39
Three weeks later, Lou found herself back in Dublin, standing in the lobby of the district court with Aidan and Declan. The hearing was scheduled for ten in the morning, so they’d driven up to Dublin yesterday and stayed in a hotel overnight. It was a shame Lou had been too hyped up about today to enjoy it. Aidan had left Shane in charge of the restaurant, and Jack and Bo were having a sleepover at Inch with Liam and Cara. Sheena had wanted to come to support Lou and had arrived on the train last night and stayed with a friend. Of course, Lou hadn’t told Jack anything about what was happening today. As far as the children were concerned, she and Aidan were just having a night away as people who are dating sometimes do. She hoped he’d never have to find out the truth.
The last three weeks had passed surprisingly quickly once she threw her energy into the fight and focused on gathering evidence for her case. She’d called Rita and Karen, and other friends and colleagues who’d helped out with Jack over the years and could all bear witness to the fact that Rob had never been a part of his life. She’d also spent hours scrolling forensicallythrough the messages on her phone and taking screenshots of conversations to pass on to Declan.
‘Lou!’ She looked up and her heart leaped as she saw Rita and Karen coming towards her. She hugged them both in turn and introduced them to Aidan and Declan. She’d already given Declan their names as witnesses and he welcomed them and gave them a quick pep talk about how to behave in court and briefed them on the proceedings. Then he and Aidan discreetly stepped away to give Lou some time with her friends.
‘You look amazing, Lou!’ Karen said.
‘You do,’ Rita agreed. ‘The country obviously agrees with you.’
‘Yeah, and I think we can all see the attraction now. Oh my God, Lou – Aidan!’ Karen widened her eyes and dropped her jaw.
‘I know.’ Lou smiled smugly. ‘How lucky am I?’
‘If there are more where he came from, I might be tempted to move to the country myself,’ Rita joked.
‘It’s so good to see you two,’ Lou said. She only wished she’d visited them earlier and hadn’t waited for a day like this. She resolved to fix that when all this was over.
She forgot her nerves as she caught up with her friends. But too soon her case was called and Declan came to bring her into the courtroom. She spotted Sheena arriving just before the door closed behind them and gave her a quick wave.
The fluttering in her stomach returned as soon as she saw Rob seated at a table with his solicitor and she was grateful for the calm, steadying presence of Declan beside her.
As the applicant, Rob spoke first and Lou was forced to listen to a litany of barefaced lies as he presented his case. She couldn’t help panicking when he claimed she’d cut him out of Jack’s life and the only reason he didn’t have any evidence of his relationship with his son was because she hadn’t allowed him tohave one. It was all she could do not to stand up and howl at the unfairness of his accusations, but Declan had told her not to respond and somehow, she managed to keep her mouth shut.
She did, however, have to stifle a gasp when he claimed he’d paid her maintenance throughout Jack’s life. When the judge looked for evidence of the payments, he claimed he’d made them in cash.
‘I know it was stupid of me,’ he said, ‘but that was what she wanted.’
As the proceedings continued, though, Lou’s faith in the process grew. Declan challenged every utterance Rob made, picking holes in his story, and she could see the judge wasn’t convinced by him. A matronly middle-aged woman with a no-nonsense attitude, Lou had liked her immediately.
Her confidence increased when it was Declan’s turn, the solid evidence he presented in stark contrast to Rob’s lies and unfounded accusations. He displayed text messages between her and Rob when she’d arranged for him to see Jack; he had dates and times and witnesses. Karen and Rita both took the stand, backing up all Lou’s claims that Rob had been an absent father for almost the whole of Jack’s life. Rita’s tone was defiant as she told the judge that Lou had been a single parent as long as she’d known her and had had no support from Rob financially or otherwise. Lou smiled at her gratefully as she stepped down from the box.
Then, to Lou’s surprise, Declan called Sheena. ‘Lou has many friends, colleagues and neighbours who wanted to be character witnesses on her behalf,’ he told the judge. ‘However, being mindful of Your Honour’s time, they’ve appointed one person as their spokesman. Sheena McBride will be speaking on behalf of the following.’ He picked up a piece of paper and read from it. ‘Aidan McBride, Bo McBride – a minor – Abbie McBride, Finn McBride, Liam McBride, Victoria O’Leary, Trina Walsh, ErinBoylan, Shane Bannon, Owen Barry, Orla Byrne, Ingrid…’ Lou’s heart squeezed as he read the litany of names.
Then Sheena took the stand. ‘Hello. As Declan said, I’m speaking on behalf of all of us. We haven’t known Lou long. She only moved to Dingle a couple of months ago. But we know herwell, and I can tell you she’s an amazing mother and a fantastic advocate for her child. She works incredibly hard to provide for her son and make a life for the two of them, and she’ll always do what’s best for Jack. She’s become a valued member of our community as a friend, a neighbour, a colleague… My family and I are especially grateful to her because she saved my granddaughter’s life recently.’
The judge raised her eyebrows questioningly at Sheena, prompting her to say more.
‘She was choking,’ Sheena explained, ‘and Lou performed the Heimlich manoeuvre.’
‘Oh. Well done,’ the judge said to Lou. ‘Good for you.’
‘I can’t say anything about Mr Boland,’ Sheena continued, ‘because we haven’t seen hide nor hair of him since Lou and Jack have been in Dingle. But I think that says it all about him, actually.’
Tears welled in Lou’s eyes and she swallowed hard. She was pretty sure Sheena wasn’t supposed to make disparaging remarks about the other side, but no one called her on it.
All Rob had managed to achieve today was to show himself up as a deadbeat father, and Lou wasn’t surprised when the judge not only denied his application for guardianship, but warned him about lying in court and gave him a stern talking-to about paying child support, making it plain she hadn’t believed a word he’d said all morning.
Outside, on the court steps, Lou couldn’t stop crying as she hugged and thanked everyone. Finally, Aidan pulled her intohis arms. ‘I can’t believe all these people came out for me,’ she sobbed, burying her face in his neck.
‘Of course they would.’ He rubbed her arm soothingly.
‘Well, I think we could all do with a drink,’ Sheena said, coming up to them. ‘Lunch, everyone?’
Lou nodded, smiling, unable to speak she was so choked up.
Just then, out of the corner of her eye she saw Rob coming down the steps and slinking away, not looking right or left, careful not to catch anyone’s eye. He cut a pathetic figure, and she almost felt sorry for him as she watched him walk away alone, his shoulders hunched. He’d been defeated, but she felt no great sense of triumph over him because she realised there’d been nothing at stake for him today. It had just been a roll of the dice to him and he’d never understand what he’d lost in that courtroom. It was so much more than money – so much better than that.
