by Cyndi Raye
Table of Contents
A Bride For Adam - Sons Of Nora White Series Book #2
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Other Books by Cyndi Raye
A Bride for Adam
by
Cyndi Raye
Sons Of Nora White
Book #2
Copyright © 2018 www.CyndiRaye.com All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be copied, reproduced in any format, by any means, electronic or otherwise, without prior consent from the copyright owner and publisher of this book. This is a work of fiction. All characters, names, places and events are the product of the author's imagination or used fictitiously.
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Cover art by Madison of Silverheart Publishing
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Thank you to one of my awesome readers
Barbara Szabo-Orris
for coming up with the name of the small town of Cooper’s Ridge.
Chapter 1
“By the power vested in me by the State of Texas, I, Judge Ronald Hanover, now declare Mr. Thomas Cromwell, and wife, Melody Cromwell, standing before me under oath, divorced, by Texas State law.” The Judge glared at her, showing his disdain. His brows, thick and bushy, covered the space above his steel framed glasses like a strait line across his brow. “According to the Married Woman’s Property Act of 1848 you would be entitled to property if you had any. Since there is none listed here, you are not entitled to any such property in this case.”
She stood tall and straight, her shoulders back. Melody was no longer ashamed, although they expected her to be. She was fighting for her life and her son. She didn’t dare look around the courtroom because she knew what was there. More disdain and hurtful looks and stares. A woman didn’t ask for a divorce in today’s society.
“Judge Hanover, sir?”
His frown didn’t make her twitch. She vowed to be brave and strong for her sons sake as well as her own.
“What is it?”
“With the courts permission, I would like to ask for sole custody of my son, Tommy.” The room stilled. Gloved hands of ladies present in the courtroom flew to their mouths to cover the gasps that represented the negativity in the room. Melody wanted to curl up and hide but held her head high instead. She would not go any lower than she already felt.
Melody didn’t turn her head, she stared directly in front of her where Judge Hanover sat on his seat at the helm of the courtroom. Her husband stood to the right with his lawyers. She felt his eyes on her and tried not to wince.
She would not look at him.
She would not show an ounce of fear. Everything was riding on her ability to be a strong, independent woman.
“Let me ask you one question, Mrs. Cromwell, excuse me, Miss Rivers. Now that I officially granted your divorce, we no longer affiliate you with the name Cromwell, a highly respected name in this city.”
Melody didn’t take the bait. Even the Judge wanted her to fall apart. She would not. “Sir, I will answer any question concerning custody of my son, Tommy.”
He nodded, the frown still apparently permanently attached to his face. “How do you plan to support this child, Miss Rivers?”
“I plan to continue to work at my job at Miss Jones Boarding House.”
He slowly nodded, raised an eyebrow then turned to speak to Thomas. “Mr. Cromwell, you are a fine, upstanding citizen of Dallas. Are you willing to give custody of your child solely to Miss Rivers?” A few laughs and snickers were heard in some of the pews behind Melody. No man would ever give up custody of their own children. It was unheard of.
Melody didn’t realize she had been holding her breath. Tommy was in the Judge’s chambers with one of the employees while the trial went on. At least he wasn’t privy to all the stares and harsh words and whispers. She clutched her hands together at first, lowering them when she realized how it made her look. She didn’t want anyone to see how they shook.
When she realized Thomas was directing his words towards her, she moved her head at a slight angle to peer at him. Her eyes widened in shock at his next words. “Your Honor, I didn’t want to bring this up, because it hurts me to paint such a horrid picture of this woman who had me fooled for the last five years.”
Melody gasped. How dare he? He was the one who cheated on her and now he was calling her horrid? She was ready to speak up when the next words came tumbling from Thomas’s mouth. “I have reason to believe the child is not mine. Therefore, I am not entitled to custody of the child or honored to pay for anything further for her son.”
He had just told the world his son was not fathered by him!
He had just called her a whore!
In front of the whole courtroom and the Honourable Judge. Melody slumped to her seat. “How can you deny your son?” she whispered, unable to retaliate. She was shocked he had said such a horrible thing.
The Judge stared at Thomas. “Go on, answer, sir, how can you deny the boy? What evidence do you have to say he is not yours?”
Immediately, Thomas’s lawyer hurried to the bench, handing over several documents.
He spoke for Thomas. “We believe when the child was conceived, Mr. Cromwell was not present. His work mostly took him out of town. According to a time line we put together, my client was out of town on work during the conception period.”
The onlookers gasped.
It was a lie. Melody was speechless for the moment.
These lies were getting worse by the minute. Melody hung her head, not wanting to see anyone’s look of scorn. She didn’t deserve this, her son didn’t deserve to have these lies thrust into the public eye. Thomas was the father, and yet he just threw his son to the side like a piece of garbage.
Anger welled up inside of her, no longer ashamed to face those in the courtroom. If he was determined to deny his son to the world, that only meant one thing. She would receive full custody.
To be called a whore in the public eye was worth it if she got to keep her son. She stood, gripping the wooden rails in front of her. Her lawyer, Donald Cravet, hadn’t spoke up during any of this. She actually looked at him in surprise because she barely realized he was even beside her. He hadn’t defended her or questioned anything. She had known all along he wasn’t much help from the beginning. He took her money and left her here to face the music, alone.
She scowled at him. “You don’t have to stand here any more, Mr. Cravet. I haven’t had your help since I walked into the courtroom.”
Donald Cravet lowered his eyes. He knew he was not going to defend her. It was a man’s world and now that she had been called a whore, he was reluctant to even try. Disgust shown in her eyes as she turned away from her lawyer.
The Judge took the hammer and pommelled the desk. “Quiet!” He turned to Melody. “Are these accusations true? Is it a fact Mr. Cromwell is not the father of your son?”
She didn’t know what to tell him. To deny he was the father was making her look like a terrible, conniving scam artist. To admit he was the father would make this trial go on longer. For the sake of propriety she wanted the world to know she wasn’t a whore. She hadn’t been with any man except her husband after they married.
And yet, it was ultimately the purpose of her being here that made her decision. She wanted her son at any cost. Thomas didn’t deserve his son, not when he would deny him in front of all these people.
She took a deep breath. Please God, help me to say the right thing. Help me, Lord, my son doesn’t deserve this lying, cheating, no-gooder as a father. “Judge Hanover, sir, I know
my son belongs to me. I am his true parent and would never deny him in front of anyone.” She looked at Thomas, the man she had thought she loved, who didn’t have the courage to look her in the eye. He stared straight ahead. “I would like it put on the record that I will not deny anything as long as I have full custody of my son.”
The Judge frowned even more. He stared at her for the longest time. She refused to cower. Those days were over. If it was known all over Dallas she was a whore then so be it, as long as she walked out of this courtroom with her son’s hand in hers.
The Judge shuffled some papers, picked up a pen and began to write. When he looked out in the courtroom, the restless onlookers became still as they waited for the verdict. “By the authority invested in me by the State of Dallas, Texas, I grant the newly named Miss Melody Rivers, full custody of Thomas Michael Cromwell and grant a name change be accepted by the court from Thomas Michael Cromwell to Thomas Michael Rivers.” His hammer hit the wood with a ferocity like nothing else. Anger ensued through the Judge’s body as he stood up. “Court Adjourned.”
Melody dropped her shaking hands to her sides. Even the Judge was angry that she got custody of her son but there was nothing else he could legally do. When Thomas claimed he wasn’t the father and did not want the child, the Judge had no other choice. Let them all think what they wanted about her. She no longer cared.
She didn’t wait to see the reaction of the people in the courtroom but followed an officer down the hall to pick up her son.
Her son. One hundred percent hers! No one could ever take him away or keep them apart. Being called a whore was worth having her son by her side. It wasn’t really a sacrifice at all. Some women would sacrifice more. She was lucky. Darn lucky and she’d never forget the graciousness of this moment.
Melody was a women with full custody of her son. This didn’t happen often in courts of law. Which made it more important for her to get him away from this court room as quickly as possible. She didn’t want to chance them changing their mind. Not now.
It was a shame his father denied him in front of God and the world but she didn’t care any more. Somehow, she would explain things to Tommy so he’d understand the situation. Right now, he needed to be loved, feel loved and kept safe. She wanted to wrap her arms around him and take him far from this horrible place.
In the Judge’s chambers, Tommy sat at the big desk, a wooden hammer in his hand. When she called out his name, her five year old son looked up and gave her a smile that was worth waiting for. She held out her hands. “Let’s go home.”
The boy pushed himself off the big chair and gave the officer a quick hug around his legs. “Good-bye Tommy,” the policeman said, waving at the little fellow as he ran into his mother’s arms.
Melody held him there, silently thanking God for her son. “Let’s get out of here. How about some delicious pastries from the corner shop?”
Tommy jumped up and down, still clinging onto her hand. “Oh, please! I love chocolate filling!”
“Then chocolate, it is!”
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Melody and Tommy finished their pastry and walked towards the hotel where they had been staying ever since they arrived awhile back. When she had first arrived in Dallas, Thomas didn’t welcome her with open arms as she thought he would. Instead, he had put her and Tommy in an adjoining suite, promising to see them daily, except he never kept one promise. He claimed he needed his hotel suite for work and didn’t want to be disturbed. Thomas even went as far as locking the adjoining door and demanding she never try to enter into his suite that way.
Being in Dallas was lonelier than she had imagined. Melody almost dreaded the little time they had together. She yearned to be in the arms of her husband but he kept her at a distance as if he didn’t even know her. When she complained he demanded she stop harassing him since he was paying for her suite at the nice hotel through his hard work.
Melody knew she had to do something to keep her mind occupied. When she saw the sign for help wanted at the local boarding house, she jumped at the chance to make a few dollars on her own. The owner even allowed Tommy to stay with her while she worked. Her husband didn’t even know she had a job and so she tucked her weekly pay away. It wasn’t much but it didn’t hurt to have her own savings since he never spent any money on them. Since he never asked about her day or where she went, she wasn’t inclined to tell.
If she had to do it all over again, Melody would never have come to Dallas. She almost wished she had stayed in her little house in Cooper’s Ridge, far away from her husband, waiting for him to come home every few weeks. Yet, that kind of life was no way to live either. Looking back, she had done the right thing no matter the pain it had caused. At least now she was living the truth.
Before all this happened, she had become determined to win him over, to find out why he was treating her so differently. There had to be a way to bring them closer, or so she had thought. She had asked one of the ladies from church to watch Tommy one night and went about preparing a lovely evening for the two of them.
Melody had called room service to bring dinner at eight. She was going to surprise Thomas with a delicious meal first and then they would talk. She wasn’t about to let him refuse this time. He had always said they can’t talk in front of the boy. Well, he was away for the evening and it was time for them to have some time together.
At six o’clock Melody heard noises next door. She had been waiting patiently and quietly to make sure she didn’t miss when he got in. Muffled sounds came from his side of the hotel suite. Was someone with him? Oh dear! She knew he brought clients home and hoped they would leave soon so she could continue with her plans.
Two hours later, the dinner had been brought to her suite. Melody held her ear against the wall, wondering if his client had left yet.
What she heard next made her hair stand on end. A woman’s laughter pierced her heart and soul. She sounded as if she were right on the other side of the wall, so close that Melody almost jumped back.
Melody was naive but she was pretty certain the woman’s soft laughter was not a client of his. Everything came together all at once, imploding her brain with mass upon mass of signs she had not recognized at first. The late nights at work. His refusal to eat dinner with her and Tommy, claiming he was working. No marital relations.
The dirty, rotten low down no-gooder had been seeing another woman all along! Or maybe more than one! All she knew at that particular moment was the fact she was not going to allow him to get away with this for another second!
Melody flew out of her suite and began knocking on his door. She didn’t say a word. Her knocking got louder when she realized it was being ignored.
“One moment!” Thomas’s voice was strained but he finally must have realized someone was there. When the door was flung open, she had stood there, hands on her hips.
A drunken Thomas held a whiskey filled glass casually in his hand while the other was still resting on the door knob. His face went from a smile to a shocked look when he realized who stood outside his door. “Melody! What are you doing here at my door? I’m drowning in work!” He paused for a moment, looked to the right of him where the other woman was most likely standing.
“Who are you with?” Melody demanded. Her heart was breaking in two. It was crushed. Except now she had realized he had been cavorting with a woman since she had arrived. Melody now realized why he hadn’t wanted her here in Dallas.
He had tried to shut the door. Melody pushed against the wood, causing Thomas in his drunken state to stumble. He kept his glass steady and held it up as if it were more important to make sure no liquor splashed out. “I warned you not to disturb me, Melody!”
She had flung terrible words in his face. “You are a lying, cheating, rotten, womaniser. A no-gooder who doesn’t have an ounce of gentleman in you!”
Melody had wanted to strike the woman who stood there, her back against the wall that separated Thomas from his family. She was a beautiful blonde, dresse
d impeccably, her hair in place and wearing expensive clothing. She seemed mildly surprised then stared at Melody while taking a sip from the elegant wine glass. Her emotions were hiding behind a perfect face.
“Melody, go back to your suite. I’ll join you in a moment so we can talk.”
Melody’s tears fell. She swiped at them, more angry at herself for failing to hold them in check. “We are finished. You and I. There will be no talk or conversation to say you are sorry. I want a divorce.”
Thomas laughed. She was stunned he had the audacity to laugh in her face. “You will never be granted a divorce. Go back to the suite Melody. We will deal with this later.”
She had turned on her heels and left his suite, slamming the door with such fury it popped back open. That’s when she heard their laughter.
Melody had stood outside the room, listening to their conversation, horrified.
Her husband had apologized to the woman for the insult to her sensibilities. Melody had been ready to march back inside but deemed it futile. Then she heard him say such awful things she actually placed both hands over her ears. Even though her feet were able to move, she stood frozen to the floor, enduring the conversation.
“She won’t tell anyone, Mary. Melody has no one, her parents are living far off in Montana or one of those primitive wilderness places. She’ll behave like a proper wife should.”
Melody was in shock that he’d say such a thing. He went on after the woman had mumbled something Melody wasn’t able to understand.
“I married her because the law firm requires a family man in order to move up to become a partner. I had no intention of having her here in Dallas. Everything was fine until she moved here. Now, I’m stuck with a wife next door and a kid. I don’t even like kids.”