Page 85 of The Surrogate Nanny

“Because there’s an angle I’m thinking of working, but you might not like it.”

“What is it?”

“We’ll say that Mr. Houston did make a critical error; however, Vance Oil is still liable.”

I jumped to my feet. “Thank you very much for your time, Mr. Baker, but I think our time here is done,” I said, gathering Kiyah’s toys.

“Just hear me out, Mrs. Houston. Right now, we do not have evidence that Mr. Houston was or wasn’t following safety procedures. However, what we do know was that he was unqualified for the position, yet they hired him anyway.” I paused and considered what he said. “I took a look at the job posting you sent me, and clear as day, they put that two years’ experience was a must. Yet, they hired him anyway. As long as Mr. Houston didn’t lie on his job application, then Vance Oil is negligent for hiring your husband.”

I draped Kiyah’s backpack on my shoulder and considered. “Can’t this still backfire on us by admitting that Rory was at fault?”

“Not if I work it right. If anything, they’ll try to settle out of court and offer you significantly more than $25,000.00.”

“In your experience, how much do you think they would offer me to not take it to court?”

“Conservatively, $500,000.00.”

I gulped.

That’s a lot of money…life-changing money. I can buy us a house and go to school. I can make a better life for Kiyah.

“Can I think about it?”

“Of course. Can I give you a little advice before you go?”

“Sure.”

“I know it may be difficult to consider going this route because you don’t want to besmirch Rory’s name, but you have to ask yourself what Rory would want. From what you told me, he loved you and Kiyah very much, and he’d want the two of you taken care of no matter what.”

I nodded through my tears. “Um…do you have a business card?”

“Of course.” He grabbed a card from a cardholder on his desk and handed it to me. It reflected him—clean, crisp, straight to the point. “Take all the time you need to consider my offer. In the meantime, I’ll call the insurance company and insist that they cut you a check in the next two to three business days…free of charge.”

“Oh, no. You don’t have to do that. I don’t expect you to work for fr—”

“Please, Mrs. Houston. It’s just a courtesy phone call. It’s the least I can do.”

“That…that would help us out a lot. Thank you.”

“The pleasure is all mine,” he replied before grabbing Kiyah’s attention. “It was nice to meet you, Kiyah. I hope we can see each other again.”

“Bye-bye,” she offered before snatching a bag of cookies from the basket.

“Ki,” I hissed.

“It’s okay, Mrs. Houston, really. My kids are like raccoons when it comes to snacks. If it gets too quiet around the house, then I know they’re in the pantry. Let me walk you two out.”

I left Jonathan Baker’s office, realizing that maybe all lawyers weren’t the same because, for the first time in several months, I had hope.

Rory, tell me what to do.

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