Chapter 23
Safely out of sight Sarah’s nerves got the better of her and she paced back and forth, “What am I going to
do? Why is he here? Why would he even want to see me? And Zoe… How am I going to explain this? She’s
never asked about her father. Not once. And she called him Edward! Can you believe it? She was so proud
too. Like it had been a scavenger hunt!”
Tailor watched her deep in thought, “Sarah, sit down, please. You’ll wear a hole in the floor.”
“Good. Maybe it will swallow me up. I knew coming back was a bad idea.”
“No. It wasn’t,” Tailor said guiding her to the bed and made her sit down. “You are letting your fears control
you and that is not good. Not for you and certainly not for Zoe. Now deep breath.”
Sarah complied taking in a long breath and releasing it slowly.
“Has it occurred to you he may be sincere?”
She let out a strained laugh, “Uncle…him? You really think that? After everything he did…him and that
slut.”
“Ah, there it is,” Tailor smiled. “There is the Sarah I know. Spirited and opinionated.”
Sarah let out a genuine laugh and felt herself relax.
“Sarah, speaking strictly as a lawyer, I have to ask what do we really know? All we have are text messages.
They are circumstantial at best, not proof. We have no evidence, no pictures.”
“What about all those pictures in the magazines?”
“They are still just circumstantial. Shopping for dresses and jewelry looks bad but it’s not proof of them
sleeping together.”
“So you think I should take him back?”
“No, of course not,” Tailor sat beside her. “But if he wants to he could take you to court for custody.”
“He’s not taking Zoe from me!” –
“I doubt very much there is a court anywhere that would allow that,” Tailor soothed her. “But they may choose to protect his parental rights. That means visitation and holidays. Is that what you want for Zoe?”
Sarah sighed. No. She didn’t want Zoe to have to go through the strain and confusion of parents that were forced to cooperate by court order. Zoe would hear the rumors about how her parents’ marriage fell apart, vicious rumors about how her mother was unworthy of her father. What would she think then?
“So, what do we do?”
“I think we’re going to have to face facts and accept that he’s going to want to spend time with her…and you. But that also means we can control the situation.”
Sarah gave him a questioning look.
“We can make whatever conditions we want…for instance time and place, he’s not allowed to bring his mistress or family around Zoe…He also can’t tell anyone you are Rosemary Thomas. Anything we want.”
Realization slowly dawned on her finally getting what he was saying. Tailor grabbed a piece of stationary from the desk along with a pen as they discussed possible conditions. Sarah doubted it would be so simple. After all Lucas may insist on his own conditions but with this they could direct the conversation. Sarah finally allowed herself to relax. She wasn’t alone. Tailor and Ruth were on her side and that would be enough.
***
Lucas sat at the table quietly tapping his finger on the hard surface. Nothing had gone as planned…not that he had a plan. When Zoe confronted him at the zoo he didn’t know what to expect. He still didn’t know if he was being honest. She seemed so serious then in sharp contrast to now.
“These are the monkeys, aren’t they funny?” Zoe giggled as she continued showing Ruth pictures. “And this is
Ruby. She’s a really nice camel.”
“She looks sweet,” Ruth nodded.
“And these are the goats from the petting zoo!”
Lucas listened. It was obvious how much Zoe loved animals. He would have to make an effort to learn her other likes and dislikes as well. She liked movies. And dogs. Maybe he should have Alan research children to get him started.
“All right, Mister Stanton,” Tailor said stirring him from his private musings as they returned. Helping Sarah to
sit Tailor took his own seat again. “What exactly do you want, Mister Stanton?”
“I want my wife…and my daughter,” Lucas said simply his gaze settling on Sarah but she still refused to meet his gaze. “I want them to come home.”
“That requires a follow-up question. Why?”
“Why what?” Lucas glared at him.
“For years you willfully ignored the woman you married, never once spent a moment in her company that was
not forced. You told her to disappear. Four years ago Sarah gave you what you wanted. She disappeared. So
what is the problem?”
Lucas felt his face warm as his words were thrown at him. Her lawyer certainly wasn’t one to pull punches:
He had so many questions but none of them that he wanted to ask in front of this man. Finally Lucas asked, ” Why wasn’t I told about Zoe? I don’t recall anything in the divorce papers about child support.”
“So you did read them,” Tailor said earning another glare. “We didn’t include stipulations concerning Zoe
because Sarah was unaware she was pregnant at the time. She didn’t find out until several weeks later. As
for informing you…the divorce was finalized and we already included a clause barring her from seeking any monetary compensation from you present or future so she couldn’t seek child support even if she wanted…so
there was no need.”
“No need,” Lucas.muttered his eyes going back to Sarah but she still refused to meet his gaze. “I want us to be together.”
