Shoved (Moonlit Lake Matchmaker #4)

Chapter 13

STORM

The excitement I felt at seeing her at my door quickly vanished when I saw her face. Something was wrong. Very wrong. I hoped nothing had happened to her adorable little girl.

“Tell me what’s happened, Serena.”

Seeing Serena trying so hard to hold it together, and then lose it in front of me, about did me in. I might be tough on the outside, but crying women made me uncomfortable. I’d do anything to make them stop. A surge of protectiveness moved through me like a tidal wave. Whoever hurt her and made her cry would have to answer to me.

I took her arm, led her into my office, and sat her in the chair across from my desk. Lulu followed and curled up at her feet. I sat in the chair next to her and waited for her crying to stop.

She grabbed a tissue, dried her eyes, and blew her nose. Then she took a deep breath and handed me an envelope. “I was on the front step of my shop when a guy came up and said my name. I asked if I could help him. He handed me this and said I was served.” She folded her hands in her lap to keep them from shaking. “It’s from my late husband’s parents. I’ve never even met them. I didn’t even think they knew about us.”

“Why wouldn’t they know about you? You were married to their son.”

“I met my husband when he was on leave from the Army. It was a whirlwind romance, and we eloped just before he was deployed to Afghanistan. He was estranged from his parents. Said they were terrible people, and he didn’t want me to meet them. That they would never be a part of our lives.”

“He didn’t tell you what was so terrible about them, or why they were estranged?”

“No. But a couple of months later, when I told him that I was pregnant, he said he didn’t want our child to be in contact with them. And if anything happened to him, I was not to go to the funeral. He didn’t want them to know about us.”

“But he still didn’t say why?”

“No. I was six months pregnant when he died. It was devastating, of course. But to be honest, I hardly knew the man. He was… an unexpected adventure. One that I don’t regret for a moment because it brought me Sadie.”

“Well, as the mother, you have the law on your side. Unless you’re an unfit mother and putting your child in danger, they cannot take her away from you.”

Family law was my least favorite. Part of me wanted to tell her to go somewhere else. But with a brand-new small-town law practice, I couldn’t pick and choose my cases anymore. Besides that, I was their best hope of beating this. The law firm on the top of the letter was from a big, prestigious firm in California. They’d have a whole team working on this. Money mustn’t be an object for these people. Which was likely how they found Serena and Sadie.

Her entire countenance brightened. “Really?”

“Really.” I moved to my desk, sat back in my chair, and grabbed a pen and legal pad to take notes. I tapped my pen against a pad of paper. “But they could make a case for having a relationship with their granddaughter. They could be granted visitation, or possibly partial custody. I’ll investigate them and see if I can find out why your late husband was so against them. Depending on what I find, I may be able to use it to keep them away from Sadie.” I studied her reaction, wondering what the story really was. “But since we know nothing about either your husband or his family, we don’t know what we might uncover.”

“So you’ll take the case?”

I really wanted to tell her no. Didn’t want to get more involved in her life. Distance. I’d wanted to keep my distance. But the words flew out of my mouth before I could stop them. “Yeah. I’ll take the case.”

She jumped up, flinging herself over the desk and throwing her arms around my neck in excitement. “Oh, thank you. I was thinking I’d have to pack up, take Sadie, and disappear to keep them from taking her from me. I’m so grateful to hear that won’t be necessary.”

Caught off guard by her exuberant response, I cleared my throat, and gently removed her hands from my neck. This was a serious case, and it was imperative for me to keep this professional and focus on what she was hiring me to do. Attraction could not get in the way. “Not necessary and not a good idea, either. So don’t do that. Did they ever try to contact you before you were served with this summons and petition?”

She sank back down in her chair. Her energy seemed to drop once again. “I received a letter in the mail a couple months ago, but I threw it away. I probably should have read it. That was stupid.” She pursed her lips and shook her head with a weary sigh. Regret seemed to weigh heavily on her shoulders, causing them to sag. “My late husband reiterated many times that his parents were not a part of our lives and never would be. He was adamant about it. When the letter came, all I could hear were his words repeating in my head.” She brought her hand to her temples and groaned. “If only I would have opened it and taken a look. At least I’d have known what they were thinking. I would have had a heads up that this could happen.”

“Don’t worry, Serena, and stop beating yourself up. The law is on your side. If they make any other contact with you, whether by mail, phone, text, email or in person, let me know. This is between the attorneys now.”

She let out a big exhale. “Okay.” Her face was still tense with worry, and her eyes were glossy with emotion. “I can’t lose her, Storm. Promise me you won’t let them take my baby.”

I hated to make promises about a case because so many factors play into the outcome. There’s never a guarantee. But I wanted to give her one.

“I’ll do everything in my power to protect you and Sadie. That I can promise you.”

She accepted that with a nod.

“Serena, just so we don’t have any surprises, I have to ask… Is there anything in your past that they could use against you to try to paint you as a bad mother?”

“No. Nothing. I’ve never done drugs. Got good grades in school. Never so much as had a speeding ticket. Always worked and paid my bills on time. The most reckless and impulsive thing I’ve ever done was marry their son.” She took a deep breath and sat back down in the chair. “I met him during a difficult time in my life. I was in college. My parents divorced, my dad left, and my mom took off for an ashram in India for her own Eat, Pray, Love experience. I felt very alone and abandoned. Then I met Ty. That’s it. That’s my boring life in a nutshell.”

I paused for a moment to process what she’d said, and her raw vulnerability and strength to admit it. There was a lot more to this woman than I realized. And definitely more than she gave herself credit for. “Okay, that’s good. I just need a bit of information from you so I can get started. I’ll look into your husband’s background and find out more about your in-laws.” I pulled out a form from a folder on my desk. “Fill this out the best that you can. I’ll start digging into this tonight. I’ll call you when I know something. Call me anytime if you have questions or if anything happens.”

“Thanks, Storm. I appreciate you taking this on. I didn’t know what I was going to do.” She touched my arm and her gaze met mine. Time seemed to stand still for a moment. Then she quickly removed her hand and looked at the clock. “Gosh, it’s late. I better get home to Sadie.”

“I’ll be in touch,” I said as she walked toward the door.

I sat at my desk, stroking my chin. This should be a simple open and shut case, but I still needed to give it due diligence to make sure that happened. Assumptions were dangerous in any case.

Research was one of my favorite parts of the job. At the firm, I’d always had a paralegal to do most of that, but until my practice grew, I was doing it all. I looked forward to having someone to field phone calls and handle the other office tasks, but the research…maybe I’d keep that for myself.

I spent a few minutes checking into my client. Everything she said checked out. She was squeaky clean. Not that I expected to find anything on her, but you just never knew.

A few more clicks of my keyboard and I hit paydirt, uncovering a goldmine of unexpected details. Hmm… It seemed the late husband was lucky he died in combat and not on the streets. The guy was trouble with a capital T, forced into the military to avoid jail time.

How did a woman like Serena, all sunshine and flowers, and the poster child of a perfect parent, marry a guy like that? Maybe what they say about the appeal of the bad boy was true. Maybe that was why she was so resistant to my charms.

Doesn’t matter, she’s a client now.

Right. Now that she’s my client, any thoughts I might have had about asking her out were off the table. I was the epitome of professionalism and would never cross that line. Not even for those sparkling blue eyes.

Why did I feel disappointed?

Before I could begin another search, I felt a tug on my pant leg. Lulu was pulling me toward the door. I’d gotten so wrapped up in my work that I completely forgot about my dog. Without this furry little alarm clock, I’d have probably kept working until midnight.

“Sorry, Lu. You’re right. It’s time to go home.” I closed my laptop, stuffed it into my bag, and put my coat on. “Let’s go get some food.”