Page 25

Rocket

“I’m driving. It’s fine. What’s up?”

“You alone?”

“Yes.” I draw the word out because those two words she just asked already have me sitting taller.

“And everything’s good?”

“Uh-huh. As good as can be,” I say. “What is it?”

“I got a call earlier today.” There’s an edge to her voice, a sudden chill to her tone. “Olivia’s parents have entered the picture.”

“I don’t know what that means. I thought they were estranged. I thought—”

“Well, they were finally found and claimed Olivia from the ME’s office.”

“So they’re going to give her a proper burial. I ... I didn’t know that hadn’t happened.” And now I feel like an asshole for it. “I would have done it. I ... what are you telling me, Sandra? What does it mean they’ve entered the picture ?”

“Her parents have hired counsel and plan on filing for custody of Poppy.”

My stomach drops. “What?”

“Let me back up. As of now, they’re filing for visitation, but the lawyer has hinted at your chaotic life and lack of stability, which causes me to think they’re going to file for full custody.”

My world that was slowly righting itself, tilts again. “Okay.” The word is barely audible as I try to process Sandra’s hypothesis. “They can do that?”

“They can, yes. It’s not easy to prove, but there are ample pictures and documentation that it wouldn’t be too hard to paint an unfavorable picture.”

Her silence eats up the line, giving me time to think.

Three weeks ago, I’d say this was a good thing. That Poppy would gain a more traditional family with better stability and perhaps even blood ties to a larger family.

But now the thought has my pulse racing.

“Sandra, I ... fuck .” Maybe they’re still the better option. Maybe they have a better foundation to do this seeing as they’ve already raised a child.

“You have options,” she says. “You can fight any petitions they file or you can agree to them, offer support to stem any future filings for monetary support, and wash your hands of the whole situation.”

I shake my head and scrub a hand over my face. “This is crazy. They want their granddaughter but didn’t fight hard enough to want their daughter when she was alive?”

“I know. I understand what you’re saying.”

“Why were they estranged? Can they answer that for you because I’ve yet to get an explanation on that one?”

“You know how families are. One little thing snowballs into something bigger and both sides are too stubborn to take the first step.”

I scrub a hand through my hair. “What happened between them What was their one little thing?”

“From what I can tell they didn’t want Olivia to chase her Hollywood dreams. Told her if she left for Los Angeles they weren’t going to support her.

She left. They fought. The only time she’d call home was for more money—over and over again—until they cut her off and said no more.

She was angry at them. They were angry she got pregnant out of wedlock and thought she’d had an abortion.

The tiny rift became bigger, both sides refusing to give an inch. ”

I can see how that can happen. I know other families that have fallen apart for far less ... and yet, now they want to step up? Now they care? Poppy is three years old. “Sandra, I don’t even know what to say. I’m still just getting the hang of this—”

“This is what you wanted originally, right? To be deemed unfit and unable to parent Poppy? Were those not your words?”

That’s not fair . But I don’t say that because she’s right. That is what I said. It is what I asked. Things are different now, though.

But are they? What have you done to step up to the plate, Caldwell?

“Is that whatyouwant?” she pushes, putting me on the spot.

My silence is my answer. It’s also the only way I can run away from the situation.

My exhale is long and slow. “She doesn’t even know them,” I whisper.

“She didn’t knowyou, either,” Sandra says softly.

“Fucking hell.”

Because isn’t that the truth. An even bigger truth is how she’s been in my house for three weeks, and we’re still fucking strangers.

She didn’t know you, either .

Her words wreck me because she’s not wrong.

What is best for Poppy?

“Well, lucky for you, Poppy just wants you to be next to her. Want her. She doesn’t care if you know what you’re doing. Being with her gives her confidence to brave her new world.”

Like the boys were for me, would it be enough if I was simply in her corner, helping her be brave?