Free Happy Hour by Michele Scott Page A

didn’t want her
friends to know about her difficult financial situation.
    “Bummer,” Kat said.
    “I know. Sorry.” She popped a grape into her mouth. “You know, Danielle,
I can relate a bit to your woes with the bastard buying off Cassie.”
    “How so?”
    “Maddie’s aunt and uncle dropped her off right before you all arrived and
of course, they’ve trumped me again.”
    “What did they do?” Danielle asked.
    “Horses. Susan has gotten back into horses and offered Maddie riding
lessons.”
    They all stared at Jamie. She nodded. “Yep.”
    “Without asking you?” Alyssa asked.
    “Uh-huh.”
    “Wait a minute. They live in the city. Where’s the horse?”
    “Correction. They live in Marin County. My guess is that the horse is at
some pretty posh place. I can’t compete with that.”
    “You can’t be driving her to riding lessons there. It’s too far and
what’s with not talking to you first?” Kat reached for the wine. “What is it
with all these people who think they have to buy a child’s love? Don’t they get
that it won’t last? It’s not for real? Yuck. That’s exactly how the Sperm Donor
works it too. It’s disgusting.”
    Jamie sighed. “This thing with Maddie and them, it bugs me. It’s not like
Nate and David were super close. Sure we got together and hung out sometimes on
the holidays, birthdays, that sort of thing, but Nate had some issues about
David and his obsessive need for material things.”
    “Isn’t that an attorney thing?” Kat asked. “I mean, aren’t they notorious
for always wanting more?”
    Jamie frowned. “Not Nate. Sure we had nice things but my husband’s first
priority was his family. His law practice came second.”
    “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean Nate, it just slipped out.” Kat picked up her
wine glass.
    “It’s fine. Nate and I always thought David married Susan for her money.
She isn’t exactly, I don’t know, down to earth. She is Ms. Upper Echelon of
society. Kind of affected, but I’m torn. I feel like David is a connection to
Nate for Maddie and she loves going with them.”
    “What nine-year-old wouldn’t? If they treat her like a princess and spoil
the hell out of her, of course she wants to go with them.” Danielle shook her
head.
    “I know that. I get that. What I do about it without being the bad guy is
another thing. Maybe I’m paranoid. I just can’t help but feel as if they’re
coveting my child. It’s like they want her for their own. Does that sound, I
don’t know—do you think I’m freaking out?”
    Kat crossed her arms. “No. It sounds like a mother who loves her child.
I’m sorry but they sound like assholes. They don’t have kids, right?” Jamie
shook her head. “Okay, that’s their issue not yours. I agree it’s not fun to be
the bad guy, but c’mon, pony up. No pun intended, but seriously, that’s what
being a parent is all about. I say you have to put your foot down, or they’re
going to create a little monster and when they’re finished with her, you’ll
have to deal with it.”
    “Kat’s right. They can’t have her all the time. She’s yours. It’s that
simple and I have a solution.” Danielle smiled smugly. “Tyler Meeks.”
    “Who? What?” Jamie shoved the plate of cheese and crackers to the side.
    “Tyler and his two sisters run the Napa Valley Riding Center. Place is
five minutes from here. You pass it all the time.”
    Jamie nodded.
    “I hear he is an awesome teacher. His oldest sister gave my girls lessons
when they were little and he was a teen at the time. I recently read in the
paper that he now runs horsemanship for the handicapped program and he’s also
giving lessons to kids. He is really nice to look at, too. At least he
was at seventeen. I can only imagine him ten years later.” She wiggled her
eyebrows.
    “Danielle!” Jamie threw a grape at her.
    “What? You don’t notice hot guys? Come on. Even the young ones are fun to
look at, and now he’s legal. Hmm, maybe