“You have to stop,” I whispered before moving to the dining room with the rest of the group.
“Daphne, I’m sure you remember Chuck,” Phoenix said.
“I do,” I said and turned my attention to Chuck. “I hope the next time I see you will be under different circumstances.”
“Me, too,” he said with a sympathetic smile. “I’m sure we’ll bump into each other on the water once the weather’s warmer.”
As soon as he mentioned the lake, I realized I needed to call my dad. “Shit! What did I do with my phone? I need to call my dad.”
“I called him,” Dice said. “He’s on his way.”
“Thanks,” I said and returned my attention to Chuck. “I’m sorry. What is it you need from me?”
“I need to hear what happened from you. Start from the beginning and tell me everything.”
“Everything everything? Or everything from today?” I asked.
“Everything from today,” he said. “I think I’m up to speed on the other stuff. If not, we can circle back around to it.”
Inhaling deeply, I started from when Jan knocked on my office door and told him everything I could recall from the events of the day.
I had just finished when I heard a voice that instantly irritated me. “If you’ll kindly step aside, I’m here to collect my granddaughter,” Sean’s mother said.
“Ma’am, this is a crime scene. I can’t allow you to enter.”
“That’s Sean’s mother. She’s here to get the baby per Sean’s request,” I told Chuck.
“I’ll escort her into the kitchen,” he said.
She stormed into the room and stopped short when she saw me standing next to Ranger, who was still rocking her granddaughter. She scrunched her nose in disgust. “I should’ve known you’d somehow be involved in this, and you brought the riffraff with you. You could have at least made them keep their hands off my precious granddaughter.”
“Listen here, you wicked bitch,” my dad boomed from behind her. Evidently, he arrived at the same time she did. “I’ve held my tongue for years for my daughter’s sake, but no more. Your precious granddaughter is your son’s love child he had with another woman while he was married to my daughter. And yet she still shielded that baby with her own body to prevent her from witnessing the death of her mother and the attempted murder of her father. And the men you’re referring to as riffraff are the ones who protected my daughter, allowing her to protect your granddaughter and save your son’s life. So, if you’ll kindly do us a favor and shut your big fucking mouth before you say something that really pisses me off.”
She stared at him with a mix of shock and anger on her face.
“Well, I never,” she said haughtily.
“Well, you should have. Because the only trash here is you and your son,” Uncle Buck added.
She cleared her throat and adjusted the jacket she was wearing. “I’ll just collect her and go.” With that, she took the baby from Ranger and turned to walk away.
“I bet you’re glad to be shod of her,” Ranger chuckled.
“Technically, I’m not,” I muttered.
Ranger snapped his fingers and grinned. “Hey, Lady,” he called. Glenda turned around and glared at him. “I just wanted to remind you that Daphne is still married to your son.”
“Yes, I’m aware,” she snapped. “What’s your point?”
“She’s that child’s stepmother, which I believe gives her more right to custody of the child than a grandparent in this particular scenario. You might want to consider removing the stick from your hoity-toity ass and showing a little gratitude because she does not have to let that baby leave with you.”
“You can’t be serious,” she huffed.
Ranger gestured to the room full of officers. “We can call one of them over here to sort this out if you’d like to press the issue.”
“Fine. Daphne, I apologize for my behavior and any offense I may have caused. I appreciate you looking after Talulah until I could get her. If it’s okay with you, I’d like to take her to the hospital to have her checked out before we go see her father.”
“Apology accepted. You can take her and go,” I rushed out.