Just as Hez had expected. “There would be a trial, correct?”
“Yes. This is a factual question that needs to be determined in court.”
Hez had to ask, but he didn’t want to hear the answer. “Trials are expensive, aren’t they?”
Scott nodded. “Yes, very expensive. I’ll do everything I canto keep my bills down, but set aside fifty thousand dollars. At least.”
Savannah’s sharp intake of breath revealed that this was news to her. For his part, Hez was surprised at how low Scott’s estimate was. “And what would you say our odds of winning are?”
Scott thought for a moment, then lifted one shoulder. “Maybe 10 percent. No more than 20.”
Savannah swallowed hard. “It’s worth it if we have a chance to save Simon.”
“What’s the downside if we lose?” Hez asked.
Scott looked him in the eye. “Kids usually pay the highest price in these cases. Simon will see his father portrayed in the worst possible light, and then he’ll have to go live with him. Also, Erik is likely to completely cut off your contact with Simon, of course.”
Now for the question this had all been leading up to. “What do you recommend?”
“We should insist on a DNA test to prove paternity. But if that confirms that Erik is Simon’s father...” Scott grimaced. “I hate to say it, but I recommend that you try to find a way to make a deal with Erik.”
Chapter 9
This cannot be happening.
A dull pain throbbed behind Savannah’s eyes that even the salty scent of Mobile Bay and the lull of the waves couldn’t ease. Seated on a weathered bench on the pier at their new home, she and Hez ate their beignets in stunned silence as the sunset’s gold and orange hues settled over the water. The news had been too overwhelming to wrap her head around.
She tossed the last of her treat to the seagulls, watching their avid black eyes before she turned toward Hez. “We can’t lose Simon, Hez, we just can’t! Scott has to have missed something. Erik is a criminal.”
The worried crease on his forehead deepened. “Babe, Scott Foster is an excellent attorney with an illustrious career here in Alabama. Based on initial research I did, I thought we’d hear exactly what he told us. I’d hoped I was wrong, of course, but I trust Scott’s expertise.”
She clenched her hands into fists. “I want to tell Erik that he’ll take Simon over my dead body. I will fight this with everything in me.”
Hez frowned. “We don’t want to tip our hand with Erik. Passions run high around custody issues, and the last thingwe need is to make him fight harder just to ‘win.’” He put air quotes around the last word. “Let’s wait for any discussion with him until we have more evidence. If we can dig up some actual proof about his criminal activity, we can terminate his parental rights while he’s in prison and proceed with the adoption. And besides, we both know Erik doesn’t really want custody of Simon—he wants Jess’s money. If we slow-walk the whole process, maybe he’ll be more apt to take a reasonable settlement—and maybe we won’t need a settlement at all because he’ll be behind bars.”
“I suppose so. We don’t have a real choice.” It felt wrong to entertain the idea of giving that man a single cent of Jess’s money, but Simon’s well-being was more important than ensuring he had a fortune in his bank account. “Jess entrusted Simon to us. We have to save him from Erik.”
“Our best hope would be if the DNA test showed they weren’t related. Think back to your knowledge of your sister. Are you certain Erik is Simon’s father?”
She forced herself to run through the moment she’d discovered Simon’s existence. “Jess said something about never wanting Erik to know he had a son. And the timing is right. Jess never dated anyone after she and Erik broke up.”
“That you know of.”
“Yes.” His reminder that she hadn’t known her sister as well as she’d thought stung in the worst way.
“What should we say to Simon about all of this?”
She thought for a moment. “Nothing. At least not yet. He would just get upset and worry about something that will hopefully never happen. He finally quit asking when my dadwas going to come see him. I had to explain to him that you can’t ever trust anything he says.”
Simon is used to adults keeping secrets from him and being untrustworthy.Savannah winced at the thought, but it was true. Jess hadn’t been any more open with her son than anyone else. She had likely carried plenty of secrets to the grave with her. Had some of them involved the Willards?
A gull hopped closer to try to yank the last bite of Hez’s beignet, and he tossed it down. “I can see the wheels turning. What are you thinking?”
“I talked to Nora this morning about Michael Willard. Our discussion made me realize there’s probably a lot I don’t know about Jess’s involvement with that family. She seemed to love them, and they loved her. Maybe everything my dad told me was lies.” Nora had warned her about getting on Michael’s bad side, so Savannah needed to keep that in mind. The only way to know the truth was to dig it out.
“Is there anyone around who knew about your mom’s relationship with Michael? A best friend, a relative?”
She shook her head. “Mom was an only child, and none of her cousins lived around here. Mom never talked about it either, but Dad had plenty to say.”
