The girl claimed since he was a new client, the earliest she could fit him in would be in three weeks.
“I can’t wait that long,” Dominic said. “This is an emergency!”
All but ignoring his plea, she insisted three weeks was the absolute best she could do.
He hung up and moved on. Algonquin Law said they charged a consultation fee but could set an appointment for next week.
After he’d tried every law firm in Magnolia Grove other than McGinley & Hudson, he moved on to calling those in the surrounding towns.
Hiram Selby, a lawyer located over in Aldridge, was the eighth call. Hiram answered the phone himself, and when Dominic pleaded a pressing matter that couldn’t wait, Hiram said to come in that afternoon and there’d be no charge for a consultation.
Hoping to make a good impression, Dominic rinsed his mouth with Listerine and dressed in the sport jacket and slacks he’d worn to his grandmother’s funeral. The drive to Aldridge should have been thirty minutes, but he got caught behind a school bus that stopped on every corner. Three times he tried to pass it, but on a two-lane road with cars coming and going both ways, it was impossible. He inched along, cursing what seemed to be a never-ending stream of bad luck.
His appointment was for three thirty, but it was almost four when he arrived, and by then, beads of perspiration had risen on his forehead. It didn’t help that the address he’d been given was a squat wood-frame house with a shingle hanging from a post alongside the walkway. He’d expected a brick building, something like the Algonquin Law building in Magnolia Grove.
“More bad luck,” he grumbled as he hurried up the walkway.
The man who answered the door was the size of a boy. The only thing that marked him as a man was the bushy black mustache.
“I’m here to see Hiram Selby,” Dominic said.
“I’m Hiram, but you can call me Hi.”
The man pushed the door back, and Dominic followed him through a long hallway leading to a tiny one-room office. As he settled into the chair in front of a desk piled high with papers, a feeling of uneasiness settled in Dominic’s stomach.
“Are you a real lawyer?” he asked.
Hiram frowned. “You trying to be a wise guy?”
“No, but this isn’t what I expected. Where’s your office? And what about a secretary?”
“This is my office. I work independently.” Given the way Dominic’s face was scrunched into a knot, Hi stood. “Maybe you should just leave and find yourself another lawyer.”
Knowing there was no other lawyer, at least not one who had an open appointment schedule and offered free consultations, Dominic shook his head. “No, I’m okay with you being an independent.”
Hiram scribbled notes as Dominic told of how he suspected that his grandmother had changed her will, leaving the farm to Lucas, and that he also suspected but could not prove that Tracy was the instigator of such an action.
“But this boy is actually your son, right?”
Dominic gave a one-shouldered shrug. “Yes and no.” He went on to say that he was Lucas’s father, but Tracy had left his name off the birth certificate for no reason other than spite.
“We weren’t married, and she was ticked off about it.”
A look of concern began tugging at Hiram’s face. When Dominic finished telling the tale from his point of view, he leaned back in the chair.
“That’s it. What do you think?”
Hiram shook his head doubtfully. “From what I’ve heard, it looks like the only hope you’ve got is that your grandmother didn’t change her will. If she did, you can try to challenge it, but it’s unlikely you’ll get a reversal. All this Tracy has to do is prove the boy is a blood relative of your grandmother, and your case is out the window.”
Dominic shifted forward and glared across the desk. “I don’t need you to tell me what I can’t do; I need you to show me how to get around it.”
Hiram looked down at his notes and again shook his head. “Without something more to go on—”
“Four hundred thousand. That’s what the place is worth. Maybe even more. Find a way for me to keep the farm, and I’ll give you a piece of the action.”
Hiram laughed. “That’s for sure. I take thirty percent on contingency cases.”
“Thirty percent!”
“Yeah, thirty percent. But I only take cases that are a slam dunk. This one feels iffy.”
“What do you mean, ‘iffy’?” Dominic’s voice sounded higher and on the verge of panic. “I’m counting on you!”
Hiram still had that look of doubt. “Any chance you could get guardianship of the boy?”
“You mean bring him home to live with me? Tracy would never go for that.”
“Guardianship isn’t the same as custody. Custody means the child lives with you; guardianship means you have legal say over him and whatever assets he has.”
Dominic smiled. “Genius! Friggin’ genius! We’re gonna win this!”
“Hold on a minute. I haven’t said I’ll take the case. Something like this is time-consuming and definitely not a sure thing. For me to take a case like this, I’d want more.”
“How much more?”
“Fifty percent.”
“Are you kidding me? That’s half of what I’d get!”
Hiram nodded. “Yes, it is, but if I don’t take the case, all you’ve got is one hundred percent of nothing.”
After a bit of bickering, Dominic agreed to the terms, and they started working on a strategy. Hiram suggested they throw in joint custody, because it gave the plea greater authenticity.
54
Dominic DeLuca
Hiram is a crook, I know that. But he’s a smart crook. The idea of filing for guardianship was nothing short of genius. It won’t matter whether Grandma left the farm to Lucas or me, because either way, I’ll have control of it.
The first thing I’ll do is sell the place and clear out of here. I keep thinking there’s a good life out there just waiting for me to come and claim it, and that’s exactly what I plan to do.
It kills me to give Hiram half of what I get. He’s good, but he isn’t worth that much. I figure I’ll wait and see what happens. If it turns out Grandma left the farm to me, then I’ll tell Hiram he gets nothing. If I already have the place, then why should I pay him for getting it?
Okay, he’d probably raise holy hell and threaten to sue me, but by then I’d be long gone, so who cares?
It sounds crazy, but seeing Tracy with that guy bothered me. I didn’t think it would, but it did. I guess, deep down, I always figured we’d get back together, but now that she’s hooked up with somebody else, it probably won’t happen.
I do miss her . . . sometimes. We were good together; she got me. Once I get the money for the farm, I think I’ll get myself a snazzy new car and show up on her doorstep with a bunch of roses or something. Then we’ll see how long this new guy lasts, especially after Tracy finds out I’m the one who’ll have guardianship of Lucas.
Once you’ve got a relationship like Tracy and I had, it doesn’t just disappear. It’s still there, but you gotta do something to bring it back to life. For guys, just saying we’re good with each other is enough, but women want more. I always thought Tracy was an exception, but she’s not, so I’ll do whatever I gotta do.
55
The Battle Begins
Alice’s funeral left Tracy feeling down. Although Alice had visited just once a week, knowing that she’d never come again caused a hole to open up in Tracy’s heart. After they left the church, she couldn’t face the thought of working, so she, Gabriel, and Lucas spent the afternoon at the lake. As they sat there reminiscing about the good fortune of having known Alice, Tracy promised herself that the next day she would get back to work and catch up on the Snip ’n Save ads.
The next day came, but inspiration did not come along with it. She went into her office and sat behind the computer, but simply couldn’t get started. It seemed of little importance whether the
font size for the Barn Yard Stables was twenty-four or twenty-eight points. After a while, she powered down the computer and took Lucas into the backyard, where they played catch for most of the afternoon.
After two days of not working, she woke on the third morning with a new determination. Before lunch, she had finished three ads and started a fourth.
“I only have time for a quick sandwich,” she told Lila. “Then it’s back to work.”
Lucas looked across the table, his mouth pulled into a pout. “You pwomised we’d go to the pawk.”
Tracy smacked her hand to her forehead. “Oh, my gosh, I did.” She gave a sideways glance at Lila. “Mama, do you think you could—”
Lila grinned. “Of course! I’ll take my darling boy to the park.”
Tracy gulped down the last few bites of her sandwich and hurried back into the office. A short while later she heard the front door slam and knew they were gone.
She polished off the ad for Fine’s Wines and moved on to Susan’s Boutique. She was positioning the illustration of a cameo brooch when the doorbell rang. As she hurried through the living room, she saw a sheriff’s department car parked at the curb, and her heart stopped.
She flung open the door. “What’s wrong?”
“Are you Tracy Briggs?” the officer asked.
“Yes,” she replied nervously. “Dear God, don’t tell me something—”
He handed her an envelope, politely said, “Have a nice day,” then turned and walked back down the walkway.
Feeling totally confused, Tracy stood there for a moment, then glanced down at the envelope. It was addressed to her, but the return address was the Magnolia Grove Courthouse.
Thinking there had to have been some mistake, she tore open the envelope and unfolded the packet of papers. On the first page in large bold type it read:
DeLuca vs Briggs
Petition for Guardianship/Legal Custody of Minor
Lucas Briggs DeLuca
For several minutes, Tracy was too stunned to do anything but stand there leafing through the papers.
The document charged that she had willfully and with malicious intent not included the biological father’s name on the child’s birth certificate, then kidnapped the baby and moved him out of state. It went on to say this was done without permission of the plaintiff, the child’s biological father, and it was thereby believed that the defendant, the child’s biological mother, should not be trusted to make sound decisions as to the minor’s welfare and financial circumstances. It stated that in an effort to right this wrong, the plaintiff had voluntarily relocated to Georgia in the hope of establishing a relationship with his son, but was summarily denied visitation. The third page went on to say the plaintiff was now seeking joint custody and legal guardianship to stabilize the situation and assure there would not be a recurrence of the incident.
By the time Tracy returned to the kitchen, her heart was pounding so furiously she thought it would burst out of her body. She dropped the document on the table, then dialed Meghan’s cell phone. It rang several times, then went to voice mail.
“Call me back right away,” Tracy said. “It’s important!”
Moments after she hung up, the phone rang.
“I was with a patient,” Meghan said. “What’s wrong?”
“I need you to take over the Snip ’n Save for a while so I can—”
“I knew it!” Meghan snapped. “You promised you’d run the magazine, and now because you’ve got something better to do, you’re looking to dump it back—”
Already on the verge of tears, Tracy cut in. “It’s not something better. Dominic is suing me for custody of Lucas, and I’ve got to fight it.”
“What?!”
“Yeah. He’s saying he wants joint custody and guardianship.”
“That’s ridiculous! He hasn’t cared enough to come and see Lucas for the past four years. Why would he want joint custody all of a sudden?”
Tracy brushed back the tears rolling down her face. “I don’t know. All I know is that he’s got a lawyer, and he’s taking this to court.”
“Well, then, we’ll get a lawyer and fight him in court,” Meghan said. “No sane judge or jury would give Dominic custody of Lucas once they find out how he’s acted!”
“He claims I kidnapped Lucas.”
“He can claim all he wants, but it won’t get him anywhere. I’m calling Prescott Anderson right now, so sit tight.”
Tracy heard a click; Meghan was gone.
She folded her arms on the kitchen table, then dropped her head and began to cry thundering sobs that racked her body like a tidal wave crashing ashore. When the phone rang ten minutes later, she gasped a near breathless hello.
“Tracy Briggs? This is Prescott Anderson of Algonquin Law. I just spoke with your sister, Meghan, and she asked that I represent you in this custody case with your ex-husband.”
“We were never married,” Tracy said tearfully.
Prescott gave a lighthearted chuckle. “All the better.”
He asked if Tracy could stop by his office later that afternoon and bring the documents she’d received.
By the time Tracy pulled herself together and got to the Algonquin Law building, it was almost five. The receptionist ushered her back to Prescott’s office, and they settled across the desk from one another. Tracy handed him the envelope, and he went through the papers one by one.
As he read, he asked questions, and little by little, Tracy told him the whole story, going back to when she and Dominic had first moved to Philadelphia.
“I really did think he’d marry me,” she said, “but one month turned into two and then three. When Lucas came along, I thought, married or not, we could still be a family.”
“Well, under normal circumstances, that would work, but once there’s a problem in the relationship, then legally you have limited rights.”
“Yeah, too bad I had to find out the hard way.”
She sat with her hands in her lap, nervously fingering her engagement ring as she told of how she’d found Dominic in bed with the babysitter and Lucas scampering about the apartment by himself.
“Mr. Anderson, do you have children?”
He nodded. “Two girls; the youngest is Lucas’s age.”
“Then you understand. You have to watch a toddler every minute; all it takes is turning your head and they can fall out a window or pull a table on top of themselves.”
He gave a thoughtful nod. “The terrible twos.”
“Lucas was only fourteen months old, and there he was running around the apartment with a wet diaper and no one watching him. That’s when I made up my mind to come home where I’ve got family to help me.”
“After you left, did Dominic know where you’d gone?”
“Yes. He called my mama’s house so many times, and he kept yelling and screaming that I stole his car.”
“Did you?”
“I didn’t exactly steal it. I kind of borrowed it to bring Lucas home to Georgia. And in any case, I shipped it back to him five days later.”
“Did you pay for the transport?”
Tracy laughed bitterly. “I’ll say. Hauling that wreck back to Philadelphia cost more than the car was worth, but at least it got him off my back.”
“After you left, did he ever try to visit Lucas? Ask to take him for the weekend? Anything like that?”
She shook her head. “Never.”
“What about cards or gifts? Did he remember Lucas’s birthday and send presents?”
“No.”
“In this claim, Mr. DeLuca says that you willfully and maliciously left his name off the child’s birth certificate. Is that true?”
Tracy dipped her head with a guilty-looking nod. “I’m afraid so. We had an argument the day I went into labor, and Dominic stormed out. I thought knowing that my labor was starting, he’d come back as soon as he cooled down. He didn’t. I went to the hospital alone. When I gave the nurse the baby’s name, I said Lucas Briggs because I
felt if Dominic couldn’t make time to be there for his son’s birth, he didn’t deserve to have any part of him.” She hesitated a moment, then added, “I thought once I got over being so angry with Dominic, I’d go back and add his name, but I never did.”
“That just might work in our favor,” Prescott said, then moved on to another question. After nearly two hours of going back and forth on every issue, he said he thought she had nothing to worry about.
“This feels like a nuisance lawsuit. Based on what you’ve told me, I don’t think he wants your son. My bet is he’s using this to get a bargaining point on something else.”
“From me? I don’t have anything he’d want.”
“Money, maybe? Community property?”
“The only thing I have is my job at the Snip ’n Save and Lucas. I’m sure he’s not after my job, so it has to be Lucas.”
Prescott shook his head. “My intuition is telling me that’s not it. He’s after something; we just don’t know what it is yet.”
“So what do we do?”
“We wait. He can’t possibly win this case, so sooner or later, he’ll make a play for whatever it is he really wants, and when he does, we’ll be ready.”
56
True Calling
It was almost eight o’clock when Tracy arrived home, and much to her surprise, Meghan’s car was in the driveway. She went into the kitchen and greeted Lila. As soon as they started speaking, Meghan came from the Snip ’n Save office and hurried into the kitchen. “So what happened?”
Before Tracy had a chance to talk, Lila shoved a plateful of food at her. “I won’t have you getting sick on me, so sit down and eat your dinner, then you can tell us all about the meeting.”
Tracy sat, peeled back the plastic wrap from her plate, and began eating. Earlier that afternoon, her stomach had been so queasy she thought she’d never again want to even see food, but oddly enough, she was now hungry. Meghan dropped into the chair across from Tracy, and Lila sat where she always sat: the chair closest to the counter, a spot where she could reach out and grab a forgotten utensil or missing saltshaker.
A Year of Extraordinary Moments (A Magnolia Grove Novel) Page 19