The Single Undead Moms(24)

“Well, I can see that the gentle, political approach isn’t going to work,” Jane muttered. “OK, look, I understand that you’re worried about your grandson, but I’ve stayed with Libby for the last few days, and she hasn’t made one move toward Danny with blood on her mind. The thought of hurting him makes her physically ill. You will not find a more devoted parent than your daughter-in-law. Look at what she went through to stay with her son.”

“Well, you’ll pardon me if I don’t take your word for it that Danny’s safe. I’m not going to leave my grandchild alone with someone who drinks blood for food. We tried to be patient with you while you were sick, Libby, but all you’ve done is prove that you’re not a good influence on our grandson. He’s going to go home where he’s safe. I simply can’t trust you with him.”

I chose not to address the fact that she called her house Danny’s “home,” because there simply weren’t enough hours in the evening to unravel that particular rat’s nest of dysfunction. So I kept it simple. “You will not take my son from me,” I told her. “Cancer didn’t take him from me. I sure as hell won’t let you do it.”

“Well, if you think we’re going to stand for this, you’re even crazier than you let on!’ ” Marge barked, starting toward the door as if she could push past both of us. Jane very gently caught her arm and pushed her back. Marge’s dangling curler bounced loose and skittered across the porch into my azaleas.

“You don’t have a choice. I’m his mother. I have custody,” I told her. “I’m more than willing to let you visit Danny anytime you want. I don’t want him to lose his relationship with you. But if you try to take him from me, all bets are off.”

“I’m not going to let you decide when I see my own grandson,” Marge spat. “We’re taking you to court. We’re going to sue you for full custody.”

“And she will have the full backing of the Council’s legal department,” Jane said, sighing. “You should know that unless you can prove that Libby represents a danger to Danny, you will have difficulty taking custody from her.”

“Do you honestly think that a judge in Half-Moon Hollow will give Danny to her instead of us?” Marge demanded. “You must not be from around here, young lady.”

“Yes. In fact, there have been several cases in this district of responsible undead biological parents retaining custody over living relatives who filed without reasons beyond ‘I don’t want my kinfolk living with vampires.’ ” Jane drawled that last bit in an accent so insulting it couldn’t possibly be seen as an endorsement of Marge’s position. “And for the record, I grew up in this town. I’m Sherry Jameson’s daughter.” She turned to me. “How is it possible that your in-laws are the only people in town who don’t know me?”

I shrugged.

“Well, then, shame on you for helping her get involved in this mess!” Marge shouted.

“Calm down,” I whispered fiercely. “You’re going to wake up Danny!”

Les moved toward his wife before I could, speaking for the first time since they’d arrived. His voice was so tense and quiet I was afraid his vocal cords would snap. He tugged her arm gently, pulling her toward the truck. “Come on, Marge.”

“This isn’t over!” Marge cried as Les loaded her into the passenger seat.

Les didn’t even look at me as he climbed behind the steering wheel and spun out of the driveway.

“Well.” Jane sighed, watching their taillights disappearing into the distance. “It looks like you’re going to need that rental a little sooner than you thought.”

I nodded, wondering how Danny was going to handle the separation from his grandparents and moving right before the beginning of the school year. His first day of school was Tuesday. (Starting midweek was a lovely quirk of the Kentucky school system.) It seemed very unfair of me to be forcing so many changes on him in such a short period of time. I hoped all those comforting platitudes I’d heard about the resiliency of children were true.

“Lucky for you, the Council happens to know of a recently vacated unit that already has all of the required vampire conveniences. It’s located closer to Danny’s school and has a registered nurse living in the unit next door, should Danny have any medical emergencies.”

“That . . . sounds pretty perfect,” I said, lifting a brow. “What’s the catch?”

“You will be under close Council surveillance . . . and Dick will be your landlord. But on the upside, moving is much easier when you have superstrength.”