Chương 8
He looked offended. “I used it creatively.”
It became easier to speak to him when neither mentioned the first night.
That ease bothered Claire.
During one training session, Earl asked why the baby still had no first name.
“Lena hasn’t completed the birth certificate worksheet,” Claire said.
“She calls her anything?”
“Mostly baby.”
“That’s not a name.”
“It is temporarily accurate.”
Earl watched the infant sleep. “Jonah wanted June.”
“How do you know?”
“He talked about it.”
“Did Lena?”
“I don’t know.”
“Then I would avoid campaigning.”
“I wasn’t.”
“You looked like you were.”
“That’s just my face.”
Claire glanced at the scars. “I know.”
He looked at her, and both understood the sentence had changed meaning since their first meeting.
Lena eventually chose the name June Marie Reed. She claimed June had been her grandmother’s name and denied that Jonah had selected it. Earl did not challenge her.
Hal did.
“My son told us he liked Margaret,” he said during a family meeting.
Ruth stared at him. “He said Margaret sounded like a librarian who reported children for whispering.”
“He was joking.”
“He was not.”
The meeting included Dana, Monica Hale, Lena, Earl, Hal, Ruth, and a hospital attorney who spoke only when legal boundaries required it. Claire was not officially part of the discussion, but Lena asked that she attend as a support person.
Hal objected.
“Ms. Bennett has already demonstrated poor judgment,” he said.
Claire felt the familiar heat under her collar.
Lena answered before anyone else. “She found me at the bus station.”
“No,” Earl said. “I did.”
“She made me get in the ambulance.”
“I called it.”
Claire said, “This is an inspiring demonstration of teamwork.”
Ruth looked down to hide a smile.
Hal did not.
Monica outlined the options. If Lena could secure stable housing, continue treatment, maintain negative drug screens, and identify a reliable safety network, CPS would consider an in-home plan with monitoring after June’s discharge. If those conditions were not met, the agency could seek court intervention. Hal and Ruth’s guardianship petition would be evaluated separately by family court.
“Evaluated based on what?” Lena asked.
“The child’s best interests,” Hal said.
Monica looked at him. “Based on evidence.”
Hal opened a leather folder. Inside were photographs, printed bank statements, an eviction docket, and copies of messages between Lena and Jonah.
Earl stared at the folder. “You printed their messages?”
“They were on Jonah’s phone.”
“That doesn’t make them yours.”
“He was my son.”
“He was also a grown man.”
“And now he is dead.”
The room fell silent.
Hal’s control returned as quickly as it had broken. He removed a photograph and set it on the table. Lena stood outside an apartment building beside a woman smoking a cigarette. A timestamp from two months earlier appeared in the corner.
“This is the individual who supplied the illegal medication,” Hal said.
Lena went pale.
Monica did not touch the photograph. “How was this obtained?”
“An investigator.”
“Was Ms. Reed under active surveillance?”
“I was documenting risk.”
“You were following me,” Lena said.
“I was trying to prevent exactly this situation.”
“This situation happened because your son died.”
“It happened because after he died, you made every possible bad choice.”
Ruth whispered, “Hal.”
He looked at her. “Am I wrong?”
Ruth’s eyes filled, but her voice remained steady. “You are making accuracy sound like innocence.”
Hal sat back as if she had slapped him.
The meeting continued badly.
Earl admitted the veterans’ house fire had resulted from his failure to correct known safety problems. Hal used the admission to question whether Earl could be trusted with June. Earl offered no defense beyond the measures he had taken afterward: closing the house, settling civil claims, cooperating with the investigation, and transferring the remaining funds to a licensed housing nonprofit.
“You avoided criminal charges,” Hal said.
“Yes.”
“That doesn’t mean you were cleared.”
“No.”
“You expect us to place Jonah’s child with the man responsible for his death?”
“No.”
Everyone looked at Earl.
He folded his trembling hands on the table. “I expect Lena to raise her daughter if she can do it safely.”
Lena turned toward him.
Earl continued, “I’ll help. I’m not asking for custody.”
Dana asked, “Even if the court determines Lena requires a temporary guardian?”
“I’m not physically equipped to be the only caregiver for a premature infant.”
Hal gave a short, satisfied nod.
Earl saw it. “Neither are you.”
Hal’s expression stiffened.
“You think paying people makes you the one doing the work,” Earl said. “You think grief is a credential. It isn’t.”
“And guilt is?”
“No.”
The two men stared at each other across the table.
Monica called for a break.
In the corridor, Lena confronted Earl.
“You said you’d protect her.”
“I said I’d help you raise her.”
“You told Jonah she’d never be left alone.”
“She won’t be.”
“You just announced to everyone that you won’t take her.”
“I said I can’t be her only caregiver.”
“That’s the same thing when they’re waiting to decide I’m a failure.”
“No, it isn’t.”
“You’re supposed to be on my side.”
Earl’s face tightened. “I am on June’s side.”
Lena stepped back.
Claire saw the injury before Earl did.
He reached for the next sentence and chose the wrong one.
“That has to come first.”
Lena laughed bitterly. “There it is. Took you three weeks to become Hal.”
She walked away.
Earl did not follow.
Claire remained beside him.
“Don’t,” he said.
“I haven’t said anything.”
“You’re preparing.”
“I was thinking you managed to be right in the cruelest possible way.”
He rubbed his scarred forearm. “That a professional assessment?”
“No. Personal.”
“Worse.”
Claire watched Lena disappear into the elevator. “You could have told her you were afraid.”
“I did.”
“You told the meeting your hands don’t work.”
“That’s a fact.”
“Facts are where men go when they don’t want to admit they love somebody.”
May you like
Earl looked at her. “You say that to fathers in the NICU?”
“Only the ones who are being impossible.”
