Chapter 20
TWENTY
HAPPY TOGETHER
Ally
Vicki—the foster carer—fluttered her fingers at her mouth, looking guilty as fuck and not saying a word. She didn’t have Cait.
I barged past her, storming down the hall. “Where’s my daughter?”
“She’s here! She’s in her carrier, all ready for you.”
In the living room, under a knitted white blanket Ma had given me, my bairn gazed up with big eyes. I sucked in a relieved breath and, in quick moves, had her clutched to my chest.
Scarlet followed, Vicki hot on her heels.
“Who was the woman?” I demanded again.
“I’m sorry, Ally, but I can’t tell you anything.” Vicki backed towards the kitchen, wringing her hands.
“Bull! Ye can! Why will she see me in court?”
“I really can’t! It isn’t my choice. I’m just the foster carer, I don’t have anything to do with the custody case. You need to speak to your solicitor.”
Custody case? My mind spun off in fifty different directions.
Cait snuffled at my neck, and I hugged her closer. One thing had been undeniable—the woman had been the spitting image of Cait’s mother. “That woman… She’s family to Kaylee, aye?”
Vicki’s lip trembled. She ducked her head. “You’d better go. Everything’s ready. There’s a bottle in the warmer. I’ll grab it now. See you tomorrow. I’ll expect you back about the same time.”
“She said she’d see me in court! Whatever you know, ye need to tell me.”
“I can’t say. And I won’t.” She fled.
Frustration spiked, fierce and strong. I took a step after her.
Scarlet put a hand on my arm. “Wait. Give me a minute and let me see if I can get any sense out of her.” She stooped and pressed a soft kiss to Cait’s head and strode after Vicki.
Dumbstruck, I did what she asked. Low, urgent voices came from the kitchen, and I stifled the urge to stomp in there and start yelling.
Scarlet was far smarter than me, and I trusted her.
Instead, I grabbed the car seat and returned to the BMW. I laid Cait on her blanket, pulling faces at her while I fitted the seat, trying not to show my emotion on my face. When it was done, and checked ten times for safety, I strapped my daughter in, ready to go home.
I paced the street next to the open car door, a maelstrom of worry descending.
Scarlet appeared at the entrance. She pulled the door closed behind her and joined me.
“Let’s go.” She tipped her head at the car. Her taut features gave nothing away.
“Scar—”
“I’ll tell you in a minute.”
I got in the back and strapped myself in next to Cait. Scarlet threw the car into gear and drove us out of that damn town.
“It took some wrangling but I got something out of her,” she finally said.
“How? What?”
“Bribery. I had a hundred quid in my purse. That bought me a few pieces of information.” She arched an eyebrow.
“The woman’s name is Georgia Banks. She’s been visiting Cait for a couple of weeks after being brought by one of the social workers.
Vicki isn’t sure how the woman is related to Cait, but she calls herself her aunt.
She also knows that Banks has two kids of her own but was refused permission to bring them on a visit.
She also doesn’t have permission to be left alone with Cait or take her out of the house. ”
I blew out a breath. “Small blessing.”
“That was all Vicki knew, that she’d tell me, anyway.” Scarlet flushed pink, her attention on the road. “Why did you think Georgia Banks was related to Kaylee?”
“She looked like her. Same blonde hair and face shape. The resemblance almost gave me a heart attack.”
We both went quiet. Scarlet and I had never really had a proper conversation about Kaylee, outside of my confiding that I’d no idea how the pregnancy had happened. That needed to be resolved, but not now.
“Kaylee mentioned someone with that name once. Gia, she called her. I need to talk to my solicitors. They must know more.”
“Maybe, but why wouldn’t they tell you?”
“No idea. We need to go there now.” I rattled off the address, then found my phone and dialled the office.
Scarlet navigated the steep street in central Edinburgh and found the building. She pulled up on double yellows. “Hop out. I’ll circle the block.”
I took Cait from her seat and stormed the solicitor’s office. On the phone, the secretary had tried to fob me off, but I wasn’t having it.
The man blinked at me from his desk.
“Ally McRae,” I announced, though he no doubt recognised me from previous visits to Laura Crawford, his boss. “This is Cait, my bairn. Please tell Ms Crawford I’m here.”
“Mr McRae, I’m sorry—”
“No! If you don’t mind, get up and go in there and tell her I need to see her!”
His lips formed an apologetic flat line. “I tried to tell you. She isn’t here. She’s in court all day.”
Ah fuck. My frustration had me acting out of line. I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Can ye ask her to call me the minute she is free?”
“I will of course pass on the message, however, it’ll likely be too late by the time she leaves. I’ll pencil you in for a telephone call in the morning if that’s the case. If you could perhaps give me a few more details…”
“Right.” I’d given him none. I raised my gaze to the ornate fancy ceiling for a moment then returned my attention to the secretary.
“A woman called Georgia Banks has been visiting Cait. She’s possibly a relative and yelled about seeing me in court.
Tell Crawford I need her to find out what’s going on and if…
” I swallowed my dawning fear. “If another custody claim has been filed. Please, I need answers as soon as she can get them.”
The man took down the notes and promised he’d do all he could.
That would have to be enough. For now.
Scarlet picked us up, and we travelled home with bursts of conversation and long silences.
This should have been a triumphant homecoming, with Cait’s first overnight stay. Instead, dark clouds hung over me.
At the castle, Scarlet parked and twisted around in the seat. “Do you mind if I talk to Dad about what happened? He might be able to help. The old boys’—and girls’—club is a small world. I bet he knows someone.”
He’d implied so earlier. “Christ, do it! Let’s go in now.”
Scarlet’s father sat at the heavy oak table in the dining room. He raised his head from his paperwork and eyed Scarlet. “You’ve just missed your mother. She’s taken the twins for a muddy walk. Mathilda and Callum came down for food but are resting again.”
Cait mewled like a kitten, and Maximus’s gaze shot to her.
“This must be your daughter!” He held out his hands to take her, and Scarlet and I exchanged a glance.
Of all the changes that had happened to me in recent months, gaining the approval of her father was the weirdest yet. Save for my oldest brothers, I’d never, ever had a father figure think well of me. Not my own, or anyone else’s.
I handed over my bairn, and my heart flipped as Scarlet’s father jiggled her on his knee.
“Dad, meet Cait,” Scarlet said. Then she took a breath. “We have a problem and need your help.”
An hour later, and Crawford, my solicitor, was on the phone.
“We received notification from the court just yesterday. Your case is being contested by a Mrs Georgia Banks.”
Fuck! “Can ye tell me who she is?” I had my phone on loudspeaker, Scarlet and Maximus listening in.
“We have limited information so far, but the objection she is making is twofold. One, that you were not part of the child’s mother’s life, or involved in her pregnancy and subsequent birth of the child.”
“Aye, because I didn’t know! If I had, I would’ve supported her.” I covered my eyes with my hand, part of me wishing I’d held this discussion in private.
“That might have been the case, but it’s very hard to prove. Secondly, that you are not in a position to provide a stable home for the baby.”
“And she is, I suppose,” I muttered, dragging my nail down an indent in the ancient oak table’s surface.
The solicitor remained quiet for a moment. “Potentially, yes. She’s married, with two older children, and she has a high income and an established home. That’s off the record. My secretary found that out with a little digging.”
“Where the hell did she come from?” I almost whispered. This was looking worse and worse.
“Again, still off the record, but it seems that the family has been abroad for a year. They returned to the UK recently.”
“Because of the bairn?”
“I cannot advise on that.”
“Are they making a claim?”
“I cannot advise on that either. I’m sorry, Alasdair.
I’ll make formal enquiries in the morning and get back to you as soon as I can.
” The solicitor cleared her throat. “One more thing: You have a strong case. Keep doing what you’re doing.
All the positive steps you’ve put in place must, and I cannot reiterate this enough, must, remain stable.
Do not change a thing or we’ll have to start over again.
If we stick with the plan, I have every confidence of success. ”
“I hear ye loud and clear.”
We made our farewells, and I rolled my head back on the chair.
My new job started tomorrow afternoon, my house was nearly ready, and my body was healing. But I was still single, according to the custody application and, if this Banks had a blood connection, too, would that put her claim as equal to mine? Or above mine, as she had money and a partner?
Later, I’d ask the solicitor if me having a girlfriend made a difference. Better to ask than wonder.
“Ally?” Scarlet said. “I think Cait’s getting hungry. She’s gnawing on Dad’s finger.”
I’d taken Cait back for a little while, but Scarlet’s dad reclaimed her when I started the call. She’d been asleep, but now her eyelids flickered, and she chewed on Maximus’s knuckle, shaking her head from side to side, like she did when she needed a feed.
“Aye. You’re right. I’ll take her home. Try to forget about this for an evening. Thank ye for the help, Mr Storm.” I turned to Scarlet. “Can ye come with us for a wee while?”
Scarlet checked the time. “We need to leave here in an hour, so yes.”
A sleepy-looking Mathilda appeared on the stairs, and Scarlet darted over for a hug.