Page 89 of Owned By The Cowboy

I sit across from her, trying to read her expression. “What kind of something?”

“I don’t know, baby. But Richard doesn’t like it when things don’t go his way. And me moving on, being happy… that’s definitely not going his way.”

“He can’t do anything about it. You’re divorced.”

She scoffs. “You don’t know him.”

“No, but I know the law. He can’t just show up here and startshit.”

“He can if it involves his kids.”

That stops me cold. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, he could claim that my living with a man is bad for them. Try to get the custody changed or something.”

“That’s ridiculous.”

“Is it? I’m a recently divorced woman living with a man my kids barely know.”

“The kids have known me for months. And they love it here.”

“Richard doesn’t know that. All he knows is what he heard on the phone.”

I can see where her head’s going, and I don’t like it. “Reggie…”

“Maybe this was too fast. Maybe we should’ve waited longer before moving in together.”

“No.”

“Blayne…”

“No. We’re not doing this.”

“Doing what?”

“Letting your asshole ex-husband mess with what we’ve got.”

“It’s not that simple.”

“It is that simple. You’re happy. The kids are happy. End ofstory.”

“What if he tries to take them, Blayne?”

“He won’t get them.”

“How do you know?”

“Because he’d have to prove you’re an unfit mother, and that’s impossible. Because any judge who spends five minutes with those kids will see how much they love you. Because he’s full of shit and you know it.”

She’s quiet for a minute, just staring into her coffee.

“I can’t lose them, baby,” she says finally.

“You won’t.”

“You don’t understand. When we got divorced, I gave up everything else. The house, most of the money, everything. But I got the kids. They’re all I have.”

“They’re not all you have.”