“Hey, baby!”
Sadie bounced out the door and swooped Mandy into a hug. Oh, she had only been away since Friday evening, and still, she had missed her. She hugged her daughter giving her an extra long squeeze, and exuberantly smelling her hair to remind herself of her sweet, sweet baby.
Al said he would have her home by eight and Sadie had been staring out of the window, impatiently chewing on her nails since half seven. When it turned eight, she started panicking. When another minute passed, she was considering a search party. Finally though, at three minutes past eight, Al’s flashy car pulled up, and Sadie ran downstairs to meet her.
“Mom!” giggled Mandy, half-pleased and half-embarrassed as Sadie cuddled her as if her life depended on it.
“I missed you so much,” murmured Sadie, happy to have her home.
Al cleared his throat, and Sadie ignored him completely.
Finally, Mandy managed to pull herself free from Sadie’s tentacle grip.
“Umm, Dad wants to talk to you.”
Mandy fidgeted with her backpack strap, gave her a nervous look and then flitted past her into the building.
Sadie inhaled and folded her arms before turning to look at Al. He was leaning against the hood of his flashy car – the one he spent an hour buffing every Sunday afternoon. He was casually dressed in slacks and a yellow shirt. Al was a big guy, but what had been all muscle in high school was now turning slightly to fat. He was hardly a pretty boy – his nose had been broken one too many times, and his eyes were too small. But, he had always been rich and had always been inundated with a monumental amount of confidence, and so yeah, he had always been attractive to certain types of women. Desperate, soppy, submissive women she thought bitterly – just the type she had been once.
Al grinned at her in his usual smug, mocking way. “You look good, honey,” he drawled.
Sadie cringed inwardly at his leer. “Don’t call me honey.”
His lips twitched in amusement. “You should say thank you when someone gives you a compliment, honey.”
He leaned on the word honey, lengthening each syllable in an infinitely smarmy way.
“Mandy said you wanted to talk to me.”
Al pushed away from the car and moved toward her. “I’ve booked a vacation in Disneyworld for Mandy and her best friend. We leave tomorrow morning.”
Sadie’s jaw nearly hit the ground. “You’ve got to be kidding me?”
“Nope, I booked it for just over three weeks. Two weeks in Disneyworld and then nine days for the other parks and to visit the everglades - because our girl loves nature.” He grinned smugly and she had the urge to knock his teeth out.
“But, but, she has school!” spluttered Sadie in disbelief. “You can’t just drag her out of school!”
Al stopped a foot away from her, leaning over her, his eyes unashamedly riveted to her chest. “I’ve already smoothed things over with the school.”
Of course, he had, he probably went to school with the headmaster. Hell, he probably dated or seduced half the female faculty back when they were in high school together. He knew everyone in his town – including the judges who presided over their custody and divorce hearings.
They looked at Al like he was a saint, and her like she was the most insane woman in the world for daring even to consider leaving him and breaking apart their family.
He leaned even closer, and Sadie planted her feet, refusing to budge. She wouldn’t back down from him. She did her time with him. She’d put up with being bullied and intimidated for more than a decade and enough was enough. He had no right to do anything to her.
Al rolled his shoulders. “Fine, walk upstairs and tell Mandy you won’t let her go on her dream vacation because you don’t want her to. Tell her she has to let down her best friend. I’m sure you’ll be popular.”
Sadie bristled with anger. “I’m her mother; I don’t care whether she thinks I’m cool or not.”
“You think she’ll still want to live with you if you break her heart. How do you think the judge will rule if she gets up and says she wants to live with her amazing dad?”
He gave her a guileless look. Yeah, he was also great at manipulating everyone around him into torturing Sadie.
“Let Mandy make up her own mind about who she wants to be with,” she hissed.
“She would be, but she’d just be deciding between a dad who can give her Disneyworld and a pony, and a mom who spends her evenings peddling make-up all over town while she’s left on her own in a questionable neighborhood.”
Sadie jutted her chin. “I never leave her alone!”
Al snorted. “No, you leave her with the drunken neighbor.”
“She has narcolepsy – I don’t know why I’m arguing, I am a good mother.”
“Yes, you are,” he crooned happily, “which is why you belong in my house with my daughter and me.”
“No.” Sadie stamped her foot impatiently. The bastard would not get it through his head that this wasn’t some temporary arrangement. He was convinced she was going to come crawling back to him.
She wasn’t the first Mrs. Big Al – he’d been married before, though she had no idea where his first wife was. Al didn’t like to talk about her. If Sadie did know, she’d ask for a few tips on getting away from him.
Al moved even closer, pressing against her. “You know I booked Disneyworld as a family vacation – you could come with us. I booked a master suite, enormous bed for us…”
His eyes dilated, and she could feel his arousal pressing against her, but even that wouldn’t make her back down. Yeah, even with his perfect girlfriend, he still wanted Sadie. She took no relish in it, but Sadie knew that he would dump Karen at the drop of a hat if Sadie came home.
He’d never cheated on her during their marriage, never had a wandering eye, and since they broke up, his lust for Sadie seemed to have only grown. His new girlfriend seemed just to be a device to make him appear more stable and to annoy Sadie with all the little comments about how much Mandy loved her. But Sadie knew he didn’t care about her, no, he just wanted to make Sadie jealous.
It wasn’t working, and sadly the woman was too enamored with Al to listen when Sadie tried to reason with her.
“I’m not sharing your bed again.”
“Oh, you will,” he growled, his cheeriness slipping for a moment.
“I wouldn’t bet on it,” she muttered.
“Daddy!”
Al stepped away. Mandy hurled herself towards them and gave Sadie a sheepish look.
“Can we go?” she asked nervously.
“If your mother says it’s okay,” said Al smugly.
Sadie looked at the pleading look on her baby’s face and the bag in her hands. Jeez, how could she say no? Mandy had already packed a bag, all ready to go. Well, easily – she would very much like to say no, but…
“What about school work?” asked Sadie with a sigh.
“I’m already ahead in all my classes,” said Mandy – excitement shining in her eyes. “Karen has been tutoring me.”
“Good for Karen.”
Yes, Karen has a Masters in Education. So she’s good at teaching – whoopee.
“Yes, we came across your GED certificate the other day, honey,” added Al. “Karen was surprised you didn’t graduate when you were in high school.”
Sadie’s cheek ticked. It was a sore subject. She dropped out when she was seventeen and only got her GED years later.
Mandy gave her parents an uneasy look, veering towards sympathy for her mother. “But you have your GED - that’s the important thing,” said Mandy loyally.
Yes, Sadie didn’t finish high school, she left and got married to a guy who turned out to be an utter wastrel. Then she met Al, whom she thought was her knight in shining armor. That armor turned out to be pretty tarnished.
Sadie smiled at her – Mandy truly was a little sweetie. She was confused by her parents’ divorce and not particularly thrilled to find herself living in a crappy apartment, but she didn’t throw tantrums or hissy fits, and she was the wonderful reason Sadie would never regret marrying Al. Though, it was partly for her sake that she was divorcing him – not that Sadie could tell her that.
There was no way Sadie would be able to afford Disneyworld – maybe if she started saving now, she might get there, but Mandy would be thirty by then.
“I suppose…”
“Thank you, thank you, thank you!” cried Mandy jumping up and down and hugging Sadie.
“It’s fine, baby,” murmured Sadie, trying to mask her own anxiety about the trip.
“Dad said you could come with us.”
Mandy gave her a hopeful smile, and Sadie noticed the irritating leer on Al’s face. Yeah, there was no way she was being lured back into his bed. Besides his odious personality, Al was no peach in the bedroom. Every night was a quest not to be smothered.
“Sorry, baby, I have to work, but I want you to have a nice time and post lots of pictures so I can see what you’re doing, and… and call me if you need me.”
Mandy was momentarily disappointed, but she soon got over it. “I will! I will! I will!”
They said their goodbyes, with lots of hugs and kisses for Mandy. Sadie ducked away from her ex as he tried to snatch a kiss from her. He chuckled nastily as she glared at him.
He ferried Mandy into the car and turned back to Sadie.
“Until you come to your senses, perhaps you should get used to your own company. I have a feeling the next custody hearing won’t be in your favor.” Sadie glowered at him. “Bye, honey.”
He got in the car, and she watched as he drove away with her precious Mandy. She wished she never had to see him again. Wished there wasn’t a strong chance he could be right.
She gave her nails an extra chew as Al’s car disappeared. Maybe she really should take her cousin’s advice and look for a guy.