Seduction of Souls (20 page)

“Yes, I see.”  She motioned to the front of Darcy’s sweatshirt.  “Honestly, I’m thrilled that you’re here.  I love the idea of Lillyanna having a grandparent.  Every child needs some unconditional love and spoiling to counterbalance the discipline and rules of her parents.  It’s one of my fondest memories of childhood, being spoiled stupid by my grandmother.”

“Oh, thank God.  Here I thought I’d have a fight on my hands over the whole spoiling business.”

“Not from me, anyway.  I can’t speak for Ryker
, though.”

“I’ll handle Ryker.  Speaking of the devil, where is he
?”

“He’s in the nursery waiting to make a grand entrance with Lilly.
  Are you ready?”

With a quick nod and her hands clasped tightly together she waited.

“Ryker, bring her out.”

RayeAnn
watched as the woman’s mouth gaped open and tears filled her eyes.  Lillyanna was babbling her baby talk and pulling Ryker’s hair unmercifully as he walked toward his mother.  Lilly only noticed her grandmother when Ryker began to introduce them to each other.

“Lillyanna Juliet Trenton
, I would like to introduce you to your grandmother Whitcombe.” 

Fearlessly the baby leaned toward Darcy, holding her arms out to be snatched into the woman’s embrace.  She babbled her baby talk to Darcy as if she understood every word. 

RayeAnn joined in the tearfest when she saw the loving look on Mrs. Whitcombe’s face.  Ryker grabbed her by the waist and embraced her tightly, kissing her lightly on the top of her head as his eyes also puddled.  It was a beautiful sight.  One she would file away for a lifetime of memories.  Finally coming to her senses, she broke from his embrace and ushered everyone into the nursery.  Darcy instinctively took a seat in the rocking chair and began to rock the baby gently while Lilly explored all her shiny jewelry.  Baby likes her bling.

“Well, I’ll be in the library if you two need anything.  I promise I’ll turn off the intercom in there.  Just let me know if you need anything.  I don’t want to interfere.”

“Don’t be silly.  How could you interfere in your own home?” 

“None the less
, I’ll give you three some privacy.”  And she was out the door before anyone could voice a protest.  She closed her eyes and let the wave of pain pass over her. 
God, she
missed her mom.

She sat at her desk and, as promised, flicked off the intercom on her desk.  After
taking a moment to collect her thoughts, she dove into her work.  Two hours later she decided to make some coffee and set out the snack trays she had prepared in the middle of the sleepless night she’d had. 

RayeAnn
gently tapped on the open door jam of the nursery.  Now Ryker was in the rocking chair and Lilly was doing everything she could to fight off the sleep that kept trying to take her over. 

“Mrs. Whitcombe
, I’ve made a fresh pot of coffee and set out some snacks in the kitchen.  Can I bring you something?”

“Don’t be waiting on me.  I’m perfectly capable of walking and helping myself, dear.  I do believe I would like a cup of coffee, thank you.  Lead the way.”

She did as she was told and motioned for her guest to have a seat on the stool at the island in the kitchen.  She poured three mugs of coffee and excused herself to take Ryker his.  By the time she returned to the kitchen she found Mrs. Whitcombe happily munching on the cheese and crackers while her feet swung back and forth from the stool.  When she started to leave, Mrs. Whitcombe laid a gentle hand on her arm to stop her.

“Please stay.  I hate to eat alone.  No matter how long my husband’s been gone
, I still can’t get used to eating alone.  Silly, I know, but I can’t help it.  Tell me how things are going with Ryker living here.”

“Really, really well.  Much better than I expected
, actually, once we quit fighting over who got the baby and when.”  She chuckled and felt the heat of a blush cover her face.

“I’m glad to hear that.  I’ve never seen my son so proud, and we both have you to thank for that.  He loves that little girl and you with all his heart, you know?”

“Not me, just Lilly.  Without her he wouldn’t be here at all.  Don’t go romanticizing this arrangement, Mrs. Whitcombe.  That’s not what this is about.  When Ryker gets tired of playing house he’ll be gone again.  I’ve no illusions otherwise and neither should you.”

“I don’t believe that for a minute.  But then that’s none of my business, is it.  Not unless it pertains to Lilly
, that is.”

“If you’re worried about not seeing her if he leaves, don’t.  I’ll always allow you to visit
, regardless of Ryker.  Like I said, it’s important to me that Lilly have contact with her grandmother.  It’s a win-win situation for everyone.”  When the doorbell rang RayeAnn ran for the door before the noise woke the baby.  A few minutes later she was back with a thick packet sent by special courier.  Curious, she opened the heavy envelope and read the heading of the court document.

Blazoned across the top of the page was the heading:  DISPUTE OF PATERNITY.

Scanning the document quickly, she saw the claimants name as Ryker Whitcome IV.  Stunned, she sat on the stool and tried to understand what this all meant.  He was trying to get out of claiming Lilly as his own.  How could he do this to her and Lillyanna?  Devastation consumed her while she sobbed into her hands.  When she heard Ryker enter the kitchen, she turned her tear stained face to him and spoke as quietly as she could.

“You need to pack your things and leave this house immediately.  Don’t come back.  Ever.”

“What happened?  Mom, did you say something?”  His mother looked between the two of them as if watching a tennis match.

“Don’t blame your mother for your own decisions.  I got the court papers today.  If you didn’t believe that Lilly was yours
, why did you even bother coming here?  What, didn’t you get enough jollies hurting me the first time?  Thought you’d strike again through Lilly?  I hope you feel satisfied now.”  By the end of her speech she was screaming and crying at the same time.  She threw the court papers at him and stormed out of the room.

The second she made it into t
he nursery, she closed and locked the door.  Through some miracle the baby was still asleep as she crawled into her bed and sobbed into her pillow.

CHAPTER 21

Ryker angrily slammed his clothes into his duffle bag while his mother straightened the kitchen downstairs.  He was furious with his friend and attorney, Bennett Wilson, who had obviously filed the paperwork that littered the floor downstairs.  He had immediately placed a call to the bastard after seeing the court papers.  This was not what he’d had in mind when he talked about making things more official.  Never once had he questioned the fact that he was Lillyanna’s father, so where did this jerk get off filing papers like this?  Of course he was in court today, so Ryker had no choice but to pack his things and leave until this all got straightened out.  Couple of days, tops.

He knocked quietly on the nursery room’s door but got no response.  No great surprise there.  If he were in
RayeAnn’s shoes he would do the same thing.  He heard the muted sobbing on the other side of the door and his heart broke apart.  Now she would hate him forever, and he had no one to blame but himself.  Why didn’t he tell her that he had talked to Bennett and what they’d discussed?  Because he was a chickenshit coward.  He didn’t want to upset the balance they’d struck. 
Good going, asshole
.  For now he would just have to wait it out at his mother’s house.  How lame was that?  Moving back home with mommy because he was too stupid to live on his own, and he knew that was the truth of it.  He was dangerous.  People needed to be protected from him.  Already he found himself missing RayeAnn and Lillyanna.  Somehow he had to fix this.

SIX WEEKS LATER

RayeAnn sat nervously in the hallway of the courthouse with her lawyer, Jonathan Chase, next to her.  She bobbed her knee repeatedly as she tried to work off some of the tension coursing through her body.  Waiting for the clerk to call their case before the family court judge made her want to scream. 

Ryker sat down the opposite side of the hallway in an intense huddle with a man she assumed to be Bennett Wilson, his attorney.  She watched as Ryker’s face turned red while he ges
tured wildly with his hands, clearly angry about something.  When he stared back at her she looked away quickly, not wanting to acknowledge she was aware of his presence.

Once they were all seated and sworn in the proceedings began.  Most of what was said went right over her head, but she already knew the bottom line.  There was no denying that Ryker was Lillyanna’s father and now they had the medical documentation to prove it.  DNA didn’t lie.  With her arms crossed over her chest she sat staring straight ahead while the attorneys did their job.  Without warning, Ryker shot out of his seat and began to speak.

“Your honor, may I please speak frankly to the court?”

“That would be inadvisable, Mr. Whitcombe.  That’s why you have your attorney, to protect your rights.”

“Sir, I’ll gladly waive my rights if I could just explain things.  This has all gotten way, way out of hand.  I never intended to deny paternity.  All you have to do is look at my daughter to know she’s mine.  She’s my spitting image.”

“Then what was your intention?”

“I just wanted to make sure that officially I was Lillyanna’s father.  I thought I was doing right by my daughter
, but instead I screwed everything up.  I’m proud as hell of her.”  He ran his hand through his hair while his other hand jingled the change in his suit pants pocket.

“Well
, I believe that we can move forward now that her parentage is no longer an issue.  Please have a seat and I’ll address the visitation issue.  Mr. Wilson, I will grant your client weekly one hour supervised visits to be held at the family services offices.  Mr. Whitcombe, they will do everything they can to accommodate your schedule, but keep in mind that some adjustments may have to be made.  We will readdress the visitation schedule again in ninety days, complete with a report from family services.  At that time we may or may not adjust the schedule accordingly.  This court stands adjourned.”  With a pound of his gavel the hearing was over.

He sat in the chair and glared at Bennett, anger barely contained below the surface.  For the next three months he was limited to one hour per week with his daughter.  Barely enough time to get settled in before he’d have to start packing her up to go home.  If there was just some way he and RayeAnn could talk alone and straighten this whole thing out.  They didn’t need these yahoo’s telling them how to raise their daughter.

When he walked out of the courtroom he saw
RayeAnn crying softly while her attorney whispered in her ear and loosely held her in an embrace.  He must have been trying to console her because he occasionally patted her arm.  With every fiber of his being he wanted to rush to her and put her in his embrace.  When he began to move forward, his arm was grabbed by Bennett with a warning look on his face.  Apparently contact between the two was now forbidden, according to Bennett’s summation he had done once court was dismissed. From now on they had to do all their talking through the family services worker.  He nodded his head in agreement, the whole time thinking,
to hell with that bullshit
.  Bennett had explained about filing the paternity paperwork based on Ryker’s mention of another man having been in RayeAnn’s life when he’d returned to town.  He’d argued that it was his job to protect his clients, no matter what, and paternity was issue number one.  A woman could put anyone’s name on the birth certificate, and the men had no say in the matter.  Although Ryker didn’t like it, he understood Bennett’s reasoning.  Apparently he hadn’t hidden his thoughts that well because he heard Bennett snap his name.

“Don’t think you can get around this, Ryker.  If you insist on trying to contact
RayeAnn she can get a restraining order against you.  Then you’re screwed for sure.  Keep your cool and bide your time.  Everything will work out in the end, it’s just going to take a little longer.  Trust me.”

“Yeah, I did that once and look where it got me.  Up shit’s creek without a paddle.  Thanks a lot,
buddy
.  In the future, don’t do me any favors.”

“Hey, don’t blame me because of your failure to communicate with her before the papers arrived.  You knew damn well they were on their way
, but you just ignored the whole thing, like you always do.  I’m not perfect, but I’m not taking the rap for this.”  The whole time Bennett spoke he paced in front of him.  When he looked up again RayeAnn and her attorney were gone.  He felt totally defeated.  He’d fucked up, and instead of making amends, he had made things worse.  Much, much worse.

“You’re right, of course, and here I am taking my frustrations out on you.  Sorry.  I promise I’ll abide by the court ruling.  I hate it, but I’ll do it.”

“Good.  Gotta get going now.  Take care.”  Bennett slapped him on the back as he walked away.

RayeAnn broke down and cried with relief once the hearing was over.  Six weeks of anxiety had built in her like a violent storm.  It had to blow sometime, although she would have preferred if it had waited until she was out of public view.  Too late now.