Andy as I back out of the parking spot and head straight to the rink. I’m a few hours late to practice, but Coach Williams is aware of what I was up to today.

I park and race through the halls to the locker room, rushing as I change and gear up to play a few practice games before I figure out where to make reservations for tonight.

I want to take Lillian out on a real date soon or up to a remote cabin for a weekend. Really get to know her.

I lick my dry lips as I pound on the glass and slide onto the ice, staying against the wall as I watch James and Logan chasing after the puck.

I tilt my head, looks like they’re on opposing teams this morning.

This should be good. I lean back and spin my stick around, waiting to be thrown into the chaos.

I need to expel this pent up energy that I’m still feeling since I woke up.

“Bale! Get your ass out there. Pick a team.” I snort and push off the wall, glancing around trying to figure out who is even on what team. I shrug and steal the puck from James and slap it to Landon and watch as he laughs and passes it back to James.

Ah. My bad.

James sends me a glare and moves toward the correct goal. I slam into one of the rookies and send him flying, watching James try to make a goal against Nolan.

I let the cold seep into my pores, feeling better by the minute. I skate away and get into formation in between James and Alexi… which is just strange. “I take it Williams wanted to mix it up a bit more?”

James sighs and sends me a look. “Yeah, man. I’m fucking exhausted.”

I nod and get possession of the puck and slam it to the wall before I skate towards it, shoving our ‘opponents’ out of the way. I’m not usually such an aggressive player. Ha. Maybe I am, just not during practice.

I chuckle as I slap the puck to Alexi, watching him swing back and sending it flying over Nolan’s head before he knows what’s going on.

I laugh out loud and tackle Alexi, pounding him on the helmet for actually making it past our boy. We all stand and head to huddle when Williams calls us in.

“Interesting plays today, boys. Go ahead and head home. The damn Bears have requested extra ice time tomorrow, so be in here around ten to weight train and get some ice time for about an hour before they take over the place. Bale, stay back.” I nod and watch everyone skate off, yelling as they make their way to the locker room. “How did it go today?”

I sigh and lean on my stick as I explain my morning. He knows about what happened two weeks ago. We had a meeting with Daniel to let him know what my lovely ex-wife was up to. He needed a copy of the restraining order that Andy filed and told me that he wouldn’t let her in.

So far, so good. Let’s hope she’s no longer in the state, the girls don’t deserve the shit she puts us all through.

Williams nods and claps my shoulder. “Keep me updated. Thanks for still coming in today.” He skates off the ice. I close my eyes and tilt my head towards the lights, breathing in the icy air, letting it ground me.

I do a few laps, leaving my stick in the center, just needing to clear my mind.

My marriage of almost eleven years is just done and gone. It’s over. I tried, fuck… I tried. I did everything I could to make her happy.

Jewelry, flowers, taking her out wherever she wanted. Letting her shop, buying her a new car whenever she stared at one in a commercial for long enough.

No idea what she did with it after she left all those months ago, but I imagine she sold it. I wouldn’t be surprised since she showed up in that little red rental car.

I head to the locker room after I wear myself out, dragging my stick behind me. The guys are standing around, getting dressed, I nod and drop off my gear in my cubby before heading to the showers. I breathe in the steamy air and let the hot water release the tension in my sore muscles.

Fuck, I feel so free. I want to swing Lillian around and kiss the shit out of her. Listen to her hopes and dreams, watch her with my kids… Fucking her would be the bonus.

Getting to see those curves without the fabric covering her. Damn. She’s going to be glorious, isn’t she?

I dry off and sigh when I sit down on the bench in front of my locker, dragging down my sprays and cloth wipes to clean my gear, tossing the washable items into the dirty laundry bin.

“How did it go?” James asks as he sits beside me. The rest of the guys circle around. I smirk at them as I glance around and shrug.

“She never showed up. The judge wasn’t very impressed with what Andy handed over. He signed off on the restraining order, temporary custody, and the divorce though. It’s over for now.”

The guys pat and clap my back, they all turn to head out but Nolan stays, leaning against the wall with his lips pursed. “You let me know if she causes any more shit, all right? You never lean on us, man. We’re here for you.”

I stare into his face and nod. “Same goes for you. Ready to talk about Marie yet?”

He sucks on his bottom lip and shrugs. “Not much to tell… We never talked about feelings. I don’t think I realized I loved her until she and James actually got together. I think deep down I always knew they loved each other, they just ignored it for whatever fucking reason.”

I nod and stand, grabbing my sweats and a t-shirt out of my bag before getting dressed. “Come over whenever you want. Lillian’s cool, the girls love your company. Plus, my fridge is always stocked with beer.”

He smiles and moves to leave. “Thanks, man. I’ll get over it.

” We walk out to the lot and I jump in my car, watching him peel out in his truck.

He needs to work that shit out with James and Marie before he makes a dumb mistake.

The three of them have been friends for years…

It would suck to watch that friendship implode.

I make it home within half an hour, even with stopping to grab a few bottles of wine for tonight. I see the SUV parked in the garage so they haven’t left to pick up Avery yet. I jog inside the house and watch Lillian guiding Nessa and Tilly towards me to get in the car.

Lillian sends me a tentative smile and tilts her head, asking wordlessly how today went. I send her a thumbs-up and she gives me a quick hug on her way out. “Congrats, Morgan.”

I hug her back and lean down, breathing her in. “Thank you. I’ll keep the girls here if you want?”

She frowns and bends down, asking them if they want to stay with me.

Nessa and Tilly both squeal and race around me in circles. “Looks like it.” Lillian chuckles and waves, leaving us alone in the hall.

“All right girls, come on. We have a fun night to plan tonight… Who wants to go out to dinner with daddy and Lillian to celebrate?”

Nessa races towards the kitchen and squeals. “What are we celebrating?”

I smirk and set the wine bottles on the counter, tossing my keys beside them. “Just happiness, baby. I’m so dang happy.”