Page 30 of Her Cadillac Cowboy
“Such schedule shall not interfere with William’s attendance at school nor in any way threaten his health or well-being. At the end of six months, if no family can be located, William Arthur Talmidge, IV will be assigned a foster family, and Mr. McKinley’s responsibility toward William will be considered discharged.”
Sara dropped her jaw, then shot to her feet. She would not accept an added burden on Carson’s already slim resources. Nor would she allow the court to force her to employ criminals and risk even greater theft and damage. “This outrage is your fault, Josh McKinley.”
???
“I didn’t call the sheriff,” Josh snarled back. He rose with menacing grace, filling the room with his height to put them on equal footing, but there was nothing equal between him and Sara.
“I did the right thing. It’s not my fault that...”
“Sara, please stop before Judge Ryerson decides to cite you with something.” Gene’s hand wrapped around her arm.
Josh turned to the judge. “Your Honor, I am in the middle of establishing a new business in Luville. I can’t possibly accept the grave responsibility of full-time care for any child.”
“Mr. McKinley, you have a degree in child development, with a specialty in at-risk children, do you not?”
He flushed. “It’s not something I advertise.”
“You did not hesitate to use it to add weight to your pleas for lenience in this case.”
“Well, yes, but...”
“But nothing. You are eminently qualified to carry out parental responsibility for William.”
Josh sat down, rubbing his chin with one hand.
“Your Honor,” Gene’s voice cut calmly through the tension.
What did Sara’s shark of an attorney want now? Damned if Josh would let the man convince the judge that placing “Young Will” behind bars was a good idea.
“Yes, Mr. Reynard.”
“Carson’s Cars waives all right to reimbursement from William Arthur Talmidge, IV. It would be a liability for Carson’s to have the boy on the grounds in any capacity. He damaged Carson’s property once and can be expected to do so again. In addition, our insurance carrier would not be willing to cover any accident to a juvenile of William’s age employed in work for Carson’s.”
“You have a point, Mr. Reynard. However, as arbiter of this matter, I stand by my decision that this is in William’s best interests. Miss Carson will simply have to take an active part in William’s well-being.” The judge stood and reached for her robes. “If you will excuse me, I’m due in court.” She donned the black robe and opened the door. “Please feel free to use my chamber to discuss the details. When you leave, stop by the Clerk of the Court’s office to obtain the necessary paperwork and an invoice for any fees required.”
Reynard followed the judge into the hallway. The door slammed behind him.
“I’m sorry.” Josh turned to Sara.
She thumped back into her seat and stared off into space.
“Sara?” He knelt before her and placed a hand on her knee.
She looked at him then at the hand he’d placed on her knee.
He removed his hand. “We need to talk.”
“Ten minutes ago, you were shouting at me. Now you want to be reasonable and talk?”
He drew his brows together. “Please have dinner with me tonight, so we can talk about Will and how to get through this with the least amount of fuss.”
She made a sound. Surely it wasn’t a snort. She’d never let herself do anything so unladylike.
“Hear me out, will you?” he urged. “We can’t fight the court. They’ll find Will’s family before we could ever appeal Judge Ryerson’s arbitration. This will probably be over in a week or less. Surely, you can put up with me and Will for a week.”
Finally, Sara looked him in the eye. One side of her upper lip curled. Josh wanted to squirm the way he’d seen worms do pinned to rubber mats in high school biology class.
“Why in the world would you think I could do that? You’re my family’s enemy. You broke my girlish heart. I’m glad I haven’t seen you in ten years. Just look what happened in less than two weeks.”
