Page 70 of Inheriting Miss Fortune

Pastor Scott approached from the side with his arms out. “Come to Grandpa, sweetie. We sure are happy to see you, yes we are.”

Mrs. Scott was already crying while Mrs. McKay clutched her hands together in white-knuckled control.

Dev glanced at Katie’s father. “Pastor Scott, respectfully, since you’ve already met Lellie, I’d like a few minutes with my parents. I’m sure you can agree they have some lost time to make up for.”

Again, the McKays watched Pastor Scott for his response. He frowned. “And whose fault was that? Kathryn obviously didn’t feel that a relationship with any paternal relatives was necessary.”

Dev remained calm. “Until she gave me full custody of Lellie in her will. And given that I will now be her full legal guardian, I’m sure you can respect my attempts to honor my father and my mother by allowing them to meet their grandchild. I will ask you again politely to move back and allow me to have a moment with my parents.”

Pastor Scott’s nostrils flared, but he finally tilted his chin down and allowed Dev to move to the side where he and his parents could have a moment. After a significant look and head tilt from Orris, I followed him to the opposite side of the room.

“Don’t worry,” he said in a low voice. “The McKays know what to do.”

I glanced over at Dev, who seemed to be involved in an awkward introduction between Lellie and his parents. She clung to him and resisted all of his parents’ attempts to reach for her.

“What do you mean?” I asked. “What will they do?”

“They’ve given John’s team plenty of information to help prove he would be an unfit parent. Their loyalty is well-placed as they’ve been members of the Scotts’ congregation for quite a while now.”

My stomach dropped. “What kind of information?” I looked for Susanna, who caught my glance and crinkled her eyebrows.

“He has a history of wild spending—they suspect gambling may have been involved, suspicion of reckless endangerment, and he’s neglected to communicate with his parents for over five years. Apparently, he’s not what you’d call a family man.”

I nodded along as he continued to tell me that John had the case fully in hand and that Orris appreciated me keeping such a close eye on the Scotts’ “precious treasure.”

“Now, we could really use your help. The Scotts would like some alone time with their granddaughter. Do you think the best way to go about it would be to arrange for the McKays to take her overnight? McKay might be more amenable to his own parents’ request, and I’m sure Franklin and Delaney would be happy to host them at their house so they can all enjoy some quality time with her.”

I wanted to be petulant. To ask him why thefuckhe would imagine Dev had any intention of allowing any of them to take Lellie for the night considering how they were treating him, but I held my tongue. Not only was it not my place to fight Dev’s battles for him, but it was also a waste of time.

Even if I wanted to try, there was nothing I could say to convince Dev to hand Lellie over to the Scotts, even just for one night. And I couldn’t imagine he was keen to allow his parents to take her after they’d refused to speak to him for over five years.

Because I knew the truth of the “neglect to communicate” situation, and it wasn’t Dev’s decision. He’d told me how much their rejection had crushed him, and I knew he would never have been the one to shut them out the way Orris implied.

“I think we should leave it up to Brock to handle,” I said as neutrally as possible. “He’s in the best position to manage it without anyone accusing our firm of a conflict of interest.”

Orris watched Dev interact with his parents. I could sense Dev’s discomfort in the stiff line of his spine and the protective way his arms curled around Lellie’s little body.

“He seems off to me,” Orris said in a low voice. “What was he like in Wyoming?”

“He’s a great father, Orris,” I said. “He cares about her very much and has a stable life there with plenty of friends and family to support him.”

Orris turned to me. “I thought the McKays were his only living family?”

I realized my mistake. “I meant he has close friends there who are like family. And he’s been embraced by the family who owns the ranch where he lives and works. They all love Lellie and want to help him raise her. It’s a small town that’s very family-centered, and he’s been established there for over a year with friends he’s had for a decade.”

He clapped me on the shoulder. “We’ll figure it out. Just keep doing what you’re doing by keeping an eye out. Anything you find, you just make a note of it in the case file, and I’ll take care of the rest.”

I stared after him in shock. From the very first meeting after Katie’s death, he’d bent the ethical rules to support his friend and client and made all sorts of implications about what he expected of me, but stating it outright like this was something else entirely. “Sir, with all due respect, I will not be a party to breaking client privilege. Surely that’s not what you’re implying here.”

I’d joined Dunlevy, Pace, and Trumble because of its reputation for excellence, its impressive client list, and its strong leadership in the legal community. Were the founding partners typical good ole boys sometimes? Absolutely. Had Orris pushed some ethical boundaries this week? No doubt. But until now, I’d always felt like he was careful to toe the line and act within the bounds of legality.

He widened his eyes in surprise. “Absolutely not, Tully, and I’m offended you’d imply such a thing.”

“I’m sorry. Please explain it to me so I can understand what you meant.”

“It’s very simple. Devon McKay is not our client. Quite frankly, neither is Eleanor. Not technically. Her current legal guardian is Mr. McKay, who does not have an agreement of representation on file with our firm. Hence, we are not bound by any privilege.”

He was right. My head swam with the realization that whileIfelt bound to Lellie’s best interests as an extension of Katie, who had been my client, the firm wasn’t actually legally obligated to anyone other than Katie now that Katie no longer held legal custody of Lellie.

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