Page 5 of Roll With The Punches

Chapter Two

Brandon still hadn’t reached work yet when his cell phone rang again.

Tracey.

Groaning, he initially debated whether or not to send it to voice mail when he decided delaying the inevitable wasn’t worth it and answered.

“Yeah?”

“Hi, Brandon.” Her tone sounded subdued, non-snarky.

In other words, totally not like Tracey had sounded over the past couple of years when talking to him.

He opted to keep an open mind and be the bigger person. “What’s up?”

“I wanted to know if you thought it’d be okay for Emma to come visit this weekend?”

“That’s up to her. You’ll have to ask her yourself.”

“She’s not answering my calls.”

That was news to Brandon. Emma normally told him when her mom tried to contact her. Not that he required Emma to tell him, but she usually volunteered it. Last he’d heard, Emma was slowly regaining her trust in Tracey.

“I thought you two were okay. What happened?”

Tracey let out a sigh he could hear on his end of the line. “I made the mistake Friday of asking if she’d be okay if we had Corey at the house the next time she spent the night.”

He groaned. “I could have told you that was stupid.” He belatedly realized how that sounded, but Tracey didn’t ding him for it.

“I know, I know. Pat was pushing me to ask.”

Another point he decided not to bust her balls over at that moment. “I’ll ask Em to call you, but I make no promises. I won’t order her to call you or order her to visit you.”

“Do you have any advice for me on how to fix this?”

That pulled him up short.Tracey? Actually askinghimfor advice dealing with Emma?

Maybe she’s dying.

He didn’t even think that snarkily, but with genuine concern. “Are you okay?”

“I miss her living here. I…I want to try to fix this.”

Getting in the middle of this would only bring bad things. This he knew with a certainty, from prior disasters. As long as Tracey was married to Pat and still giving his opinions weight over Emma’s well-being, there would be no full reconciliation between her and Emma.

“Well, for starters, no way will she live with you again if you’re married to Pat. She’s flat-out said that. That’s her decision, not mine. Secondly, do not push her to spend time with Corey. Maybe try taking time off from work and making some of her swim meets for a change. Alone. No Pat, no Corey.” To the best of his recollection, Tracey had never made one of Emma’s swim meets, usually using work or exhaustion as her excuse.

He suspected the true reason was Pat badgering her in some fashion.

“When’s her next one?”

“She’s got a small one Wednesday afternoon at four. At the pool her team trains at. It’s not a sanctioned meet, more a practice competition between three local high schools ahead of the big meet she’s got Saturday morning. If you take an active interest in what she does for a change, it might help.”

Sure, it was a low blow. But after the way Tracey had sided with Pat against Emma about the stupid religious retreat cruise they’d tricked Emma into going on, Brandon could no longer back his ex-wife’s parental role.

In front of Emma he’d try to stay neutral, sure.

Tracey had burned up the last of his goodwill when it came to her. Which had been a considerable amount, considering how guilty he felt having to divorce her in the first place.