I thought about the broken rabbit.
“You put my photograph inside.”
“Yes.”
“And the key?”
She nodded.
“I still had the things your father left with me.”
“You could have just told me.”
“I almost did.”
“Then why didn’t you?”
Nadine looked at Piper.
“Because your father meant that cabin to be waiting for you when you needed it. Yesterday you stood in my yard with your own eight-year-old daughter, trying to spend your last ten dollars making her birthday special.”
Her voice softened.
“I thought maybe it was finally time to lead you home.”
On the drive back, I called my lawyer.
When I explained the cabin, she became very quiet.
“Send me the deed immediately.”
“Why?”
“Gavin’s attorney filed for temporary primary custody this morning.”
I almost drove off the road.
“What?”
“They’re arguing that the motel isn’t stable housing.”
My throat tightened.
“He emptied our account and locked us out of the house.”
“I know.”
“And now he’s using the motel against me?”
“That’s exactly what they’re trying to do.”
I looked in the rearview mirror.
Piper was asleep against the window, holding the little rabbit with reading glasses.
“What does the cabin change?”
My lawyer paused.
“Quite a bit.”
At the temporary hearing, Gavin’s attorney tried to describe the cabin as an abandoned vacation property.
My attorney produced the deed.
Then the tax records.
Then photographs showing working water, electricity, and a safe bedroom for Piper.
After that came the bank statements showing how much Gavin had withdrawn shortly before changing the locks.
The judge was not impressed.
Piper remained with me during the school week.
