Chapter 5 - THE PRICE OF BEING FORGOTTEN
Grant arrived at Naomi Feld's office the following afternoon with two attorneys and an expression that suggested he believed money could make a room smaller.
Audrey was already seated.
She wore a charcoal suit.
Her hair was pulled back.
Her hands rested calmly on the table.
Grant stopped when he saw her.
For a moment, he looked like the man she'd married at twenty-four.
Young.
Confident.
Certain that the world would rearrange itself around him.
Then he sat.
“I want to see the children.”
Audrey looked at Naomi.
Naomi nodded.
“We're prepared to discuss an appropriate process.”
Grant frowned.
“Process?”
“Yes,” Naomi said. “The children have never met you. We need to consider their emotional well-being and establish parentage.”
Grant leaned forward.
“They're obviously mine.”
Audrey looked at him.
“You said the opposite six years ago.”
His face tightened.
“That was different.”
“How?”
He looked away.
Celeste had told him Audrey was involved with someone else.
Celeste had shown him photographs.
A man leaving Audrey's workplace.
A man helping her carry groceries.
A man hugging her outside a hospital.
Grant had believed the worst.
He hadn't asked.
Hadn't investigated.
Hadn't stayed.
Now he learned the man in those photographs was Audrey's older cousin, Daniel Hayes.
A firefighter.
Married.
Father of three.
Grant stared at the documentation.
His face drained.
Audrey watched him.
“You left me because Celeste showed you photographs of my cousin?”
Grant swallowed.
“I didn't know.”
“You didn't ask.”
Silence.
“You didn't ask me one question.”
Grant lowered his eyes.
Audrey felt tears burn.
“I begged you to come to the ultrasound.”
He said nothing.
“I called you when they found two heartbeats.”
His jaw tightened.
“I remember.”
“Then why didn't you come?”
Grant looked at her.
And finally said the truth.
“Because I was afraid.”
Audrey stared.
“Afraid of what?”
“Being trapped.”
The words landed like stones.
She sat back.
For years, she'd wondered whether she'd done something wrong.
Whether she'd been too demanding.
Too emotional.
Too frightened.
Now she understood.
Grant had been afraid of responsibility.
And he'd let someone else turn that fear into cruelty.
Audrey stood.
“I'll cooperate with a child-centered legal process.”
Grant looked up.
“But you don't get to rewrite what happened.”
She gathered her papers.
“You left.”
Then she walked out.
In the hallway, Rafe waited.
Not inside the meeting.
Not interfering.
Just waiting.
Audrey stopped in front of him.
“I hate that I still feel sorry for him.”
Rafe studied her.
“Feeling sorry for someone doesn't mean you owe them another chance.”
She nodded.
Then began crying.
Rafe opened his arms.
May you like
She stepped into them.
And for a moment, she let someone else hold the weight.
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