He looked past me again, toward the hallway. “Can I at least say hi.”
“No.”
He scoffed. “You can’t keep her from me forever.”
“I can protect her from instability,” I shot back. “From random appearances. From women who think showing up at her school is appropriate.”
That landed. His eyes narrowed. “Vanessa didn’t mean anything by that.”
“She crossed a line.”
“She was worried.”
“She threatened me,” I said flatly.
He went still. “She wouldn’t do that.”
“She did,” I replied. “And this is me telling you, once, that if she ever comes near my child again, I will not be polite.”
He stared at me like he was seeing someone new. Someone he couldn’t charm.
“You’ve changed,” he said.
“Yeah,” I answered. “Pain does that.”
He took a breath, visibly re-centering. “I’m staying in town.”
My st
