Page 30 of Living for Truth (Broken Shelves #2)

Morgan

A ly called me from the bathroom to tell me Whitney brought Liam to their lunch, and when they went to his apartment, she was feeling left out and uncomfortable and wanted to come home.

I’m vibrating with anxiety and outrage while I drive, calling my dad on the way to let him know I’ll be bringing the truck and trailer back after I pick up Aly.

Aly didn’t know the address of Liam’s apartment, but she dropped a pin and told me the number on the door.

I drive towards downtown Salt Lake to a ritzy apartment building and park on the street in front of it because of the trailer.

I walk into the lobby and am greeted by an older gentleman in a doorman’s outfit.

Liam is a pretentious asshole.

“I need your name and who you’re here to see,” the older gentleman—his name tag reads “Hank” — says, clicking on the computer.

“I’m here to see Liam…” Fuck what is his last name? “He’s here with my daughter and her mom. I’m not on whatever list you have, but my daughter wants to leave, and I won’t make her stay somewhere she’s uncomfortable.”

“Liam…” Hank says, tapping his chin. “Blue eyes, brown hair but mostly balding? Always in a suit?”

Sure, that sounds like him. “Yes.”

“Go on and get your daughter. Mr. Jensen is a rotten soul, I tell ya. Always barking at me like he owns the place. Seen him with a few different ladies in the last few months, too. Tell the mom she should steer clear.” Hank presses a button, and the doors behind him click unlocked.

“Thank you so much, Hank.” I give him a salute and head to the elevators, clicking the number three when I’m inside.

I couldn’t give a fuck if Liam is stepping out on Whitney. Their relationship is none of my business. What is my business is my daughter and her well-being. For Whitney to not mention she’s introducing Aly to Liam and bringing her to his apartment really grinds on my gears and makes my blood boil.

It may be hypocritical since Hannah was at my house last weekend, but that’s different.

If Aly gave any indication Hannah was making her uncomfortable, I would have taken Hannah home immediately.

But Aly and Hannah got along well, and Aly seemed to like her.

Whitney doesn't know Aly well enough to know when she’s uncomfortable, clearly, or she’s just ignoring it because she wants to impress Liam.

But why? Liam made it clear that night at Fondue Frenzy he doesn’t want kids. Why would Whitney feel the need to introduce them now?

As soon as the elevator stops, I stride down the hall to 3C and bang loudly on the door.

The door swings open, and Liam flinches when he sees me, then his face turns red. “What are you doing here? How did you get in? Freaking Hank. Old bat isn’t good for anything.”

“I’m here to get Aly.” I fold my arms across my chest.

“It’s my day with her. You don’t get to just take her back whenever you want,” Whitney hisses, appearing at Liam’s side.

“I had every intention of letting you have the day with her, but she called me and said she was being ignored and didn’t want to be here anymore. I will always rescue her when she needs it.”

Whitney’s jaw drops, and she turns to our daughter, who is holding her shoes in one hand. Her bottom lip wobbles, and tears are welling in her eyes.

“You called your dad? Why couldn’t you just stick it out until I took you home?” Whitney snaps at Aly.

“I—you told me to just sit on the couch and not do anything while you guys were in the other room. I wanted to spend the day with you, not your boyfriend. You seemed like you didn’t want me here, so I called Dad so you guys could have your space,” Aly says, her voice breaking.

Whitney scowls and turns back to me. “So you get to introduce her to your girlfriend, but I can’t introduce her to my boyfriend? Seems like a double standard, Morgan.”

“I asked Aly before I introduced her to Hannah. And if Aly was uncomfortable around her at all I would have fixed that issue immediately,” I state matter-of-factly.

“To be fair, I thought Whit should have just taken her home after lunch,” Liam pipes up, and it makes me want to punch him even more.

“Aly, put on your shoes and let's go,” I say gently to my daughter. “You,” I point to Liam, “you’re a shitty person. Hannah told me about how you treated her, and Hank told me about all the women you bring around. I don’t want a slimy fucker like you around my daughter.”

Liam sputters, trying to make up excuses, but I hold up a hand to stop him.

I turn to Whitney. “I think we need to redo the custody agreement. Until you can prioritize Aly, I think supervised visits are the only thing I want to allow. If Aly even wants to see you at all. You’ll be hearing from my lawyer.”

“You can’t dictate my love life! I can date whoever I want, and you can’t take my daughter from me! I’ll fight you for full custody!” Whitney shouts, and I hear an apartment door open down the hall at all the ruckus.

“You’re right, Whitney. I can’t dictate your love life. Like I said, you’ll hear from my lawyers. Let’s go, Bub.”

Aly grips my hand as we make our way to the elevator. I hear Liam and Whitney shouting. They’re probably arguing about the other women I mentioned, but we don’t stick around long enough to hear.

I hope they end up breaking up. I don’t hate Whitney, and no one deserves to be lied to and cheated on.

Aly and I don’t speak as I get her settled in the back of the truck and pull away from the building. The only sound on the way to my parents’ house is the sound of Aly’s sniffles from the back seat.

When we pull up in front of my parents’ I let the engine die and get out, opening Aly’s door. She looks up at me, her blue eyes are a bright contrast to the red around them, and I can still see some unshed tears.

She unbuckles, and I pull her into a tight embrace.

“Do you want to talk about it right now?” I feel her shake her head, so I nod, plant a kiss on her head, and pull back slightly.

“Do you want to wait in the RAV while I go give the keys to Gigi and Papa?” She shakes her head again, so I help her out of the truck and hold her hand while we walk inside.

My mom is bustling around the kitchen making dinner when we walk in. “Well, if it isn’t my two favorite—” she pauses when she sees Aly’s face. “What happened? Are you okay, sweetie?”

Aly has always felt comfortable letting her emotions out with my mom, so she runs right to her Gigi’s open arms and sobs, telling her all about what happened.

Apparently, Whitney tried to take Aly to a bar for a fancy lunch, but since she’s a child, they had to go to a different place. Liam wasn’t happy about it, and he spent the whole time ignoring Aly and only asking Whitney questions about some business deal.

“I tried to talk to him like I talked to Hannah, but he didn’t answer my questions and told me to just play a game on my phone while the adults talked,” Aly says, and my mom’s lips thin, probably holding back a nasty retort about Aly’s mom and her new boyfriend.

“I’m sorry I ruined your day again.” Aly looks at me sheepishly. “Mom said you were probably glad to have a break from me, that’s why she didn’t want me to call you.”

I bite back the urge to call Whitney and tell her off. It won’t help the situation right now, and Aly needs me to be calm for her.

I kneel in front of her on the floor so she can see my eyes.

“You never ruin my day. I was helping Hannah move today, and we were just finishing up when you called. Last week when Aunt Alice called, it only changed the plans for the day. It didn’t ruin it.

Did you have fun with Hannah last weekend? ” I ask, and my mom’s face softens.

Aly nods.

“Then it definitely wasn’t ruined because Hannah had a lot of fun, too.”

“Really? She isn’t mad that I made you change plans with her two weeks in a row?” Aly looks down at her feet as she asks, and my heart breaks.

She’s so worried about people being mad at her, and I don’t know how to get her to believe that I’d do anything for her. She’s the most important person in my life.

Huh. Sounds like Hannah. I shake that thought away to focus on Aly.

“No, Bub. Like I said before, Hannah knows you come first, and she’s not only okay with it, but she wants to know you’re safe, too.

I won’t tell her anything you don’t want me to, but I think I need to tell her some of it.

” I swallow hard, nervous to tell her the next part.

“Liam and Hannah used to be married, so she can help me know what to do to make sure you’re safe. ”

Aly’s jaw drops. “Hannah was married to that guy? ” I nod, and she worries her lip. “He was saying mean things about his ‘ex’ to Mom, and I tried not to eavesdrop, but he was talking really loud.”

Much calmer than I feel, I ask, “Do you want to tell me what he said?”

“He said that she was selfish. She only cared about herself, and she ‘let herself go’ and got fat. I wanted to interrupt him and tell him ‘fat’ isn’t a bad thing to be.

Aunt Al, Sar, Livi, and Asha are fat, and there’s nothing wrong with it, but he didn’t seem like he’d want me to say anything.

Then he said she wasn’t good in the bedroom, and I didn’t understand what that meant. ”

My mom and I look at each other and make a silent agreement not to bring that part up.

“Thank you for telling me, Aly. I know it was probably hard to hear and hard to repeat.”

“I don’t want Hannah to get her feelings hurt by him anymore. It’s a good thing she has you now.” Aly wraps her arms around my neck.

I hope Hannah feels the same way.