A Moment of Weakness: Book 2 in the Forever Faithful trilogy

by Kingsbury, Karen

  Trust in me and lean not on your own understanding.…

  The verse brought a rush of peace and Jade exhaled slowly. As she did, her hands stopped shaking so she could unlock her car door. There was no way he would fight her for full custody. And if he did, there was no way he’d win.

  It was impossible.

  But as Jade drove home, the trembling returned and she was consumed by fear. She prayed with the intensity of someone clinging to life, and that night in church she held Ty’s hand tightly.

  This can’t be real, Lord. It can’t be. Tell me there’s nothing to worry about, that I don’t have to fear losing Ty to Jim because of my faith. Please, God.

  In this world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer … I have overcome the world.

  What did that mean? Why had that Scripture come to mind now? She closed her eyes and knew she was on the verge of crying. Ty squeezed her hand and leaned near. “What’s wrong, Mom?”

  She opened her eyes and smiled at him. “Nothing, honey, Mommy’s just praying.”

  “About Dad?” Ty knew his father had been in an accident, but that was all. She would spare him the other details until later.

  “Yes, dear. I’m praying for Daddy.”

  A calm came over Ty’s face, as if all was right with the world. He wrapped his arms around Jade and held her tight while she fought off a torrent of tears.

  The fear didn’t return until the next day. At just after four, Jade saw a sheriff’s deputy pull up in front of her house and make his way up her sidewalk. She felt her heart stop, and then tumble into an erratic beat as she wiped her hands and opened the door. “Yes?”

  “Mrs. Rudolph?”

  “That’s me.”

  “I’ve got a summons for you. I need you to sign here.” He pointed to the piece of paper in his hand and held it up for her to read. The document stated that she was acknowledging receipt of divorce papers. She was officially being served. Jade felt a crushing fear, one that wove itself between her ribs and permeated her lung tissue. Her breathing grew labored as she moved the pen across the page.

  The deputy turned to leave, taking his portion of the document and leaving Jade standing in the doorway, her eyes frozen on the papers in her hands. She moved slowly into the house, closed the door, and sat at the foot of the stairs where she began sifting through the pages, occasionally reminding herself to exhale.

  They were divorce papers, all right, requesting her presence at a hearing set for mid-March.

  Their marriage had begun in a small courtroom, and now it would end that way. Jade closed her eyes. God, I know you hate divorce.… I’m so sorry. Please don’t let it happen, Lord.

  In that instant, Jade knew she would have done whatever she could to reconcile with her husband, but she also knew Jim was beyond that point. With her eyes still closed, she reminded herself that with God all things were possible. Jim could wake up tomorrow, repent of his arrogance and pride, and turn his life to the Lord. She could apologize for letting her fight against Channel One take precedence over her marriage. And with God’s help she could take him back and somehow save their marriage. With God it was all possible.

  Two tears slipped out from the corners of Jade’s eyes, but still she kept her eyes shut, not willing to look at the destructive papers in her hands. “Forgive me for my part in this, Lord. I’ll pray for Jim every day.” She whispered the promise out loud but heard no response. Minutes passed while terrifying thoughts made their way across the canvas of Jade’s mind. Eventually she opened her eyes and stared at the documents in her hands.

  It must be here somewhere. She began flipping through the pages looking for the section that dealt with custody. Jim had made threats in the hospital, but certainly he didn’t really want full custody. The documents were loaded with legalese, but Jade quickly found the area marked “custody.” She scanned the words and felt herself grow faint.

  “Mr. Rudolph seeks permanent, full-time custody of minor child, Ty Robert Rudolph. Mr. Rudolph cites that Mrs. Rudolph is guilty of mental abuse and brainwashing where the minor child is concerned. He also states that Mrs. Rudolph’s views are highly unstable and extremely intolerant. She is mean-spirited, overbearing, and completely lacking in judgment according to Mr. Rudolph.”

  Jade read the words again. Highly unstable … extremely intolerant. Jim’s attorney was trying to make her look crazy. As if it had nothing to do with her faith in God. Mean-spirited, overbearing, and completely lacking in judgment.

  It was the most inaccurate thing anyone could have said about her, and after she’d read it three times through, Jade dropped to her knees.

  “No, God! Can’t you hear me? Can’t you help me? Ty is my son, not his.” Jade knew she would not survive if she lost custody of Ty. “Help me, Lord. I don’t know what to do!”

  In this world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer … I have overcome the—

  “No!” She didn’t want to suffer tribulation or trials or any such thing where Ty was concerned. “I can’t.”

  You can do all things through Christ.

  Jade caught her breath and closed her eyes. Her body shook from the sobs that wracked her soul. It dawned on her that Kathy—and not Jim—was probably behind this. Kathy had no children and had mentioned on occasion at staff parties that she and her husband were trying to have a family. Now that she was making plans to be with Jim, she apparently thought she could gain a son and save a child from religious fanaticism all in one move.

  No, Jim was not using this issue as a weapon against Jade. He was using it to win over Kathy Wittenberg. For that reason, he had made up his mind to make an example out of Jade. He wanted her to look like a freak, someone who was crazy and could certainly not maintain custody of her child.

  “Why, Lord?” She cried until her tears became sobs and still she remained on the floor, hunched over her knees, begging God for help and understanding.

  Once more the feeling came over her that she needed to get Ty and run away with him, to never look back even if it meant living undercover the rest of her life. Why had she trusted her son to a man like Jim Rudolph in the first place? Certainly welfare and food stamps would have been better for Ty than a father who never loved him and now wanted to use him to make an example of her.

  She was not going to let it happen. The date of their hearing had been somewhere in the court papers, and Jade sorted through them frantically. There it was. Mid-March. Ten days away.

  Jade leaned against the wall. Her mind raced, thinking of a solution, a way out. First she needed an attorney, someone who understood the nature of custody battles, someone who knew the importance of religious values and freedom of religion.…

  One name came to mind, and Jade caught her breath. No, Lord, not him. He’d take one look at Ty and know for sure the boy was his. Please!

  Once several years earlier Jade had been washing dishes while Jim flipped through the channels. He settled on one station long enough for her to hear Tanner’s name. Her heart beat wildly as she set down the soapy dish, wiped her hands on her jeans, and joined Jim in the TV room.

  There was Tanner, and Jade remembered how she drank in the sight of him for the first time in too many years.

  He’d been more handsome than ever, confident, and genuine as a summer breeze. Jade had watched for several minutes, making herself appear busy so Jim wouldn’t be suspicious. He had never known about her relationship with Tanner, but she didn’t want to make him curious.

  As Tanner spoke that day, she found herself carried back in time. Apparently, Mrs. Eastman had been wrong. Tanner hadn’t wanted to be a politician, after all. Instead he had followed his dream and become a fighter for religious freedom. He had a firm called the CPRR with a number of attorneys working for him. Despite her bitterness toward the man, she couldn’t help but feel proud of him.

  She could still picture his face on her television screen. Jade’s heart stopped racing and slowed to a steady thump. She could try to pr
ove Tanner was Ty’s father, but she might lose the child for good. Any mention to Tanner or anyone else that Ty was his son would mean Doris Eastman might make good on her promise. She could still hear the woman’s hateful words that awful day: I will hire a batch of attorneys to sue you for defamation. And I will get custody of that child, mark my words. Girls like you would never win a court battle against the Eastman estate.

  Jade sighed and knew she would have to keep Tanner’s place in Ty’s life a secret until the day she died. Otherwise it would cause too much public attention, and Ty would be the loser. Tanner hadn’t wanted his son, anyway. Just as he hadn’t wanted his other two children.

  She rose up off the floor, straightened the papers, and set them on her desk. If Jim planned to sue her for full custody of Ty, if he intended to punish her for her beliefs, then she was faced with one undeniable fact: In all the world, only one man could help her now; the one man she must never contact again.

  Call him, my daughter.

  Jade heard the voice and hesitated. What could possibly come from it?

  Call him.

  There had been few moments since Jade had become a Christian that she had willfully gone against the still small voice of God. She drew a steadying breath. This was not going to be one of those times.

  Walking across the room, she picked up the telephone and began to dial.

  Twenty-three

  ONE OF THE BENEFITS OF WORKING IN THE LOS ANGELES AREA was the number of cases that crossed the desks of the CPRR. Of course, they could also be a curse. Tanner studied the mass of humanity seated around him at Tony Roma’s. Most of them were blissfully unaware of the desperate battle waged by the CPRR to preserve freedoms long taken for granted by many in the United States.

  For all the time and energy he and his staff had put into the battle, Tanner had the sense lately that things were not getting better. If anything, they were heating up. Many times instead of gaining ground, they seemed to be treading water: clinging to basic freedoms while watching others erode with case precedence.

  He took a swig of water and glanced at the restaurant’s entrance. Matt Bronzan would be there in five minutes. He’d told Tanner he had an urgent issue to discuss. Something about a case that needed their immediate attention.

  The cases they handled now would have been unthinkable five years ago. Churches whose tax-exempt status was being called into question, private business owners forbidden by city council from bearing a Christian fish on their store sign, teachers fired on the spot for mentioning God in a public classroom.

  The CPRR won nearly all their cases, but not before much money and time was devoted to the matter. Tanner ran his fingers over the water drops on the side of his glass. Fired for mentioning God? He still couldn’t believe the case had actually made it to court. Tanner and Matt had won the decision, but barely. How far had they come from the days when teachers were directed to lead prayer in school, how far from the days of even setting aside a moment of silence?

  He sighed and stared through his water to the blurry images on the other side. The problem was public opinion. More often than not, his cases made their way into national headlines leaving people with the impression that—in the case of the dry cleaner operator—a Christian fish symbol was somehow illegal. Regardless of the fact that they’d won the case.

  The attack by the liberal left and the ACLU was relentless and had served to erode the way the public viewed religious freedom as a whole. Anymore, churches felt thankful that they still had the privilege to meet on Sundays. Forget the freedoms they’d lost in the process.

  Tanner spotted Matt heading for the table. At least he had this one friend. Matt had been with him since their first big case—the one with the student who wanted to sing at graduation. A former district attorney, Matt had once prosecuted mainly drunk-driving cases.

  Then he met a widow, a Christian woman named Hannah Ryan, whose husband and daughter were killed by a man driving under the influence. Matt took the case and wound up winning a first-degree murder conviction. The drunk driver was given twenty-five to life, and Matt earned national attention overnight.

  But something else happened.

  Matt fell in love with Hannah. One year after the case was resolved—two years after the accident—the couple married. They had one daughter, Jenny, a sixteen-year-old who was the only survivor from the accident. Shortly after the wedding, Matt decided he’d spent enough of his life convicting drunk drivers. It was time to branch out. He had heard of Tanner’s law firm and contacted him, looking to help.

  Tanner liked him immediately. Matt was sharp and sincere and devoted to the Lord. He had won numerous cases since joining forces with Tanner and was, without a doubt, as great a fighter in the cause as anyone at the firm. Occasionally, Leslie and Tanner shared dinner with the Bronzans, and Tanner had always been impressed with Hannah’s quiet strength. Whatever nightmare she’d been through, she’d made it to the other side by God’s grace. Clearly she and Matt shared a bond that spoke volumes.

  The kind of bond he couldn’t imagine sharing with Leslie, no matter how wonderful she was. The kind of bond he once thought he’d share with—

  “Hey, did you order?” Matt was breathless. He’d probably kept four appointments back-to-back before arriving at the restaurant.

  Tanner shook his head. “Just the loaf.” Once a month he and Matt met at Tony Roma’s for lunch, and the onion loaf was a given. The men were both in exceptional physical shape and knew their monthly indulgence would not make a difference. “How’d the meeting with Swires go?”

  “Good.” Matt gulped down half his glass of water. “I think I convinced him to give up. Showed him documentation, precedence.”

  “Good. We might live in a tolerant town, but even Los Angeles isn’t ready for the ‘Mother God Transvestite Club’ to march in the Boy Scouts’ Easter Parade.”

  Matt set his water down. “I told him they didn’t stand a chance. Even if they did wear merit badges on their dresses.”

  Tanner laughed. Matt was the only one at the firm he could lighten up with. They played basketball at Racquetball World and on Saturdays met at seven in the morning for tennis. Time had earned them the right to joke with each other, even when the matters were utterly serious and close to their heart. “Is it just me, or is it getting crazier all the time out there?”

  Matt rested his forearms on the table and leaned forward. “That reminds me.”

  Tanner rocked back in his chair. “The case you mentioned earlier?”

  “Right. It’s a doozy. Don’t know if it’s legit, but it has the earmark of a national headline grabber. And then some.”

  They were all worthy of such attention, but Matt had always had a keen sense for knowing when a case had the potential to shake Americans.

  The waitress appeared with the onion loaf, took their order, and made a hasty exit.

  “Gotta love these onions.” Matt dug his fork into the loaf as Tanner raked a section onto his plate.

  After a few bites, Tanner wiped his mouth and exhaled loudly. “Okay, I’m listening. Tell me about this case of the century you’ve discovered.”

  “Might be nothing.” Matt shrugged. “But if it’s true …” He took two more forkfuls of onion rings and then leaned back in his chair. “It’s a custody case.”

  “Custody? As in divorce?” Tanner had handled only a few cases that involved divorce. Usually battles over which church a child would attend or whether the mother or father could force attendance if the child wasn’t interested. That kind of thing. “How’d you hear about it again?”

  “I got a call yesterday afternoon.” Matt hesitated. “Anyway it’s this woman, and she’s terribly nervous. Says she doesn’t want to give her name, but her husband is divorcing her and suing her for complete custody of their son.”

  Tanner finished the plate of onions and cocked his head. “Where do we fit in?”

  Matt wiped his mouth. “He wants custody because he thinks she’s an unf
it mother.”

  “Unfit because …?” Tanner was struggling to see the connection.

  “Because she’s a Christian.”

  Tanner felt the winds of outrage blow against him. “Are you kidding? He wants custody because of his wife’s faith?”

  “I’m serious. She told me her husband hasn’t been involved in their son’s life. The marriage fell apart when she discovered her husband was having an affair. Apparently there’s more to it. The caller said she’s fairly vocal on the school board or something. Hasn’t kept her beliefs a secret.”

  Tanner was beginning to see the picture. “Now her husband wants to make an example of her.…”

  Matt raised an eyebrow. “According to the divorce papers, he’s out to prove the woman brainwashed the boy into believing and that she’s an unfit mother because of her extreme religious beliefs.”

  Tanner anchored his elbows on the table and brought his fists together. He had feared it would come to this one day but never dreamed with the ushering in of a new century that they were there. If the man were to win this case, parents across the country would have to fear losing their children because of their faith. “What’s her name?”

  Matt sighed. “That’s just it. She wouldn’t give it to me.”

  “Why not?” Tanner was suspicious of people who called anonymously. If they needed help, if the situation was what they said it was, why not be honest about the facts. Including revealing their identity?

  “Didn’t say. Apparently she called for advice.”

  “What did you tell her?”

  “The truth. No one could take her son away from her because of her faith. I asked her if she wanted someone from our office to help her, maybe represent her at the hearing.”

  “And …”

  “She said no. Real adamant about it, too.”

  “Is it a financial concern?” Tanner thought it strange the woman would call but then refuse help.