Loving Her (Mitchell Family #9)(48)
Author: Jennifer Foor

He wrapped his arms around me and wouldn’t let go. I’d heard of children being defiant, especially at her age, but this was out of hand and ridiculous. It wasn’t like we told her Ty wasn’t her dad and he didn’t love her. It was the exact opposite.

“What are we goin’ to do?”

He kissed me on the top of my head. “Whatever it takes, baby. We’ll do whatever it takes.”

I was afraid of what that answer meant, but was still too shaken up to consider our options. For now, our daughter was safe and that was all that mattered. Everything else was going to have to wait until morning.

Chapter 31

Tyler

I couldn’t take it anymore, and I sure as hell couldn’t get any rest knowing that things had gotten to this point. The problem was that I didn’t know what else to do. It had been weeks, and nothing had changed. Izzy hated me, and she wasn’t giving me any inclination that it was ever going to change. I waited until Miranda went to sleep to make the call. I knew it would change everything and piss her off, but I was out of options to fix my family.

This was a last resort, my last possible hope for getting back what we once had.

It was late and I was fully aware that they’d be in bed, but I dialed anyway.

Colt picked up after two rings. His voice was groggy. “Yeah?”

“Hey, it’s me. Look, I’m sorry to wake you up, but I need your help.”

“What’s wrong? Is everyone alright?”

I pinched the bridge of my nose and tried to fight the emotions running through me. “Colt, everyone is fine but me. I can’t take this anymore, man. I’m losing her.”

“Who? Randa?”

“No. I’m losing Iz. She hates me, dude. She hates me so much that she almost ran away from Karen and John tonight. The kid is damaged from all of this, and she’s made it clear that she wants nothing to do with me.”

“She’ll come around. It takes time.” I wasn’t convinced that it was time she needed.

“It’s getting worse instead of better.”

“What do you want me and Savanna to do?” It felt good that he finally included her with things that had to do with me. It was about time.

“I think I have a resolution, but Miranda ain’t going to like it. In fact, I know she’s going to flip out. She may even leave me. At this point I don’t know what else to do.” I was starting to tear up, thinking of not only being without one of my girls, but both of them.

“It ain’t goin’ to come to that, Ty. This is just a bump in the road.”

“For however long it lasts, I know I can’t keep up with what we’ve been doing. That’s the reason for my call. I have a plan, a sort of last resort plan.”

“I think I know what it is. You want her to come here, don’t you?”

It broke my heart hearing him say it out loud. “I need to know if she really hates me or not. I need to know if separating us will help. I don’t know what else to do.”

All of the sudden the voice on the phone changed, and I realized that Colt must have put our call on speaker. “We’ll keep her. She can come stay with us. One week with Colt and she’ll be begging to go home.”

“No offense, but that’s what I was thinking, too. Her biggest problem is how spoiled she is. I’ve turned her into a brat and now I’m paying for it. Listen, this is temporary. I’m not asking you to raise my child. I need her to stay there for one month. Come Thanksgiving, she’s back with us, whether she wants to be or not. Plenty of kids hate their step-parents.”

“You’re not her step-parent, and don’t you ever let me hear that again.” I could hear that Van was mad. It comforted me to know that the family all considered me Izzy’s real father.

“Right now I’m nothing to her. She can’t hate me anymore than she already does. Plus, she’s still pissed at Miranda.”

Colt was back on the line. “We’ll do this for you, under one condition. You drive her to us. Spend a good five hours in the car with her alone. Remind her over and over what she means to you. Tell her how much losing her hurts you. Don’t hold back. She needs to know that the pain she’s feelin’ is exactly what you’re feelin’.”

“We’ll have to make some calls to the school, to see if we can either get her work or transfer her temporarily. Plus I have to run this by my wife, and I’m not real sure how that’s going to go.”

“Call us when you know something, cuz. We’re here.”

“Thanks, Colt. It means more than you know. I’ll talk to you soon.”

We hung up and I stayed out on the balcony. It was freezing, but I was too upset to care. I felt like sending Izzy to Kentucky was like giving up on her. This whole plan could blow up in my face, and I’d be left in the same situation. Still, I knew that Iz felt safe with Colt and Van and that they’d keep her in line. She’d have Noah, which could turn out to be a big mistake, but I was willing to do anything to get back into my daughter’s good graces. Nothing had felt the same for me since that moment when she found out the truth.

I only went back inside when I was calmed down enough. If Miranda saw me so upset she’d want answers, and I needed to prepare myself more to be able to tell her what I wanted to happen.

I found her sleeping as I entered. She looked so peaceful, and I almost didn’t want to wake her to tell her something that I knew she’d be upset about.

She stirred when I sat down on the bed, and I knew it was now or never. “Baby, I need to talk to you. I made a decision, and maybe I should have talked to you first, but I’m out of options.”

She looked confused as she rubbed her face and turned on her side to give me her full attention. “What’s wrong?”

“I talked to Colt. He’s agreed to let Izzy come stay with them for a month.”

I could almost see her overreacting, even before it started to happen. “You what? How could you make that kind of decision without me? I’m her mother, Ty. Don’t you think we should have discussed a decision like that? I can’t believe you did this.” She sat up more and pointed at me. “You need to call him back and tell him never mind. It ain’t happenin’. She’s not movin’ to Kentucky.”

I stood up and paced around the room, unable to let this option go. “Miranda, think about it. She’s suffering, and so are we. It’s not forever. I asked them to keep her for four weeks. I get that it’s a long time, but what other choices do we have? We’re losing her. I’m losing her. It’s killing me and you know it. Please. I’m begging you here. Please let me try to save our family.”