Chapter 30 #2
“I appreciate you being honest with me, but you must understand that my clients have provided a good home for the boys and have helped them through the difficult loss of their mother. Disrupting them at this point wouldn’t be in their best interest.”
“He wants to see his sons.”
Dan had held off on presenting Seamus’s plan until it became clear that they were at a stalemate.
“I have an offer for you, and I want to be clear—this is the only offer we’re going to make.
My clients have full custody of the boys as well as the resources to fight for them if it comes to that.
The boys’ mother, who had full custody, chose my clients—not yours—to raise them after she died.
You and I both know that any judge would respect the provisions their late mother made for them. ”
“What’s your offer?”
“The O’Gradys are willing to allow him to visit them, but not as their father.
They would be told he’s a friend of theirs who wanted to meet them.
They’d allow him to visit twice a year, and when the boys are older, they’d be told who he really is and be offered the opportunity to have whatever relationship with him they chose to have. ”
“That’s an awfully big ask.”
“It’s a big ask for him to show up at this point making demands when those kids don’t even know him. Where’s he been for the last seven years?”
“I’ll present the offer to him and get back to you.”
“We’ll look forward to hearing from you.”
Dan had no sooner ended the call than Seamus pounced. “What’d he say?”
“He’s going to take your plan to his client. Jace has had his share of troubles, including the criminal kind, but the lawyer assured me that’s all in the past.”
“Ah,” Seamus said. “That explains a lot. What did the attorney say when you told him our plan?”
“That it was a big ask, but I pointed out that him showing up after all these years making demands is a big ask, too.”
“Sure as fuck is.”
“In his defense, he didn’t know until recently that Lisa had died.”
“He has no defense. Where’s he been all this time?”
“I said the same thing. I also made it clear that you have both the resources and the wherewithal to fight him.”
“Damn straight. Most of the time, I try to pretend that my lovely wife isn’t loaded, but I wouldn’t hesitate to ask her to pay for something as important as this.”
Carolina curled her hands around Seamus’s arm when she joined them. “I would gladly pay for anything that would keep those boys with us.”
“Ah, love,” Seamus said. “You shouldn’t sneak up on me that way.”
“Why not when you do it to me all the time?”
“She does have a point.”
Dan laughed and gave Seamus’s shoulder a squeeze.
“I know it’s futile to tell you not to worry, but I really think it’s going to be okay.
He doesn’t have a leg to stand on, and he knows it.
The attorney knows it, too, which is why he agreed to take the plan to his client.
I’ll let you know the second I hear anything from him. ”
“I’m sure it makes a hell of a difference to have you representing us,” Seamus said. “The other guy must’ve been, like, seriously? The Dan Torrington? That right there tells them we’re not fucking around.”
“Oh, he knows we’re not fucking around. I’ve got you covered. I’ll be in touch tomorrow. And now I’m going to go find my lovely wife. You guys try to have a nice evening and get some sleep. I feel very confident that everything will be fine.”
“Thanks, Dan,” Carolina said. “We really appreciate you.”
“Happy to help. This is totally my thing, making sure the law works the way it’s supposed to. Have a good night.”
“You, too,” Seamus said.
Dan left them and went to sneak up on Kara, who was talking to Linda McCarthy and several of the other women who were gathered around Maddie McCarthy. She was pregnant with twins and stretched out on a lounge.
Kara startled and then relaxed when she realized it was him. “I’ve told you to quit doing that,” she said with amusement in her voice. “He loves to scare the crap out of me.”
“Evan does that, too,” Grace said. “What’s up with that?”
“We like how you swoon with fear and then fall into our arms,” Dan said, earning an elbow to the gut from his beloved.
Dan gasped and then laughed. His wife didn’t suffer fools, especially him.
“Was that the attorney you’ve been waiting to talk to?” Kara asked him.
“It was. All good for now. More to come tomorrow.” With his lips close to her ear, he said, “Want to call it an early night? I’m exhausted.”
She looked back at him with a cute little smile that he loved so much. “Are you exhausted or horny?”
“Am I allowed to be both?”
“I suppose so. Let’s say our goodbyes.”
That he got to leave every party for the rest of his life with the beautiful Kara Torrington was the best thing to ever happen to him.
She was the best thing to ever happen to him.
As he watched her laugh and talk with their friends as she said good night, he felt like one lucky son of a bitch to be going home with her—and to be expecting a baby with her.
Life was good and only getting better with every day he spent with Kara, and it was never boring when they were on Gansett.
Jace Carson agreed to Seamus’s plan and would soon come to the island to see his sons.
Maddie McCarthy’s twin daughters were born on a Life Flight helicopter after she went into labor during her sister-in-law Mallory’s wedding to Quinn James.
The entire island was abuzz over yet another dramatic baby arrival, and Mac was telling everyone that no more babies would be allowed.
It gave Dan pause to think about something crazy happening when Kara gave birth, but he was determined they’d be long gone from the island before she was even close to delivering.
Indefatigable premiered to rave reviews on Gansett Island.
The island’s only theater was rather basic, and as such, Grant had enlisted Adam to make sure everything was good to go. Grant had told Dan that he’d fallen in love with movies and storytelling on film right in that very theater as a kid.
“Good evening, everyone, and thank you so much for being here for the Gansett Island premiere of Indefatigable,” Grant said to a packed house.
“As most of you know, this film tells the story of my wife Stephanie’s fourteen-year effort to free her stepfather, Charlie Grandchamp, from unjust incarceration.
After meeting Stephanie, hearing her story and Charlie’s, and falling in love with her, I thought I understood what she’d been through.
But it was only when I delved into the writing of the screenplay that I found out I only knew a fraction of it.
The more I learned about Stephanie and Charlie, the more I loved and respected them both for not only surviving an ordeal that would’ve ruined lesser people, but for who they are now in the aftermath of this story.
We named the film Indefatigable in honor of Stephanie’s unyielding determination to right a terrible wrong, against the greatest of odds.
Ladies and gentlemen, this is Indefatigable. ”
While the audience applauded, Grant left the stage and went to sit in the front row next to his parents. His dad patted him on the back and beamed a proud smile as the opening credits played.
Two hours and twenty-one minutes later, the closing credits began scrolling as the audience burst into wild applause.
Grant returned to the stage to accept a standing ovation.
“Thank you so much, everyone. I have so many people to thank. First and foremost, to my parents, Mac and Linda, who told me I could be anything I wanted, even a screenwriter. The team at Quantum Productions, especially Hayden Roth, Kristian Bowen, Jasper Autry and the incomparable Flynn Godfrey, who brought this story to life, along with the incredible cast and crew and all the many people involved.” He spoke for several minutes about the actors who played Stephanie and Charlie and what an extraordinary job they’d done.
“I want to send a special shout-out to my friend and attorney extraordinaire Dan Torrington, without whom this story might’ve ended very differently. ”
Grant paused to lead another rousing round of applause for Dan, who stood and took a bow.
Grant stopped short, staring at something at the back of the room.
Everyone turned to see what Grant was looking at.
Steph and Charlie… standing against the wall, side by side as they’d been from the beginning of their incredible story.
Dan smiled when he saw Stephanie wiping tears from her face as she smiled and clapped for him.
He blew her a kiss.
“Finally,” Grant said, “I’d like to acknowledge my beautiful, courageous wife, Stephanie Logan McCarthy, and her beloved stepfather, Charlie Grandchamp.” He held out his arm to indicate their location at the back, and everyone applauded them.
Grant came down off the stage and headed down the center aisle.
Stephanie met him halfway, nearly leaping into his outstretched arms. She held on tight to him as she whispered something in his ear that made Grant smile.
Dan was certain she was giving him the best review Grant had ever gotten—and the only one that mattered.