Chương 8
Ross looked irritated.
“You came prepared to sacrifice your credibility.”
“No.”
Adrian’s gaze moved briefly to Emily.
“I already sacrificed it.”
That was close to a speech.
Emily disliked it on principle.
But Adrian seemed to dislike saying it more.
Ross produced photographs.
Emily and Adrian leaving a restaurant.
Adrian entering her apartment.
Emily touching his face beside his car.
“Is this you?”
“Yes.”
“And Ms. Carter?”
“Yes.”
“You became intimate with the subject of an investigation.”
“After I terminated the investigation.”
“Convenient distinction.”
“It’s an important one professionally.”
“Was the relationship appropriate?”
“No.”
The answer surprised Ross.
It surprised Emily too.
“Did you love her?”
Mara stood.
“Relevance.”
Ross said, “Bias and motive.”
The judge allowed limited questioning.
Adrian’s fingers tightened around the edge of the witness stand.
“Yes.”
Emily looked down.
Ross asked, “Do you still?”
Adrian’s eyes found Emily.
“Yes.”
She hated that her heart reacted.
Ross turned toward the judge.
“And there is the motive.”
Adrian said, “That’s one motive.”
Ross looked back.
“The other?”
“Guilt.”
The judge told Ross to continue.
After testimony ended, the judge took a brief recess.
Emily sat on a bench outside the courtroom eating crackers from a vending machine because she had forgotten lunch.
Adrian stood twenty feet away speaking quietly with his attorney.
Natalie watched him.
“He looks terrible.”
“Please don’t compliment him.”
“That wasn’t a compliment.”
“It sounded sympathetic.”
“I contain multitudes.”
Emily gave her a look.
Natalie ate one of the crackers without asking.
“Do you still love him?”
Emily stared down the corridor.
“I don’t know what love means when you don’t trust somebody.”
“That sounded like something from a depressing mug.”
“I gave birth three weeks ago. Leave me alone.”
Natalie leaned against her shoulder.
For a minute they sat without talking.
A bailiff opened the courtroom door.
The judge granted the protective order.
Not because of Adrian alone.
Not because of the hospital video alone.
Not because of the bruise alone.
The ruling described a pattern.
Repeated unwanted contact.
Surveillance requests.
The grocery-store assault supported by contemporaneous photographs and a message Emily sent Natalie minutes afterward.
The hospital confrontation.
Derek’s attempts to locate Emily after she had clearly told him to stop.
The order would remain in effect for the period specified by the court, subject to applicable procedures.
Derek stared straight ahead.
No collapse.
No confession.
No apology.
When everyone stood, he leaned toward his lawyer and whispered something Emily could not hear.
Then he left through another door.
That was justice in real life.
No applause.
Paper.
Conditions.
A bailiff already calling the next case.
Outside the courthouse, Adrian approached Emily slowly.
Natalie remained beside her.
Adrian stopped several feet away.
“I’m glad you got the order.”
Emily nodded.
“My attorney says the licensing board wants an interview.”
“I’m sorry.”
“You shouldn’t be.”
“No. I can be sorry something bad happens to you without trying to prevent it.”
Adrian looked at her for a moment.
“That sounds complicated.”
“It is.”
He looked toward the stroller.
“Can I see him?”
Emily considered.
Then she moved half a step aside.
Adrian crouched.
Noah was awake.
His eyes moved without focusing on anything.
Adrian smiled.
It was small and almost embarrassed.
“Hey.”
Noah sneezed.
Adrian looked up at Emily.
“He hates me.”
“He’s three weeks old.”
“I’m starting badly.”
“You’ve started worse.”
Adrian laughed softly.
Emily did too.
Then the humor passed, leaving something quieter.
“We need to talk about Noah,” she said.
“Whenever you’re ready.”
“No.”
Adrian blinked.
Emily folded her arms.
“That’s the problem with you. You disappear into noble patience whenever reality gets uncomfortable.”
He straightened.
“What do you want?”
“I want you to act like his father if you’re going to be his father.”
“I want that.”
“That means child support.”
“Yes.”
“Medical decisions.”
“Yes.”
“Night feedings eventually.”
“Yes.”
“You are going to learn how to install a car seat without pretending you already know.”
Adrian almost smiled.
“I can do that.”
“You just failed.”
His smile vanished.
“Right.”
“And you don’t get access to me because you have access to him.”
“I understand.”
Emily waited.
Adrian caught himself.
“Okay.”
She nodded.
“We’ll do the legal acknowledgment through Mara after she reviews it. I want the paternity result attached to everything.”
“Fine.”
“You’ll follow the parenting schedule.”
“Yes.”
“And therapy.”
Adrian stared.
“For me?”
“No, for Derek.”
He accepted the sarcasm.
“Yes. For me.”
“You don’t get points for agreeing quickly.”
“I’m learning there are no points.”
“Good.”
Noah began crying.
Adrian looked alarmed.
Emily lifted him from the stroller.
“You wanted fatherhood.”
“I do.”
“Take him.”
Adrian froze.
Emily held Noah out.
“Support his head.”
“I know.”
She raised an eyebrow.
Adrian corrected himself.
“I have been informed.”
He took Noah carefully.
Too carefully.
His arms were rigid.
Emily adjusted one hand beneath the baby’s neck.
“Relax.”
“I’m holding a person whose entire spine fits on my forearm.”
“He can smell fear.”
“That’s sharks.”
“Same principle.”
Noah stopped crying.
Adrian stared down.
Something in Emily loosened.
Not forgiveness.
Nothing that large.
Only one knot.
The acknowledgment of paternity was completed the following week after Mara reviewed the documents and explained the legal consequences to both of them.
This time Adrian did not reach for the pen first.
Emily did.
They sat at a plain conference table in Mara’s office.
No walnut walls.
No confrontation.
No Derek.
No audience.
Mara turned the form toward Emily.
“You can still choose not to sign today.”
“I know.”
Emily looked at Adrian.
He waited.
She took the black-and-gold pen from her bag.
Adrian recognized it.
“You kept that.”
“I considered throwing it at you.”
“Reasonable.”
“It’s heavy.”
“I know.”
Emily almost smiled.
She signed.
Then she slid the pen across the table.
Adrian looked at it but did not touch it immediately.
“You sure?”
“Sign the form.”
He signed.
Mara witnessed the document according to the required procedure.
That was all.
No one cried.
May you like
No music played.
Afterward Emily fed Noah in a chair near the office window while Adrian stood beside a printer trying to assemble a folder Mara had given him.
