by Arianna Hart
“I think that’s enough water. Come on over to the porch so you can dry off before you go inside.” Faith thought she saw some movement out of the corner of her eye, but when she turned her head, she didn’t see anything. She hoped the girls’ antics hadn’t disturbed her guest. The cottage was deep enough in the woods that most noise would be absorbed by the trees, but the girls were pretty loud.
Whatever. If children’s laughter bothered him, Piper would be gone for two weeks pretty soon. Her heart ached a little at the thought. Her parents loved having their only grandchild with them, and Faith needed the time to get work done before the busy season, but oh, how she missed her baby.
“Can I have my grilled cheese cut in triangles?” Piper asked as Faith wrapped her in a towel and then wriggled out of her sopping wet shorts and shirt.
“Me, too?”
“Absolutely. Do you want two or four?” Faith asked as she gathered the wet clothes to throw in the washer.
“Four,” they answered in unison.
“Then four it is. Go upstairs and get dressed. Bring me down those wet towels when you’re done. Oh, and don’t forget to wash your hands.”
“But we just washed up with the hose,” Piper said.
“Yes, but there was no soap involved. Scoot.” Faith nudged them toward the bathroom. As she walked back from the laundry room, she saw the mail pile and her stomach gave a nervous flip. She almost reached for the envelope from the law firm but stopped herself.
It could wait.
…
“Good night, little girl, thank the Lord you are well,” Faith said as she brushed Piper’s bangs off her forehead and gave her yawning girl a kiss.
“Good night, good night, dear Miss Clavel,” Piper replied, finishing the quote from her favorite book, Madeline. “Love you, Momma,” she sighed sleepily. Her eyes were closed, and she had her ragged brown teddy cuddled up under her chin.
“Love you, too, pumpkin.”
Faith felt her heart skip a beat as she tucked the light blanket around her baby and turned off the bedside light. It was easy to forget how small Piper was when she was awake. Her whirlwind personality and activity level made her larger than life, but she was only a five-year-old girl who slept with a teddy bear and begged for just one more bedtime story.
Faith left the door slightly open and headed to the kitchen to get a glass of water. Sadie curled up on her dog bed and settled down as well. The house was quiet except for the hum of the air conditioner and refrigerator. Faith liked this time of the day best. The kitchen cleaned, Piper was asleep, and her guests were usually settled in as well.
Most of the time, this is when she did her paperwork or prepped breakfast for the next day, but with only one guest, she actually had this time to herself. Maybe she’d sit out on the porch with her ice water and look at the stars for a little bit.
Stopping by the door to slip on her flip-flops, she saw the stack of mail she’d been avoiding all day. Her contented mood evaporated.
“Just open the damn letter. It’s a piece of paper, not a snake,” Faith chastised herself. Regardless, her hands shook as she picked up the envelope. The law firm was out of Savannah, not Atlanta, which seemed unusual. Most of the dealings she’d had with law firms had been through Matthew and his firm was in Atlanta.
She took a deep breath before unfolding the letter. As she read it, that deep breath backed up in her lungs before coming out in a whoosh. She read the letter twice before the contents sank into her brain. Faith leaned back against the wall and slowly sank to the floor. She didn’t know how long she sat there before she got over the shock, but when her mind was functioning again, she pulled her cell phone out of her back pocket and made a call.
“Hey, Nadya, it’s Faith.”
“Hey, Faith. What’s up?” her neighbor, Nadya McBride answered.
“Not too much. I hope it’s not too late to call, but I need some help.”
“It’s not late at all. Do you need J.T.?” Nadya’s husband, J.T. McBride, was the chief of police in Dale.
“No, I need some legal advice. It’s about Piper.” Tears burned in the back of her throat, but Faith fought them down.
“I’ll be right over.”
Faith hauled herself up off the floor and turned on the back lights. The more she thought about the contents of the letter, the madder she got. She started pacing, which disturbed Sadie, who whined every time Faith passed her on the path from the kitchen to the back door.
“This is ridiculous.” Faith took the letter and went out on the porch to wait for Nadya there. The last thing she wanted was to get Sadie riled up and wake Piper. She tried to take calming breaths, but her brain was running a mile a minute, and she was damn near hyperventilating.
“Hey, Faith,” Nadya called, walking out of the woods by the path to the red cottage.
“Oh, I was expecting you to drive over,” Faith answered, startled by her sudden appearance.
“It seemed silly to go so far around when you’re only a hop, skip, and a jump through the woods.”
“But it’s dark out.”
“The dark doesn’t bother me. I ran through these woods for the first eighteen years of my life.” She made her way across the parking area to the porch. Her long, curly black hair was tied up in a sloppy bun, but loose curls danced around her face, highlighting her exotic eyes and full lips.
Faith pushed down a twinge of envy. Nadya looked like a gypsy princess. “That’s right, I forgot you grew up in the cabin you and J.T. are in now. Do you mind if we talk out here? Piper’s sleeping, and I don’t want her to wake up and overhear us. She usually sleeps like the dead, but just in case.”
“That’s fine. It’s a nice, clear night.” Nadya joined her on the porch and sat down on one of the wicker chairs under the porch fan.
“Can I get you something to drink? Some iced tea, or wine, if you like. I have cupcakes, too, if you want something sweet.”
“I’d love a glass of water, but I’ll pass on the cupcakes. I bought a bunch of your layered brownies at Mary Ellen’s today and ate most of them before J.T. got home.”
“You must be on sugar overload, then. Hold on and I’ll be right back with some ice water for you.”
She hustled into the kitchen and got out a tall glass. Now that Nadya was here, Faith was nervous and found herself falling back on the rules of Southern hospitality to stall for time. Unfortunately, it didn’t take long to pour a glass of water and she was back outside in no time.
“What’s going on?” Nadya asked. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
“Not a ghost, more like a demon from hell. This came today by certified mail.” Faith handed her the letter and waited as Nadya read it.
“So I take it John and Cynthia Prentice are your former in-laws?” Nadya said.
“Yes. I took my maiden name back after Matthew died.”
“And you didn’t give Piper her father’s name?”
“Well, Piper Prentice sounded dumb, and his parents had made it clear they didn’t believe Matthew was her father, so I thought, screw them.” Faith was too agitated to sit, so she leaned against the railing.
“Hence the request for a paternity test.”
“Yeah. I don’t get it, though. Why now? Piper is five years old. Why are they asking for a paternity test now? Why not after she was born?”
“Back up a little, would you. Why didn’t they believe your late husband was her father? What was your relationship like with them that they’d go through a lawyer to request the test?”
“Our relationship was rocky, to say the least.” Faith tried to divorce herself from her emotions and focus on the facts. “We met in high school. My parents have a farm a few hours north of Savannah. The town is so small we’re all bused to a regional high school.”
“Like Dale.”
“Yeah, like Dale. Except there is also a private school that was closer to the farm than the regional school, Foster Academy. For the most part, it’s a board
ing school for the ultra wealthy, but they offer scholarships to local students.”
“And you were one of those students.”
“Yup, lucky me. Anyway, he was a senior and I was a freshman. Of course, both our parents disapproved, for different reasons. My father didn’t trust him not to use and leave me, and his parents feared I’d get pregnant and trap him into marriage.”
“Rather ironic, but please continue.”
“I know, right? Anyway, the more they disapproved, the more determined we were to be together. Matthew went off to college but came to visit me pretty much every other weekend. I worked my ass off to get every scholarship available so I could go to UGA while he was at Emory going to law school.”
“And your parents never found out?”
“They had their suspicions, but what could they do? I was an honors student, I didn’t get into trouble, worked a part-time job, kept up with my chores on the farm, and still got good grades. I rarely went out because he was hours away in Atlanta.”
“So what happened when you got to Atlanta?”
“As soon as I turned twenty-one, we eloped. God, we were so stupid in love. Or maybe just plain stupid.”
“That must have gone over like a fart in church with your parents.”
“Oh yes, they were thrilled, but again, what could they do? My folks resigned themselves to me not coming back to the farm and grudgingly supported us. Matthew’s parents went ballistic.”
“I’ll bet.”
“They swore they’d cut him off, and for a while they did. We lived in my crappy college apartment because I could pay the rent on the money I made waitressing while Matthew studied for the bar exam. We had a card table and a sofa bed I found at the thrift store for furniture in this teeny studio apartment over a bar. It was always hot and the water would turn freezing halfway through the shower, but we were together, and that was all that mattered.”
“That sounds beautiful. Naive, but beautiful.”
“It was naive. After he passed his bar exam, he began applying for jobs everywhere. He was going to work as a public defender when his parents finally came around.”
“The idea of him defending riffraff pushed them over the edge?” Nadya asked.
“I’m sure that was a big part of it. I also think they didn’t believe we’d last as long as we did. When they realized their precious, only child was sticking to his guns for once and they might never see him again, they came around. Sort of.”
“I take it they didn’t welcome you with open arms?”
“They were always polite. Coldly, icily polite, but I didn’t care. They helped Matthew get a job with a prestigious law firm where he made a ton of money. They even helped us buy a condo in Buckhead and got us a country club membership. They knew all the right people to help advance his career. I couldn’t do anything like that for him. They helped put him on the fast track to a partnership.”
“What about you? I have a hard time picturing you in Buckhead.”
“I had a hard time fitting in, but I did it. I stopped working so I could spend my days working out, shopping, and going to lunches with all the ‘right’ people. God, I hated it. If I never have another facial again, I can die happy.”
“I can’t imagine not working. It just seems so boring.”
“I think my brain atrophied. Anyway, we had more money than we knew what to do with. I was the good little wife and we were talking about starting a family. At least I was talking about starting a family. Matthew was on his way to work when a driver lost control of his car and crashed into him. They both died instantly.”
“Oh my God. I’m so sorry. I knew you were a widow, but I never heard the details.”
“I don’t talk about it much. I was twenty-four and completely lost. I didn’t even know I was pregnant until a month after the funeral.” Faith fought back the overload of emotions those memories brought back.
“Which brings us back to the Prentices. What happened when you told them?”
“Well, I hadn’t spoken to them since the funeral. His mother was devastated by his death. He was an only child, and she doted on him. She took over and planned his service in Savannah and had him buried in the family plot. A single plot, by the way. She didn’t want me next to him even when he was dead.”
“She sounds like a peach.”
“You have no idea,” Faith said.
“I’m getting one. So it’s two months or so after her son died and you tell her you’re pregnant. You’d think she’d be thrilled that you were carrying her only possible grandchild.”
“You’d think. I don’t know if it was just the fact that I had something of him she never could or that she thought I was after her money, but when I told her I was pregnant, she called me a liar and told me never to contact her again.”
“No wonder you didn’t give Piper your married name.”
“Exactly. She even tried to take back the money she’d given us for the down payment on the condo, but Mr. Prentice had written a notarized letter saying it was a gift for tax purposes, so she was out of luck there. Good thing, too, the money from the sale of the condo is how I was able to buy this place. I didn’t even have to touch his life insurance policy. That went into Piper’s college fund.”
“So why do you think she suddenly wants a paternity test?”
“I have no idea. After Piper was born, I tried to send her some pictures for the first few years, but she always sent them back unopened, so I stopped wasting my time and money.”
“I don’t blame you.” Nadya looked at the letter again. “What this basically says, when you cut through all the legalese, is the Prentices are asking for a paternity test at their expense. If you are unwilling to comply with their good faith offer, they will get a court order and force you to get Piper tested at your own expense.”
“Can they do that?”
“If they say there is an inheritance at stake, there is a precedent for court-ordered testing.”
“She couldn’t just ask me, could she? She had to make it a huge deal with lawyers involved. No offense.”
“None taken. Look, do you have a dollar?”
“Uh, I think so.” Faith dug around in her pocket and found a crumpled single. She handed it to Nadya. “Here you go.”
“Great. You just hired the McBride Law Firm. All contact shall now go through me. Direct anything you get from the Prentices, any calls or letters from their law firm, to me. If she calls to ask you the time, tell her to contact your lawyer.”
“Oh my God, thank you.” Faith sat in the chair next to Nadya, feeling a weight lift off her shoulders. It was such a relief to have someone who knew what she was doing offer to help. “But I can pay you for real. I have some money set aside for a new fridge, I can give it to you as a—whatchamacallit—retainer.”
“Hold on to your money for now. I’m a contract lawyer, I handle wills and house closings mostly. I don’t have a lot of experience with family law. I may need to hand this off to someone who specializes in this area if things get tricky.”
“What do you mean tricky?”
“Hypothetically, the Prentices could sue for visitation or even custody.”
“What?” Faith shot out of her chair. “How could they do that? I’m her mother. They don’t even know Piper. I won’t let them. They’re not taking my baby.”
“Don’t break out the shotgun just yet. I said hypothetically.”
“She can hypothetically kiss my lily-white ass.”
Nadya laughed out loud and stood. “I don’t blame you for your reaction, but I want you to think, not react. Do you want to go through with the paternity test or stone wall them?”
Faith bit back her first response, which was to tell them to go to hell. “What do you think I should do?”
“As your lawyer, if you want to fight them on this, I can throw up a bunch of legal hurdles that will buy you some time, but that’s all it’ll do. Eventually, they could get a court order.”
“And i
f I were to do as they ask, as much as that irritates me, what then?”
“It would go a long way toward making you appear cooperative with a judge.”
Think, don’t react. “You know, if she just called up and asked me to do this, I’d have done it without a second thought. Piper deserves to know all her grandparents. I wasn’t the one keeping her from them.”
“You are much more forgiving than I am. And probably more than she is, too. If I had to wager a guess, I’d say she figured you’d tell her to go pound sand if she asked, so she’s pushing you into a corner because that’s the only way she’d cooperate.”
“That sounds about right.” She collected herself and tried to think of what was best for Piper. “Fine. I’ll do it in good faith or as a gesture of good will or whatever. But I’m not driving all the way down to Savannah.” Why was doing the right thing always so darn hard?
“Here.” Nadya handed her a packet of papers that was in the envelope. “This is a list of cooperating labs. I think there’s one in Canton. As your legal representative, I’ll inform her counsel of your decision and direct them to come to me with any questions.”
“Thank you. Thank you so much. When I opened that letter and saw the request, I didn’t know what to think. Talking to you about it helped a lot. I am serious about paying you, though.”
“You just did. I do some pro-bono work, so this isn’t just because you’re my neighbor. But if you want to send over some more of those layered brownies, I wouldn’t turn them down.”
Faith laughed. “I’ll make you a double batch.”
“One batch is fine. I still need to fit into my suits in case we go to court.” She looked at her watch and sighed. “I should be going. J.T. gets antsy if I’m out in the woods too late.” Nadya turned to pick up the flashlight she’d brought with her and appeared to lose her balance.
“Whoa, are you okay?” Faith grabbed her arm to steady her.
“Yeah, yes. I just turned too fast and got a little dizzy.”
“Do you want me to call J.T. and have him pick you up?”
“Oh God, no, it was just a dizzy spell, nothing to worry about.” She walked down the steps toward the woods. “See, it’s all gone. Let me know when you get the test done. There’s no rush. You’re doing this out of the kindness of your heart. Make the bastards wait.”