Buddy quietly closed the door to Lucy’s bedroom. He knew she wasn’t asleep, but at least she had calmed down and the tears had stopped. Buddy fully expected to find Lucy quietly looking at a book when he went in later, but for now, he needed to deal with her mother.
“Well, she’s settled in, at least for now.” Buddy couldn’t even look at Natalie yet, not after the shit show that was dinner, so he said this as he went into the kitchen and got a beer out of the refrigerator. “Would you like a glass of water, Natalie? It’s filtered and cold.”
“Sure.”
After that initial terrible lunch meeting, where Lucy had clung to him and had actually been a little bratty because she felt like she was being forced to form a relationship with Natalie, who was practically a stranger to her, things had settled down and they’d gotten into a sort-of routine—at least, as long as Natalie didn’t have auditions or anything.
Buddy went back into the living room. His temper still roiled, but he needed to find out what exactly Natalie was thinking when she dropped her little bomb. Determined not to lose his shit, at least until she explained herself, he set a glass of water on the coffee table and took a seat in a club chair perpendicular to her.
“So, Nat, you want to tell me what the ever-loving fuck is going on with you?” So much for keeping your cool, Buddy.
She didn’t even have the good sense to look ashamed. If anything, she looked ready to fight.
“You know you’re being unreasonable, Thom,” she hissed. “You just want to see me fail.”
“I sure as shit am not, and why the fuck would I not want you to be successful? Hell, if this show ends up being as big of a hit as you’re saying it will be, I won’t feel bad about cutting you off. Actually, you might just be liable to pay me some child support.” He cackled at her shocked expression, confirming that she hadn’t even considered the financial ramifications of a successful pilot. “But seriously, what the hell are you thinking?”
“I’m being considered for the ‘sassy single mom’ position, Thom—”
“My name is Buddy. Call me Bud if you absolutely have to, but my name is not Thom and never was.”
“You didn’t mind it before,” she said, her tone petulant.
“I always hated it, but first we were fucking, and then I thought I was going to spend my life with you. When those factors went out the window, so did my tolerance for being called Thom.” He wasn’t bothered about his technical lie. After all, he’d spent the first two years of their relationship swallowing his irritation; he’d be damned if he was going to do it when he wasn’t getting any benefits at all. “But go on. ‘Sassy single mom’ requires a child. Exactly whose kid were you going to use?”
Natalie bugged her eyes at him, and Buddy began to slowly shake his head in disbelief.
“Oh, hell no. Not just hell no, hell fucking no. There is absolutely no way that Lucy is going to serve as an accessory to your so-called acting career. She’s not a handbag or a poofy dog that you can pull out when the time is right.”
“She wouldn’t even be on the show that much. We just highlight our morning routine and when we trade weekends and stuff like that.” She beamed that white smile at him, and Buddy suddenly realized where a lot of his maintenance money went. And it made him sick to his stomach. But then something else made him even sicker.
“You thought she would move in with you, didn’t you?”
“Well, yes. The apartments that we’re living in during filming are really nice and secure, if you’re worried about that. She’d have her own room, plus a playroom and a bathroom; it’s not like we’d be living in a one-bedroom flat.”
“We spent a lot of years in a one-bedroom flat, thank you very much, and while it wasn’t ideal, I made it work. But that’s not the issue. You realize she’d have to change schools, right? Unless you want to drive from Buckhead to here when you have to drop her off.”
Natalie dismissed his concerns with a wave of her hand. “She’s only in kindergarten, and besides, she just started at a new school. It’s not like she’s made serious friends. I saw her tonight. She didn’t talk to anyone except her cousin and that teacher.”
“Right, she’s just started at a new school. Why would I want to disrupt her life yet again? And you know she’s painfully shy. Oh, wait, you don’t, because you haven’t fucking been around her since she was three years old.” Buddy snapped his mouth shut, realizing that he’d almost been yelling. “Jesus Christ, Natalie. Are you that selfish?”
Natalie sighed. “Just look at the paperwork before you make a decision, okay? It outlines all the protections that will be in place. And it would work out well for the fight club, too.”
Buddy frowned. “What? How so?”
“Oh, crap.” For the first time that evening, Natalie looked nervous.
“Natalie, exactly how could this help DS Fight Club?”
“Colin’s been approached by the studio to do some sort of competition show. Two rival gyms, two teams of fighters, blah blah blah. The end would be some sort of charity fight.”
“And . . . ?”
“And I kind of told them I was involved with someone who was part of the DS Fight Club team.” Natalie smiled sheepishly at Buddy. “I’ve already seen storyboards with crossover promos.”
“Oh my God. Some unscripted show this is,” Buddy spat, sneering, making scare quotes with his fingers around the word “unscripted.”
“It is! But there has to be a plan. It’s not like you can just do whatever. People won’t watch if there’s not a compelling reason. It’s entertainment. You should understand that better than anyone in that club. You know you don’t always pick the most deserving fighter; you pick the one who will make the most popular fight.”
Buddy shook his head. “Maybe with Raptor, but not with Colin. DS Fight Club is all about making the best fights with the most qualified fighters.”
“Jeez, I can see why you guys need help.” He narrowed his eyes at her, and she held up her hands. “Forget I said anything. It’s not a done deal anyway.” She heaved a sigh. “Just look it over, Bud, okay? I’m going to leave.”
They both got up, and Buddy walked her to her car. He opened the door automatically, and Natalie turned to him and smiled.
“You’re a good man, Buddy Thomas. You deserve better than what you’ve had in the past.” Then Natalie got into her car, backed out of the driveway, and drove away.
When Buddy walked in through the front door, he saw Lucy lurking around the corner of the hallway. He sighed and then chuckled, saying, “Okay, sweet pea, I see you. Come in here.”
He flopped onto the couch just as she launched herself at him, and he hugged her tightly to him. “What’s up, buttercup?” he asked, trying to keep his tone light. “I thought you were asleep.”
“I don’t want to go to a different school, Daddy. I like being at school with Maude and I would miss Miss Mayhew and I wanna see the crabs get their new shells and Miss Mayhew said that we might get chicks in the spring and we’re definitely getting tadpoles and I like our house with our yard and I don’t want to live in an apartment again.” She blurted all these words in one breath while hiding her face in the crook of Buddy’s arm.
“Lucy, look at me.” Lucy raised her head, and her little face just about broke his heart. “Sweet pea, I am going to do what’s best for you, period, and that means staying at Hembree Springs. Okay?”
“Okay.” Buddy could tell she didn’t believe him at all.
“You really like Miss Mayhew, don’t you?”
Lucy nodded against his chest. “Yes, I do. A lot.” Lucy bolted upright. “Did you see her costume?”
Buddy frowned as he tried to remember what the pretty teacher was wearing. He had a vague idea that she was some sort of fish.
Lucy heaved an exasperated sigh. “She was a mermaid. She had a whole skirt like my bag. You know, the one that changes colors?”
“Oh yeah? That’s pretty cool.”
“She said she got the idea from me!”
“Is that right?” Buddy murmured.
Lucy snuggled back into the crook of his arm and yawned. “She’s the best teacher ever. She’s nice, and she smells good, and she tells us stories about her dog, Louise.”
“Oh, I bet she has lots of stories about Louise. She’s a big clown.”
Lucy giggled. “She is. She dumps the garbage over a lot and eats smelly stuff and tries to kiss her.” She yawned again. “I am going to go back into my room, and I promise not to look at any more books tonight.”
“Okay, sweet pea.” Buddy gave Lucy a kiss on the forehead. “Want me to tuck you in?”
“No, I’m good.” Lucy popped up and scampered to her room, leaving Buddy to ponder Miss Molly Mayhew in her mermaid skirt until he fell asleep on the couch.