Hero Dad

by Marta Perry

  At least he seemed to be taking her concerns about her father seriously. She was relieved. Perhaps the emotional meltdown she’d had that night had made him think about the gravity of the situation.

  “But you don’t really want to be a lieutenant.”

  She wanted to know more—to know how he felt inside about the move he’d committed to. He’d sacrifice anything for Davy—she knew that without asking.

  He shrugged. “It’s not a big deal. If it makes things easier for my son, that’s a small price to pay.”

  He’d said exactly what she was thinking. “You’ll be a good lieutenant.”

  “Maybe.” He turned toward her a little. “I guess everything that’s happened lately has kind of pushed me out of my comfort zone.”

  Like holding me while I cried, Seth? Did that push you out of your comfort zone?

  “So this is just another step in that direction.”

  “I guess.” For a moment he stared down at his hands. Then he swung to face her, his eyes serious, warming when they rested on her. “Okay, I’m hedging. That’s not all of it.”

  Her heart started to thud at the look in his face, and her breath caught.

  “What is?” Her voice sounded breathless.

  “You.” His fingers closed over hers, sending impulses racing along her nerves and straight to her heart. “I don’t know why, Julie. But when you tell me I make a good leader, I start believing it.”

  She shouldn’t let his words, his touch, affect her so strongly. “The others think so, too.” It came out in a whisper.

  “I don’t care about that.” His grip tightened. “I care about what you think.”

  That wasn’t the same as saying he cared about her, but it was close enough to make her heart race. To make her yearn to tell him what she felt. His gaze was intent on her face, and she felt as if she were falling into the depths of that look.

  “Seth, I—”

  “Hey, Seth.” Dave’s voice echoed up the stairwell. “There’s a guy here looking for you.”

  Seth drew back, blinking as if he were confused. He shook his head and then pushed his chair back, standing.

  “Okay,” he called back. “Send him up.”

  He glanced at her. “Sorry,” he said softly.

  She nodded, trying to smile. Was he sorry for the interruption? Or sorry for what had almost happened?

  Maybe this visitor, whoever he was, had better timing than he’d have imagined. Seth gripped the back on the chair with one hand, not letting himself look at Julie. He didn’t want to see what might be in her eyes.

  He’d been on dangerous ground there for a moment, with flames closing in around him on all sides. He’d almost succumbed to the feelings that raged inside him.

  Back up, he ordered himself. Anyone with an ounce of sense would say that a relationship between him and Julie would be a disaster. He knew that. She undoubtedly did, too.

  Still, he couldn’t help longing.

  The man who emerged at the top of the steps was young, with a quick, curious glance that took in the whole area before focusing on him. “Are you Seth Flanagan?”

  He hadn’t seen the guy before, he was sure of that. “That’s me.”

  “Glad to meet you.” He held out his right hand, and Seth extended his automatically.

  The man slapped a paper into it, then skipped nimbly toward the stairs. “Consider yourself served.”

  “What?” He stared blankly at the folded paper in his hand, and then he took a quick step after the guy. “What is all this?”

  But it was too late. He was gone, clattering down the steps and out the door in a moment.

  “What is it?” Apprehension colored Julie’s voice. She moved to stand next to him. “What did he give you?”

  He unfolded the paper, unable to prevent the sense of dread that settled heavily into him. For a long moment he stared at the words as if they’d been written in a language he didn’t know. Slowly his brain began to make sense of them.

  “Your father is taking me to court.” He looked at Julie. “He’s suing for custody of Davy.”

  The color drained from her face. He reached out to grab her before she could topple over, and any brief thought that she’d been a part of this vanished.

  “No. No.” Her voice was choked.

  “You didn’t know.” He was sure of it. He just had to say it.

  “I didn’t know.” Shock threaded the words. Then her gaze leapt to his face. “I didn’t know, Seth.”

  Anger worked its way through his shock, flaming up to warm him, making his mind start to work again.

  “He used you. You realize that, don’t you? He used you to get information about us.”

  Her lips trembled for a moment. She pressed them together. “I’ve told you everything I knew about him and what he was doing.”

  “You didn’t tell me he’d try to get custody.” He had to strike out at someone for this, and she was the only one he could blame.

  A flame of answering anger flickered in her eyes. “I’m the one who warned you about him, remember?”

  “You’re also the one who lied to us.”

  She drew back as if he’d hit her. “You can’t think I had anything to do with this.”

  “No.” He had to admit that. He knew her that well, at least. “But you’re the one who convinced us not to take any action on your father’s interest in Davy. And look what happened.”

  “I’m sorry.” Grief moved in her eyes. “I believed my father meant it when he said he only wanted Davy to have his proper share of his estate. I shouldn’t have. I should have known.”

  “You believed. I believed. It doesn’t matter now.” He slapped the paper down on the table. “All that matters is saving my son.”

  She pressed one hand to her temple. “An attorney. You need a good attorney, right away. Your father said he’d contact someone.”

  “He did.” He yanked out his cell phone, frowning at Julie. “I’m going to set up a meeting now. I can’t waste any more time doing nothing.”

  If that blow hurt her, she seemed determined not to show it. “I’d like to be there.”

  “Why?” He had a quick, instinctive reaction to shut her out, to keep this only in the family. They were the people he trusted.

  “I might be of use.”

  “How? What could you do?”

  She straightened her shoulders, her eyes somber as she met his gaze. She didn’t flinch.

  “I let my father deceive me once. It won’t happen again. I know his tactics. That could help your lawyer.”

  “You want me to believe you’d actually stand up against him, if it came to that?”

  He’d thought she was pale before. Now she was dead white. The only thing alive in her face was the passion in her eyes.

  “I’ll do whatever I have to do to save Davy. Including testifying against my father in a court of law.”

  Would she? He felt a flicker of pity for her. She might want to but still not be able to after the way her father had conditioned her to fear him.

  He suppressed the pity. He couldn’t think of anyone or anything right now but Davy.

  “You might have to.”

  She nodded, the movement stiff and jerky. “I will.”

  Julie sat on the straight-backed chair in the attorney’s office that afternoon, mentally contrasting this place with the hallowed precincts of Justin, Bradford and Bradford, her father’s attorneys. This wasn’t even as big as their foyer. Or as expensively furnished.

  That wouldn’t matter, of course, if Calvin Morton was competent. Unfortunately, she was beginning to think he wasn’t.

  Joe, Siobhan and Seth occupied the other seats in front of Morton’s gray metal desk, listening intently to one cautious platitude after another.

  “This whole thing is ridiculous, isn’t it?” Siobhan’s eyes sought reassurance. “No judge would take a child away from his own father, would he, Cal?”

  Morton ran a hand over thinning dark hair,
as if to be sure it stayed in place. “I’m sure Seth doesn’t have anything to worry about.”

  “I’ve been served with a custody suit.” Seth leaned forward, his body tense. “I’d call that something to worry about.”

  “Well, of course, I mean, it always pays to be careful.” He shot a wary glance at Julie. “You never can be absolutely sure what might happen once you get into court. Maybe it would be better to come to some agreement with Mr. Alexander before that happens.”

  “How can you say that?” Seth looked ready to launch himself across the desk. “I’m not agreeing to anything that gives that man power over my son.”

  “Compromise is not giving up,” Morton said. “Maybe he’d agree to just have the boy for a visit a few times a year.”

  “No agreement.” Seth’s voice was flat. “No compromise. We fight this.”

  “If you’re sure that’s really what you want…” Morton let that trail off uncertainly.

  One thing she was sure of was that her father’s attorneys could eat this man for breakfast. Family friend or not, Morton wasn’t in the right league for this case, and he probably knew it.

  “You might want to think about getting an attorney in Baltimore,” she suggested. “I’m sure Mr. Morton would agree that since the case is being brought there, it would be good to have someone who knows the system.”

  Morton looked as if she’d just thrown him a lifeline. “That’s an excellent suggestion, Ms. Alexander. Excellent.”

  Joe frowned. “How would we know who to hire? We don’t know any big-shot lawyers in Baltimore.”

  “Perhaps I could help you find the right person.” The Flanagans were going to need a barracuda of a litigator if this came to court, and several names flickered through her mind. “I’ve lived in the city most of my life.”

  “Good idea,” Morton said quickly. Everything about his body language said he’d like to see this troublesome matter walk right out of his office. “I’m sure you’ll find someone. Of course, you know it will be expensive.”

  “We’ll handle it,” Joe said shortly.

  They didn’t have any idea how expensive this could be. Her father’s attorneys could drag this thing out until the Flanagans were drained dry.

  Well, that wasn’t going to happen. It would be a pleasure to use the money her father had settled on her to fight him on this.

  “You’d better pass this along to whoever you get.” Morton handed an envelope across the desk to Seth.

  Seth took it warily. “What is it?”

  “A subpoena. They’re trying to get hold of your late wife’s medical records.”

  The Flanagans just looked puzzled. They didn’t understand. Cold settled into her heart. But she did.

  “Why on earth would they want Lisa’s medical records?” Siobhan leaned toward Morton, clearly expecting him to have answers. “This is about Davy. Lisa died almost three years ago.”

  “I’m sure it’s nothing.” Morton waved his hands as if to dismiss it. “Nothing at all. They can’t expect to gain any advantage from those old records.”

  She didn’t want to say it, but she had to. “I think I know what they’re up to.”

  Siobhan shifted the puzzled gaze to her. Julie tried to keep her eyes on Siobhan. She didn’t want to see the pain in Seth’s eyes.

  “They might hope to prove that Lisa wasn’t properly treated after Davy was born.” She tried to choose the words carefully. “That perhaps her condition led to her death.”

  “Condition? What condition?” Joe shot the question at her. “She had a little case of the baby blues, that’s all. So what?”

  “If they could prove that her postpartum depression wasn’t treated—”

  “She means they’ll try to prove that Lisa killed herself.” Seth’s voice was harsher than she’d ever heard it. “That’s it, isn’t it, Julie? You think they’ll say that I contributed to her death because I didn’t see to it that she received the care that would have saved her life.”

  “That’s nonsense,” Siobhan said quickly. “You weren’t to blame. Anyway, it was an accident.”

  Seth’s gaze bored into Julie as if his mother hadn’t spoken. As if they were the only two people in the room.

  “That might be what they’re trying to prove,” she admitted. “We all know it’s not true, but they could try to use it against you.”

  “Do we know it’s not true?” His words seemed splintered from rock.

  Her heart felt as if it were breaking into pieces. “Yes,” she said. “You’re not to blame for what happened to Lisa.”

  The words lay between them, stark and painful—the words he’d spoken to her when he talked about Lisa’s death. When he’d blamed himself.

  He stared at her, his eyes dark with pain. “Was that part of the information you gave your father, Julie?”

  They both knew what he was talking about. No one else needed to know.

  “I didn’t tell him anything about it.” She wouldn’t beg him to believe her. She could only hope he knew the truth when he heard it.

  He held her eyes an instant longer. Then he gave a curt nod. She could breathe again.

  Seth turned to his parents. Maybe he’d already realized that Morton wasn’t going to be any use to them.

  “Julie can find us a good lawyer in the city. In the meantime, I’m going to Baltimore. I’m going to see Ronald Alexander for myself.”

  “No,” Siobhan said quickly. “I don’t think that’s a good idea at all, Seth. Let the lawyers handle it.”

  “Really, I wouldn’t advise—” Morton’s voice petered out.

  “I have to.” Seth stood. “Take care of Davy for me.”

  She couldn’t stop him. She also couldn’t let him go alone. Everything was over between them, but she still couldn’t stand safely back from this battle.

  Somehow she had to find the courage to do what she could for Davy, even if that meant defying her father. Even if it meant splitting with him forever.

  “I’ll go with you.” She forced herself out of the chair, moving as slowly as if she were very old. “I’ll go with you to see my father.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  They’d been silent in the car most of the way to Baltimore. Dusk had fallen, and lights came on in the buildings they passed. The beltway was a long stream of double headlamps as people headed home or out for the evening.

  Julie leaned her head back against the headrest and watched Seth’s hands on the steering wheel. He had to be tense, but it didn’t show in his driving. He did that the way he did everything—competently, safely. One would always feel safe in his hands.

  No. She turned her mind away from that painful thought. She couldn’t think about being a part of Seth’s life, because it wasn’t going to happen. Too much pain lay between them to allow that.

  Perhaps Seth felt as numb as she did right now. That was why she hadn’t spoken. She couldn’t make her mind work enough to form any words except for the most elemental prayer.

  Please, Lord. Please, Lord. Davy is Your precious child. Show us how to protect him.

  She leaned forward, her stomach cramping. “Take the next exit off to the right.”

  He nodded. “Thanks.” He glanced toward her. “And thanks for coming with me.”

  “I’m not sure how much good I can do, but I’ll try.”

  She couldn’t let Seth go into this alone. She clung to that truth. No matter what else she could or couldn’t do, she would be with him when he confronted her father.

  They turned onto the wide avenue that announced they’d moved into one of the oldest and richest of Baltimore’s suburbs. Seth let out a low whistle as they drove down the curving street.

  “Pretty fancy neighborhood.”

  Through wrought-iron gates, Julie glimpsed a pink-and-white Victorian concoction that looked like a wedding cake. “Most of the houses date from the early 1800s, but a few are more recent, constructed to look as if they belong.”

  She must sound like
an idiot, talking about architecture, but it was better than talking about why they were here.

  “Let me guess,” he said. “Yours was the real thing.”

  “Not ours.” She thought of that cold excuse for a home. “It was always our father’s house, not ours.”

  “Even so.” Seth’s voice held an odd note. “Lisa never gave me a clue that she came from a life like this.”

  “She wanted to forget it.” Did you want to forget me, too, Lisa?

  “It’s a far cry from what she had with me.”

  Now she understood what that tone was in his voice. He was imagining that Lisa had compared what he gave her unfavorably with what she’d had here. She had to make him understand that wasn’t so.

  “There’s a passage of scripture that says something like, ‘Better a meal of herbs where love is than a banquet filled with envy and malice.’ Believe me, Lisa cherished what she had with you.” Her heart clenched, and she struggled to keep her voice even. “With you, Lisa was loved. That isn’t just something. It’s everything.”

  “I wish—” He shook his head. “I wish I’d pushed her more to tell me about her past. Maybe if I had—”

  “Don’t.” She interrupted him sharply, and he glanced toward her in surprise at her tone. “You’re letting yourself feel guilty for Lisa’s death. Don’t do that.”

  His fingers curled around the steering wheel. “I can’t pretend about it, even to make myself feel better. Or make you feel better.”

  His words were like a separate little arrow in her heart. She fought to overcome the pain.

  “We might both have failed Lisa, and we might spend the rest of our lives regretting what we did or didn’t do. That’s not my point now.”

  “What is?” His voice had hardened.

  “My father has an innate ability to detect any weakness in the people he deals with. Including his children. If you let him sense your feelings of guilt, he’ll use that against you. Believe me, I know.”

  Before he could respond, she leaned forward and pointed. “It’s the next gate on the right. Just pull up far enough that the television camera can pick up your image.”