I Walked Into My Son's Father's Engagement Party With Our Four-Year-Old, and His Mother Wasn't Surprised novel · Chapter 9 of 24

Chapter 9: Pound Cake

Joyce sat on my porch swing with a pound cake in her lap, and she rocked it gently with one toe.

The man beside her wore a bow tie and held a leather folder against his chest.

Rhonda stood in my front doorway with her arms folded, daring either of them to step inside.

Three of my neighbors had found reasons to be on their porches.

I parked at the curb and told Kent to keep Eli in the truck.

"Carrie," he said.

"Let me."

I walked up the steps.

"Joyce, you're on my property."

"I brought a cake, dear. I thought we might behave like grown women." She patted the folder. "He's a notary. It's a simple agreement. You'd sign, and I'd see Eli on Wednesdays and Saturdays, and pick him up from school, and sign for his medical care when you're at work."

"For his medical care."

"Someone has to be reliable."

I took the folder out of the notary's hands.

He let me.

The agreement was four pages long.

It said that I, Carrie Nash, did voluntarily grant Joyce M. Irwin full authority to enroll, remove, and consent on behalf of my child.

I turned to the notary.

"Sir, did she tell you she forged her own son's signature on a school form last week?"

His face went the color of paste.

"I beg your pardon?"

"There's a copy on my kitchen table. Come look, if you want to stamp something."

Joyce laughed, a little tinkling laugh. "She's overwrought."

"I'm very calm," I said. "I'm just not signing."

I tore the agreement in half, then in half again, and handed the pieces back to Joyce along with the cake.

"Thank you for the cake," I said. "The lady across the street makes a better one, but I'll tell her you tried."

Someone on the next porch snorted.

The notary picked up his folder and left without saying goodbye.

Joyce stood and brushed off her skirt.

"Friday," she said. "The Auxiliary meets at ten. I chair it. I'll be there, and I'd advise you to be there, and to be reasonable."

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