the heavy wooden panel. One push and she’d be through. She’d go and keep going.
She stared at her splayed fingers. Garrett had to regret what had happened between them when his father had come by the house the day he’d been working on the plumbing. Other than his unexpected appearance at the hospital, he’d been back to his usual self. He hadn’t even eaten dinner with her and the children after he’d returned with the garlic bread. He’d just left the foil-covered loaf on the counter, asked her to leave out her car keys so he could arrange to have her car returned from the hospital, reminded her about the hearing and shut himself in the den.
No more spontaneous laughter. No more projects around the house. No more kisses…
Not that she wanted any, of course.
It was just as well that he’d gone back to being Mr. Business.
The only thing Garrett wanted from her was help with the children and to give her account of the accident at this hearing. He didn’t understand her reluctance, and she couldn’t give him the reason for it. She’d seen custody hearings up close and personal. She’d have to lift her hand and swear truthfulness. Could she do that, without telling her true name?
Could she protect herself at the expense of Elise’s dying words?
She inhaled shakily and dropped her hand, turning once more to face the closed courtroom doors. Her legs felt like wet noodles, and she sat down on one of the cold stone benches bracketing the double doors leading into the courtroom. She folded her hands in her lap.
And waited.
Ballet lessons. Riding lessons. Lessons of every kind and size and shape. Followed by an Ivy League education.
Garrett returned Hayden’s look. Caldwell had been waxing eloquent for so long about the childhood he’d given his precious Elise that it was enough to make Garrett gag.
Instead, he watched the judge’s expression as Caldwell went on and on. Almost rambling. But if the judge had feelings one way or another about what he was hearing, there was no hint of it in his expression. Any more than there’d been an indication of what he’d thought of Garrett’s qualifications to care for the children when he’d been on the stand himself.
“This claim of Garrett’s that Elise wanted her children to live with him can be nothing but a fabrication, and for him to drag us through this farce of—”
Hayden objected and the judge wearily rubbed his eyes. “That’s enough, Mayor. We all know your feelings on this. You’ve made them plain enough. Why don’t you return to your seat. Mr. Southerland, if you’d call in your witness, I’d like to hear what she has to say.”
Garrett didn’t bat an eye when Caldwell stepped down from the witness box, his brows pulled fiercely together as he looked Garrett’s way. Caldwell’s animosity didn’t faze him any more than it ever did.
But he waited, still, when Hayden stepped out of the courtroom for a moment. The second he was gone stretched Garrett’s nerves to screaming. But there she was. Walking back into the courtroom with Hayden. Looking cool and delicate in her filmy white ankle-length dress and straw hat.
Her eyes looked his way as she passed between the two tables where the opponents sat. Her husky voice trembled as she was sworn in, and when she stepped up into the witness box and sat down, he could see she was pale.
A pulse visibly beat in her throat. She rested her arms over the wooden chair arms casually enough, but Garrett could see the white knuckles from fingers curled too tightly over the ends.
“Now, Ms. White, why don’t you tell us how you came to be involved in this set-to.”
“Your Honor.” Hayden rose. “If you’d permit me to—”
The judge waved his hand impatiently. “Sit down, Counselor. I’m getting a headache from the lot of you. I’ve a good mind to ban attorneys from my courtroom. Ms. White?”
Darby turned her blue gaze toward Garrett. She gave him a look he couldn’t interpret, then slowly unfastened her fingers from the chair and folded them in her lap. She cleared her throat. Then, with spare words that Garrett could only admire after Caldwell’s verbosity, described her actions when the terrible collision had occurred outside of her workplace. She concluded with Elise’s last words.
Caldwell immediately pushed to his feet, making his chair screech against the floor. “Obviously, Elise was not in a stable frame of mind. And this woman’s word can’t be trusted, anyway! She’s involved with Garrett, for God’s sake.”
Caldwell’s attorney practically dragged his client back down onto his chair, his words fast and low. Finally Caldwell subsided and the judge turned to Darby, waiting.
“Mrs. Northrop was quite lucid, considering,” Darby answered Caldwell’s first point. “She knew her husband was…gone. She knew she wasn’t going to make it to the hospital. She’d been carrying Mr. Cullum’s business card in her purse. It was right where she said it would be.”
“Did she speak of anyone else other than Mr. Cullum?”
Garrett saw the telltale glisten in her eyes as she looked at Caldwell. “No,” she admitted quietly. “I’m sorry.”
“Any other people around who heard what she said?”
Darby shook her head. “The EMTs hadn’t yet arrived.” She swallowed, staring at her hands. “I kept administering CPR until they took over, but it was too late.”
“Then it’s just her word that Garrett didn’t make this up,” Caldwell burst out again. “They’re in this together! All to keep me from my own flesh and blood—”
“Enough, Mayor.” The judge’s command rang out. “I said we were keeping this informal, because I happen to like things that way. But one more outburst and I’ll hold you in contempt. Understand?”
“I…hadn’t met Mr. Cullum before the accident,” Darby said shakily. “But I know the children because of Smiling Faces. Garrett…Mr. Cullum, needed someone to help care for them, and I agreed.”
“Which is just what the report from Laura Malone said,” the judge commented. “How do you think the children are doing?”
Her lips parted, her surprise at the question evident to Garrett even if it wasn’t obvious to everyone else. “Quite well,” she said after a moment. “Considering. Their appetites are healthy, their sleep habits seem relatively normal. They’re active, curious children. Tad does have an ear infection right now, but he’s on medication for it and is improving.”
“Ear infections. My grandson is plagued with them.” The judge smiled slightly. “Thank you, Ms. White. You’re excused.”
Relief that the ordeal was over flooded through Darby. It was all she could do not to leap from the witness box. She rose and walked to the rear of the courtroom.
She didn’t know if she was expected to leave or not. But she didn’t want to go out into the corridor and face the curiosity of the reporters, if they were still hanging around. And her experience of reporters led her to believe that they would be.
So she quietly slipped into a seat in the back row.
“This is a difficult situation,” Judge March was saying. “Elise and Marc left no will, no provisions financial or otherwise for their children. The Northrops were, in fact, experiencing some financial difficulty as I understand it. But, as I said when we sat down here this morning, the welfare of the children is the only concern of this court.”
Ten minutes later it was over. Just like that. Garrett got to keep the children.
For a while, at least.
Caldwell stormed out of the courtroom, his attorney trotting unhappily after him. When the doors swished open, she heard the rapid-fire questions begin. In a smooth motion, the door whooshed closed, blotting out the voices.
She