you cannot expect people to marry or not marry because of their names,” Rose admonished.
“The answer is staring us in the face.” Maudine’s expression melted into a sly smile. “She’ll marry Reed,” she proclaimed. That was the perfect solution.
“Have you lost your mind?” Rose asked, her expression one of serious concern.
“No, no. I’m serious as Old Man Zorn’s heart attack.” Maudine nodded emphatically. “She’s always had a crush on Reed. Even when the boy had no prospects. Now, he does. He has several billion of them, he’s Amanda Jane’s father...it solves all of our problems.”
“Have you forgotten the part where he was on the drugs?” Ethel faux-whispered.
It was Helga’s turn to roll her eyes. “The drugs? As if he did them all? That was years ago. He’s cleaned up his act. He’s CEO of a major international company. If there was the slightest chance he was slipping, his board of directors would oust him so fast it would make your head spin.”
“I wouldn’t trust him with a child.” Ethel crossed her arms. “This is all just so seedy.”
“Good thing it’s not up to you, isn’t it?” Maudine looked pointedly at Helga. She’d be hearing the paternity suit Maudine had convinced Gina to file against Reed.
“You’re asking me to break the law. To form an opinion days before I hear a case.” Helga shook her head.
“No, I’m asking you, after listening to the evidence for yourself, to consider this option as a relief of circumstances to both parties.” Maudine flashed a self-satisfied smile. “Offer them marriage as an option to child support and a custody fight.”
“Are you sure you’re not the one who should’ve gone to law school?” Helga eyed her.
“I just know what’s best for Gina. That’s why we started the Grandmothers, right? To put our life experience to good use.” Maudine nodded.
“Do you have any doubts about this? Any at all? A man can change a lot in seven years,” Helga asked.
“Yes, I do believe he can.” Maudine nodded again, but this time it was weighted with purpose.
“I won’t make you any promises. If, based on the evidence presented, this is a good idea, I’ll suggest it. But it might not be. I am an officer of the court. So we need a backup plan.”
“Your grandson is my backup plan.” Maudine grinned.
“That’s probably not something you should ever say to his face, dear,” Regan added.
“Too true.” Helga nodded. “He’s a good man. And should be a woman’s first choice, not a backup plan.”
“You know what I mean. I already love Greg like my own.” Maudine tried to smooth over her careless words.
“I know that.” Helga sniffed. “So, anyone else have anything to contribute or are we ready to move on to the next item of business?”
Maudine stood. “We can move on to Ethel’s prize-winning petunias.”
“Actually, I think we should discuss how to get Marie’s B and B more exposure,” Ethel added. “My petunias are quite special, but they can only do so much, you know.”
A LACY COLLAR lay expertly arranged atop the judge’s black robes, like the doily positioned just so underneath the orange carnival glass bowl that held an endless supply of her grandmother’s hard, ribbon candy. The kind Gina had chipped her front tooth on when she was eight. Seeing it perched there, so crisp, so proper, caused a heavy knot to turn in on itself in her gut.
“Sit up straight,” Maudine Townsend whispered in Gina’s ear. “Just because I’ve played pinochle with Helga Gunderson every Saturday for as long as I can remember doesn’t mean she’s going to look kindly on you. She’ll be fair.”
“How is it fair to judge someone by their posture? Especially when I know that you two have never played pinochle. You play five-card stud and shoot whiskey,” Gina whispered back to her blue-haired grandmother. The woman’s hair was literally a light shade of blue. She’d dyed it for the street carnival two weeks back and temporary had turned out to be more permanent. But she’d accessorized nicely, striking an imposing figure in a white vintage Chanel suit circa 1963. Somehow, she’d made it work.
Maudine raised a perfectly drawn eyebrow. “Don’t be tart.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Gina straightened her posture. She was a grown woman, former army, and her grandmother still had the power to make her jump to. She didn’t mind it much. Her grandmother was the reason she was a fighter. Her grandmother was the reason she’d made it through high school after her mother died.
And her grandmother was the reason that Gina believed she could be a good mother to her niece, Amanda Jane, after Crystal died a year ago.
There’d been a lot of loss and a lot of sorrow in the past few years. It was a lot for anyone to bear, especially a six-year-old girl.
Suddenly, her grandmother’s fingers tightened around hers, the cool metal of her mail-order costume rings digging into Gina’s palms.
She looked up and saw him.
Him.
Reed Hollingsworth.
Gina thought she’d prepared herself for this—for seeing him after all these years. For facing him and demanding he do what was right.
No, faced with him, she felt like she’d opened the door to confront the monster in the closet and found out he was real. No, no...Reed wasn’t a monster. He was just a guy. A man like any other, even if he didn’t think so anymore.
He smelled of money, or she could tell that he would from across the courtroom.
Reed was ushered into the court by some shark masquerading as a man in a suit. They each had haircuts that probably cost more than all the shoes in her closet combined. Of course, that probably wasn’t saying much.
His hair gleamed, perfect and golden under the light. Too perfect, she wanted to muss it, push her fingers through it and disturb its perfection. She wanted proof that he was still Reed underneath this shiny veneer. Still the same boy, at heart. Because if he wasn’t, how would she survive this?
She’d survive anything, because she had to, she reassured herself.
Gina crossed her ankles and tucked her dollar-store flats underneath her, self-conscious of her hand-me-down dress and the slightly gnawed tips of her unpolished fingernails.
“I’m not worried about the judge, I’m worried about him. Don’t give him the satisfaction,” her best friend and lawyer, Emma Grimes, said from the seat next to her. “I don’t doubt he’s going to try to pull something here. That attack dog he’s got with him looks much too smug.”
“Good
