‘Well, you thought wrong. I don’t think you spending less time with the kids, especially Saxon, is the answer to the problems we’re having with him. Teenage boys need their fathers—maybe the answer is you actually spending more time with him. You could take him out on one of your rides.’

‘Yeah, like he’d appreciate that. I can barely get him out of his bedroom for dinner, never mind outdoors.’

‘Well, clearly that’s an issue we both have to address. From now on we both need to be more diligent about our screen rules. No more Tournament or any other online games, not after school, not even on weekends. Not until his dedication to schoolwork, his grades and his attitude picks up again. And no phones or computers in bedrooms either. Suspension is one thing, but we need to show him how disappointed we are as well.’

‘And how the hell am I going to police this after school while I’m still at work? I can’t exactly expect Topaz to babysit Sax as well, she’s only a few years older than him.’

As Adrian raised his eyebrows at me, I bit my lip—there had to be a way.

‘I know,’ I said after a few moments, ‘Saxon can go to the clinic straight after school and do his homework there until he can regain our trust. Or, you could rearrange your appointments. You’re the boss, remember? Schedule shorter hours the weeks you’re with the kids and work longer hours when you’re not. I don’t care how you do it, just find a way to make it work.’

He snorted, clearly unimpressed. ‘It’s okay for you. You’re a lady of leisure, while I’m the one working hard to pay for our family.’

‘Lady of leisure?! Do you listen to anything I say? You know I’ve got a job now too. I’m working in a cafe and—’

‘Is that why you’re resisting this situation—because you have a few shifts in some small town cafe? Why not look for a job here? It’s only waitressing—surely you can find something closer to home?’

Only waitressing? My fingernails dug into my palms. I could tell him that Ragged Point offered me so much more than a few shifts in some cafe; I could remind him I was also getting paid for renovating the shack, and that I was pursuing a writing career again—but he was so self-centred, it wouldn’t make an iota of difference.

Besides, his opinion of me didn’t matter anymore. I certainly didn’t care for it.