Russell demanded, sounding equally irritated.
“A baby was left on my porch this morning.” Briefly, Thad explained.
Russell swore like a sailor who’d just found out his shore leave was canceled. But typically, he offered no explanation or apology.
Thad pressed on. “Did you know you were having a baby with Candace when you left the country?”
“I assumed she was pregnant,” Russell retorted, surprisingly matter-of-fact. “I didn’t know for sure.”
And obviously hadn’t bothered to find out, Thad thought irritably. “Why didn’t you mention it to me?” he demanded.
“Because her pregnancy wasn’t relevant to my life,” Russell grumbled.
Figuring he was going to need legal advice sooner rather than later, Thad activated the speaker on his phone and motioned Michelle closer, so she could listen in on the conversation.
“What do you mean Candace’s pregnancy wasn’t relevant to your life?” Thad asked.
Russell exhaled. “It was a surrogate arrangement. I donated sperm for a couple of friends.”
Okay. That made slightly more sense. Thad withdrew the pen and notepad he habitually carried in his shirt pocket. He wrote “Help me out here” on a slip of paper and handed it to Michelle.
She edged closer, concern on her face. “According to the note left with baby William, Brice and Beatrix changed their minds about becoming parents,” Thad told his brother.
“You’ll have to ask Candace Wright about that,” Russell insisted.
Thad jotted down the last name of William’s birth mother. “Do you have a phone number?”
Another disgruntled sigh. “She lives in Big Spring. That’s all I know.”
“What about Brice and Beatrix, the adoptive couple?”
“The Johnsons live in San Angelo. Listen, I can’t do anything from here—you’re going to have to straighten it all out.”
“How?” Thad shot back, aggrieved his brother could be so cold. “I don’t have paternity.”
“Neither do I. I signed away all my rights at the fertility clinic before the surrogate was even impregnated.”
“We’re going to need a copy of those papers ASAP,” Michelle told Thad, switching into lawyer mode.
“Who is that?” Russell demanded.
“Michelle Anderson,” she introduced herself. “I’m a neighbor of your brother’s—I found the baby.”
“She’s also an attorney,” Thad interjected.
Michelle asked Russell, “Is there any way we can look at those papers you signed?”
Russell harrumphed. “They’re in one of the boxes I left in Thad’s attic. If you can find them, you can have ’em. Aside from that, I don’t want anything to do with this. Like Candace Wright, I’ve done my part.”
It wasn’t that simple, Thad knew. “If what Candace said is true…if Brice and Beatrix have changed their minds about taking William into their family…Genetically, the child is half yours.”
“Not to my way of thinking,” Russell snapped.
“He’s a Garner.” And that, Thad thought, should mean something.
Russell scoffed. “What would I do with a kid? I don’t have a home and I don’t want one.”
Every fiber of Thad’s being told him it would be a mistake just to walk away. Anger rising, he said, “You can’t just stand by and do nothing while this child you had a hand in creating is abandoned.”
“Sure I can,” Russell replied. “And you know why? Because it would be best. The kid doesn’t need a father like the one we had. And that’s what I am. However, if you think you can do better, if you want to jump in, Thad, be my guest. Just leave me out of it.”
The connection ended with a decisive click.
Thad locked gazes with Michelle, not sure whether he was sorry or glad she had heard all that. He swore. “What a mess.”
YES, MICHELLE THOUGHT. It was one heck of a mess.
Deciding it was time to try again, she carried the sleeping William over to the elaborately lined Moses basket, and set him down gently on his back. She tucked a blanket around him to keep him warm. Relieved he still appeared to be asleep, at least for the moment, she walked over to the window where Thad was standing. “I’m not sure I should be involved in this situation.”
Thad looked surprised, then confused. “You’re a lawyer.”
Her pulse picked up as she pointed out, “I’m not your lawyer.”
Thad tilted his head. “You could be.”
She kept her expression impassive. “This is a family-law case.”
He raised an eyebrow. “And you have a background in family law. A pretty good one, from what I’ve heard.”
That was then, Michelle thought. This was now. And she knew better these days. She lifted her hands in a vague gesture of dissatisfaction and stepped away. “I did so much of it the first five years out of law school that I burned out on it. My current practice focuses on the needs of small business, wills and estate planning, real estate and consumer law. My law partner—Glenn York—does all the divorce, custody and adoption cases for our firm.”
“I know his reputation. He’s very good.” Thad paused. He glanced over at the sleeping William, then back to Michelle. “I’d still prefer you handle it.”
His was not an uncommon reaction. People with legal trouble often latched on to the first person who appeared able to help them out of it, without bothering to verify credentials or search out expertise in that specific area of the law. “You don’t even know me,” she said.
“You’ve handled the situation well so far.”
That wasn’t the only reason, Michelle decided. “You’re embarrassed by your brother’s attitude, aren’t you?”
A muscle worked in Thad’s jaw. “Wouldn’t you be?”
Michelle tried not to think how easy it was to be here with Thad like this. She shrugged. “I learned a long time ago not to judge people by the messes they get themselves into.” She had always been trained to look at both sides of every issue. “Besides, it sounds as if your brother was trying to do a good deed for someone. It just didn’t turn out the way he expected.”
Thad sobered. “I hadn’t thought about it that way.”
Michelle called upon even more of her law-school training. “Your brother may change his mind about the child.”
Thad’s mouth took on a downward slant. “No. He won’t.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“Because of the way we grew up.” Thad’s mood turned reflective. “Our mom was really great—loving and fun, smart and kind—but she died from an aneurysm when Russell and I were in elementary school. We barely knew our dad—he was a geologist for an oil company. I’ve no doubt he loved us in his way, but he wasn’t interested in being a hands-on parent. Nevertheless, he left the project he was working on in South America and came back to Summit to take care of us.” He exhaled. “For the next ten years or so, he worked assignments around the state. When we hit our teens and were old enough to stay alone, he went back to the more exciting gigs in South and Central America. From that point on, until he died five years ago, we rarely saw him because he was just never home.”
Michelle touched Thad’s arm gently. “That sounds lonely.”
Thad