Page 69 of Old Habits

I follow her lead. “Well, you didn’t exactly leave a forwarding address, Jove.”

“Uh-huh,” she says, stepping forward. “Anyway, I guess our stuff is square now.”

“I guess so,” I say, furrowing my brow.

She passes by us. “Bye.”

“Bye.”

Sara stares her down, barely blinking until the front door opens and closes again. Once it does, her eyes shift in my direction like armed missiles preparing to strike. “Andy, go back to the living room, please,” she says to him.

He obeys her and jogs off to plant himself in front of my television.

I take a deep breath in preparation as Sara’s eyes flash red.

“She dropped by to claim a CD?” she asks.

“Yeah,” I answer.

“Oh, please. Even she’s not too broke to own an iPod. What was she really doing here?”

I shake my head. “Nothing you haven’t already made up your mind about.”

She lets out an annoyed grunt. “Well, don’t let her drop by while Andy’s here. I don’t want her around my son.”

“That’s fine.”

“That’s fine?”

“You’re the parent, aren’t you?”

Her brow arches. “And you should stay away from her, too.”

“Sara, you’re Andy’s parent. Not mine,” I argue, keeping an even tone. “You have every right to say how you want your son to be raised and to tell me what not to expose him to while he’s under my care, but that’s where the line is. You don’t get to tell me what to do or who to spend my time with.”

She adjusts her purse strap higher up her shoulder. “I can hear her tone in your voice already,” she says, turning away. “She’s not dropping by the party today, is she?”

“She’s working. So, no.”

“Good.” She walks away, pausing over her son to kiss his head on the way to the door. “Andy, have fun. I’ll be back in a few hours.”

“Okay, Mommy.”

The door slams behind her. Andy stands up and peeks out the window and I join him to watch as she climbs into her car.

“Is she mad?” he asks me.

“A little.” I nod. “Not at you, though. She’s mad at me, so don’t worry about it.”

“Why?” He stares up at me. “What did you do?”

“Well…” I lower to his level by leaning down with my hands on my knees. “You know the nice toy store lady?”

“Yeah.”

“She and I have a complicated history together and your mommy is a little scared that we might repeat it.”

“Why?”