Page 71 of Accidental Irish Daddy

I tell him about my parents dying when I was in high school and how we were sent to live with my Uncle Liam. I tell him all about the abuse and the drinking and how it just kept escalatingthe longer I lived there. Then I tell him about the night I had to leave and Liam’s attack on me. Turning just sits and listens, writing on a notepad the entire time.

“I see,” he says once I’m done. “And Aisling, what do you do for a living?”

“I…am currently working at the Pink Kitty, but I’m looking for work as a home care nurse.”

He pauses. “The Pink Kitty? That’s that gentlemen’s club on the other side of town, yeah?”

I nod. “It’s a temporary position. Just until…until…”Until I get my own place and leave this sham marriage I’m in.

“Until she can find nursing work,” Grant finishes. “She took care of my mother before she passed away and…and now she’s looking for something permanent.”

Turning regards him with a deep frown. “My condolences. Did you get the flowers I sent?”

“I did. They were lovely, by the way. Thank you.”

“Thank Melinda. She picked them out. I’m hopeless with floral arrangements.” He clears his throat and looks over his notes for a moment. “So, the two of you were married how long ago?”

“Beg your pardon, Arthur,” Grant interrupts, “but you asked me to come for a reason. Has something happened that we should know about?”

He sighs and sets his pen down. “Well…I wanted to get Aisling’s side of things before discussing the rest of the case.”

The hairs on the back of my arms stand up. I don’t like the sound of that. “What do you mean by my side of things?”

“Well, Aisling, it seems that your Uncle Liam has already taken some action against you. Over the last few days, he’s asked that the judge issue a bench warrant for your arrest. He claims you kidnapped Bridget.”

I can’t speak. It’s like someone’s choked the sound right out of me.

Grant says, “You’re joking.”

“I wish I were. According to Mr. Smith, Aisling has been taking Bridget to the Pink Kitty with her when she works and willfully exposing her to a variety of sex work and drug use. He believes that she is unduly influencing a minor.”

“That’s ridiculous,” Grant says angrily. “Aisling and Bridget have been living with me since she left her uncle and Bridget has always stayed behind when Aisling went in to work.”

He nods. “What about before then? When you were living with Liam?”

“Come on, Arthur.”

“These are the kinds of questions that are going to be asked when it comes to court, Grant. By her own admission, she was working at the Pink Kitty when she lived with Mr. Smith. He claims that there were nights when she would leave with Bridget—”

“I…I never took her to work with me,” I say. “Once, I came home and he was throwing a wild party. I found Bridget shut up in her room, so I got her out of there.”

“Where did you go?”

I shifted in my seat nervously. “I went to stay with a friend.”

“And is this friend a coworker of yours?”

“That doesn’t mean anything,” Grant says. “A person’s flat isn’t the same as a strip club.”

“I realize that.” Turning pauses and looks at us both, lacing his hands together in front of himself on the desk. “Aisling’s job will come under scrutiny. There’s no doubt about that. Sex workers don’t get treated very well in the way of custody hearings.”

“So, what are you saying? There’s no hope?” Grant asks.

“No. I’m just saying it’ll be an uphill battle. Your claims against Mr. Smith regarding his alcoholism and abuse will certainly hurt his case…provided you have proof of that.”

“What kind of proof?”

“Well, photos of your injuries from the inciting event that caused you to leave would work. Or perhaps some evidence of his threats against you.”

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