“What do you want?” she asked.

“To talk to you about last night,” Wyatt said. “Why is it that you can discipline the kids, but I can’t?”

“When I correct them, my methods are within reason. What you did last night wasn’t, and I’m not discussing this with you anymore until you apologize to them for what you did,” she told him.

“Are you going to apologize to them for taking them to Comfort?” His tone was iceberg cold.

“This has been an amazing move. They like their school, and they love living here in this wonderful, big roach-free house, so the answer is no. I did what I did out of love. You did what you did out of anger.” Little red dots of rage swam in front of Lily’s eyes again, so she sat down on the edge of the bed and made herself breathe in and out several times. If Wyatt had been right there in front of her, she would have gladly used the bedside lamp cord to strangle him. How dare he compare her moving to Comfort and getting the kids out of an unhealthy environment to the stunt he’d pulled! “Besides, Victoria called last night to tell me that you won’t ever be seeing them again. I guess she’s got your balls in a vise, doesn’t she?”

“It will be a cold day in hell before I apologize,” he said. “And Victoria does not control me.”

“I’m not arguing with you anymore. Just remember, when you’re old and alone, money makes a really poor companion. Goodbye, Wyatt.” She ended the call.

Her hands shook as she got out a fresh pair of jeans and a bright-red sweater. Until yesterday, she had never talked to Wyatt like that, not even when he told her he was leaving her and moving in with another woman. She had always given him his way on everything and never questioned him. Looking back, she could see that Wyatt had been the problem in their marriage from day one, with his control issues. Well, those days were over, and he could just accept it.

That morning, it felt damn good to finally speak her mind, and she wished that she’d stood up for herself sooner.

“I’m ready, Mama,” Holly said from the doorway into Lily’s bedroom.

“Then go on downstairs and have some waffles before we leave,” Lily told her.

“Is there yogurt and strawberries?” she asked.

“There’s strawberry yogurt.” Lily removed her nightshirt and pulled the sweater down over her head. Wyatt hated for her to wear red. He said that black or dark blue looked classy, but red made her look like a hooker. Come to think of it, how did he know about that motel, anyway?

“Good enough,” Holly said, and was gone.