She chuckled and reached for her mocha. The bright taste of peppermint lingered on her tongue. “How did our boy seem this morning?” Simon had been so subdued that Hez had taken him to his condo to play video games after church yesterday, and Hez had kept him overnight.
“Still withdrawn. I encouraged him to study last night for his math test today, but he gazed off into space more than he did at his textbook. I doubt he’ll pull that B back up to an A this semester.”
Worry tried to push out her morning euphoria, but she refused to let it spoil this moment. “Healing will take some time. He misses his mother. So do I.” The last sentence lodged behind her lips.
“I know you do, and I’m here for you. We’ll both be there for him.” A frown settled on his forehead.
Was that worry lurking behind his smile? “What’s wrong?”
“I hate to spoil your morning, but we have a problem.”
Theweclued her in on the direction of the issue. “Is there an issue with the adoption proceedings? Jess appointed me as Simon’s guardian. The court will surely listen to her wishes.”Though Savannah had told herself that over and over, there had been so many hits in the past eight months that she kept waiting for the next shoe to fall.
He set his cup on the desk. “Brace yourself, babe. We always knew one person had a stronger claim to him than us.”
Her stomach bottomed out. “You found Erik Andersen?”
“Worse. He came out of hiding on his own and is armed with one of the top attorneys in the state. He’s filed a challenge to our adoption petition.”
She set a hand to her neck and stepped back. “We can fight him, can’t we? I mean, he’s a criminal.”
“He hasn’t been convicted of anything yet.” Hez’s jaw hardened, and his frown deepened. “It’s going to be a battle.”
“We have to win,” she whispered. “I just lost Jess, and Simon needs us.” There was no way she’d let a lowlife like Erik Andersen raise Simon. Her nephew needed and deserved parents who would love him and be good role models. He was the last piece of her sister, and in her heart he was already their son. She couldn’t lose him now.
Chapter 3
The minute they got near Boo Radley’s lair in Tupelo Pond, Savannah let go of Hez’s hand and wrapped Marley’s leash several times around her palm. Twilight had nearly obscured the gator’s scaly back. “Don’t let Cody get too close to Boo,” she told Simon, who had Cody’s leash. It was mating season and the bull gator was trying to impress his new love, Pika. Right on cue, Boo slipped into the water and slapped his massive tail.
The streetlights around the path flickered on, and Marley stiffened when he caught sight of his nemesis. “Sit.”
Her Aussie obeyed with reluctance in every line of his black fur. Cody hadn’t noticed Boo Radley yet since a pigeon had caught his attention. Simon had taken Hez’s dog as his own, though Cody still seemed to think Hez was his ultimate authority and rarely listened to the boy’s commands. Who was she kidding? The dog rarely even obeyed Hez, who had rescued him three years ago. She still wasn’t sure what breed to call Cody with his Chihuahua legs, oversized Great Dane ears, and greyhound body. His crooked Chesapeake Bay retriever tail added to his comical appearance. But he was a lovable little dog with his cowlicks and crazy-tooth grin. And he’d been a lifeline for her nephew to cling to in his grief.
Hez squinted in the dusk. “I think I see Pika on the other side of the pond. She’s heading his way.”
The appearance of the female gator had caused a stir among the students at TGU during mating season when Boo had caught her eye. Her bullet shape stirred the water as she approached the male gator, and they rubbed snouts.
Simon watched in fascination. “Gators are lit. Maybe I’ll be a biologist or something when I grow up.”
Savannah exchanged a long glance with Hez. The perfect opening. They’d agreed she would take the lead on the unpleasant topic that had to be addressed. “You’ll have to bring your grades up if you want to be a biologist. You just failed a math test.”
Simon grimaced. “I don’t need math if I want to be a biologist. Just lots of science classes.”
“All your grades matter for college, and you’ll use math the rest of your life.” She kept her tone gentle. “I know things haven’t been easy, Simon, but letting your grades slip will just add to your trouble and frustration. I can have Will tutor you if you need help.”
His chin came up, and his blue eyes, so like Ella’s, narrowed. “I don’t need Will—I don’t need anyone. Math doesn’t matter to me.”
Will Dixon, Simon’s tutor and the police chief’s son, had mentioned Simon had been increasingly withdrawn and uncommunicative lately, just like he’d been with her and Hez. He’d been spending more and more time alone in his room with the door shut, and she needed to fix that.
She reached out to brush his hair off his forehead, and he flinched from her touch. She lowered her hand. “I love you, Simon. We both do, and we want to help.” The streetlight’sglow illuminated the bruise under his eye. “How’d you get the shiner?”
He knelt and pulled Cody to his chest. The dog’s snaggle tooth showed in a doggy grin at the attention. “I just tripped at school. I don’t want to talk about it.”
She felt the blow of the lie in her chest. “That’s not what happened, Simon. The school called me. You want to try the truth this time?”
He stayed bent over the dog. “Fine, I got into a fight with Liam, who made fun of me for using the wordposhinstead offancyduring English. I shoved him and he hit me in the eye, so I jumped him.”
“But you guys are friends, right? I’ve heard you talk about Liam Jackson, and you guys have hung out to shoot hoops sometimes.”
