Jeremy rubbed the back of his neck and then rolled his shoulders as he waited for someone to answer his knock on the door. It wasn’t that he was tired. Exhausted was a far better description for what he was feeling. Not physically. This was the mental kind. The kind generated by his manipulative wife and Shiloh’s menacing mother.
The meeting Brian had arranged between Tess’s attorney and Jeremy, the one that was scheduled to last an hour at the outside, wound up lasting almost four when Tess arrived with him to put on her “Oh, poor me” show.
Brian charged Jeremy a flat fee, Tess’s lawyer charged by the hour, an amount he made clear he expected Jeremy to cover in the settlement.
Jeremy took it all in, listening without commenting, nodding when it was appropriate, and managing to keep from rolling his eyes when he wanted nothing more than to show his contempt.
Tess held her own until she said something that slid the final brick from the foundation that had supported their relationship. According to Tess, it didn’t matter which judge was assigned to the case, there would never be one who believed Shiloh was worth all the fuss.
While her lawyer was slow on the uptake, failing to recognize the flash of fury that swept through Jeremy, Tess immediately recognized she had gone too far. With one simple sentence, she’d initiated a battle she would never win. Before her attorney could say something that would make things even worse, Tess frantically looked for a compromise.
It wasn’t going to happen—not now, not ever.
MELINDA FIXED A smile when she saw Jeremy, opening the door with a flourish. “You’re late,” she said. “Mind you, I’m not complaining, just commenting.”
Heidi stood on her hind legs and tried to climb up Jeremy’s leg, almost succeeding. He picked her up and tucked her in the crook of his arm. She looked at him adoringly.
“How would you feel about me going with you to see the otters?” he asked. “We could take off now, if you don’t mind.”
“Of course I don’t mind.” She studied him through narrowed eyes. “What’s up?”
“I’ve had a shitty day and can use some time away.”
She turned to look at Shiloh. “What about you?”
She left the couch and did a skipping motion that left her with her arms around her father’s waist and Heidi on her way to Jeremy’s collar. “Thanks, Dad.”
Melinda moved toward the bedroom to get her jacket then turned back. “Just to be sure I have this straight, you did mean we would all go . . . together.”
“Yes.”
Jeremy’s heart melted a little at how excited she was about such a simple gesture. He was beginning to see and understand he wasn’t the only one as lonely as he was alone.
THE LIGHT TRAFFIC put them at Moss Landing two hours before sunset, perfect timing with the fog lifting and the tide coming in. The state beach was one of Shiloh’s favorite places to explore, a microcosm of marine birds and animals separated by a spit of sand. She and Jeremy usually came just after sunrise so it was a treat for Shiloh to be there to see the sun dip into remnants of fog.
As soon as they were parked, Shiloh got out of the car and ran toward the small bridge they had crossed on their way in. Melinda started to call out for her to be careful and watch for cars but Jeremy stopped her.
“I know it’s hard, but you have to learn to back off. Kids need a sense of freedom. Especially Shiloh. I’m hoping if she has as much control over her day-to-day life as I can give her now, that we’ll get through the rebellious stage without any lasting damage.”
“It is hard,” Melinda admitted. “I’ve just found her. I can’t bear the thought of something happening that would take her away again.”
“That’s pretty much how I felt the first time the two of you went out alone.”
Shiloh waved for them to hurry up. She ran back and grabbed Melinda’s hand. “You have to see this. There are three really little baby otters sleeping on their mothers’ stomachs. And there’s another mother feeding an older baby. See how as soon as she cracks open the clam the baby comes in and takes the food?” She stopped and pointed toward the closer side of the culvert, not letting go of Melinda’s hand. “Listen. Can you hear her breaking the shell? She does it with a rock.”
Despite the sounds of traffic and barking seals, Melinda could hear the rapid tapping. “I do,” she said.
Jeremy stayed with Melinda when Shiloh crossed the road again to watch the younger babies. “You’re good with her,” he said.
“You made it easy.” She loved seeing Shiloh animated with excitement over the otters. “Feel free to tell me it’s none of my business, but how is it going with Tess?”
“She’s hoping I’ll take pity on her despite knowing it’s never going to happen. One thing you can say about Tess, she’s not stupid. She knows she crossed a line and there’s no way back.”
“Does she have any options?”
“She could take on a partner but the terms wouldn’t be in her favor.”
“What about—?”
“There is no ‘what about’ at this point. I don’t care what she does or how she does it, the only thing that matters is getting her to sign the divorce and custody papers. Once that happens, I’m done.”
“Shiloh is okay with this? She knows Tess will be out of her life forever?”
“Tess was out of her life a long time ago. What’s happening now is nothing more than the period at the end of a sentence.”
Melinda stared at Shiloh wondering if it could really be that easy. Would there come a day of doubt when Shiloh wanted to see the woman who was her mother the first seven years of her life? There must have been a time when Tess and Shiloh laughed together at funny movies or Tess taught Shiloh how to set the table for a tea party picnic.
Shiloh looked up, grinned, and waved. “Come see what I found.”
Jeremy slipped her hand in his as they crossed the road, the gesture as easy and natural as if it had always been that way. He let go as soon as they reached the other side and the moment of elation disappeared as quickly as it had arrived. First Shiloh and now Jeremy. How could something as simple as holding someone’s hand carry such emotional weight?
“See the baby?” Shiloh said, taking the hand Jeremy no longer held.
“No,” Melinda said. “Where am I looking?”
“Over there.” She pointed with her free hand. “Next to the egret.”
Melinda’s gaze swept the surface. She squinted, wondering yet again if she was going to need glasses sooner than her doctor had told her. “Still don’t see it.”
Shiloh put her hands on Melinda’s cheeks and turned her head toward the egret. “The thing that looks like a piece of wood floating next to the white bird with the long neck.”
She caught her breath in surprise. “That’s the baby? Out there all alone?”
“It’s okay. The mom fluffs them up before she takes off and puts so much air in their fur that there’s no way they can sink.”
“How do you know these things?”
“My friend, Paul. He’s a marine biologist. He and his mother used to take care of me when Tess left and I was sick.”
Jeremy climbed down the embankment and stopped to wait for Shiloh and Melinda. “He’s the only person I know who bought an iPad for information, not games. He’s a walking, talking Wikipedia.”
Melinda followed them down the slippery slope. “That’s something my father would have done. He had an insatiable curiosity about anything and everything.”
“Do you think he would have liked me?”
“He would have loved you. He used to tell me and my mother that he was the luckiest man in the world when it came to women. You would have fit right in.” She caught her toe on a rock and almost fell, but managed to stay upright. Jeremy grinned. Shiloh frowned.
“Okay,” Melinda said. “So now you know I’m not the most graceful person you’ll ever meet. As a matter of fact, some would say I’m clumsy.” She saw Jeremy nodding in agreement. “Someone who was very, very mean,” she added, grinning.
They had only another hour before it would be too dark to explore. Shiloh took advantage of every minute, timing the sunset on the ocean side of the dunes to show Melinda how the shorebirds pulled half-inch crabs from the hard-packed sand.
The sky yielded to a second sunset before Shiloh could be talked into leaving, and then only after Jeremy reminded her Melinda wasn’t someone who should be wandering around after dark. They had reached the top of the dune when he removed a small flashlight from his keychain and handed it to Melinda.
“I should be annoyed,” she said as she held up the light. “And I would be if I didn’t think I needed this.” She didn’t, not really, but she liked the feeling of being taken care of.