Chapter 32
Summer
Monday morning, after a fitful sleep, even with a sleeping pill, I’m dressed in business casual as Zander pulls into the courthouse parking lot. The guys are waiting on the steps, dressed nicely as well.
“Ready?” Zander asks.
“No,” I respond. “But I don’t have a choice.”
“We’re all with you, darling. I’ll be sitting right behind you.”
I nod, take a deep breath, and get out of the truck. After hugs, we walk inside to meet with Mr. MacLeod.
“Good morning, everyone,” he greets. “I have some news. Please follow me.” He leads us into an empty room across the hall. “I received a call from the judge yesterday evening. He’s getting pressure to allow this to go to trial and to award Mr. Bancroft the money.”
“What? From who? And why does it matter? He’s supposed to judge based on what’s right, not what he’s told to do,” I exclaim, panic setting in.
“In a perfect world, yes. But as long as the DNA results match, there is no law against awarding him the money. There are two influential families very unhappy with their trial results that see this as a way to get back at you,” he tells me.
I sit down on the nearest chair in stunned disbelief as Zander places a hand on my shoulder. “I assume the judge is telling you this because he’s going to go along with the pressure and is suggesting an alternative?” Zander asks.
“Yes, he’s nearing retirement and doesn’t want to get caught on the wrong end of the wealthy here. He is suggesting that we request a jury trial when he approves the case. That way, the other families have no control over the outcome.”
I cover my face with my hands. I’m learning that the law down here doesn’t matter much if you’re wealthy. It’s messed up. “Summer, what do you want to do?” Zander asks.
I look up at him, then at Mr. MacLeod. “What would you do?” I ask.
“A jury trial. I think it’s your best bet. That is assuming the DNA test is positive, which we don’t know yet.”
“Okay,” I nod.
“Let’s get going. We only have 10 minutes,” Mr. MacLeod says.
Bay grabs my hand as we follow him across the hall and into the courtroom.
I sit beside my attorney as Zander and the guys file in behind us.
There's a bailiff near the front, but no one else is around.
At one minute before 9am, the courtroom door opens, and a man dressed in a suit, and who I assume is Mr. Bancroft, comes in and sits at the table across from us.
The judge enters next, and I hear Alex tell the guys he was the original judge scheduled for Ben’s case. The influence makes more sense now.
I sit there and listen to a story about poor Mr. Bancroft being denied his paternal rights to his child, while always wanting a large family.
How much he would have loved to be in her life.
The hard times that have befallen him, through no fault of his own, and the reason he believes he is Lily bee’s father.
I sit silently, although I’m enraged at the lies.
Mr. Bancroft looks a lot like his son, unfortunately, and I’m not convinced he’s sober.
He doesn’t look like he’s showered in a while.
He’s in a suit that’s too large for his frame, and there’s some type of stain on his shirt.
Not that I’m judging his lack of money, but he could have cleaned himself up for court.
Mr. MacLeod takes his turn, laying out a very different narrative.
His compelling story presents a different perspective, and I’m sure the case would be thrown out with a different judge.
When he’s done, the judge asks if there's any DNA of Lily’s available, and Mr. MacLeod tells him about items that were retrieved for testing.
Pending the outcome of the DNA tests, the judge agrees to move forward with the case, as expected.
Mr. MacLeod requests a jury trial as discussed, and offers a bag with a few elastics in it to the bailiff, who then takes a hair sample from Mr. Bancroft in front of us and seals it in a clear bag already labelled.
And that’s it. The trial is scheduled for July 31st.
When the judge leaves the courtroom, I stand with everyone else. I thank Mr. MacLeod, who says he’ll contact me next week with the DNA results.
Zander drives us to Finn, where I’m supposed to start work today, along with E, Seb, and Nick, but I need to get rid of these feelings I have inside me. I look over at Nick, and he must get what I’m asking because he nods. “Z, Summer and I will be back at lunch. She needs to run for a while.”
Zander turns to me and nods. “Okay darling. I’ll see you at lunch.”
“I know it’s my first day, and I’m starting out on a bad foot. I’m really sorry, Zander.”
“It’s okay, Summer. Go take care of yourself.” I give him, Seb, and E hugs before following Nick back outside.
I hop into the Jeep as tears start falling.
Nick drives us back to my house, where I change into running gear.
He does the same from a bag he has in the back of the Jeep.
I don’t even bother stretching before running down the driveway.
Putting earbuds in, I call Sarah as I run to tell her about the hearing and the messed-up judge on the case.
“I know I’m feeling sorry for myself, Sarah, and this trial is nothing close to as bad as the accident and the kidnapping, but I’m just so mad. It’s just money this time, but I want to scream and cry.”
“Summer, you are entitled to have those feelings. You haven’t had much of a break between incidents, and now the justice system is being influenced. It’s enough to upset anyone. Let yourself feel whatever you need to feel.”
“I’m overwhelmed, Sarah,” I say as the tears start again. “And the idea of being tied to Ben is messing with me still.” I stop running, and Nick stops beside me.
“I know, Summer, but you will handle this like you’ve handled everything else.
However this turns out, you’ll only be related to John, not Ben.
You are not alone, and as unfortunate as it is, as you said, it’s only money this time.
Finish your run and let your emotions out.
I’ll be here if you need to talk when you’re done, okay? ”
“Thanks, Sarah,” I reply, and hang up. I take my earbuds out and look over at Nick.
“Therapist?” He asks.
“Yeah,” I reply. “Let’s keep going.” He nods as we run again, and I shed a few more tears.
We end up back at the house an hour later, but I’m still restless.
After we drink some water, Nick pulls me outside to spar.
I put on my new boxing gloves and beat the crap out of the pads Nick is holding.
I start crying, collapse on the grass, and scream.
Nick kneels in front of me and removes my gloves before pulling me between his legs and holding me tight.
Once I finally feel calmer, I wipe my face with my tank top. “Sorry. I’m always breaking down around you. You must think I’m pathetic.”
Nick grabs my chin and turns my head to meet his eyes. “You are strong and fierce. Never pathetic. You hear me?”
I nod. “Thank you for always being here for me.”
Nick stares at me, the fierceness in his eyes giving way to something else, intense but hungry, and my belly does a hard flip.
I suck in a breath as his gaze drops to my lips.
We lean towards each other, but his phone rings.
I blink and look away as Nick answers his phone.
“What?” He growls. “Half an hour,” he says and hangs up.
Nick stands and offers me a hand to get up. “Seb is hungry.”
“Oh, okay. Let’s get cleaned up,” I reply. We go inside, and I grab a quick shower, followed by Nick. I pack some water and put my new laptop in my backpack before we drive back to work. I go straight to Zander’s office when we arrive. “Hey.”
“Hi darling. Feeling better?”
“Yeah. Sorry about that. I ran and called Sarah. I’m calmer now.”
“No apologies needed. I’m amazed at your strength, Summer. How about I take you for lunch, then we’ll get to work.”
“Aww, Z man, you’re taking us to lunch? That’s sweet,” Seb says, walking into the room and slinging an arm over my shoulder.
“I should have known you’d hear me mention food, Seb,” he smiles. “What do you feel like eating, Summer?”
“That place we went to with the lumpia. Nick, do you remember it?”
He nods and tells Zander where the food trucks are. We split into two vehicles and drive to the food trucks. I get a taco again with some lumpia as the guys split up between the other vendors. Zander loves the tacos too and orders some for Troy, who is working through lunch.
I spend the afternoon on a company computer that Nick gives me.
After I’m added to the system and given access to the files I need, I compile an employee list of names, jobs they are qualified for, when they can work, and ranking for job priority.
Troy and Zander have never written the info down before and just know it, but that won’t work for me.
It takes the entire afternoon to compile, between talking to those in the office and bugging Troy and Zander, but I feel good about what I accomplished today.
I’ll get started on the job list tomorrow.