There's Always Plan B by Susan Mallery

charming? “Neil, we’re getting a divorce. You decided you didn’t want to be with me anymore. So why are you checking in?”
    â€œBecause we’re friends. Don’t you want to be friends with me, Carly?”
    Not even for money, she thought. Why didn’t Neil get it? She could handle him being as much of a jerk as he wanted where she was concerned, but Tiffany was another matter.
    â€œWhat I want is for you to stay in contact with your daughter. It’s been over three weeks since you last spoke with her.”
    â€œI’ve been busy. This whole boat thing.”
    â€œNeil, she’s your daughter. She has to matter.”
    â€œYou know you’re much better at the whole parenting thing than I am.”
    What he meant was she was willing to make the sacrifices that went with having a child and he wasn’t. “I know she loves you and misses you. Just because you don’t have to pay child support while you’re not working doesn’t mean you abdicate your responsibilities. You’re supposed to see her every other weekend. She needs that and I think you need the time with her, too. She’s growing up fast. You have to be a part of her life.”
    â€œLighten up. You take things too seriously.”
    Carly held the phone out in front of her and stared at it. She replaced it against her ear. “You’re kidding, right? We’re talking about your child. ”
    â€œI know.”
    His tone dismissed her in such a way that in less than three seconds she went from annoyed to wanting to maim him.
    How did this always happen? They started out with her wanting him to change something and they ended up with her being the bad guy. She wanted to scream at him that it had never been her plan to take life so seriously, but no one had given her much of a choice. Someone had needed to be the grown-up and Neil sure as hell hadn’t volunteered. It had all fallen on her.
    â€œYou know, Carly, if you’re going to be like this, I’m not going to call you anymore.”
    â€œAmazingly enough, I can live with that. The person you need to be calling is Tiffany. You need to plan to spend a weekend with her and soon. I mean it, Neil. If you don’t do this in the next two weeks, I’m contacting the judge. I’ll make it a court order if I have to.”
    Tiffany adored her father and Carly was going to make sure the man didn’t let her little girl down any more than he already had.
    He grumbled something she couldn’t hear but doubted was very flattering to her.
    â€œFine. But what about the plane ticket? Do I have to pay to fly her down?”
    â€œYes. Or you could come up here, but you’re not staying at the B and B. You’ll have to get two hotel rooms somewhere else. And before you ask, yes, Tiffany needs her own room. She’s fifteen.”
    â€œBut that’s a lot of money.”
    â€œSo sail up here on your boat. That will be free.”
    â€œWhat? Hey, Carly, that’s a great idea. Maybe I’ll do that.”
    â€œSo there’s no point in telling you I was being sarcastic about the sailing remark?”
    â€œNaw. Okay. Gotta run. Have a good one.”
    He hung up.
    She did a little grumbling herself, then pushed the end button on her cell phone.
    What on earth made Neil think she wanted to be friends with him? Sure, she was more than willing to keep things civil between them. It was important for them to get along—for Tiffany’s sake. But friends?
    Maybe she would be a better person if she were willing to let Neil stay in her life, but that was so not her style. She’d moved past wanting to see him cut up into little pieces and fed to the carnivores at the L.A. zoo, but that didn’t mean she wanted to “chitchat” about his hopes and dreams.
    None of which mattered, she reminded herself. What was important was his relationship with his daughter. If he followed through on