AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Jeff and his stupid amendments to your custody papers. He does that just to screw with you,” her father said.
“I’m sure. But I can’t very well say that to Eli. I did say he should bring that up to his father. That he missed a party he wanted to go to. I wasn’t sure if I should have done that.”
“Because you know Jeff would have said you put Eli up to it,” Jax said.
“That was my fear. But Eli has to be able to feel as if he can talk to us. Both of us. I don’t think he feels that way with Jeff. He said that Jeff will get mad and yell at him. It’s better to not say anything.”
“Is there anything you can do about that?” her mother asked.
“No,” Jax said. “Jeff knows that. That is a child saying it and Jeff could argue it was misconstrued by a tone of voice. Or a six-year-old upset because they didn’t get what they wanted.”
“Exactly,” she said. “I just told Eli that he can come to me for anything any time and I won’t get upset. And if I do, I’ll explain why, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want him to continue to come to me.”
“You’re a much better parent with Eli than we were with you,” her father said.
“Hey,” her mother said. “Speak for yourself.”
Jax and she laughed. “I understand what you’re saying. It’s different. You two always made decisions together. I knew I couldn’t run to the other. Or if I did it had to be important. Eli doesn’t have that. Jeff and I rarely talk things over like that.”
“Then how do you co-parent?” Jax asked. “You should be talking it over as if you were a married couple.”
“It’s more like he tells me what he thinks or wants and I have to decide if I agree or not. Again, what battles are worth fighting or not.”
“That’s not right,” her mother said.
“It’s not always me giving in,” she argued. “It’s just letting Jeff think it was his idea. Then he’s all for it.”
Her father laughed. “You are sneaky that way. If it works and doesn’t bother you to have him act as if it’s all him, then there isn’t much you can do.”
“That is what I tell myself,” she said. “And no more talk about this. The other exciting thing about work is I started a newsletter.”
“That’s exciting,” her mother said. “Tell us more about it.”
“There are so many businesses in the building. A lot of big companies. One is taking up a whole floor, but there are smaller ones too. A law firm just opened up and a private investigator should be in in a couple of months. All sorts of services and even products. I thought wouldn’t it be nice if there was a newsletter that said what each business did or specialized in. Maybe do a feature once a month or any event they might have.”
“That’s a great idea,” her father said. “Almost like a party planner.”
“I wouldn’t go that far. But I’m talking to people all the time and everyone has been so receptive to it. Garrett and Grant loved the idea and told me to go full throttle into it. The first letter went out over a week ago and I’ve gotten such good feedback from many businesses.”
“That’s wonderful,” her mother said. “Maybe it’s giving them business.”
“Oh,” she said. “It is. The law firm, the one staff said they’ve gotten twelve clients out of that newsletter. They’ve asked how they found out about them when the calls came in and were told the newsletter. The lawyer just opened up his own firm. I’m glad I was able to help him.”
She’d had no idea it would turn out the way it had and when Janine called her yesterday to tell her how thankful they were and that Trent wanted to send lunch down to her in appreciation, she’d been thrilled.
She wanted to tell them no, they didn’t need to do it, but Janine said Trent was a great guy.
A wonderful boss.
He was very appreciative and it was the least he could do.
She’d had plans yesterday at lunchtime but accepted today. She’d been hoping Trent would have brought it down for her so she could see him again, but it was Janine who came down to chat with her.
She liked the older woman who had two teenage boys and was married twenty years.
Janine asked her a lot of questions, some personal, some not. She picked and chose her answers like she did all the time in her life.
She did find out a little more about Trent and Janine and that they’d worked together before. Janine had been let go from her job and Trent had always been in her corner.
