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“Providing for her needs? Are you suggesting we aren’t what Emma needs?”
“I’m not suggesting anything, only that we sit down, just the two of us, and work this out between us,” she said, her voice so soft he could barely hear her.
“Why did you come here if you weren’t willing to help me bring Emma home?” he asked, barely hiding his annoyance. “Was all that talk about having a child just talk?”
“How dare you say that? You really don’t want to change anything at all. I came here to talk this out and you’re being totally selfish and unreasonable,” she said, turning to go, her shoulders rigid.
When she got to the door, she turned to face him. “So I guess that’s it. There is nothing left to talk about. I’m going home, Aidan.”
CHAPTER NINE
HOURS LATER, WITH Grace’s words still ringing in his ears, Aidan pulled into the parking lot at Larry Knowles’s office. He hadn’t known what to do or where to turn after Grace left. He felt hollow, cut off from everything he’d known and loved, adrift trying to make sense of it. He’d been thankful for the meeting with the lawyer, anything to distract him from what had occurred between Grace and him.
Hearing Deidre’s will might help him better understand why she chose to do what she did, and maybe a hint as to why she’d not told him about Emma.
After he entered the building he was shown directly into the lawyer’s office.
“So good to see you again,” the lawyer said, coming around his desk to shake hands. “We’ll get right to the will. I’ve made a copy for you and will go through the major provisions set out in it.”
The men sat, and Aidan picked up the document, reminded of how easily life can be summed up in a few pages of instructions for the beneficiary. “I wish I’d known Deidre better,” he said, scanning the pages.
“How’s that? You and she had a relationship, didn’t you?”
“I don’t know what she told you. My company did work with Deidre’s. Our intimate relationship amounted to one weekend. A weekend that never should have happened.” He looked across the desk at the lawyer. “I don’t know why I’m telling you that, other than I feel guilty that I didn’t know about Emma before Deidre passed away. I didn’t know Deidre was pregnant. I never heard from her again after that weekend five years ago. I guess that’s part of why I was so shocked when you called to tell me I was named as guardian of Emma.”
Larry leaned back in his chair. “That’s interesting. Deidre didn’t go into the details of her connection to you, although your reaction to my initial phone call made me suspect you’d had limited contact with her.”
He rubbed his chin in thought. “Before I go through the various provisions, I’d like to tell you a couple things about Deidre that you may not have known. She always had to be in control, set the agenda. She was tough, hardworking and always very careful about whom she allowed close to her. As her friend, no one was more surprised than I was when she came to see me about her will. I’m probably overstepping my bounds, but I don’t think she ever intended to have you find out about Emma. I think, like most people, she never believed she’d die young.”
“Why would she do such a thing?” Aidan asked.
“Deidre wanted Emma to herself. I’m guessing here, but I believe it had to do with being an only child herself. She had told me she wanted a child, and when Deidre wanted something, she usually got it. I don’t think she had many relationships. I was one of only a handful of friends. She was one of those people who made her decisions based on her needs at the time, including the people she did or did not need.”
