Page 18 of Played by Him

I nodded. Dear god indeed. “It’s taken my client years to deal with her childhood, and now that she’s healthy enough to be a parent, she wants to be a sister too.”

“We never met Marcy Wakefield,” Roberta said, “but I’d always assumed she’d been an addict. Maybe a prostitute. But what you said…” She shook her head, looking as is she was searching for the right word.

“She’s in prison now.” I leaned forward, bracing my elbows on my knees. “I can’t go into details, but suffice it to say that she violated her agreement with the justice department and has been put away for a long time. You’ll never need to worry about her contacting Stacey.”

“We just need to worry about your client then, is that right?” Elliot’s tone wasn’t rude, but it definitely wasn’t friendly either. “Our daughter doesn’t know that she’s adopted, but even if she did, I wouldn’t want her to meet any of her biological family, no matter how together they are now.”

I should’ve kept my mouth shut, but the question popped out anyway. “Are you ever going to tell her?”

“Not that it’s any of your business, young lady,” Roberta said, lifting her chin, “but no. I have a cousin who was adopted and had been told so from moment one. When he was a teenager, it came between him and his parents, to the point where he would threaten to find his ‘real’ parents every time he didn’t like what they told him to do or not do. He’s twenty-seven now and has nothing to do with any of us.”

Shit. With something like that affecting her judgment, she wasn’t going to relent any time soon, and certainly not if I kept pushing.

“Thank you for meeting me,” I said as I stood. “I appreciate you talking to me, and I’ll advise my client regarding your decision.” I took a business card from my pocket and handed it to Elliot. “Should you change your mind, please call me.”

“We won’t,” Roberta said firmly. “I’m sorry you came here for nothing.”

So was I, especially since I had to go tell my friend that the one sibling I’d found was one she’d probably never get to meet.

This was going to suck.

---