‘Oh my God.’ That’s the student Adrian hired to take care of our little girl? He’d totally taken leave of his senses.

How could I, in good conscience, let our daughter go home with this person?

My hand already on the door, I was ready to leap from the car, but came to my senses just in time. Looks could be deceiving, so I shouldn’t judge this young woman by hers. Payton seemed happy enough to go with her. My heart ached a little—was she missing me at all?—but as she’d already survived three rides home with this girl, perhaps I was overreacting.

Still, it couldn’t hurt to be sure.

Forcing deep breaths in and out of my lungs, I waited until the hatchback turned out onto the road and then I followed at enough of a distance to ensure neither the babysitter nor Payton would notice me. Adrian would be furious if he knew what I was doing. He’d been clear he didn’t want to confuse the kids by blurring the lines of our agreement. But it was okay for him—he often went away for podiatry conferences and cycling weekends, so he was used to being without our children for days at a time.

Me? The only time we’d been apart was when one of them was at camp, and then at least I’d still had the other at home.

It was a short ride from the school to our house, so less than ten minutes later, I was idling a few houses up the street like some kind of stalker, but it was worth it for another glimpse of my daughter. As Payton climbed out of the car, I breathed a sigh of relief that she’d made it home in one piece. And although every bone in my body itched to go to her, pull her against my chest and feel her lanky body in my arms, I resisted.

As they disappeared into the house, a tear slid down my cheek and I glanced at my watch to see how long I’d have to wait to see Saxon as well. He caught a bus into the city to the selective high school and often stayed after school for music lessons, debating or chess club, but luckily Thursday was his one free afternoon. I only had to wait another half an hour until he rounded the corner, dragging his feet along the ground, his nose buried in his phone.

I drank in the sight of him, pleased to see that, despite his untucked shirt and slightly ruffled hair, he didn’t look like he’d been starved of food or sleep over the past few nights. Sliding low in my seat, I tapped out a message: Hey sweetheart. How was your day? Miss you. xox

A few moments later I received his one-word reply: Fine.

I sighed. He was clearly still mad at me and this made my already aching heart cramp even more. Adrian might have issues, but if his issues ruined the good relationship I had with my son, I’d chop off his balls so he could never have sex, with anyone, ever again.