Page 43 of Before the Storm
Tara hurried away from Winnie’s bedroom, making sure not to walk on the creaking parts of the floor. Tears filled her eyes. But when Winnie came back downstairs a few minutes later, Tara was propped up in front of the television, watchingGone with the Wind. It was one of her mother’s favorite movies.
Now that Tara was a mother to a teenage girl, she struggled all over again with questions about why Cindy had left. Was she really so disappointed that I got pregnant at twenty-one? Was she really so upset that I dropped out of school? She pushed me so hard in high school. She did everything for me. Was my getting pregnant like a slap in the face?
Tara tried to imagine how she’d feel if Winnie got pregnant as a teenager. She’d be disappointed, surely. But she wouldn’t leave her! She’d never leave her!
“Do you want to sit down?” she asked Winnie.
“I want to go to Sal’s.” Winnie crossed her arms.
Tara fought to keep from rolling her eyes. “All right. You need a ride?”
“Sal’s mom is going to pick me up.”
“Great. Text me the address, and I’ll come pick you up by nine thirty.”
“Mom! Nine thirty? That’s in three hours!”
“Ten, then.” Tara sighed. She hated squabbling like this and finding new boundaries as Winnie got older.
What happened to her kind, considerate, beautiful, vivacious baby girl?
Winnie scrambled upstairs to get ready. Tara felt like a heap in front of the TV. She wasn’t sure she had the strength to sit through a four-hour Civil War movie. Rhett Butler was terrifically handsome, so much so that he made her remember just how lonely and loved-starved she was.
Inexplicably, she caught herself thinking,If only Josie hadn’t chased my lover away.
Tara wrinkled her nose and flicked out ofGone with the Wind, looking for anything else. She landed on a cooking show.
Suddenly, her cell buzzed with a call. The ID said: ATTORNEY GUY FISHER. It was Donnie’s lawyer. But shehadn’t talked to him in five years, not since they’d officially divorced.
Tara’s heart thudded in her throat. Did she need to answer it?
Maybe it was important. Perhaps something had happened to Donnie.
Tara was on her feet. “Hello?”
“Hello, Miss Steiner,” Attorney Fisher said. “How are you?”
Tara said she was fine. “What’s this about?”
“I’m glad you asked,” Guy Fisher said. He was charming, which made Tara resent him even more because it felt like a manipulation tactic. “I wanted to contact you as a courtesy. This week, my client, your ex-husband, will be filing with the hopes of securing partial child custody.”
White light filled Tara’s eyes. It was blind rage, and it boiled from her eyes, through her neck, and into her chest. “I beg your pardon?”
“I wanted to let you know before your lawyer did,” Guy Fisher said. “I understand this must be a bit of a shock.”
“A shock? It’s out of the question,” Tara said, her voice rising and falling at strange intervals. “Donnie’s an alcoholic. He cannot fathom what it means to be a father.”
“Donnie has been in Alcoholics Anonymous for over five years,” Guy reminded her. “You know that.”
“It doesn’t change what he was like when he was here,” Tara spat back. “On top of it all, my daughter is about to enter high school. She’s fourteen. And Donnie doesn’t even live in Nantucket anymore! How could we ever have joint custody?”
“There are ways, Miss Steiner,” Guy said. “Plenty of my clients are able to work out individual systems so that parents and children are fulfilled.”
“My daughter has a wonderful life.”
“I don’t doubt that. Be that as it may, my client is filing for joint custody. I hope you will work with us and not against us, Miss Steiner. Thanks again for taking my call. Goodbye.”
Tara tried to rip into him. But he hung up the phone instead.
