if someone had turned up the volume on a TV talk show, the high-ceilinged room came alive with noise. Both sets of their parents, Gordon and Betsy Sullivan and Clyde and Melanie Phillips, were deep in discussion. It soon reached a crescendo.
“We can take the child,” Betsy said. “We have more than enough room at our Palm Beach condo. Eighth floor. Great views.”
“You can’t raise Rose in a condo,” Melanie argued. “We live in a child-friendly commune in Kentucky. She’ll have a lot of children to play with.”
“And to dig a new outhouse with at your commune,” Gordon added.
“How dare you!” Melanie pointed a finger at him. Former army colonel or not, she wasn’t going to tolerate that kind of slam against her parents from Sully’s father.
Sully stood up from the table, oozing authority. “That’s enough,” he said firmly.
Lisa nodded. “I don’t want Rose to hear her grandparents snapping at one another. Rose’s guardians have already been decided, and Sully and I are them!”
“I don’t want any fighting,” Sully said. “And I’m sure that you already know about Carol and Rick’s wishes.”
A deep voice cut through the noise. “I’m sure that they know, too.”
Everyone turned in the direction of a distinguished white-haired man in a three-piece suit.
“I’m Carol and Rick’s lawyer, Glen Randolph. I’m so sorry to interrupt, but my clients, who were also my good friends, warned me that this would happen. So while everyone is still here, I’d like to meet with Rose’s grandparents and Brett and Lisa.” The lawyer looked around at the guests who had stopped their conversations to listen. “Let’s adjourn to Rick’s office.”
The capable Mrs. Turner waved them away and called for the remaining guests to help themselves at the buffet table.
Little Rose’s relatives followed the lawyer soundlessly, single file.
After they all took a seat, they looked at him expectedly.
“Like I said, I’m Glen Randolph, and I was a personal friend of Carol and Rick.” He paused, making eye contact with each of them. He opened an accordion folder and pulled out a handful of typed papers. “As you know, they named Brett and Lisa as Rose’s guardians, and—”
“Sully? Are you aware that my son lives in a motor home?” Gordon Sullivan interrupted. “He’s a shiftless bull rider, for heaven’s sake. He travels from one bull riding event to the next. What can he offer a three-year-old?”
Gordon’s face was red, and Lisa thought he was going to have a heart attack. Although she wasn’t a Sully fan, she didn’t particularly like what Gordon was saying about him.
Oh, all right, she might as well admit that she thought the same thing about Sully.
Sully bit down on his lower lip. “Rick trusted me with his daughter. I won’t let him down.”
“And I won’t let Carol down,” Lisa added.
“How can you say that?” Her mother rolled her eyes. “You’re just like Sully, Lisa. You can’t stay in one place long enough to raise a child. You fly those diesel-guzzling biohazard planes all over creation. You pay good money for an apartment that you’re never at. How do you expect to raise a three-year-old?”
I’m just like Sully?
No way!
“You two are going to make quite the couple,” her father said.
“We’re not a couple,” Lisa stated.
“That’s for sure,” Sully added under his breath.
Sully tapped his fingers on Rick’s desk. His large turquoise ring bobbed up and down. This was the same ring he had been wearing three years ago at Rose’s christening. Lisa remembered it. Funny, she remembered a lot of things about him.
And even though she didn’t care a fig about him, for some reason she looked for him on TV when the Professional Bull Riders events were on. He was riding hot lately and was near the top in the standings.
He couldn’t ride and take care of Rose at the same time.
She couldn’t fly and take care of Rose at the same time.
Lisa swallowed hard. She needed an income. She needed to fly. She was a pilot. That’s what she did. That’s what she was.
The lawyer continued, “I will be making surprise visits to ensure Rose is thriving under their care. This is as per the instructions of Carol and Rick. They have also left a generous stipend for the care of Rose, which I’ll dispense monthly for her needs. Carol and Rick also requested that Rose be raised in this house and have left it to Lisa and Brett. It’s paid in full. There is also a trust fund for Rose for when she either goes to college or turns twenty-one. They have also left a personal note for Lisa and Brett.”
Mr. Randolph handed the letter to Lisa. “You might want to read it at a later date.”
“Thank you,” Lisa mumbled, looking at her name and Sully’s written on the envelope in Carol’s rolling script. Tears stung her eyes. She’d never be able to pick up the phone and talk to Carol again or hop a plane and visit whenever she needed a vacation or a “Rose fix.”
“I know that this is probably overwhelming at this sad time,” Mr. Randolph said. “But if Lisa and Sully decide that they cannot accept guardianship, or if they fail my evaluation, then Rose will be awarded to the grandparents. Six months with one pair, and then six months with the other.”
The grandparents perked up, but Lisa was appalled. She had forgotten about the six-month split! That wasn’t the answer, either. It would be too hard on Rose, too disruptive. Certainly everyone could see that!
Everyone except the grandparents. No doubt they were already mentally packing Rose’s bags, certain that she and Sully would fail.
“Any questions?” Mr. Randolph asked.
“I’m asking the grandparents for their cooperation,” Sully said. “Lisa, Rose and I need some time to get to know each other. We need time to adjust. So I’m asking that you all leave within a week’s time. Feel free to call Rose anytime you’d like.” He stood. “Anything you want to add, Lisa?”
“I think that’s a perfect plan,” she said.
“I’m hoping that you two succeed,” her father said. “But we’ll be ready anytime you need us. Just call.”
Sully’s mother fussed with one of her diamond studs. “I’ll get Rose’s bedroom ready at our condo. Just in case.”
“Please, no more remarks like that,” Lisa said, standing. “You must know that we’ll do our best to raise Rose.”
Sully’s mother nodded. “You are absolutely right, Lisa. I apologize.”
“Thank you,” Lisa said, relaxing a little. “I know that you all have Rose’s best interest at heart.”
Lisa held the precious letter in her hand. Now that the sun was shining, she decided that she’d like to read it in Carol’s beautiful garden in the backyard, where the spring flowers were blooming.
Carol always had a green thumb and had spent hours digging in the dirt.
Lisa would much rather skim the clouds in a jet than garden.
“I think we’re done here,” Mr. Randolph said. “I’ll let you get back to your guests.”
Lisa made her way through the crowd of people gathered in the house. Mrs. Turner and some helpers were busy refilling the buffet and picking up the discarded paper plates and plastic forks.
As she walked by the gathering around the buffet table, Lisa pasted