Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 75642 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 378(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75642 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 378(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
“You missed the reading of the will.”
My jaw clenches. Carlen wasn’t a wealthy man. He managed to take care of his family, but the fact that he was always trying to find new ways to make money made me believe he hustled so much because he had to in order to make ends meet.
“They didn’t have much to their name. I’m surprised they had a will.”
“They did have one. It was older. It was done seven years ago, right after their oldest son was born. It’s the only one they had, so it’s valid.”
“Okay,” I say, unsure how that has anything to do with me.
“They named you the godfather, making you responsible for both kids.”
I can literally feel the blood drain from my face. My heart feels like it skips several beats before starting back up with a jolt.
“I’m no one’s father,” I say, the only thing I can think of in the moment.
I don’t have an issue with children, but taking on that role in this lifetime was never my plan.
Mr. Dobbs doesn’t react, telling me he expected this response from me. “There’s someone else willing to take the children, Mr. Chilton, but the kids will have to go into care long enough for the courts to make sure the relative is safe and can provide for them.”
“They only have two relatives,” I say, knowing Carlen’s father’s death three years ago left my friend with no other family than his boys.
“Correct,” he quickly agrees. “But Ms. Taylor is more than willing to assume the responsibility.”
I narrow my eyes at the man. “The grandmother or the aunt?”
The second he swallows before responding lets me know exactly who he’s going to name. “The aunt.”
I shake my head, recalling how she lost her shit on me in Carlen’s driveway three days ago. Unprovoked, she ran into me and then shoved me in the chest. I know she’s grieving. I know she has probably more than she can handle on her plate. If she could act that way with me, how would she respond to overstimulation with the boys? I’m not saying I think the woman is capable of hurting a child, but I don’t know her well enough to say with absolute certainty that she wouldn’t.
“Like hell,” I growl, considering the danger the kids may be in. “That woman is clinically insane.”
Okay, she’s probably not insane, but am I willing to take the chance? Don’t I owe it to Carlen and Janet to make sure their boys are safe?
“Let’s discuss this in the conference room,” Kincaid urges.
My fists clench open and closed as Kincaid leads us in that direction. It feels like my life is spiraling out of control, but then that makes me feel petty and insensitive to others.
What those boys lost is a million times what I lost. Letting them end up in foster care while the courts decide if Mila is fit seems like a shitty thing to let happen when it’s something I can prevent. The trauma those boys will have to deal with in the years to come is bad enough.
Mila lost a sister and then was slung into parenthood. Maybe those two things combined are what caused her to act out the other day.
“Tell me what I have to do,” I say to Mr. Dobbs the second the conference room door closes.
“You have to be in custody of the boys. Just saying you’ll go won’t work.”
“How long?”
Mr. Dobbs shifts his weight from one foot to the next. “The court systems are always backed up. We could get an order in place possibly in the next couple of weeks.”
“An order?”
“A temporary guardianship order,” he explains. “It’ll allow you to move them here, put them in school. Well, the older boy is in first grade. Luca doesn’t start kindergarten until the fall.”
“But how long before the courts let Mila have custody?”
He shifts back and forth one more time, and I know the answer isn’t going to be anything I want to hear.
“I’ve spoken with Ms. Taylor, and as willing as she is to take the boys, she’s not exactly in a position to financially care for them.”
“You said they had a will. Did they not have anything that would help take care of the kids?”
He shakes his head as he grips the back of his neck. The man’s lack of confidence in delivering information makes me wonder if he’s ever won a court case before. If I need this custody thing to go the way it should, there’s a very real chance I’ll need to find someone other than him to fight that battle for me.
“They don’t have anything. The family seems to have fallen on some pretty hard times recently.”
“What about the grandmother?”
He shrugs. “She hasn’t been mentioned.”
“Meaning what?” I ask.
“Meaning my conversations with Mila Taylor haven’t been about her mother and she wasn’t mentioned in the will.”