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I glanced over my shoulder with a decidedly less friendly expression for my ex and his girlfriend, emerging from her sleek red convertible with the obnoxious plates that read KAT WOW.
Lleyton got out of the car and rushed over to us, looking like he’d just fallen out of bed. “I’m sorry! I’m sorry! Jesus, Lyric, stop glaring at me like that. If looks could kill, I’d be dead on the ground at your feet.”
Wouldn’t that have been nice.
Katherine, all six feet of willowy goddess that she was, got out of the car and rushed after him. “We’re so sorry, Lyric. I thought Lleyton told you about the change in plans. And he thought I told you. We didn’t work it out ’til just now, and then you weren’t answering your phone…”
Her posh English accent was pretty even when she was rattled. I had to give her that. Not that it did anything to diminish my anger with the two of them for screwing up theonething they were in charge of when it came to our daughter.
“I was sleeping, so my phone was on Do Not Disturb. And what change in plans?” I ground out. “They won’t let Amelia in because you didn’t pay the bills. That’s your one responsibility, Lleyton.”
Lleyton shrugged in the frustrating way only a male who came from money could. “It was a misunderstanding. I never saw the bills until after they’d already cancelled her spot. I’m going to pay it today.”
I turned hopeful eyes on Sarah. “Does that mean she can come back in?”
Sarah shook her head regretfully. “I’m so sorry. We’re completely full. I can’t take her back; we’d be over limit. If you want to put her on the waiting list…”
I lost my patience. “It took us over twelve months to get her off the waiting list in the first place! How long will it take now?”
Sarah cringed. “Eighteen months probably, it’s quite long.”
I stared at her. “Amelia will be in school by then.”
“I’m really sorry.”
I spun on Lleyton. “What the hell am I supposed to do now? I’ve been working all night. I need her to be in care so I can sleep!”
Lleyton rolled his eyes like I was being completely overdramatic. “Settle down. We already found her a spot at another place. Katherine researched it and says the new place is better than this one anyway.”
I doubted there was such a thing. This daycare was amazing, even after Amelia’s favorite teacher, Bethany-Melissa, had quit a few months back. I’d spent months researching all the centers in the area back when she’d been a toddler. As soon as I’d realized how intelligent she was, I’d wanted her in the best pre-schooling environment I could find.
Clearly, she didn’t get her smarts from her father, who was apparently so entitled he didn’t even think it was weird he wasn’t paying for his daughter’s care until they’d kicked her out and he had to cough up in order to avoid being taken to a debt collector. Which was probably what it had come to, knowing him. I was sure they’d sent him ample reminders that were probably buried in his overflowing inbox. Everything with him was all chill and easy and ‘don’t worry about it!’ Until his attitude came back to bite him.
And me.
This was what happened when you got pregnant during a one-night stand.
Katherine cleared her throat, blinking at me with her big, pretty eyes. “You don’t need to worry. The center is new but fantastic. It’s run by the church—”
Oh hell, no. “Are you joking? So they’re going to be shoving God and Jesus shit down her throat all day long? I don’t think so.” I folded my arms across my chest. “I’m her mother. You don’t think this is the sort of thing you should have discussed with me?”
Katherine bristled at my heathenism. “We’re all her parents, Lyric. We all want what’s best for our Milly girl. She needs the church’s influence to offset the things she sees and hears in Saint View.”
My mouth dropped open in outrage. She had a nerve, implying where I lived and raised my daughter was somehow below standard. Even if I was a hypocrite since just thirty minutes ago, I’d walked my four-year-old over a stranger passed-out drunk in our hallway.
This woman didn’t know that.
She tossed her glossy hair, miffed I didn’t immediately agree to her plans like my dumbass ex clearly did.
Katherine threw in one last barb, really just twisting the sharp points so they hurt. “And frankly, we’re the ones paying for her education, so there’s no requirement for us to inform you of any decisions we make about it.”
I’d been itching for a fight all night. Without even thinking about who was watching, I let my temper and exhaustion and worry get the better of me. I launched myself at Katherine, only to be caught around the middle by Lleyton.
“Jesus, Lyric,” he muttered, lifting me off my feet and walking me back five paces from his judgmental bitch of a girlfriend. “You’re proving her point right now. Knock it off. Amelia is right there.”
The fight went out of me instantly, and I held back the snarl at watching Katherine pick up Amelia’s hand to lead her toward our cars.
“The daycare at the church will be good,” Lleyton promised. “It’s the only one in town with a spot available, so we don’t really have much choice anyway.”
