True Love Cowboy by Jennifer Ryan

Jon walked into the visiting area at the jail where Steph was being held and took a seat in front of her just as the guard closed the door behind him. Steph’s lawyer set up the visit, so she knew he was coming. Still, seeing her in the prison-gray pants and shirt, her skin pale and washed out, eyes bloodshot with dark circles under them, took him aback.

“How did we get here?” she asked him, and he gnashed his back teeth. “You said you’d take care of us.”

“I gave you a roof over your head and support when you needed it. You beat Emmy. You left bruises on her. You attacked the woman I love in front of her.”

Steph rose and slammed her hands on the table. “I wasn’t going to let her take my daughter.”

The guard observing them walked forward. “Remain in your seat and keep things civil or you will be taken back to your cell.”

Steph huffed out an exasperated breath and fell back into her seat. She glanced at the door. “Where is she? Waiting outside?” She meant Emmy.

“She’s at home. With Trinity.”

“You didn’t bring her!”

“Why would I bring her to jail to see you after the way you traumatized her?”

Steph waved that away. “I’m sure she’s fine.”

“She’s not fine. She has nightmares. She goes quiet for long periods of time. She clings to me and Trinity. She thought you abandoned the cats. Luckily, Trinity arranged to get Razzle back.”

“They’re just cats. What about all my stuff?”

“The apartment will be packed up and your belongings moved to storage.”

“But my trial won’t be for months.”

Jon had a talk with her lawyer before he came in for their meeting. “Why didn’t you take the deal the DA offered you?”

“She had no right to come into my home. I was defending myself and Emmy.”

He tried to hold on to his temper, but she didn’t make it easy. “Trinity witnessed your boyfriend spank and shove Emmy to the floor. She had every right and responsibility to check on her and make sure she was okay because you’d left our four-year-old alone outside while you were getting drunk and high. I have the pictures of you passed out. I have pictures of the bruises you left on her the night you beat her and attacked Trinity without any provocation. You could have killed her.”

“And now she’s living in your house, sleeping with you, spending all your money, playing mommy to my little girl.”

Trinity hadn’t spent a dime of his money. In fact, she seemed to care less that he had it. She cared more about him and Emmy than anything else. “You want to know what I love about her?”

“I don’t give a shit.”

He knew that. He told her anyway. “Family matters. Trinity cares more about the people in her life than anything else. You only care about yourself and how much you can get from me, your dad, your friends. Everything is about you. When Emmy was born, you tried so hard to be a good mother to her. I appreciated that you took good care of her. But as she got older and required more of your time and effort, you simply couldn’t be bothered and she suffered because of it. And that all ends now.”

“You can’t keep her from me.”

“I have an emergency order giving me full temporary custody, so even if you get out on bail, she stays with me. I’ve filed for full custody, and I’ll get it because you made sure a judge would give it to me after what you’ve done to her. You hurt her. You betrayed her trust in you. And because of that, you won’t see Emmy again for a long time. I’m not sure that even when you get out she’ll want to see you.”

“You’re going to poison her against me.”

“I never badmouthed you to her and I never will. I told her I was coming today. I asked her if she wanted me to tell you anything.”

“What did she say?” Steph made it sound like it mattered to her, but Jon had learned nothing really mattered to Steph unless she got something.

“She said, ‘She’s mean. I don’t want her.’ Then she asked if Trinity would be her mommy.”

She spread her fingers wide on the table. “You can’t do this to me.”

“You did this. You made your own daughter afraid of you. You made her believe she doesn’t matter to you every time you neglected her and didn’t put her first. You made her think you don’t love her. I don’t think you love anyone but yourself, if you’re even capable of love at all.”

“That bitch is not going to be her mom. I’m her mother.”

“Not anymore. You want to go to family court. Fine. I’ll be there to testify about everything you’ve ever done to our daughter and to me. Trinity will get up on that stand and tell everyone how you attacked her. I hope it doesn’t come to it, but if Emmy has to testify against you, she’ll tell the court how she thought you killed Trinity right in front of her.”

“You can’t do this.” Steph hadn’t accepted the reality of the situation, or the severity of the charges.

“You’re charged with assault, felony battery, and child abuse along with several other lesser charges. You’ll be lucky if you’re out by the time Emmy goes to high school. By then, she’ll be old enough to make her own decisions about seeing you. Until then, Trinity and I will raise her. Trinity will be the only mother Emmy really remembers. And right now, that is the only thing that gives me comfort and hope that Emmy will find her way past this troubling time and be the happy, carefree little girl she used to be before you hurt her.”

“I’m her mother!”

“I wish you’d taken that responsibility and privilege seriously. I wish you’d loved her enough to be the best version of yourself, because the woman I dated years ago was fun and happy and excited about becoming a mom. Maybe that was all a figment of my imagination. Maybe you changed. Whatever happened, you’re not who I thought you were. You’re not the mother Emmy deserves.”

She crossed her arms and fell back in her seat. “So you’re just going to replace me.”

“I always intended for you to be a part of Emmy’s life. You took yourself out of the picture. You showed Emmy that you don’t deserve her. Maybe one day you can fix that. I don’t know. I’m not fixing things for you anymore. This is the last time I’ll come to see you. I’m not paying for your lawyer or bailing you out.”

“Jon, please, I need your help.” Panic laced her words and filled her eyes with desperation. She leaned in, her eyes pleading. “My father refused to come. He said he didn’t condone child abuse, especially when it came to his grandbaby.” Her eyes glassed over at her father’s unprecedented dismissal of her pleas for help. “He cut me off.”

Jon would keep in mind that Steph’s father had drawn a line for Emmy when they asked to see and talk to her.

“I helped and helped and helped and everything progressively got worse. I didn’t hold you accountable. But the law will this time. So you’re on your own.” He stood and stared down at her. “I’m going to make a life with Trinity and Emmy. We’re going to be a happy family together.” He turned and started to walk away.

“She’s mine. You can’t take her from me forever. When I get out, I expect to see her.”

Jon turned, knowing that day would come eventually. “When you finally do see her again, I hope you look at Emmy and see what an amazing young woman I know she’ll turn out to be, because she’s got a strong, smart, independent, loving, kind, sympathetic, generous woman who raised her as her own. I hope you thank Trinity for doing the job you should have done and realize that she was there every day for Emmy because you made it impossible for you to be there yourself.”

Jon walked out, not caring one bit about all the things she ranted at the top of her lungs as a guard tried to subdue her and shut her up. He didn’t have to listen to it anymore. He wasn’t responsible for her anymore. She’d severed the ties that bound him to her because of the daughter they shared.

Emmy was with him and Trinity now, where she belonged, and with two parents who loved her unconditionally and would never harm her.

Yes, Steph was still Emmy’s mother.

But Trinity would be the mom Emmy deserved and the woman she looked up to and aspired to be. When Emmy faced Steph again, she’d be a strong, confident young woman who could stand on her own because that’s the kind of person Trinity would show her how to be.