Page 12 of Sweet on You
5
Lex
From beside me, I felt Lana grab my hand and give it a squeeze. “We found her, Lex. We found her. And she’s only an hour away.”
I only had one image of my daughter—Olivia—if you could count it as an image. A four-month sonogram that London had mailed almost two years ago to my flat in England. The nugget of information I’d been clinging to—that stamp on the envelope that stated she had mailed it from Maple Grove, NH. The whole reason I had packed my life up and moved to this small town. In the hopes of tracking them down.
The tears spilled down my cheeks and normally, I wouldn’t bother to swipe them away, except they were blurring my vision. And I desperately wanted to just keep staring at the image of my daughter, uninhibited or distorted by tears. I laughed and it sort of sounded like a sob… but it wasn’t. It was pure joy.
I reached into my wallet and pulled out the sonogram picture I carried around with me, smoothing it beside the image of my daughter. Not that I could see a similarity. Not at all.
“How old is she?”
“Fifteen months,” Lana said. “With her mother going to prison for a year or so, Olivia’s grandparents are applying for sole guardianship. But in the state of New Hampshire, before that can happen, they are required to put ads in the paper for Olivia’s birth father to come forward and claim paternity before they can claim abandonment. The first ad went into the paper yesterday.”
Abandonment. I sniffed and my gut knotted tighter. “Abandonment?” I repeated, looking up at Lana. Her eyes met mine with sympathy.
“It’s just the phrase they use. Which doesn’t even matter because you havenotabandoned her. You never did.”
My own daughter had no idea who I was. I had no idea whoshewas. Did she like Elmo or Big Bird? Or did kids not even watch Sesame Street anymore? Did she have a blankie she slept with? A binky? This search for Olivia was completely abstract… until now. And now I was faced with the actual job of being a father.
Bloody hell, I’m adad.
“So, what’s next?”
“You need a lawyer,” Lana said bluntly. “It might be unnecessary, but we have no idea how hard her grandparents will continue to push for sole custody. They might be thrilled to meet you. Or they might want you to not be allowed to come within fifty feet of Olivia. But you have rights, and a lawyer will help you navigate these new waters.”
I didn’t even know where to begin finding a lawyer for something like this. Did it need to be someone local to their town? Or could I use a Maple Grove attorney? Did I even want to use someone here in town and risk the rumor mill going crazy in my tiny, tight-knit community? Did I have less rights because I wasn’t an American citizen?
“In the meantime, I suggest you be at Sarah’s arraignment. They will likely bring up the custody of Olivia there.”
I raked my fingers through my hair. “Can I… can I call the grandparents? Introduce myself? I don’t want to steal their granddaughter from them. I just want to be able to hold my daughter. Raise my daughter. But I’m open to co-parenting, too.”
Lana gave me another soft smile, took a sip of her drink before sliding it to the edge of the bar, and tossed a twenty down onto the table. “I would wait until you speak to a lawyer.” She packed up the manila folder and handed it to me. “There’s the name and number of a lawyer I trust and admire in there, too. It’s who I would personally hire if I was in your shoes. I filled him in on your case already, and he’s expecting your call.”
She stood up from the bar and I stood as well.
I didn’t know what to say. How to repay her for this. “I was going to grab dinner. Do you want anything? We could order it to go for you and your husband.” Tony was a good guy. He and Lana had become my two closest friends. Which I realized was kind of sad, since I was her client—maybe they had no choice but to be my friends.
She shook her head no and took both my hands in hers, giving them a squeeze. “You enjoy your dinner. Celebrate a little. But after all this time? I just wanted to deliver this news in person.”
“I’m so glad you did. Thank you, Lana.”
Lana laughed. “If you have another missing person to find, you know who to call.”
I snorted and touched the envelope she had given me. “God help me if I do. I can’t afford your services.”
“I’m so glad we found her, Lex.” Lana pushed onto her toes and hugged me tightly.
So many thoughts were swimming through my head. So many feelings. But more than anything? Gratitude. I felt like my life was about to start all over again. Which was saying something, because as an ex-junkie, I’d already had a rebirth of sorts when I got clean. Then again when I moved here to Maple Grove. Now? It was time for a totally new identity. Dad.
I lifted Lana’s hand and kissed her knuckles. “Thank you again. So much.”
Tears misted her eyes as she smiled. “Let’s all have dinner soon… you, me, and Tony.” Her brows lifted. “And maybe Olivia.”
With that, she turned and left the restaurant. As I watched her leave, I found Ronnie, standing at the front of the restaurant, glaring at me.
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