Page 85 of Trust No One

Tension spiked. “What? Why would she want that?”

“Because Molly’s father allegedly tried to kill her.”

“Gabe didn’t try to kill Maria. And Molly is Gabe’s child, too,” Edith insisted. “He’s been convicted of nothing.”

“This is Maria’s choice,” I said.

“She can’t decide that alone. Gabe has parental rights.”

“I have a verbal order,” Judson said. “And Raine has a will that designates her as Molly’s guardian.”

“Maria’s not dead,” Edith said. “None of your papers matter.”

“I’m drawing up new papers,” I said. “She and Gabe will sign them as soon as I see both in the morning.”

“You’ll have to climb over my dead body to take my grandchild.”

In cases like this, emotions ran high, but the welfare of the child had to be put first. “I’ll have a signed custody agreement by midday,” I said.

“Fine. Get it and then we’ll talk. Before then, I want you off my porch.”

Fury rose like bile. In seventeen years, I’d forgotten how much I disliked Edith. As soon as my mother had installed her in Hale House, she’d viewed her position as a mandate to wield power with zeal. “Technically, it’s my porch. I own this house.”

Edith bristled. “So now you’re threatening to throw me out of the house I’ve lived in for almost twenty-five years.”

“I take control of this property tomorrow. Don’t push me, Edith.” Would I back up the threat and throw a sixty-year-old woman out of her house? My father and mother would have.

Edith’s lips twisted into a snarl. “Once a Hale, always a Hale. High and mighty almost comes racing out of you.”

Anger and regret condensed into a tight, heavy ball in my belly. I’d spent the better part of my adult life trying to prove I was more than what people in this town said about me. “I’ll be back as soon as I have that agreement.”

“Don’t waste your time,” Edith said. “I’m getting a lawyer.”

I walked toward Judson’s car. His determined footsteps followed, but he didn’t speak. I wasn’t so sure whose side he was landing on right now, and I didn’t care.

Instead of opening the passenger door, I paused. “I’m walking back to Hale House. I need to clear my head.”

“It’s dark.” Judson made the statement as if it were a complete explanation.

“I’ll use my flashlight app. And I know this land better than anyone.”

Shadows hid his deepening frown. “You haven’t walked this area in seventeen years.”

“I’ll be fine.” Worry drifted under the words.

“Don’t let Edith get to you,” he said.

“I’m not. But I’m also tired of trying to prove to everyone I’m a good person. All anyone sees is the Hale name and money.”

“You’re angry. Understandable.”

“No. Just tired.” I shoved out a breath. “I’ll be at the jail in the morning when Gabe is released. And then I’m returning here with an order to get Molly.”

I walked down the dirt road, my light cutting into a path through the darkness. In heels, I navigated the woodland’s ruts, fallen trees, and rocks. Creeping brush and growing tree limbs had narrowed the path in several spots.

When I was a kid, my father talked about his battle with the land like a soldier fighting an enemy. “The earth would take it all back if I let it.”

He was right. When I was a kid, this path had felt huge. But in almost two decades, the earth had clawed back much of what the Hales had taken.