Chapter 3 #2
He smiled. “I’ll make a few calls. Okay?”
“Okay.” I gulped the rest of my coffee, the caffeine doing nothing to calm my nerves about everything I had to face today.
I stood. “I’ve got Maya’s funeral tonight too. Colter already planned it, but I should be there. She deserves to have at least one person who actually loved her saying goodbye.”
“I’ll let Thomas know.”
I threw a thumb at the stairs. “I think I’m going to get ready just in case you find a lawyer with an immediate opening.”
“All right.” He finished off his coffee and pushed out of his chair. “I’ll do the same. See you in a few.”
“Wow.” I breathed. “I almost want to use the bathroom to see if the toilets are made of gold.”
Thomas stifled a laugh and then looked at me and shrugged, as if there was a possibility they could be.
If this office was an indication of this lawyer’s abilities, Jason had found a winner. Dark wood, gold accents everywhere, and fake foliage shoved into every nook and cranny. Posh and ostentatious.
It also made me wonder about the free consultation. A guy in this sort of place… I’d ask Jason about it after we left. I had a feeling he’d been sneaky.
“Hi,” his extra-blonde, extra-coiffed secretary drawled. “You must be Ms. Williams and…” she said and looked up, wiggling a little. “Mr. Georgiou.”
I forced myself not to roll my eyes. I had experienced plenty of women flirting with my boss. Although, for some reason, this woman irritated me more than most.
Jason’s hand came to rest on my lower back, and he pulled me a little closer. “That would be us.”
Hopefully, she’d take the hint that he wasn’t interested. Now that I thought about it, he didn’t seem interested in most of the women who flirted with him.
Her gaze dipped to my waist, and she stood. “I’ll see if he’s ready for you.”
“Thank you,” I said.
Thomas leaned over. “Think she’d give me a shot?”
I sighed. “Has any woman ever turned you down when you turned on the charm?” The answer to that was a hard no. The guy was a flirt and a half, and he had no trouble finding fun.
Jason shook his head. “The last thing we need is you breaking her heart.”
I gasped. “He’s blushing.”
“Hey, I know your secrets. Don’t mess with me.” He winked.
“Whatever.” I chuckled.
“Mr. Stanton says y’all can come right on in.”
Before we could get to the door, a large man in a Stetson was sticking his hand out.
“Good to meet y’all. I’m Beau Stanton.” He shook hands with each of us while walking backwards.
“Come on in and grab a seat.” He gestured to leather chairs.
“Now, before we get started, I want y’all to know this consultation is confidential. ”
I was half tempted to pull out Google Translate, but I think this guy’s accent would have broken it.
“Okay,” I replied. That was nice to know. I mean, I’d been in enough meetings with Jason and his lawyers to know all that, but I was glad he was upfront.
Once Jason and I were seated, Mr. Stanton leaned back in his chair. His gaze traveled to Thomas, who stood behind Jason and back to me. “How can I help you, good folks?”
Jason looked at me.
“Uh, well, my sister died four days ago, and she left me guardianship of my baby nephew.”
“Oh, I’m real sorry to hear that. My condolences.” He pulled out a legal pad. “Tell me about your situation. You employed? Got stable housing? Any criminal background I should know about? I’m not judging—just need to know what we’re working with.”
“I’m employed, clean background. As for housing…” I glanced at Jason. “I’ve been renting the same apartment for two years now.”
Mr. Stanton nodded, making notes. “Now, Mr. Georgiou mentioned a Colter Briggs—he’s filed a petition too? What’s his relationship to the child?”
“He married my sister after the baby was born. He’s not on the birth certificate as the father.”
“That complicates things some. Judge’ll want to know why your sister didn’t list him, and they’ll look real hard at his fitness as a parent.” He set down his pen. “What can you tell me about him?”
“He’s the Grave Sons president. He was abusive to my sister.” I suspected this man knew who they were without adding “motorcycle gang.”
Beau’s expression immediately darkened, and he set down his pen.
“Colter Briggs and the Grave Sons.” It wasn’t a question.
He leaned back in his chair, the folksy demeanor shifting to something harder.
“Well, that changes everything. You got any documentation of that abuse? Police reports, hospital records, witness statements?”
I shook my head, feeling defeated.
“Don’t worry none. With the Grave Sons involved, half this town knows what kind of man Colter is. Problem is, the other half’s too scared to say anything on record.” He paused. “This is gonna be a little tougher than I thought, but not impossible.”
He rubbed his jaw thoughtfully. “Let me check something.” He picked up his phone. “Hey, Sarah, check tomorrow’s docket for me. Williams’ custody case… Judge Martinez? All right, thanks.” He hung up.
“Looks like you’ll be in Judge Martinez’s courtroom. She’s seen plenty of cases involving that crew, and she’s got no love for them.”
Just then, my phone chimed. “I’m sorry. I left it on. Ms. Chen, the CPS worker, said she was going to send me an email with information, and I didn’t want to miss it.”
I pulled it up and glanced over it. Some of it I understood, but I’ll admit some of it had me questioning my intelligence. Instead of reading it off, I handed Mr. Stanton my phone.
“They’re going to let you meet him before the court hearing.
This says all you have to do is call, and she can set it up.
Ms. Chen seems to be encouraging that. I’d make it happen if I were you.
” He looked up from the email. “They’re asking for temporary guardianship pending the hearing.
That’s standard when there’s a will naming a guardian, but there’s also a competing claim. ”
He handed my phone back. “CPS will be present at that meeting. They’ll want to see how you are with the baby so they can relay that to the judge. The visit could work highly in your favor.”
“Okay.”
Mr. Stanton smiled. “It’s okay to be nervous.
Just be yourself. Love on that baby. Show them the kind of parent you’re going to be.
That’ll go a long way to helping you. Since the judge knows what the Grave Sons is capable of, hopefully that knowledge plus seeing that you’re capable of providing the baby a good home will make it easier to grant you temporary custody. ”
“Thank you,” I said and stood with Jason.
The lawyer jumped to his feet. “If you need anything, just holler, all right? I’d be happy to take the case if you need me.”
“Yes, sir. Thank you.”
As we reached the car, the weight of everything settled over me. A court hearing, Maya’s funeral, and somewhere in this small Texas town, a baby who didn’t know his life was about to change forever.
Just like mine already had.