Honeysuckle Dreams

by Denise Hunter

  He’d settled on the blue stripes.

  He frowned at his reflection in the bureau mirror. His eyelids were swollen, he had dark circles under his eyes, and his cowlick was out of control. Heartbroken derelict. Not exactly the look he was going for.

  He’d been up half the night, praying. Begging, more like. His eyes stung even as his heart took flight in his chest again. He swallowed against the lump swelling in his throat. What if he lost Sam? What if today was the last time he ever saw him?

  There was a tapping on the doorframe of his room. In the mirror he watched Hope approach, a sympathetic smile on her face. She looked like the embodiment of motherhood in her simple lavender dress. The front of her hair pulled back, she looked soft and natural and approachable. He was so grateful she’d be by his side today.

  “Ruby’s here to watch Sam, so we can leave anytime you want.”

  “I’d like to get there a little early. Go over things one last time with Calvin.”

  She wrapped her arms around him from behind and met his eyes in the mirror. “Take a deep breath. It’s going to be fine. We’ve got everyone praying.”

  “I just wish that last visit hadn’t happened.” April had better not have messed this up for him. He didn’t know how he’d ever forgive her if she had.

  “Calvin will handle it. He knows what he’s doing. And you have so much support. We’re going to overwhelm that judge with hearty endorsements.”

  “I hope you’re right.” His eyes drifted back to the mirror, and he scowled at his reflection. “The tie’s all wrong, isn’t it?”

  “The tie is perfect. You look like a committed, loving father who’s ready to do battle for his son.”

  His eyes met hers in the mirror. He tried to grab onto the strength and faith he saw there, but his heart wasn’t buying in.

  She gave him a squeeze. “There’s bacon and eggs downstairs. You should grab a bite to eat.”

  His stomach felt like a lead brick. He was afraid food might actually come back up. “Thanks, but I couldn’t eat a thing right now.”

  “All right.” She stepped back, grabbing his navy suit coat from the bedpost and holding it for him to slip on.

  She smoothed the lapel. “You look great. Now let’s go get custody of our boy.”

  That was the only thing on his mind over an hour later as he sat behind the defense table with Calvin. Hope sat behind the bar since she wasn’t named in the case. The courtroom was imposing, with its high ceilings and aura of hushed silence. The stale air held hints of floor cleaner, perspiration, and fear.

  Judge Alders didn’t look any happier than he had at the temporary hearing. He sat atop his bench, flanked by two American flags, his eyeglasses perched on the end of his nose.

  At the plaintiff’s table the Parkers, dressed in dark suits, looked somber and determined.

  The courtroom was filled with witnesses for Brady. As Calvin had predicted, when the judge saw the size of the crowd, he’d limited the witnesses to four each. The tactic still left a favorable impression—half the town had come out to support Brady.

  The attorneys had given their opening statements, and it was time for the Parkers’ attorney to call the first witness.

  “The plaintiff calls Brady Collins to the stand.”

  Brady stood and approached the witness stand. Calvin had warned him this might happen as a result of last Friday’s encounter. He seated himself and was sworn in.

  As the attorney approached the stand, Brady forced a pleasant expression and resisted the urge to wipe his sweaty palms down the length of his pants. Calvin had hammered on the importance of keeping his composure and, above all, showing no anger. To that end, Brady kept his gaze from straying to Audrey’s parents.

  “Mr. Collins,” the attorney said, “is it true that when the Parkers picked up their grandson on September twenty-eighth, your mother, April Russell, was at your residence?”

  “Yes but only for a few minutes.”

  “Is it also true that your mother is a known drug addict?”

  “I believe that’s still the case. But she—”

  “And you allowed a known drug addict into your home, with your child?”

  “I wasn’t home when she got there. I arrived after the Parkers.” He barely stopped the wince. His eyes flickered to Hope in apology.

  “And who was at home with your son at that time?”

  “Hope.”

  “Hope Collins, your new wife?”

  “Yes.”

  “Do you believe your mother was on drugs at the time of her visit?”

  “I couldn’t tell you.”

  “Didn’t you notice her bloodshot eyes and dilated pupils?”

  “No.”

  “How long has your mother been addicted to drugs, Mr. Collins?”

  Brady pressed his lips together. “Since I was a child.”

  “That’s twenty years or more?”

  “Yes.”

  “Wouldn’t it have been fair to assume she was on drugs at the time of her visit?”

  “I suppose so, but—”

  “How long have you been married, Mr. Collins?”

  The abrupt change of topic threw him for a moment. He knew where this was going, and he shoved down a sense of dread.

  He cleared his throat. “About a month and a half.”

  “The timing is awfully convenient, isn’t it?”

  Brady held the attorney’s gaze. “I don’t understand the question.”

  “Let me be clearer then. Did you marry Hope Daniels for the direct purpose of getting custody of Sam?”

  Heat surged into his neck. “It’s Hope Collins now. And I married her out of love. I love my wife.”

  He could state that with absolute truth now, with every meaning of the word. His face heated at the admission, and he avoided looking Hope’s way for fear she’d see the truth on his face. This wasn’t the way he wanted her to find out his feelings had grown into something more.

  “Are you saying it’s a coincidence that the wedding fell at such a convenient time for this case?”

  He lifted his shoulder. “Coincidence, luck, blessing . . . Call it what you will.”

  “When did you get engaged?”

  Brady shifted, forcing himself to maintain eye contact. “The end of June.”

  “And what was the date of the temporary hearing on this case?”

  “I don’t recall the exact date.”

  The attorney smirked. “Does June 28 sound about right?”

  “Yes.”

  “Do you expect us to believe that the temporary hearing, which coincided with your engagement, had no bearing on your decision to get married?”

  “I’ve known and loved Hope a long time. We didn’t see a reason to wait any longer.”

  The attorney held his gaze for a long, uncomfortable moment.

  Brady’s muscles twitched and his heart palpitated.

  Hope resisted the urge to squirm on the wooden bench as Brady left the stand and took his seat at the defense table. It didn’t take a lawyer to see that it hadn’t gone well.

  The other attorney called Mr. Parker, and Hope relaxed into her seat as he was questioned. There was nothing new or surprising here. Calvin passed on the opportunity to cross-examine. Elaine Parker was called next, and she made her sister sound like the very definition of love and charity.

  Mrs. Parker was last. The questions and answers seemed to move the woman into Grandmother of the Year status. But Calvin took the opportunity to cross-examine and highlighted her lack of involvement in Sam’s life prior to Audrey’s death. A point in their favor.

  Then he brought up the heart problems she’d been plagued with the past several years. It was something, but it didn’t seem to quite balance the scales. To Hope, it felt as if the deficit was on their side. She hoped she was wrong.

  Several minutes later Calvin was finished with redirect. The Parkers had finished calling their witnesses, and it was their turn now.

  “The def
ense calls Hope Collins to the stand,” Calvin said.

  Hope stood and made her way to the witness stand. She took the oath and answered Calvin’s questions just as she’d been prepped. She began to settle a few minutes in, her determination to show Brady as the wonderful father he was winning out over nerves.

  By the time Brady’s attorney finished with her, she was confident and ready to face the Parkers’ attorney. They were going to be thorough about last Friday’s event. She prayed she’d be able to remain unemotional. It would be hard with the Parkers sitting right in front of her.

  “Mrs. Collins . . .” The attorney looked at her over his black readers. “You’re currently the child’s primary caregiver, is that correct?”

  “Yes.”

  “How long has that been the case?”

  “I’ve cared for Sam often since his mother passed away, but I didn’t become his full-time caregiver until my temporary job ended.”

  “And when was that?”

  “The end of June.”

  His brows hitched up. “That’s also when you became engaged to Mr. Collins, was it not?”

  “Yes.”

  “And about the same time as the temporary hearing?”

  She fought the urge to fidget. “Yes.”

  “Were you home alone with the child on September twenty-eighth when Mr. Collins’ mother, April Russell, visited?”

  “Yes.”

  “Were you aware of her drug addiction at the time of her visit?”

  “Yes.”

  “And isn’t it true that you allowed April Collins into your home?”

  “No. The visit was unexpected, and she simply came inside of her own free will while I was tending to Sam.”

  “She just showed up and entered your home without knocking?”

  “No. She knocked, and I answered the door. But while we were talking Sam needed me, and when I went to help him April came inside.”

  “And how did Ms. Russell come to be holding Sam?” The attorney raised a superior brow.

  Heat surged up Hope’s neck as she worked hard to keep the discomfort from her face. “She asked to hold him.”

  “She asked to hold the child, and you just handed him over?”

  “I was standing right there.”

  “But wasn’t Ms. Russell, in fact, inside the home, alone with the child, when the Parkers arrived?”

  Hope’s heart kicked her ribs. “Only for a moment. When I heard the car pull up, I went to the porch. I thought it was Brady.”

  “At any point did you notice that Ms. Russell showed signs of being on drugs?”

  Her stomach dropped. “Not until Mr. Parker pointed it out.”

  The attorney’s eyes shifted to the judge. “No further questions.”

  As Hope got up, fear spiked her adrenaline. That hadn’t gone well. She’d looked careless. She had been careless. Her breakfast congealed in her stomach. As she passed the defense table she traded a worried look with Brady. If she cost him his son, she’d never be able to live with herself.

  chapter twenty-seven

  Brady’s hands shook, and his palms sweated. He’d never been so scared in all his life. He barely noticed when his phone vibrated in his pocket with an incoming text. He was supposed to have left it in the car, but he’d forgotten.

  His attorney was nearly done questioning Zoe. She was doing a great job. Making him sound like Superfather. But he knew the Parkers’ attorney would come along and cast doubt, just as he had with their other witnesses.

  Sure enough, moments later the attorney began picking apart everything Zoe had said. A terrible dread was building deep inside Brady. He tried to objectively weigh everything he’d heard today. The Parkers’ attorney had repeatedly brought up his drug-addicted mom as well as the convenient timing of his and Hope’s wedding.

  Brady didn’t like their odds right now. His phone vibrated, announcing another text. He didn’t know who it could be—practically everyone he knew was sitting in the courtroom.

  Pastor Jack would be their last witness. He sure hoped his friend’s words would pack a wallop. But he didn’t know what the man could say that hadn’t already been said.

  Brady swallowed hard, felt the muscles in his shoulders bunching up. He wished Hope were beside him right now. He needed her to squeeze his hand and tell him everything would be fine.

  As the plaintiff’s attorney questioned Zoe, Brady’s gaze drifted to his attorney, trying to read his expression. There had been no comforting smiles or slight nods as there had been at the first hearing. Right now the man wore his poker face. He jotted notes but otherwise appeared relaxed and calm.

  But it wasn’t Calvin’s son on the line. Wasn’t his future. He wouldn’t be the one saying good-bye to his boy and never seeing him again.

  Brady’s heart squeezed, and the backs of his eyes burned. Please, God. I’ll do anything. Please. I can’t bear the thought of losing him. I can’t bear the thought of the Parkers stealing that sparkle from his eyes. He blinked against the rush of emotion, against the feeling of his breath trapped in his lungs.

  His phone vibrated again. Someone was being persistent. He thought of Sam, at home with Miss Ruby. What if something had happened? He had to check.

  Slipping his hand into his pocket, he discreetly pulled it out and opened the text app. Three texts from Heather. What could Audrey’s sister want? She was sitting right here in the courtroom somewhere. He’d seen her when she’d entered.

  Her most recent text was a series of question marks. The one before it was just his name. Then he reached the first one.

  Tell your lawyer to call me.

  Brady frowned at his phone. Call her? They were in the middle of the hearing. Another text vibrated in.

  As a witness.

  He gaped at the screen as a shiver ran down his spine. He turned, looking over his shoulder, searching for her in the crowd. There she was. In the first row, immediately behind the Parkers, staring back at him somberly.

  Heather had made no secret that she didn’t approve of the way her mother and father had parented. Or that she felt Sam was better off with Brady. But as far as he knew, the Parkers weren’t aware she felt that way. Heather was all about keeping the peace—she was the unofficial mediator of the family. But, he realized suddenly, maybe the Parkers knew more than he thought they did. After all, they hadn’t called Heather as a witness.

  He gave her a look. Are you sure?

  She nodded discreetly. He held her gaze for a long moment. She seemed determined. And having her on his side would carry a lot of weight—if that’s what she intended to do.

  Brady turned back around, wrote on the scratch pad in front of him, and slid it in front of Calvin. His attorney read it, his eyebrows popping. He looked at Brady, his eyes searching.

  You sure? Calvin scrawled a moment later.

  Yes, Brady wrote, underlining the word twice.

  Calvin gave a nod.

  Brady wrote down a few pertinent questions for Calvin to ask Heather. Then Zoe was being dismissed from the witness stand. His sister gave him a wan smile as she passed the table on the way back to the gallery.

  Beside him, Calvin rose to his feet. “The defendant calls Heather Greer to the stand.”

  A gasp sounded, and Brady didn’t have to look to know it had come from Patricia. A quiet murmuring filled the courtroom as Calvin approached the witness stand. Heather was sworn in.

  “Mrs. Greer, can you tell us how you’re related to the plaintiffs?”

  “They’re my parents.”

  “So the child’s mother, Audrey Collins, was your sister.”

  “That is correct.”

  “How would you characterize your relationship with your parents?”

  “We’re on good terms.”

  “And with your late sister?”

  Heather’s eyes filled, and she blinked back the tears stoically. “We were very close. Not that we didn’t have our little tiffs, but she confided in me more than anyone else.�
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  “Did she ever talk to you about her ex-husband, Mr. Collins?”

  “Oh, yes. All the time.”

  “According to Audrey’s disclosures, how did their relationship come about?”

  “Objection,” the Parkers’ attorney called. “That would be hearsay.”

  “Your Honor, if I may,” Calvin said. “Georgia evidence laws changed in 2013, stating that the judge has discretion to hear such testimony in extraordinary cases—and I would argue that this is, indeed, an extraordinary case.”

  Judge Alders pursed his lips, reflecting a moment. “I’ll allow it. Proceed, Counsel.”

  “Again, Mrs. Greer,” Calvin said. “Can you tell the court how Audrey came to be in a relationship with Mr. Collins?”

  Heather looked down at her lap, then back up. “Heather was pregnant and scared because she was alone. She said the baby’s father wasn’t father material, though she never told me who he was. Audrey was a little . . . wild, I guess you’d say. She set her sights on Brady because she knew he’d marry her if he thought he’d gotten her pregnant.”

  “Set her sights on him?”

  Heather squirmed. “She decided she was going to trick him into thinking he was the father of the baby.”

  “Looks like her plan succeeded. Did you know Mr. Collins at this point?”

  “No. If I had I would’ve warned him. I tried to talk Audrey out of it, but once she got something in her mind there was no changing it.”

  “Why did Audrey choose Mr. Collins?”

  “They went to the same high school, though they were a couple years apart. She talked about what a great, upstanding guy he was. That he was a man of his word. That he was kind and patient. Father material, she called him.”

  “If he was so wonderful, why did she divorce him shortly after they married?”

  “All the things that made Brady a great father also made him completely wrong for Audrey. My sister craved excitement. She called Brady . . .” Heather cast him an apologetic look. “She thought he was a little boring.”

  Calvin paced toward the stand and tilted his head. “Mrs. Greer . . . Did your sister ever tell you verbally whom she’d want to raise Sam if anything happened to her?”