Page 34 of Her Righteous Protector

“How did Meghan react?”

“She didn’t. She just continued to play. She even made the most goals that game.”

“Then what happened?”

Hannah got a wistful look on her face. “My mom and dad came to me after the game like they always did and suggested that I go see if Meghan would like to go to McDonald’s with us. They explained to me that I would have to be careful with her, because she might not be used to people being nice to her.”

“Your parents sound nice.”

“They really are,” Hannah smiled at him.

“Anyway, it was like she didn’t know what to say. She kept looking at the ground. The coach finally walked over and asked what was going on. When I told him, he persuaded Meghan to go with us.” Hannah got that wistful look again. Max waited to see if she would continue. She didn’t.

“Hannah?”

“After that, my dad picked Meghan up for all of our soccer games.” Hannah shook her head and gave Max a sharp look. “Dad would always go up to Meghan’s front door to pick her up, and more times than not, neither of her parents were there to greet him.”

“Were there signs of physical abuse?”

“When I was an adult, Mom told me that she’d asked Meghan and she’d said no. Regardless, my dad had called Child Protective Services, apparently so had the coach, but they never built a case to take Meghan out of her home.”

“Were there any other relatives?”

“There was her grandmother, the one that Mr. Peterson talked about, but she was disabled, so she couldn’t care for Meghan.” Hannah paused.

“I really want you to help me understand why in the world Meghan would have made the decision to not tell me about Zephyr.” He swallowed down his anger, or was it grief?

She nodded.

“When Meghan got pregnant, I was living in L.A. I was working for DreamWorks Studios. She was going through the divorce at the same time, there was the restraining order. It was a fucking mess. Mom was there for her, but I came out for three weeks. She told Mom and me that Larry wasn’t the father, but she kept mum about who was the father. She said she’d think about it after the baby was born.”

Hannah shrugged. “I came out again to be with Meghan when she gave birth. Mom had been her birthing coach, but I wanted to be here for the first few weeks after Zephyr was born. That was our first big blow-up. I was pissed that she wasn’t going to contact Zeph’s father.”

Max unclenched his fists. He felt better knowing that someone had been on his side.

“Mom tried to get me to see Meghan’s side. She kept telling me about all of Meghan’s trust issues.” She looked out at the big trees in the park, then back at Max. “I did understand about Meghan’s trust issues. Hell, over the years I’d had a front-row seat for the Bob and Peggy Lancaster shit show. For that matter, I still do. But what little Meghan told me about the guy she’d slept with, he didn’t seem like the kind of man who deserved not knowing about his son.”

“But she never told you who I was?” Max pursued.

Hannah shook her head. “Nope, never. But Max, her parents were awful, and she married Larry Todd when she was seventeen just to get away from them. He was a bastard.”

Max nodded. That had been his assessment too.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “I appreciate everything you’ve just told me. I really do,” he said slowly. “If that’s all you can give me, then I’ll make it work—”

“But you need more,” she said tiredly. “You need more of a reason for her to have cut you out of Zephyr’s life.”

He turned his whole body toward her and again gripped her hands. “God, yes! Please give me something so I can make peace with her decision. So I can always think of her as that loving woman I met in Tennessee as I talk about her to Zephyr throughout the years. I don’t want him to know my anger,” he pleaded.

“Max, I was Meghan’s best friend in the world,” Hannah whispered. “She lived for your son. She was working as an accountant when she got pregnant, but as soon as she could she started figuring out a job she could do from home after she gave birth. She finished out her time at the accounting firm and took their maternity leave, but as soon as that ran out she was already working with clients. Meghan was smart like that.”

Max looked down at his watch again. “Hannah, I don’t mean to rush you, but Zephyr should be waking up from his nap soon.”

Hannah nodded. “Max, Zephyr was everything to Meghan. Protecting him and keeping him safe was the most important thing in her whole universe. The first time she let my mother babysit him he was nine months old.” Hannah smiled.

“So they’re close?”

“Oh yeah. Before I moved here, it was Meghan, Zephyr, and Mom all the way.” Then she laughed. “And Dad of course.”