CHAPTER 10
Thom stood outside the door of the house where he used to live—the one he still paid the bills for—and steeled himself with a bracing breath as he rang the bell.
When the woman he’d once loved, many years ago, opened the door he glanced up and said, “Hi.”
Her expression changed to one of annoyance the moment she saw him. Folding her arms across her chest, she said, “You can’t just show up to see the kids whenever you want—”
“I’m not here to see the kids. I wanted to talk to you.” Though since the kids were out of school for summer break they should be home and if she weren’t such a bitch, she’d let him see them even if it wasn’t his planned day to do so.
She screwed her mouth up tighter. “If you’re here about the support payments I’m telling you right now that I can’t afford to live on any less money and raise your children—”
“Debbie, this isn’t about money.”
“What then?” She cocked a brow expectantly, as if it was too much work for her to wait for him to finish up what he had to say and leave.
Jeez, it wasn’t like they’d been married for years and had two children together or anything.
He resisted the urge to roll his eyes at that thought and instead said, “Can I come in?”
“I guess so.” She took a single step back from the doorway.
How magnanimous of her, letting him in the house he still paid for. Pressing his lips together to keep from blowing up at her he silently stepped past her and into the foyer. He turned back as she closed the door and faced him.
“Well?” she asked. “You want to talk? Talk. Why are you here?”
He glanced into the living room. The fact there was some daytime talk show on the television and not cartoons prompted him to ask, “The kids here?”
“Nope.”
Frowning, he asked, “Where are they?”
“Play date.” She crossed her arms again, as if challenging him to dispute her. Or maybe she was just as tired of talking to him as he was of talking to her.
No shock there. The only shocker was that they’d been happy together at all once upon a time.
Time to wrap up this visit and cut to the chase. “I’m getting remarried.”
Her eyes widened before they narrowed. Debbie never could hide her feelings from him, not that she ever really tried. “That woman you’ve been dating?”
“Ginny.” He’d been with that woman for long enough, Debbie damn well knew her name, but he supplied it anyway.
“When?”
“I’m not sure yet. She’s going to try to plan it around my deployments.”
She let out a sniff. “Good luck with that.”
Thom knew the last thing Debbie wished Ginny was good luck, but that wasn’t the point of his telling her in the first place. His children were. “It’s going to be up north since that’s where both our parents live. I want the kids there.”
Debbie cocked a brow. “That’s going to be very inconvenient.”
Inconvenient? What the hell? She wasn’t seriously going to deny him his kids for his wedding day, was she? He wouldn’t put it past her.
He sighed. “Why?”
“What if they’re in school?”
“We’ll plan it during the school break.”
“How will they get there? Who will supervise them? Surely you don’t expect me to bring them.”
He let out a short bitter laugh at that idea. Having his ex-wife anywhere near Ginny was the last thing he wanted. “No, I don’t. I’ll drive them up and back.”
She glared at him. “And who’s going to watch them when you’re busy with her?”
“My mother and father are perfectly capable of taking care of their own grandchildren.” The grandchildren they didn’t see nearly often enough because of this very attitude Debbie was throwing at him now.
It would be nice if Juliette and Jason could have an extended visit with their grandparents in Massachusetts. Besides, how much would it suck to have to rush back to Virginia right after the wedding if Debbie decided to play hardball and not let him have them for more than the weekend?
If that happened maybe he could ask one of the guys to bring the kids back to Virginia right after the wedding. Brody’s brother Chris Cassidy was retired from the teams so he had time. It was a lot to ask, but Chris had known the kids since the day they were born.
That didn’t mean Debbie would agree to any of it.
She let out a huff. “We’ll see.”
Barely contained anger seethed within him. Clenching his jaw until his teeth ached, he breathed in through his nose and tried to not say all the things he was thinking.
“Just let me know when,” Debbie added. She must have noticed his expression and interpreted his angry reaction correctly so decided to play nice.
“Fine. I will.” He moved toward the door when she reached out a hand to stop him.
He glanced at her grip on his arm and then up to her face. He cocked a brow in question.
“If you’re planning on trying to see the kids this week, you have to let me know in advance. I have plans.”
“You have plans?” he asked. Plans as in a date?
If she was trying to make him jealous, it wasn’t going to work. He couldn’t care less who she went out with. God willing she’d get remarried and be someone else’s problem, although who knew what kind of guy she would choose? That was definitely his concern since that man would be in his kids’ lives.
More importantly, if she had plans, then why didn’t she let him babysit them for the night?
He knew the answer to that without asking. Because the unpredictable nature of his job made him probably the most unreliable babysitter around.
Maybe he bore more of the responsibility for her bad attitude than he was willing to admit.
She shook her head. “I should have said they have plans. There’s a sleepover Wednesday night. And a pool party on Saturday. And Juliette is taking a summer dance class and Jason has intramural—”
“I got it.” He held up a hand to stop her list. He didn’t need the rundown. The kids’ schedules were crazy and he knew it and Debbie bore the brunt of driving them around. “I’ll let you know as early as I can.”
“Okay.” Hoping that was the last word from her, he reached for the knob. This time he actually got to turn it without her stopping him with more conversation. With a quick glance back, Thom said, “I’ll call you.”
She nodded and then, thankfully, he was free.
It was like a cloud of bad vibes and toxic air had lifted the moment she closed the front door after him. Though the weight of his annoyance and simmering anger over her resistance to the kids coming to the wedding remained.
He needed a distraction and he wasn’t going to find it in the room in the bachelor barracks he currently called home.
Sliding the cell out of his pants pocket as he strode toward the SUV, Thom decided some guy time with his buddies might be in order. He’d been out of touch with the real world while at Ginny’s, which had suited him just fine, but he was pretty sure the NBA playoffs were on TV this week.
Scrolling through his contacts, he hit the screen to call Brody. When his friend answered, Thom asked, “You busy?”
“Nope. Just home chilling. What’s up with you?”
“I just left the ex-wife.”
Brody blew out a laugh. “I’m sorry. You need a drink?”
“As a matter of fact, yeah. I do. You mind if I stop by? Or we can go out if you want.” As long as he could get a cold beer and some distraction, he didn’t care where he was. Usually Brody felt the same.
“Come on over. I’ll have a cold one waiting on you when you get here.”
His friend knew him so well.
“Appreciate it. See you in a few.” Thom disconnected the call and climbed into the SUV.
Turning onto the main road, he headed for Brody’s apartment and a hopefully mind-erasing beer that would help him forget the shitty visit with the ex.