Adrian almost wished he were.
Cruel would have been easier.
Noah shook Patrick's hand formally, then stood behind Adrian for twenty minutes.
That evening, after Megan took Noah to dinner, Adrian stood outside.
Ivy came over.
She wore an olive ribbed outfit and sunglasses despite the lowering sun, looking so composed that Adrian suddenly became aware of his own worn polo shirt and sawdust-covered jeans.
“You survived.”
“Barely.”
“Boyfriend?”
“Patrick.”
“Nice?”
“Unfortunately.”
Ivy laughed.
“That is inconvenient.”
“Extremely.”
They stood near the street.
Neither moved.
Adrian looked at her mouth.
Ivy caught him.
“You keep looking at me like crossing this street was dangerous.”
Adrian's chest tightened.
“It is.”
“How?”
“Every time you come closer, I forget why I'm supposed to keep my distance.”
The joking expression left her face.
She stepped nearer.
“Then stop pretending you don't want me standing right here.”
Adrian inhaled.
Everything in him wanted to close the last few inches.
He did not.
Not yet.
Ivy's hand brushed the front of his shirt.
“Relax.”
“You're making that difficult.”
“Good.”
He laughed softly.
Then she stepped back.
The moment broke.
Not badly.
Just postponed.
Adrian understood something.
Ivy was not waiting helplessly for him to decide.
She was choosing patience.
There was a difference.
Megan eventually filed for modified custody.
The papers arrived at the same time the foreclosure case intensified.
For three days Adrian slept badly.
His life had split into two legal folders.
One threatened the house.
One threatened the person living inside it.
Harmon helped with both where he could, then referred Adrian to a family-law attorney.
“Document everything,” Harmon told him.
“Dates.”
“Calls.”
“Visits.”
“No editorial comments.”
“Judges like facts more than feelings.”
Adrian wrote.
Megan's visits.
Noah's school attendance.
Doctor appointments.
Meals.
Bedtime.
Calls with his mother.
Nothing weaponized.
Just facts.
Noah sensed the pressure.
Children always did.
One night he appeared in Adrian's doorway.
“Dad?”
“Yeah?”
“Are you going away?”
Adrian sat up.
“No.”
“Mom said maybe I live with her.”
“Maybe someday.”
Noah looked frightened.
“Do I have to?”
Adrian chose every word carefully.
“You don't have to decide anything tonight.”
“I want here.”
Adrian swallowed.
“Okay.”
“With you.”
“Okay.”
“And Ivy.”
That surprised him.
Noah looked embarrassed.
“She makes better chicken.”
Adrian laughed.
“That's your reason?”
“And she fixes stuff.”