Page 10 of A New Chapter
“Let’s get some breakfast into you,” Rom said.
Rom called Ed’s office as soon as he opened, and the attorney told them to come in ASAP once Rom gave him the short version of recent events.
With Rom driving, a little after eight thirty the three of them were sitting in front of Ed’s desk with a teary Clayton telling the attorney his story. Then Rom and Colton told Ed what they wanted to do, to drive to Georgia.
Ed wore a dark expression Rom hoped he was interpreting as anger on Clayton’s behalf.
“I would prefer you handle this by mail,” Ed said, “but we can’t guarantee they’ll sign the paperwork if we do that. And it could take weeks. We need the paperwork back before then so we can get him enrolled in school, and to protect you two legally. I mean, we can file for an emergency order, but they could claim he’s a runaway and demand him back. It’s better if they sign him over.” He removed his glasses and laid them on his desk so he could rub his eyes. “When do you want to drive up?”
“Tomorrow,” Rom said. “Leave first thing in the morning.”
“How do you know they’ll be there? They work, don’t they?” Ed asked.
“They usually come home for lunch,” Clayton said.
“And Clayton told us where they work,” Rom said. “We’ll show up at their jobs, if need be, and hunt them down.”
“So here’s the thing, I can’t go tomorrow. But I have three friends who are attorneys, I can call them and see if one of them has their schedule open and can do it. You’ll have to pay, but the pucker factor of having an attorney standing on their doorstep and threatening to call the law on them for throwing Clayton out might make them sign the papers. Actually…let me make one call right now. Loren’s a notary, she could go, too, then you wouldn’t need to find a bank.”
“Loren?” Rom asked.
“Yeah.” He glanced at Clayton, then back to Rom. “Our friend in common?”
A laugh escaped Rom. “She married us Saturday.”
“Oh.” Ed chuckled. “Then even better. She knows you. Hold on.” He placed the call, summarized the situation, and then noted something on his sticky pad. “Excellent. I’ll call you back shortly with details.” He hung up. “That was easy. You know Ross, her husband? He’s licensed to practice law in Georgia, too. Normally, his area of expertise is IP and trademark law, but an attorney is an attorney. And he said as long as you drive and buy lunch and dinner, they refuse to take any money.”
Rom gasped. “We don’t expect him to do this for free. We can pay.”
Ed smiled as he sat back. “They like to pay it forward. Ross is semi-retired and said they didn’t have any plans tomorrow.”
When Clayton burst into tears, Colton reached for the box of tissues on the corner of Ed’s desk so he could hand him one.
“What if they won’t let me come back with you?” Clayton asked. “What if they say I have to stay with them?”
“No, you’renotgoing tomorrow,” Ed said. “Because exactly that might happen. It’s better you’re down here. Otherwise, we could have a nasty custody fight on our hands, and I wouldn’t put it past your parents to try to hand you off to one of their church friends or something. We really need to get you enrolled in school, but we can’t do that without paperwork. If you’re down here, it gives us leverage to call the law on them and report them for child endangerment and abandonment. Colton, can he stay with your aunt tomorrow?”
“Yeah. Aunt Roberta will be happy to have him in the store with her.”
Rom took a deep breath to try to ease his anger. He hated that Clayton was in such pain.
That Rom knew how much Clayton looked like Colton made it only that much worse for him, because he could easily imagine how his husband had suffered when younger.
“I’ll draw up all the paperwork this morning and e-mail the file to Ross to print to take with you guys tomorrow.” He jotted something else on the sticky pad and then tore the top note off and handed it to Rom. “That’s Ross and Loren’s address and phone numbers. What time tomorrow…”
By nine thirty, they were out of there and on their way to the clerk’s office in Sarasota to file their marriage license. Approximately halfway there, Clayton spoke up from the backseat in a heartbreakingly timid voice.
“I’m sorry I’m so much trouble.”
“No, hey, you’renottrouble,” Rom said before Colton could respond. Rom adjusted the rearview mirror so he could see Clayton. “Think of it this way—you’re upgrading.”
“I want to know why they told me Colton and Grammy were dead.” He looked angry, and Rom understood that.
“Because they’reevil,” Colton grumbled. “And I plan on tellingthemthat, too.”
Rom also wanted to, but honestly, he wasn’t sure Chad and Ina might not get themselves in legal trouble. Ross was a Dom and definitely had a Dom kind of presence, imposing when he wanted to be. As much as Chad and Ina wanted to go, Rom was inclined to ask them to stay behind. Especially since Clayton had clarified that he’d had very little in the way of personal belongings left there, mostly some clothes and a few books and a mattress on the floor.
Poor kid didn’t even have a desk or dresser of his own.
