Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 81831 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 409(@200wpm)___ 327(@250wpm)___ 273(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81831 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 409(@200wpm)___ 327(@250wpm)___ 273(@300wpm)
* * *
MELISSA: Everyone’s fine. Well, mostly fine. Ben and Radcliffe filed a bogus “child endangerment” claim with the police. Chase screamed in his sleep the other night and Aaron ran in to check on him while he was naked. But he was getting out of the shower at the time, and he kept a hand over his most naked parts. And he was just trying to protect my son. It’s a big fuss over nothing. Chase actually thought it was funny. He wasn’t traumatized or in danger for a second. I’m sure he shared it with Ben as a funny story, not something that upset him.
* * *
TESSA: Right. But I bet Radcliffe jumped on that funny story faster than a fly on a steaming pile of cow shit.
* * *
MELISSA: So, you think this is all coming from Radcliffe? Not Ben?
* * *
TESSA: Well, Ben has obviously been sucked into the madness, but yeah, I think it’s Radcliffe. If you ask me, he’s been angling for full custody since things got serious between him and Ben. Radcliffe isn’t the kind of guy who likes to share, especially with the woman who used to sleep in his lover’s bed.
* * *
MELISSA: Jesus, and you’re just telling me this now?
* * *
TESSA: I know! I’m sorry. I should have said something sooner, but you guys were trying to do the whole ‘happy blended family’ thing. I was hoping it would work out. I worried I was just being a jaded bitch. Yes, I’ve seen a ton of marriages end in ugliness and disaster, but that doesn’t mean they always do. Surely, somewhere out there, people are peacefully uncoupling and parenting their children together without strife. Maybe even with love and respect for each other. That happens. Right?
* * *
MELISSA: I don’t know. I thought so. But I also thought Ben would always have my back as a co-parent. I never imagined he’d be so critical, let alone support something like this. He has to know, deep down, that Aaron isn’t a danger to Chase.
* * *
TESSA: I would think so, but maybe he’s only seeing what he wants to see. Or maybe he’s just afraid. Fear is a powerful thing.
* * *
MELISSA: I know. I’m so afraid right now, Tess. I want to punch something. If Ben were here right now, I wouldn’t be able to keep from screaming at him. But not because I’m angry. I mean, I AM angry, but mostly, I’m terrified. What if he takes Chase away? What will I do? I can’t live without my kid. I just can’t.
* * *
TESSA: You won’t have to, honey, not ever. You’re an amazing mother and this town has the receipts for that. If you need character witnesses at a hearing or something, you’re going to have dozens. Absolute worst-case scenario, Ben gets more custody for a limited amount of time until you sort this out, but you will never lose Chase. There’s no logical reason you would.
* * *
MELISSA: But the law isn’t always logical. Or just. Sometimes the bad people win. Like that guy who took you out to the woods and scared you to death. He never ended up in jail. He’s still out there, trolling women on dating sites, planning his next terrifying encounter. The cops never even followed up on your complaint, did they?
* * *
TESSA: Yeah, well, no. But that’s only because I…didn’t file a complaint.
* * *
MELISSA: WHAT? WHY?
* * *
TESSA: Because I couldn’t deal with it at that exact moment, Mel. I was exhausted and sad and filled with guilt for having a one-night stand with a man who was in a serious relationship. Wesley and Darcy were still together back then, remember? Yes, they were having problems and obviously Wes wasn’t happy, but he didn’t end it, not until two whole months after we had crazy beast sex in the woods. And honestly, that felt like shit. I couldn’t handle the nightmare of telling the police I have terrible taste in men and a broken “this person is psycho” meter on top of it. I just couldn’t.
* * *
MELISSA: But what about the other women he might hurt, honey? He’s dangerous.
* * *
TESSA: Yes, he is. But so are lots of men and until they do something bad enough to get on law enforcement’s radar in a meaningful way, there’s nothing anyone can do about it. Carl restrained me and scared me and said some terrible things, but it would have been very difficult to prove that he broke the law, especially in a way that would limit his capacity to do bad things again. Wesley stepped in before something bad could become something worse. I’m grateful for that, obviously, but it made things complicated in a whole host of ways. Now, please, can we get back to the issue at hand? What are you going to do about Radcliffe? We have to rein this asshole in before he causes more trouble.