Read Online Found: One Secret Baby by Nancy Holland - Free Book Online
Authors: Nancy Holland
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mind. Handsome. Charming. Intelligent. Sexy. Hot. Cold. Angry. And out for revenge.
“Not much like Joey’s father, thank goodness. They’re very wealthy, apparently.”
“Does this grandmother want visitation rights?”
Rosalie swallowed a wave of panic. “I think she may be interested in custody of Joey.”
Ms. Cameron raised her eyebrows. “Since you’re an attorney, I assume you know what your rights are here.”
Rosalie nodded. She’d spent the rest of her sleepless weekend nights making herself an expert on California adoption law.
“Then we’ll want to move forward as quickly as possible on the adoption.” Ms. Cameron’s tone conveyed the optimism Rosalie needed. “First, we’ll need to do a DNA test.”
“A what?”
“A DNA test to establish that this,” she looked down at the papers in front of her, “Lillian Danby is, in fact, Joey’s grandmother.”
The idea that Márya could have ever cheated on Charlie had never crossed Rosalie’s mind. Her friend wouldn’t have dared do that, of course, even if she’d been the kind of woman who might have, but for the first time since she’d opened the door to Morgan Danby on Friday morning, Rosalie felt a glimmer of hope.
“How is that done?” she asked. “Would Mrs. Danby have to come to L.A. for the test?”
“No.”
Rosalie’s hope faded again as Ms. Cameron explained the procedure for DNA tests of this sort. Nothing there to keep Charlie’s mother from proving she had a claim to Joey.
“How are my chances?” Rosalie couldn’t stop from asking before she left.
“I’d say they’re excellent. You’re a great mom and Joey loves you. I’ll be sure to put that in my report. And you’re the guardian his mother chose for him. As long as there’s nothing negative in your file, there shouldn’t be any problem with the adoption going through.”
Nothing negative in the file, such as lying about Joey’s existence to his presumably loving and grieving grandmother. Throat too thick with tears for words, Rosalie nodded.
“Give your boy a big kiss for me.”
She nodded again and went out to her car, the California sunshine dimmed by her own personal bank of dark clouds.
She’d been a fool. Morgan Danby had taken her by surprise and she’d acted like an idiot.
Not just on Friday, when she’d added insult to injury, but the first time he showed up in her office. She should never have lied to him. She’d known it all along. But the thought of losing Joey had made her stupid. And stupidity never paid.
She drove to her office and grimly dove into the pile of work that waited on her desk.
Lillian was overjoyed, of course. Morgan had decided against telling her on the phone. Instead he waited until he was back in Boston and told her the news over drinks in the conservatory of the Back Bay mansion his family had owed for over a hundred years. The air was thick with the smell of growing things, marred by Lillian’s expensive perfume.
“A boy!” His stepmother set down her martini. “Does he look at all like Charlie?”
“Pretty much. He’s blonder, I guess.”
Lillian smiled coyly and touched her own blonde curls, as if they both didn’t know how much she paid every month to keep it that color. “I can hardly wait to see him. How soon can you bring the little angel to me?”
Little imp would be more like it, Morgan suspected.
“You know it’s more complicated than that, Lillian. Ms. Walker is the child’s legal guardian. You’d have to go to court and get custody of him first.”
“Ms. Walker? Isn’t she the one who lied to you about whether the child existed? I knew you were letting the woman put one over on you. Men!” She shook her head.
Morgan took a sip of his single malt and forced the image of Rosalie’s face out of his mind.
“She misled me, but the boy’s mother chose Ms. Walker to be his guardian, and the court is going to give a lot of weight to that, especially given the circumstances of his
“Not much like Joey’s father, thank goodness. They’re very wealthy, apparently.”
“Does this grandmother want visitation rights?”
Rosalie swallowed a wave of panic. “I think she may be interested in custody of Joey.”
Ms. Cameron raised her eyebrows. “Since you’re an attorney, I assume you know what your rights are here.”
Rosalie nodded. She’d spent the rest of her sleepless weekend nights making herself an expert on California adoption law.
“Then we’ll want to move forward as quickly as possible on the adoption.” Ms. Cameron’s tone conveyed the optimism Rosalie needed. “First, we’ll need to do a DNA test.”
“A what?”
“A DNA test to establish that this,” she looked down at the papers in front of her, “Lillian Danby is, in fact, Joey’s grandmother.”
The idea that Márya could have ever cheated on Charlie had never crossed Rosalie’s mind. Her friend wouldn’t have dared do that, of course, even if she’d been the kind of woman who might have, but for the first time since she’d opened the door to Morgan Danby on Friday morning, Rosalie felt a glimmer of hope.
“How is that done?” she asked. “Would Mrs. Danby have to come to L.A. for the test?”
“No.”
Rosalie’s hope faded again as Ms. Cameron explained the procedure for DNA tests of this sort. Nothing there to keep Charlie’s mother from proving she had a claim to Joey.
“How are my chances?” Rosalie couldn’t stop from asking before she left.
“I’d say they’re excellent. You’re a great mom and Joey loves you. I’ll be sure to put that in my report. And you’re the guardian his mother chose for him. As long as there’s nothing negative in your file, there shouldn’t be any problem with the adoption going through.”
Nothing negative in the file, such as lying about Joey’s existence to his presumably loving and grieving grandmother. Throat too thick with tears for words, Rosalie nodded.
“Give your boy a big kiss for me.”
She nodded again and went out to her car, the California sunshine dimmed by her own personal bank of dark clouds.
She’d been a fool. Morgan Danby had taken her by surprise and she’d acted like an idiot.
Not just on Friday, when she’d added insult to injury, but the first time he showed up in her office. She should never have lied to him. She’d known it all along. But the thought of losing Joey had made her stupid. And stupidity never paid.
She drove to her office and grimly dove into the pile of work that waited on her desk.
Lillian was overjoyed, of course. Morgan had decided against telling her on the phone. Instead he waited until he was back in Boston and told her the news over drinks in the conservatory of the Back Bay mansion his family had owed for over a hundred years. The air was thick with the smell of growing things, marred by Lillian’s expensive perfume.
“A boy!” His stepmother set down her martini. “Does he look at all like Charlie?”
“Pretty much. He’s blonder, I guess.”
Lillian smiled coyly and touched her own blonde curls, as if they both didn’t know how much she paid every month to keep it that color. “I can hardly wait to see him. How soon can you bring the little angel to me?”
Little imp would be more like it, Morgan suspected.
“You know it’s more complicated than that, Lillian. Ms. Walker is the child’s legal guardian. You’d have to go to court and get custody of him first.”
“Ms. Walker? Isn’t she the one who lied to you about whether the child existed? I knew you were letting the woman put one over on you. Men!” She shook her head.
Morgan took a sip of his single malt and forced the image of Rosalie’s face out of his mind.
“She misled me, but the boy’s mother chose Ms. Walker to be his guardian, and the court is going to give a lot of weight to that, especially given the circumstances of his
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