STORM: A Standalone Romance (89 page)

I was beginning to understand that look.

What was their story? What had their relationship been? What was it now?

My cellphone rang.

“Penelope? Can you be in the city in forty-five minutes? I managed to get us an emergency hearing in front of Judge Connors.”

Harrison

“Do you want me to fly down?”

I leaned back against the wall and turned from the frenzy of activity in the courthouse hallway as I considered Libby’s offer. To be honest, I would have loved to have my sister at my side as I committed myself to this custody fight, but I also knew she was needed in Oregon by her children and husband – if not by our billion dollar company.

“Let’s see how this hearing goes first.”

“You know I’m on your side no matter what happens, right?”

I nodded even though she couldn’t see me. Libby had been the one who suggested I get a job down here, that I ease my way into JT’s life before I started any sort of legal action. I’d wanted to come in, guns blazing, and take my son home. But I listened to her. I should have kept listening to her.

It meant a lot to know she was still supportive despite the disaster I was making of the whole situation.

“I’ll call you when the hearing’s done. Let you know how it went.”

“I’ll be waiting.”

I disconnected the call and turned just in time to watch Penelope come down the hall. I couldn’t deny that there was something about her that reached over and grabbed my balls. She was beautiful, but it was more than that. She walked with confidence, steel in her spine, despite the evidence on her face that suggested a long, difficult morning. Her eyes were a little puffy, her cheeks sporting more color than they usually had. She’d applied a minimal amount of makeup, but it didn’t cover the fact that she’d been crying. And the knowledge that I was the cause of that pain made my chest ache.

How long had it been since I cared about anyone other than my sister? When was the last time a woman’s tears had the power to make me sick to my stomach? When was the last time I tried to take another person’s feelings into consideration before I did…anything?

I wanted to go to her. I wanted to find a way to work this mess out without involving the court. But when she saw me, her confidence sagged for an instant, her eyes widened with horror, and a tension that built walls formed in her shoulders.

If I ever got close to her again, it would be the day hell froze over.

“They’re going to call our case in a few minutes.”

I didn’t even acknowledge the young attorney my lawyer had arranged to handle the hearing in his place. My lawyer, Finn Watson, was back home in Oregon. He couldn’t stand up for me in Texas, but he assured me that after this hearing reaffirmed my status as JT’s temporary guardian, we could move the whole thing back to Oregon since that, technically, is where the fraud was perpetrated.

None of this would have happened if my father hadn’t lied to the adoption lawyer and convinced him that I’d signed away my rights. Leave it to my father to think that not telling me I had a son was in my best interest. And then to die and leave the secret untold for fifteen years.

If I didn’t have enough reasons to hate my father before, I surely had them now.

We walked into the courtroom a few minutes later. There were a few loiterers from the last case, but no reporters—thank goodness. I was afraid word would get out. And I knew it would sooner or later. But later was preferable.

I wondered if Penelope told JT what was happening yet.

The judge walked into the room and took a seat behind his desk. It was an informal courtroom, not even remotely like the throne-like rooms they showed on television. It was more like the conference rooms that sat on one end of each floor of Ashland-Philips’ corporate offices. The judge sat at a normal desk, I sat at a table with my attorney and Penelope did the same across from us, the whole thing set up in a square so that each party could see the others. I couldn’t tear my eyes from her even as she actively tried to keep her eyes on her hands in her lap.

The judge seemed bored as the clerk read out the basics of the case. However, I knew he recognized my name the moment he heard it. So far, I hadn’t run into too many people who knew who I was here in Texas. It helped that I was using my middle name rather than my surname. But I couldn’t get away with that here and the judge was suddenly interested.

“You’re Harrison Philips?” he asked the moment the clerk had finished his part of this little play.

“I am, Your Honor.”

He studied me for a long moment. “As in CEO of Ashland-Philips?”

That caught Penelope’s attention. She was looking at me—finally—but there was new suspicion on her face.

“Yes, sir.”

The judge sat back, his gaze almost like that of a lover or a crazed fan. “I was just reading about you in
Forbes
,” he said with something like the giggle of an excited girl. “They say your fortune will surpass Elon Musk’s in a few months if things continue as they’re going now.”

I shot Penelope a glance. Her eyes had narrowed and her lips were slightly puckered. It was just another secret she wasn’t pleased to hear.

I nudged my lawyer and he stood, moving immediately into his argument. The judge listened, but his gaze remained glued to me. And mine to Penelope. The only person who didn’t seem lost in their own agenda was Penelope’s lawyer. But then again, he cast a few glances in Penelope’s direction that made me wonder if there was more than a lawyer-client relationship going on there.

“Your Honor,” my temporary lawyer said, “my client was robbed of his only child’s infancy: his first steps, his first words, his first day of kindergarten. He was robbed of everything a parent holds dear about raising a child. It’s only fair that he be allowed to share in what is left of his son’s childhood.”

Penelope’s lawyer stood as my lawyer sat, clearing his throat before he began his own argument.

“Jonathon Tyler Monroe has been in the custody of the Monroe family since he was a day old. He has never known another family, another life. His parents entered into a contract with the boy’s biological mother with the understanding that the biological father had given up his rights. It is no fault of the Monroe family or JT himself that there was some sort of irregularity with the father’s signature. Please don’t punish this young man for the actions of people he’s never even met.”

Silence fell over the courtroom. The judge stared at me a moment longer, then his gaze shifted to Penelope.

“Why aren’t…” He consulted the papers his clerk had laid in front of him. “…Dale and Robin Monroe here in the courtroom?”

Penelope’s lawyer rose again as Penelope shot me a hateful glare.

“The Monroes were killed in a car accident three years ago, Your Honor. Ms. Monroe, their daughter, was granted custody in this court in May of that same year.”

The judge shifted his gaze back to me.

“Who do you suggest forged your signature on the adoption papers?”

My lawyer stood, but the judge waved his hand. “I’d prefer to hear from the complainant himself.”

I stood, clasping my hands in front of me in a proper show of respect.

“I was not aware any of this had taken place until several months ago. At that time, JT’s biological mother informed me that a lawyer had visited my home and gotten my signature. However, during the time period she stated this took place, I was a student at Stanford.”

“And that can be verified?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Who do you think signed the paperwork in your place?”

Before I could answer, the judge gave his clerk a piece of paper that he brought to me. It was the back page of the adoption contract. Julia’s name was written in her juvenile scrawl. My name appeared above it. But it was clearly not my signature. This was neater, marked with curlicues that I recognized immediately. My heart sank, a realization I hadn’t considered sinking in.

I had so wanted to blame my father for this mess. But this…I could no longer continue to vilify my father when it was so obvious he wasn’t alone in his attempts to control the path of my life.

“Do you recognize that handwriting, Mr. Philips?” the judge asked.

I nodded slowly. “I do.”

“Could you tell me who you believe signed your name to those adoption papers?”

I set the paper down on the table and looked over at Penelope. She wasn’t the only one who’d lost something in all of this. She wasn’t the only one who would be forced to make a few difficult decisions as we continued to fight this out. She wasn’t the only victim of someone else’s lies.

“My mother.”

*****

The judge left the courtroom a few minutes later, promising to have a decision in fifteen minutes. I got up and walked to the side of the room, tugging my cellphone out of my pocket.

“Did you know?” I demanded the moment the line was answered on the other end.

“Know what?”

“I saw the papers. I saw the signature.”

“Harry…”

“Did you know it was Mom who signed my rights away?”

Libby hesitated and I felt betrayal wash over me like a heavy, oily mess. She had known.

“How long?”

“I didn’t know for sure. But when you told me about JT, I remembered something Mom had said just after Daddy’s funeral. Something about how glad she was that you didn’t have any complications, or else she and I might have been lost. It seemed odd at the time and I tried to ask her about it, but she refused to elaborate.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because there was no point. I had no proof. And you were so ready to blame Daddy—“

“You should have told me, Libby. I had a right to know.”

“And now you do. Does it change the situation? Does it make it any better or any worse for JT or his sister? It doesn’t, Harrison. The only thing it changes is that you can’t keep blaming Daddy for every little thing that went wrong in your life.”

“Fuck you, Libby.”

I disconnected the call and thought seriously about throwing the phone against the wall. I couldn’t believe my mother would do this to me. My beautiful, innocent mother. Was she ever as innocent in all of my father’s schemes as I had always assumed? Or was she the mastermind behind them all? What else had she done to control me, to change the course of my life? What else had she hidden from me?

“I want to tell him.”

I turned, bitter words on the tip of my tongue until I found myself face to face with Penelope.

“No matter how this turns out, it’s clear that you have no intention of backing off. So I want to be the one to tell JT the truth.”

“Of course,” I said.

“He doesn’t know yet. I was going to take him out of school, but I didn’t want to disrupt things any more than I had to.”

“I quit my job there. I thought it might make things easier.”

A cloud crossed her face, but she didn’t give it voice. She looked away briefly, chewing on that bottom lip in a way that made me want to pull her close to me, that made me want to replace her teeth with my own. I leaned back against the cool wall and cleared my throat, trying to clear my mind of my thoughts.

“I only want what’s best for JT,” she said softly.

“So do I.”

“Then how can you—“

She stopped before she finished her thought. She nodded a little crazily, her hair falling over her face. I slid my hands in my pockets to keep from reaching over and brushing her hair away, from freeing her beautiful face for my gaze.

“I never meant for it to go this way, Penelope. I hope you know that.”

“I don’t. But it turns out I knew very little about you.”

“We can change that.”

She shook her head. “I think it’s too late for niceties.”

A door crashed to a close, announcing the judge’s return. Penelope strode off, the tension back in her shoulders.

I walked back to the table where my lawyer waited and watched the ceremony of the court play itself out once again. We took our seats and the judge leaned forward, his eyes moving first to Penelope, then to me.

“This is a highly unusual case,” he began. “Normally when an adoption is found to be invalid, the child is immediately returned to the custody of the biological parents. However, the child in question here is fifteen. For that reason, I think it would be best to proceed with a little more caution. Therefore, I am issuing an injunction against the custody order.”

Penelope hissed, a relieved sigh slipping from her pursed lips.

“However,” the judge continued as he glanced at her, “I am ordering that the biological father be allowed visitation with the child. And I want all parties back in this courtroom next week, along with the child, so that I can get a better picture of the situation.”

Visitation. What the hell did that mean?

My lawyer grabbed my wrist, clearly sensing my need for clarification. The judge got up and walked away as Penelope’s lawyer whispered furiously in her ear. My lawyer leaned close to do the same.

“The judge’s clerk will likely give us a visitation schedule with his order. I will push for you to be allowed a few hours, unsupervised, with JT every day until the next hearing. That will give you time to convince JT to speak favorably of you when he talks to the judge.”