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David steered Jacob over to the table, and after getting him in his booster seat, David sat down and looked over what Paige had prepared, as she sat across from him. Having expected to see macaroni and cheese, he was surprised to see bowls of tomato soup and thick, grilled cheese sandwiches instead.
Paige picked up her glass of milk and held it aloft. “I’d like to propose a toast,” she announced grandly, on solid footing once again.
Giving her a look that said she might be going overboard, David lifted his as well, and motioned for Jacob to do the same with his plastic cup. He did, somewhat slowly, since he clearly wasn’t understanding what a toast was.
“Here’s to Jacob’s first linner,” Paige said, then tapped her glass against the other two and waited as David coached Jacob into doing the same.
After they had all taken a drink, David caught Paige’s eye. “I thought you were making macaroni and cheese for, uh, linner?”
“I did.” She picked up one half of her sandwich and showed them the inner workings. “It’s inside the grilled cheese sandwich.”
After exchanging a look, David and Jacob both checked their sandwiches.
“That’s … different,” David said.
“You’re going to love it,” she insisted, before adding with enthusiasm, “A grilled macaroni and cheese sandwich!”
She dipped a corner of her sandwich in her soup before taking a bite, because apparently they needed to see how it was done. “They’re even better with bacon in it, but you didn’t have any, so you’ll have to overlook that. And normally I would serve it with homemade tomato soup, but I had to settle for Campbell’s.”
David and Jacob each picked up half a sandwich and followed suit. Because Jacob’s hands were small, his grip wasn’t enough to keep some of the macaroni and cheese from spilling out the back end, onto his plate.
“They can be messy, too, which is part of the fun,” Paige told him, picking up her spoon. “This is for scooping up any macaroni that escapes onto your plate. Once you do that, you can either mash it back into your sandwich, or if you want to be daring, you can dunk it in your soup and then eat it that way, which is what I usually do.”
Once they finished their first bites, she looked from David to Jacob. “So, what do you think?” she asked, punctuating her question with a thumbs up motion, followed by a thumbs down.
After they exchanged a quick glance, they both gave her a thumbs up.
Relieved—and rather proud of herself—she couldn’t resist a quick brag. “I knew you’d love it,” she said. “And you know what else you’re going to love? Rice Krispies treats for dessert.”
Chapter 47
On Monday morning, after dropping Jacob off at preschool, David sat down at his desk and looked down at the contact information Paige had texted him. Then, taking a deep breath, he called Paige’s therapist.
Luckily, the receptionist was able to connect him to Lauren right away. “Hi, Lauren,” he began strong, only to falter and clear his throat. “My name is David Lowe, and—”
“David Lowe?”
“Yes.”
“As in … Paige’s ex-husband?”
“Yes.”
Thinking it had to have been more than a while since she and Paige had talked, David said, “You must have a good memory.”
“I do actually,” she agreed cheerfully. “But Paige and I also talked about you many times, so that helped.”
“Oh.” For the first time, it occurred to David in an uncomfortable way, that this woman probably knew a lot about him.
“Anyway, that’s all I can say about that. Doctor-patient confidentiality, you know.”
“Um, of course.”
“So, what can I do for you, David?”
He took a deep breath. “I think my son, Jacob, is being abused by his mother during his visitations with her, and I was hoping you could talk to him.”
There was a pause, and then Lauren calmly asked, “You think he’s being abused?”
