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Authors: Delores Fossen
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problem,” Dylan assured her.
Ruth made a nasally sound to indicate she didn’t buy that. “Then why is that woman here?”
Good question. But Dylan kept that remark to himself. Instead, he stood back and watched as Collena took short cautious steps toward Adam.
The little boy stopped and eyed the stranger who was approaching him. Adam didn’t smile. Nor did he back away as he sometimes did with people he didn’t know. He simply studied Collena as she stooped to Adam’s eye level.
“Hi,” Adam said, using his latest favorite word. Except it sounded more like “i.”
“Hi,” Collena answered. Her voice was clogged with emotion.
Neither Dylan, nor Ruth said a word, but their gazes met, and he could tell that Ruth saw what Dylan had already known.
This was definitely mother and son.
Collena dropped down onto the floor, sitting directly across from Adam, and the two just watched each other. Adam babbled something, reached out and touched Collena’s hair, which was barely a shade darker than Adam’s own.
That one touch seemed to open the floodgates for Adam. With help from Collena, he climbed off the toy car, took a picture book that was lying on the floor and toddled back to Collena. Adam thrust the book toward her, and Collena took it and began to read to the child.
The simple gesture got Dylan right in the heart. Adam was more accepting of Collena than he wanted his son to be.
However, he didn’t have time to react beyond that because his phone rang. Dylan extracted it from his pocket and checked the screen. It was from Mason Tanner, the P.I. friend who’d sent him those faxes about Collena. Dylan had e-mailed the man shortly thereafter and asked him to do a background check on Curtis Reese.
Because he didn’t want Ruth or Collena to overhear this particular conversation, Dylan stepped into the hall to take the call.
“Please tell me you found something on Curtis Reese,” Dylan said, commencing with a greeting.
“I did. Thankfully, his life is somewhat of an open book. That’s the good news. The bad news is that he’s staying at the hotel in Greer and is literally less than eight miles from your doorstep. He’s not alone, either. He has his lawyer and a pair of private investigators there with him. And he has power, Dylan. Lots of it. Along with a couple of judges in his pocket.”
That was not what Dylan wanted to hear. “Are you saying he could actually win a custody battle?”
“Absolutely. From what I can see from the outside looking in, he can make a case against either you or Collena Drake. Yours is a no-brainer. The adoption was illegal, and that means legally you have no claim to Adam.”
Dylan felt as if someone had sucker punched him. “I’ve raised him since birth.”
“That won’t negate the fact that the adoption was illegal. I’m not a lawyer, but Collena obviously has the strongest claim for full custody.”
He felt another punch. “Once she has proof that she’s Adam’s mother.”
“Oh, there’s proof already. I checked the lab where you’d stored Adam’s umbilical cord. They’re the ones who ran the DNA test for the police, and Collena’s DNA is on file because she’s a former cop. Adam is Collena’s son, all right. No disputing that.”
That one was more than a punch. Dylan was grateful for the brief period of silence that followed. He needed it to come to terms with the fact that Collena had been telling him the truth.
Hell.
And the truth was that he could lose Adam.
“Collena has the best claim for custody,” Mason Tanner repeated. “Unless, of course, Curtis Reese is able to prove she’s unfit in some way.”
And Curtis just might be able to do that if he could prove that Collena had endangered her unborn child by going on an undercover assignment. A good lawyer could argue that, and Curtis would almost certainly have a good lawyer. Heck, he’d have an entire team of them.
“What about Curtis Reese himself—what kind of dirt could you
Ruth made a nasally sound to indicate she didn’t buy that. “Then why is that woman here?”
Good question. But Dylan kept that remark to himself. Instead, he stood back and watched as Collena took short cautious steps toward Adam.
The little boy stopped and eyed the stranger who was approaching him. Adam didn’t smile. Nor did he back away as he sometimes did with people he didn’t know. He simply studied Collena as she stooped to Adam’s eye level.
“Hi,” Adam said, using his latest favorite word. Except it sounded more like “i.”
“Hi,” Collena answered. Her voice was clogged with emotion.
Neither Dylan, nor Ruth said a word, but their gazes met, and he could tell that Ruth saw what Dylan had already known.
This was definitely mother and son.
Collena dropped down onto the floor, sitting directly across from Adam, and the two just watched each other. Adam babbled something, reached out and touched Collena’s hair, which was barely a shade darker than Adam’s own.
That one touch seemed to open the floodgates for Adam. With help from Collena, he climbed off the toy car, took a picture book that was lying on the floor and toddled back to Collena. Adam thrust the book toward her, and Collena took it and began to read to the child.
The simple gesture got Dylan right in the heart. Adam was more accepting of Collena than he wanted his son to be.
However, he didn’t have time to react beyond that because his phone rang. Dylan extracted it from his pocket and checked the screen. It was from Mason Tanner, the P.I. friend who’d sent him those faxes about Collena. Dylan had e-mailed the man shortly thereafter and asked him to do a background check on Curtis Reese.
Because he didn’t want Ruth or Collena to overhear this particular conversation, Dylan stepped into the hall to take the call.
“Please tell me you found something on Curtis Reese,” Dylan said, commencing with a greeting.
“I did. Thankfully, his life is somewhat of an open book. That’s the good news. The bad news is that he’s staying at the hotel in Greer and is literally less than eight miles from your doorstep. He’s not alone, either. He has his lawyer and a pair of private investigators there with him. And he has power, Dylan. Lots of it. Along with a couple of judges in his pocket.”
That was not what Dylan wanted to hear. “Are you saying he could actually win a custody battle?”
“Absolutely. From what I can see from the outside looking in, he can make a case against either you or Collena Drake. Yours is a no-brainer. The adoption was illegal, and that means legally you have no claim to Adam.”
Dylan felt as if someone had sucker punched him. “I’ve raised him since birth.”
“That won’t negate the fact that the adoption was illegal. I’m not a lawyer, but Collena obviously has the strongest claim for full custody.”
He felt another punch. “Once she has proof that she’s Adam’s mother.”
“Oh, there’s proof already. I checked the lab where you’d stored Adam’s umbilical cord. They’re the ones who ran the DNA test for the police, and Collena’s DNA is on file because she’s a former cop. Adam is Collena’s son, all right. No disputing that.”
That one was more than a punch. Dylan was grateful for the brief period of silence that followed. He needed it to come to terms with the fact that Collena had been telling him the truth.
Hell.
And the truth was that he could lose Adam.
“Collena has the best claim for custody,” Mason Tanner repeated. “Unless, of course, Curtis Reese is able to prove she’s unfit in some way.”
And Curtis just might be able to do that if he could prove that Collena had endangered her unborn child by going on an undercover assignment. A good lawyer could argue that, and Curtis would almost certainly have a good lawyer. Heck, he’d have an entire team of them.
“What about Curtis Reese himself—what kind of dirt could you
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