Chapter 22
Bella wrung her hands.That conversation had been harder than she’d thought it would be. She couldn’t believe she’d actually allowed herself to talk to him. It had taken every ounce of resolve for her to stop herself from confessing her feelings for him.
Staying apart like this and watching him deal with the trauma of being separated from his son had pushed her to her own realization.
She wanted to be with Grant.
It didn’t matter that he’d kept secrets from her—she’d been guilty of the same thing. It didn’t matter that he was wealthy while she barely made ends meet. Opposites had a tendency to attract.
What mattered was the kind of man he was. She adored the way he treated his son. He’d become a father overnight and had embraced that role. And she was going to lose him permanently if she didn’t do something about it.
There was only one problem. She didn’t know if he wanted her anymore. If she threw herself into the flames and allowed herself to be vulnerable with him, she wasn’t sure she would survive his rejection.
Besides, he was dealing with too much.
Bella wiped her hands down her skirt, but it did nothing to improve the state of her clammy palms. As much as she hoped everything would work out, she had to admit she was terrified that Nick wouldn’t be returned to his father. The whole way back to Tish’s office, Nick had talked about how much he missed his dad and insisted that he didn’t want to live with his grandmother.
He was too young for the court to listen to what he wanted. Usually, a child wanted to go with the most lenient parent. Grant might be Nick’s preference, but he wasn’t lenient in the way the judge would be worried about. Nick was excelling in school. He was fed and taken care of. There should be no question that Grant was capable of taking his son.
And yet she still had doubts.
Charlotte was a woman to be reckoned with. If she wanted something, she would likely get it.
Just as Charlotte filled Bella’s thoughts, the woman arrived in a car with her own legal representation. She marched toward the building, stopping when she noticed Bella.
“Well, good morning, Deputy Whitfield. It’s a beautiful day, isn’t it?”
Bella nodded. “It is.”
Charlotte frowned. “You look worried.”
That was an understatement, but Bella offered the woman a smile anyway. “I’m just worried about Nick. This sort of event can be detrimental to a child his age. I never like taking a child from their parent.”
Charlotte waved a dismissive hand through the air. “Oh, Nick is a strong one. He’s just like his mother. You don’t have to worry about him. And as for Grant, can he really be considered Nick’s father if he was absent for the first six years of his life?”
Bella opened her mouth to object, but Charlotte cut her off.
“Do you know who was there for him in those first six years? Me. I was there helping Dee every step of the way. It isn’t any wonder that she would want me to take care of Nick.”
“I think your daughter would want her son to know his father,” Bella snapped, drawing a surprised sneer from Charlotte.
“Well, you didn’t know Dee like I did. And if she had known who Grant really was, she wouldn’t have sent him those letters.”
“And just who is Grant? What is so wrong with him that you think it would be best to take his son away from him?”
Charlotte took a step toward Bella and looked down her nose at her. “Alcoholics are notoriously terrible parents. They value their booze more than their children. Don’t you worry, the judge will never allow Nick to live with an alcoholic. Custody will be awarded to me.” She lifted her chin and flashed a smile. “I’m running late, but I’ll probably see you in there. Thanks for coming the other night. I couldn’t have done this without you.”
Charlotte brushed past Bella, leaving her reeling.
Dizziness and sparks burst behind Bella’s eyes. She couldn’t breathe. Why would Charlotte think that Grant was an alcoholic? All the other ranch hands knew Grant didn’t touch the stuff.
Her thoughts darted around, connecting the dots. The bottles in the back of Grant’s truck. He’d been drugged. No one had been informed about the bottles, not even Eli. All he’d known was that Grant had gotten sick.
The anonymous call about someone driving impaired! How did she forget that? The call had gone to the local police number and the call hadn’t been recorded. They’d tried to find the person who made the call, but had been unsuccessful.
Bella’s head snapped around as she watched Charlotte disappear inside. Charlotte had been the one to drug Grant. Everything was coming together. The picture had become clear. Charlotte wanted Grant out of her life and Nick’s, but she needed a reason to prevent Grant from gaining full custody.
The woman was a real witch!
She pulled out her phone and made a call. If she was lucky, someone would be able to bring her case files to the courthouse and she’d be able to give them to the judge before it was too late.
As soon as she got off the phone, Bella stormed toward the courthouse. This wouldn’t stand. It was time to right everything that had gone wrong.
She entered the courtroom just after the proceedings had started. Quietly, she took a seat in the back and watched Charlotte’s lawyer give all the evidence they had stacked against Grant.
Charlotte was being touted as a concerned grandparent. She had raised a daughter successfully. She had a steady job. The life she could provide her grandson would be stable and full of love in a place he was familiar with. Nick wouldn’t even have to change schools. All of that on top of the fact that her daughter wished for her to raise Nick made for a pretty strong argument.
Grant’s lawyer stood next. “Your Honor, this case isn’t about who Dee Bradley chose to raise her son. This case should strictly be focused on the fact that Grant Shaw is the father of Nick Bradley.” He motioned to Grant. “The blood test we have submitted in the documents confirms it. But given Montana law, a paternity test isn’t required when the child was born before his parents were divorced. When Mr. Shaw learned he has a son, he dropped everything to come take responsibility for him.”
The rebuttal was well-worded and thought out. Grant was described as being a loving father who would do anything for his son.
When Charlotte was asked to take the stand, the whole room seemed on edge. She lifted a tissue to her teary eyes and told a story of her broken-hearted daughter. “When Dee found out she was pregnant, she was so excited. She’d thought Grant would be excited as well. But that’s not how it was. He left her.”
Grant shot out of his seat. “That’s not how it was, and you know it! She confessed to keeping it from me in her letter.”
A hush went through the room and Grant was shoved back in his seat by his lawyer, who then turned to the judge.
“There is evidence that Ms. Shaw did indeed keep her pregnancy a secret.”
The objection was sustained, and Charlotte continued speaking.
“The problem isn’t whether Nick loves his father. A child would love anyone who spends money on him. Grant has got to be blowing through the money from my daughter’s life insurance policy. He doesn’t make nearly enough to pay for the things I’ve seen him buy. Frivolous purchases of alcohol can also lead to accidents on ranch property. I am simply standing here before you to beg you to think of the child. No child should be raised in a household where there is access to copious amounts of booze.”
Grant turned toward his lawyer and muttered something. His face had turned such a dark red he could have passed for a strawberry. Bella would never fully comprehend how he felt. The woman was dragging him through the mud—mud that she’d mixed and poured all on her own while she was coming out of this smelling like a rose.
Bella itched to jump to her feet and charge down the aisle to tell them exactly what Charlotte was up to, but it was Grant’s turn to speak.
“I love my son,” he vowed. “I would never do anything to jeopardize that. There are witnesses who can corroborate my side of the story. And as for the money, I can have documents brought forward to prove I haven’t touched a dime of Nick’s money.”
Charlotte huffed from her seat.
“My son is… everything… to me.” Grant turned to the judge. “I used to think that being the best dad meant I would give Nick everything he wanted—everything he couldn’t have when I was gone. But I’ve learned it’s so much more than that. It’s about not missing his firsts. It’s about teaching him how to tie his shoes.” His eyes found Bella’s. “It’s about protecting him from people who wish him harm and never giving up on being there for him.”
“That’s a wonderful sentiment, but unfortunately, we can’t give you sole custody when you weren’t listed in Ms. Shaw’s will.” The judge rifled through the paperwork. “Until I look into this alcoholic accusation deeper, I can’t in good faith offer you more than supervised visits.”
Grant’s shoulders slumped.
Bella’s heart stopped.
The door to the courtroom opened and a deputy from her office strode inside, drawing the attention of everyone in the room.
Bella jumped up. “I’m so sorry, Your Honor. I have some documents I need you to address.”
Commotion from both lawyers started up, but the judge stared at Bella hard.
“And you are?”
“I’m Deputy Whitfield. I’ve been investigating several instances of vandalism on Sagebrush Ranch property.”
“What does that have to do with this case?”
Bella glanced over to Grant briefly. “Everything,” she said.
He waved her over and she hurried down the aisle, quickly joined by both counsels. Charlotte’s hot gaze drilled into her as she placed the file in front of the judge.
“Your Honor, claims that Mr. Shaw struggles with alcoholism are unwarranted. Here, you will see that Grant—Mr. Shaw—was drugged the same day an anonymous call came in that he was driving while impaired.”
The judge frowned, clearly not understanding where she was going with this.
“No one was informed about the beer bottles in Mr. Shaw’s possession. They were empty and they’d been dumped in the back of his vehicle. I was the one who found him and I took him to the hospital. Here, you can see he tested negative.” She pointed to the paperwork.
Charlotte’s lawyer made a move for the document. “None of this was shared during discovery. We need a recess.”
The judge placed his hand on the documents. “This still doesn’t change the fact that the two will have to share custody.”
“Well, it should,” Bella said firmly, lifting her chin. “Because if no one knew about the bottles, then how would Mrs. Bradley know? Unless she was the one who put them there. Unless she was the one who made the call.”
“Objection!” Charlotte’s lawyer snapped.
The judge glanced from the lawyer with irritation back to Bella.
“Your Honor, you’re welcome to postpone this hearing or call a recess. Or throw it out and award custody to the one person who deserves to raise his son. It doesn’t matter what you choose, because as soon as we leave this room, I assure you, Mrs. Bradley will be brought in for questioning and charged appropriately.”
The silence was shocking. She would have been able to hear a pin drop. Not even those behind her were shuffling around.
She watched the judge, not knowing what would happen. At this point, what made the most sense was for the judge to toss out this hearing and request a new one. But something told her that wasn’t going to happen.
The judge heaved a sigh and settled back in his seat. He waved his hand, flicking his fingers to the lawyers to return to their seats.
“This is highly unprecedented. Normally in a situation such as this one, the child would be taken into custody until we look into new allegations.” His gaze swept through the room, landing on Bella, then Grant, and finally on Charlotte. “I am no stranger to a parent’s love for their child. However, you are not this child’s parent. This new evidence puts you in the path of an ongoing investigation, and that boy doesn’t need to be stuck in the middle of it.”
Charlotte had gone white, but she didn’t argue.
The judge turned to Grant. “Mistakes happen. But based on the report from our Child Protective Services agent, I think it would be safe to say that Nick will be better off in your care. That being said, you will have a probationary period for three months with an assigned CPS official performing random visits. After that, everything will be made official. This will give the police time to look into the vandalism further and determine whether their suspicions are correct. At this time, I award Mr. Shaw temporary full custody of Nick Bradley, to be reevaluated at a future date. Charlotte Bradley has no claim at this time.”
The room erupted in chaos with Charlotte and her lawyer arguing and others cheering and congratulating Grant. Bella stood back, allowing him to celebrate. The door at the front of the courtroom opened and Tish ushered in a happy Nick.
Bella slipped out the back door. She couldn’t have asked for a better ending for this little family.