Page 31 of Knight's Journey

“What? How am I involved in a PI case?”

“The clients wanted to hire us to investigate you and to watch over Mathias and Marlowe. They wanted evidence to prove the kids weren’t being cared for like they should.”

Bridget gaped at them, speechless and perplexed. She’d only been in town a short time. Who could possibly suspect her of failing to take care of her teenagers?

The answer suddenly dawned on her. She braced her arms on the tabletop, her mouth closing with a snap. They seemed to be waiting for her to comment or question them further, but she couldn’t find the words to say.

“You know what we’re talking about, don’t you?” Zane narrowed his eyes as he watched her.

“My sister’s in-laws. Mathias and Marlowe’s grandparents. Am I right?”

The men exchanged a glance, and Zane nodded. “Yes. I’m guessing they’ve done this before.”

“Not exactly. I shouldn’t be surprised they’ve gone this far, but I thought they’d let this go once the custody hearing was over. They’re part of the reason why I moved the kids here for a fresh start. They made such a mess of things after my sister and her husband died.”

“Do you mind telling us some of the details? We don’t want to pry, but if they’ve hired Tarrant Security to take this case, things could get much worse. We don’t want that to happen.”

Cole’s tone was kind, something she’d not heard a lot of when it came to the custody situation. She preferred to keep her private life private, but the offer of help and the sympathetic ear had her softening. The words started pouring out of her before she had a chance to overanalyze the wisdom of sharing with these two strangers.

“Oran and Ivy never approved of Jennifer. They had their eye on someone else for Dean to marry, a girl he’d known his whole life. She was nice enough, but she and Dean never saw a future together. Especially after he met Jennifer. I don’t know if Dean’s parents had anything specific against my sister other than she wasn’t the one they chose. Dean was an only child and perfect at everything. Everyone loved him, and he got excellent grades in school. He was the perfect athlete. He never got into any trouble. Hell, he even volunteered to mentor at-risk students in the elementary school.”

Bridget smiled as she became lost in her memories. “That’s how they met. Jennifer volunteered for the same program. They were friends at first, but eventually they started dating. Then he proposed. Oran offered to pay Jennifer if she would break off the engagement. There was a huge blow-up, and Dean never invited his parents to the wedding. But they showed up anyway and proceeded to criticize everything about it until my father told them to shut up and go home.”

“They sound like real pieces of work,” Zane said.

Bridget rolled her eyes. “You have no idea. They never accepted Jennifer, but when she had Mathias, things changed. They doted on him and helped Dean and Jennifer out with anything they needed. They came to all of his pee-wee and little league games, his birthday parties, school programs, you name it. Then Marlowe came along. At first, they doted on her too. She was in elementary school when they started noticing how awkward she was with other people, but she excelled at everything in school. Her brain works on a level most of us would never understand. Jennifer and Dean loved it, and they did everything to help her learn new things and discover what she was good at. Oran and Ivy, on the other hand, stopped asking for Marlowe to accompany them to places. They would make excuses to only include Mathias, and Dean was quick to put a stop to it.”

Cole rested his arms on the table in front of him. “What happened with the custody hearing?”

“Oran and Ivy felt I was the most unlikely choice to be Mathias and Marlowe’s guardian. At the time, I didn’t disagree with them, but I knew Jennifer would never want the Williamses raising them. I tried to get my parents to agree to raise them, but my dad’s health is not the best. He didn’t think a judge would overturn Jennifer and Dean’s will to grant them custody. So I stepped up.

“Oran and Ivy took me to court. They brought out every single thing I’d done in my life to prove I didn’t measure up. All the times I went partying with my friends. The time I flunked the math class which meant I had to wait a semester before I could enroll in nursing school. When I took Marlowe to get her ears pierced when she was five even though Jennifer and Dean didn’t want her to have them pierced. The time I picked Mathias up from a party where he gotten drunk, and I didn’t bring him home. Instead, I took him to my apartment to let him sleep it off.”

Bridget shook her head, trying to shake out the bad memories. She took a deep breath to redirect her thoughts and answer Cole’s question more directly. “Anyway, Oran and Ivy said the only reason Dean and Jennifer named me as guardian was because they didn’t expect to die before either of their parents.”

“The judge obviously didn’t agree,” Zane prodded her gently.

“I think he did until he decided to allow Mathias and Marlowe to testify. You have to understand, Marlowe takes everything at face value. She doesn’t understand the purpose of lying, and she misses a lot of social cues most of us grow up recognizing. So when Oran and Ivy specifically told her not to tell anyone about their plans to send her to a gifted boarding school when they won the court case, she didn’t until she was told in court she had to tell the truth no matter what. So she did. She told the judge how she didn’t want to be sent away. She wanted to stay with me and Mathias because we understood her. Then Mat testified he didn’t want to be separated from his sister, and he knew I would take care of them because I knew about all of the tricks teenagers try to get away with stuff behind their parents’ backs.”

She chuckled at the memory. “He told them I would call them on their shit and wouldn’t let them get away with anything. He’s not wrong.”

“If they only want custody of Mathias, then why not sue for custody of him?” Cole asked.

“They knew the judge would never allow the kids to be separated so soon after their parents died. They tried to convince me to split custody – Mathias would live with them while Marlowe stayed with me. They said the kids could hang out on the weekends, and it would make things more ‘manageable’-” She used air quotes to emphasize her point. “-for everyone. I sent them packing with a big hell, no.”

Cole leaned back against his chair, and Bridget wondered if it would hold his weight. “Why aren’t they letting this go? The judge has already ruled against them. Seems pointless to keep pursuing it.”

Bridget sighed. “They’re grieving. Dean was their whole world, even if their relationship was strained. I think they see Mathias as their second chance, to get it right where they messed up with Dean. It seems crazy, but I’ve seen grief really mess with people. I want to be understanding, but not at the expense of my family. I wish they would leave us alone.”

Zane squeezed her hand. “That’s why we’re here. We’re going to make sure they stop trying to break up your family.”

Bridget smiled into his gorgeous blue eyes, their depths warm and sincere. Something passed between them, something she couldn’t identify. She knew she believed this man she barely knew, and she trusted he would make good on his promise to her.

Chapter Twelve

Bridget pulled her car up to the gate but stopped short of reaching the call box. She swallowed the sudden lump in her throat as she gazed beyond the wrought iron fence to the fortress looming ahead of her, an intimidating vision of formidable brick, windows tinted to hide what was inside and a manicured lawn which was both inviting and out of place.

“Whose place is this exactly?” Mathias sounded as unsure as she felt, and oddly enough, that comforted her.

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