Before She Was Mine, page 1
Before She Was Mine
Synopsis
Dani Raye has finally got her life back on track. After a messy divorce, Dani and her ex-wife, Catriona, have found a way to co-parent successfully. Most of the time. While Catriona has moved on, Dani is in no rush to find love again. She has her work and son, Jonah, and that’s all she needs to be happy.
Lucy Matthews is anything but happy. Her relationship is falling apart, and her son is taking out his frustrations on a boy in school. When Dani and Lucy are thrust together to sort out their children’s squabble, their priorities are clear—family first—despite the attraction neither expected.
Praise for Aurora
“McGeown debuts with an emotional, character-driven take on the soapy romance trope of amnesia…McGeown’s off to a strong start.”—Publishers Weekly
“I don’t know what it is about the amnesia trope, but I can always get into it no matter how cheesy it is. Only this one wasn’t silly at all. It was very realistic and completely convincing…Overall, this was a very emotional story worthy of your time. Read this when you are feeling like you need something that that will make your heart ache.”—Bookvark
“A very good debut by a promising author. I’m looking forward to reading her next book.”—LezReviewBooks
Before She Was Mine
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By the Author
Aurora
Sugar Girl
Before She Was Mine
Before She Was Mine
© 2023 By Emma L McGeown. All Rights Reserved.
ISBN 13: 978-1-63679-316-0
This Electronic Original Is Published By
Bold Strokes Books, Inc.
P.O. Box 249
Valley Falls, NY 12185
First Edition: February 2023
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without permission.
Credits
Editor: Barbara Ann Wright
Production Design: Stacia Seaman
Cover Design by Tammy Seidick
eBook Design by Toni Whitaker
Acknowledgments
To my family and friends, thank you for your support over the years. Thank you to my editor, Barbara Ann Wright, for the continuous guidance. To my wife, Laura, thank you for always supporting me and my love for writing. You make every day better. Avery, keep being the best daughter in the world, but maybe let us sleep a little. If you don’t mind. Welcome to the family, Rua, already family member of the month.
Chapter One
Dani Raye
I didn’t usually have road rage. In fact, I had been referred to as quite a calm driver. I didn’t get wound up about being stuck behind pensioner drivers, and I didn’t even waste time with shortcuts to avoid long lines at traffic lights. That always seemed too tedious a thing to waste mental energy on. I relished the red light. It gave me time to take a breather, people watch, or just stare out into oblivion.
But not today.
My hands couldn’t sit still. I tapped my thighs and the dashboard and fiddled with the radio. The red light had been taunting me for what seemed like an eternity. I wouldn’t have minded so much if it weren’t for its close proximity to Jonah’s primary school. The light was my last hurdle before the finish line to meet with the school principal. I hated being late, especially when it came to anything involving my son.
He was in Primary Two, barely six, and already getting into fights.
We really picked a winner with his donor.
But that was one of the perks of using a donor. Any of Jonah’s undesirable characteristics could quickly be blamed on the anonymous gene pool. It also meant I could blame my ex-wife a little too, considering she’d insisted on that donor. Though I had to say, Jonah was pretty flawless. That was why the phone call this afternoon was so out of the blue. I had to get the receptionist to confirm twice that the squabble in question involved Jonah Raye-Lewis, but with a name like that, it was hard to get him mixed up with anyone else.
My ex-wife, Catriona Lewis, had insisted on the double-barrelled surname, even though I thought it would be too much of a mouthful. It was just a shame that so many people assumed Raye was his middle name and absentmindedly dropped it. I wished I’d fought harder for Lewis-Raye, but the time for that argument had long passed. Along with everything else we could have possibly argued about. Back when we were still trying to make our marriage work. Catriona and I worked much better as co-parents, and our relationship had truly blossomed when we were no longer obligated to live together. Or sleep together, for that matter.
After I’d received the call from the principal, I’d called Catriona to see if she could collect him from school. She worked on this side of town and was supposed to have him after school today, but she had back-to-back patients.
When the light turned from red to amber, I was already accelerating. The green light was a distant memory as I sped through the front gates of Hillside Primary School. I’d barely pulled the hand brake before I was abandoning my car.
Once through the main doors, I could hear children singing from the assembly hall down the corridor. I tried to keep my voice low as I spoke to the person on reception. There wasn’t time to catch my breath before she was pointing to the door on the left where the principal would be waiting. Impatiently, no doubt. After all, I was almost fifteen minutes late.
I rapped on the door and heard him ring out for me to enter. Mr. Simmons stood from behind his desk and waved at an empty seat beside another woman. Mr. Simmons was tall, lean, and had a stern expression. I’d never really gelled well with this pasty older man, but after Jonah had enrolled, I’d assumed our dealings would be minimal. Wishful thinking.
Mr. Simmons sat back down and straightened his tie once I’d taken a seat. I glanced at the woman next to me. She looked young, very young, actually, maybe in her early twenties. However, it was hard to find her figure underneath an oversized coat that seemed out of place on a mild day like today. It also aged her way beyond her youthful looks. The designer handbag on her lap, which she clutched nervously, also seemed like something my mother would use. Her odd ensemble made me a little curious about who she was. When she caught my eye, she offered a slight smile, but it was fleeting. I barely saw her eyes before she lowered them to the floor again. Her light brown fringe fell forward, covering most of her face.
Mr. Simmons pulled my eyes up front. “Thank you for joining us, Mrs. Raye.”
“It’s Ms., but please call me Dani.”
My correction seemed to fluster him before he cleared his throat. “Dani,” he said uncomfortably, making me chuckle inside. He was clearly very old-school in his approach, but considering that Mrs. Raye was my mother’s title, I didn’t feel comfortable being addressed as such. He gestured to the woman next to me. “This is Mrs. Lucy Matthews. Ryan’s mother.”
I turned to her to shake her hand or wave or offer any form of introduction, but she barely looked up. It would have seemed rude if I couldn’t see just how terrified she was. As if she was the one in trouble and not our children.
“Oh, you’re Ryan’s mum?” I tried to get some form of engagement. “Jonah talks about him all the time.” I was surprised Ryan was the other boy in the fight. I’d thought they were best friends the way Jonah talked about him.
“It would seem the boys got into an argument over football,” Mr. Simmons interjected, pulling my eyes away from the shell of a woman. “The teacher on yard duty at lunchtime said she saw Ryan push Jonah.”
Lucy sighed in what could only be described as desperation, something that seemed like an overreaction, but perhaps there was more I didn’t know.
“Jonah pushed him back, and there was some back and forth between them until the teacher could break it up.”
I waited for him to add more details, but nothing followed. In fact, he finished with a dramatic pause as he looked between us disappointedly. Though I was left feeling considerably underwhelmed.
“Wait, let me get this straight,” I said, leaning forward in my chair. “I left a meeting because two friends pushed each other?”
Mr. Simmons gasped in horror. He looked positively offended that I could make light of something so clearly serious. “We do not tolerate violence on school property.”
“Violence?” I repeated, baffled.
“Yes.” His face red grew, and he was practically flapping his arms in alarm, resulting in me giving up and leaning back in surrender, too annoyed at the overreaction to come up with an argument. He started a lecture on the parameters of violence, but I tuned him out.
I shook my head in confusion and looked to Lucy for support. I half expected to find her just as flabbergasted, but she looked devastated and embarrassed. “Please accept my apologies, Mr. Simmons, I just don’t know what’s gotten into Ryan.” She rubb
“It seems there is a bit of a pattern here, Mrs. Matthews.” He turned to her accusingly, and I looked between the two, feeling as if I was watching a tennis match. “This is the second fight your son has been involved in. We do not tolerate violent tendencies.”
I would have loved to know what the other fight looked like, but this wasn’t the time. She nodded frantically, her glassy eyes, on the verge of tears.
“I don’t know what is going on at home, but Ryan cannot be taking it out on innocent pupils.” There was an authoritarian edge to his tone, coupled with an angry brow that was borderline over-the-top. As if it was somehow Lucy’s fault that her son was supposedly acting out. Though even referring to a push as acting out seemed like an overexaggeration.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Simmons, I will talk with him and explain—”
“See to it that you do.” He stared down at her despite them being on the same level. “One more incident like this and we will have to discuss Ryan’s place at this school.”
I wanted to intervene. His tone and accusing features were nothing short of bullying. Lucy was young and perhaps intimidated by an older man on what appeared to be some kind of strange power trip. It wasn’t my place. I didn’t know all the facts, and even though I didn’t like his tone, there was no reason for me to be someone’s saviour. Reluctantly, I bit my tongue.
He rose and looked between us one more time. “I will go get your sons. As per school policy, they are suspended for the rest of the day.”
I bit my tongue even harder to stop myself from voicing my frustrations. I was still shaking my head in bewilderment at the dramatics. I got my phone from my blazer pocket and composed an email to my boss, Harry, informing him that I would be working from home the rest of the afternoon. And all over a bit of pushing. I was about to voice as much to Lucy when I spotted her defeated posture. She was bent forward in the chair, her elbows resting on her knees, and her head buried in her hands.
“Hey, don’t worry about it,” I said.
“My son started a fight with yours,” she said in a voice that sounded fragile, as though she was suppressing tears. “Aren’t you annoyed at me?”
“Hell no. Jonah is an only child. He probably deserved it.”
My response seemed to break through her troubled state. She shifted in her chair. “Ryan is too.” Her tone already seemed lighter, and I finally saw her face. Her green eyes stood out behind that heavy fringe, but when I looked a little closer, I realised they were almost yellow around the edges, large eyes that searched my face and were not unlike a cat’s and framed perfectly by dark eyebrows. She had light freckles on her cheeks, but by the makeup, it was clearly something she tried to hide. “I’m Lucy, and I’m a Ms. too, but I was too nervous to say anything before.” She extended her hand. “I know he already introduced us but…”
“Dani.” I took her soft hand and noticed it was a little on the cold side. Most likely due to her nerves and slight frame. She seemed to hold my hand for just a second longer than necessary, and my gaydar pinged in anticipation. She let go soon after, though, making me doubt those alarm bells. They’d been wrong in the past.
“Ryan talks about Jonah a lot too.” She scooped some hair behind her ear. “I just don’t understand why he would have pushed him.”
“Ah, it was probably over nothing. You know what kids are like.”
“I guess, it’s just…Ryan has been acting up a little—” She stopped herself hesitantly, perhaps realising I was a perfect stranger. “Never mind.” She stood and lifted her bag over her shoulder. “I shouldn’t be keeping you. I’m sure you have work.”
“Not anymore,” I said teasingly. “I’ve had to cancel my meetings.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. Just means I get to spend the afternoon with Jonah.”
She looked in my eyes, and something within me tweaked. I couldn’t understand what it was, but something about Lucy Matthews intrigued me. There was a sadness to her that told me something was tearing her apart inside. I could have been wrong, but my gut instinct persuaded me to take a leap of faith in the hope that I could help.
“Why don’t you and Ryan come back to our house?” She looked surprised. To be honest, I was too. “It would be a good excuse for Ryan and Jonah to make up. Besides, I think I’m glamourising the idea of being stuck in the house all day with him.”
She laughed wholeheartedly, and her smile seemed to light up the whole room. It was infectious, and though it was fleeting, I was unable to look away.
“Yeah, it always sounds more fun than it is.” She thought for a moment. “Are you sure you don’t mind us coming over?” I shook my head, causing her smile to return. “Thank you. Do you live far?”
“No, not at all. Just off Ormeau Road.”
“Okay,” she agreed as the principal’s door reopened.
Mr. Simmons stepped to the side as Jonah ran to me. He launched into me with a thud. It would bruise tomorrow, but he looked so relieved to see me. Every hair on his head was in place, not a scratch in sight.
Ryan moved to Lucy, and I could see her whispering to him in disapproval.
“I’m sorry, Mum,” Jonah said. His dark curls fell to his shoulders as his blue eyes met mine. I didn’t have blue eyes, so I could only assume they were a gift from his donor. He readjusted the little backpack uncomfortably, and I relieved him of it, slinging it over my shoulder.
“We’ll talk about it in the car,” I whispered before looking back at the principal. “Thank you, Mr. Simmons.”
Jonah’s hand found mine. I waited for a moment when we emerged outside. I gave Lucy my address and phone number in case she got lost on the way over. While she and I were speaking, Jonah’s body language toward Ryan seemed quite hostile. He had his back turned and seemed to be inching closer to our car and as far away from Lucy and Ryan as possible. I waited until we made it into the car to find out the details.
I’d barely put my seatbelt on when Jonah snapped at me from the back seat. “Why is he coming over?”
“Never mind that. What was this fight over?” I asked sternly. “I thought you and Ryan were friends.”
“We used to be,” he said angrily. “And then he just went crazy at me when it was time for me to score. He didn’t want to be the goalie, but it was my turn.”
“And you didn’t say anything that might have upset him?”
“No, Mum, I swear. Ryan just got really mad for no reason.”
I nodded before regret seeped in, making me question the invitation. Perhaps Ryan wasn’t the kind of boy I wanted Jonah to be around. Next, they’d be selling cigarettes on the side of the train tracks. It was a joke, but I was still dubious of this Ryan kid. What did I really know about him or his mother?
“I don’t want to be friends with him anymore.”
“Okay, love. I understand, but you know, you can’t just push people when you don’t like them.”
“But he pushed me first,” he said in outrage.
“Okay. I know he pushed you first, but his mummy is going to be telling him off for that.” That seemed to ease him somewhat. “Friends fight, and then they make up again. It can make you even better friends sometimes. But if you decide you don’t want to be around Ryan anymore, then that’s okay too.” I paused as he seemed to be contemplating what I’d said. “You used to be friends, and maybe Ryan is just having a hard time right now.”
“Maybe,” he said softly as silence fell over us. “He was crying a few days ago.”
“What about?”
“He thinks his mummy and daddy are gonna break up.”
“Why?”
“Because his daddy sleeps in the guest room, and they fight all the time.”
I used that information to piece together a story in my mind. That would explain why Lucy didn’t feel comfortable sharing in the principal’s office. Her despair and the way she was on the verge of tears when the principal pointed out Ryan’s behaviour was turning into a pattern. Part of me was glad I’d trusted my gut in inviting Lucy over. Perhaps my impartiality might help her come to terms with the end of her relationship. After all, I’d been there myself. Maybe I could help.
