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“I wanted to see you, actually,” Jesse said, brushing snow from his hair. “You got a sec?”
“Of course,” she said, stepping back. “I’m just getting lunch ready, but come on in. You hungry?”
“God, yes,” he said, his stomach instantly rumbling as he stepped into the rich smells of spice and frying chapatis.
“Go on in and take a seat. Oliver’s just out with a friend, but they’ll be back soon.”
Jesse moved through to the kitchen where the air was thick with steam and a myriad of tantalizing smells. Jesse snagged one of the fresh chapatis from a pile on the griddle and ate it in two wolfish bites, suddenly realizing he hadn’t eaten since the picnic with Tom the day before. Sareena chuckled, passed him another and a jar of pickles.
“So, how’s it all going?” she said, stirring one of the many bubbling pots on the stove. “With the new job and everything?”
Jesse swallowed his mouthful and sucked his fingers clean. “Good. At least. I think so.”
Her brow crinkled. “You ‘think’ so?”
“Could you take a look at something for me?” he said, producing his phone and loading the photo of the adoption certificate. He checked it for the tenth time to make sure he’d blanked out all the printed names then handed it over.
Sareena pushed her glasses up into her hair and peered at the phone. “It’s an adoption certificate. Austrian?”
Jesse nodded. “Is there anything weird about it?”
“What do you mean, weird?”
“I dunno. Anything that don’t look right?”
She examined it again, pinching the screen to zoom in. “It’s been a long time since I did family law.”
“You know more about it than I do.”
“It all looks sound.” She raised her eyebrows. “There’s only one adopting party. A little unusual but not unheard of.”
“So, this is legit? There’s nothing dodgy going on?”
“Like what, Jesse?”
“I don’t know. Anything.”
She held the phone out. “Without knowing who the parties are, I can’t say one hundred percent. It’s the human element that’s always the fishy bit where the law is concerned.”
“Humanelement. Right,” said Jesse, somehow reluctant to take the phone back.
She looked at him closely, then again at the phone. “I don’t know what you want me to tell you. But legally, yes, this is a perfectly legitimate document. Wait…” She brought it closer to her face.
“What?”
“The solicitor’s signature. I know it…”
“Shit,” Jesse swore and tried to take the phone, but Sareena held it out of reach.
“Darragh Kelly?” she said, her eyes sharp. “What are you doing with a document signed by a haemophile lawyer, Jess?”
“It’s a bit of a long story,” he said, holding out his hand with a pleading look on his face.
Sareena pursed her lips and handed the phone over. “What exactly are you mixed up in?”
“Nothing. You said yourself, there’s nothing dodgy here, right?”
“Haemophile legislation is a painfully new field. Precedent changes every day.” She looked right into his eyes. “You have to be so, so careful with anything like that. Please, tell me what this is. I can help.”
