Page 40 of Fallout
“Hey, Donna. Sorry, I was, um…” Spotting her towel from earlier she said, “In the shower.”
“Hello, Mallory. I thought perhaps you would have returned my call by now.”
Closing her eyes, she hoped for strength. The tone of her stepmother’s voice told her this was not going to be a good call. “Sorry. I got caught up doing work yesterday and I haven’t had a chance yet this morning.”
“I’m sure you’re busy.” Mallory could imagine the look on Donna’s face. She’d been on the receiving end of that disappointed scowl numerous times in her life. “I just wanted to let you know I’ll be arriving in San Francisco tomorrow. I’ve booked a hotel in the city for three nights so that I can meet with Mr. Beazley, Renee’s lawyer. I’ll expect you to pick me up after that so you can take me to meet my grandson.”
Mallory sucked in a harsh breath. Swallowing, she tried to get her mind and vocal cords in sync. “You’re coming here? Tomorrow? When did that happen?”
“If you had been answering my calls, you would know that already. When isn’t important. What is, is that I’ll be in Sunnyville four days from now and I want to meet my grandson. If you cannot arrange this, I will be seeking legal advice on gaining access to him.”
“L-legal advice?” What had gotten into her?
“Yes. Clearly you are unable to do what I asked and now I have to find another way. I’m sure with all the money your father left me I can get some kind of custody or visitation rights.”
She was at a loss for words. Did Donna really want to take Jacob to court? How could she not see this would be the worst thing to do if she wanted some form of relationship with Maddox? “Donna.”
“There’s no point trying to talk me out of this. I’ve spoken with Mr. Beazley briefly about the matter and he assures me I have a good case and that because of the hostility Mr. Conners has shown Renee previously it would be in my best interests to pursue the matter in a court of law.”
“Donna. The hostility was in defense of Maddox. A baby. Who Renee drugged.”
“She’s been unwell. I’ve seen to it that she has access to the best medical care and now that she is being treated for her postnatal depression, she will be capable of taking care of her son.”
“Over my dead body!” Mallory couldn’t keep the anger from her voice, or from making her whole body vibrate. “I cannot believe you are buying in to Renee’s bullshit once more. We went over this. You saw the private investigator’s report, you know she’s been a drug addict for years. Plus she’s lied so many times, stolen so much, how can you possibly begin to entertain this latest fabrication?”
“I see you aren’t willing to give her the benefit of the doubt.”
“Donna, Renee has not had that from me since she stole every last penny from your bank account after my father died.”
“I let—”
“Don’tlie to me. Right now I still have respect for you but if you lie to me about that, I won’t.” She drew in a breath and tried to calm down. “Donna. I’ll do what I can but I think it’s still too soon to introduce you to Jacob and Maddox.”
“I don’t care to meet the man.”
Mallory laughed. “You can’t meet one without the other. Jacob has sole custody and every right to deny you any kind of relationship.”
“Which is why I’m going to go to court.”
Jeez. She wasn’t going to sway her. She had four days to come up with a plan to keep Donna away from Sunnyville. “Look. There’s no point arguing about this over the phone. How about I meet you in San Francisco tomorrow and we can talk about what to do?”
“I won’t change my mind. And I’m meeting with Mr. Beazley tomorrow afternoon, then the following day I will be visiting Renee. I might have time for you the day after that so you could come a day early to pick me up.”
Mallory closed her eyes and hung her head. “Okay, I’ll be there on Saturday.”
“All right then, see you Saturday.”
When Donna ended the call, Mallory tossed her phone onto the couch.
“Dammit.” Rubbing her hands up and down her face she blew out a breath and tried to get her thoughts in order.
She needed a list. Several lists.
But first she needed to get hold of her lawyer. After reading through most of the trust documents Davis had sent, she wanted to go over them with him, make sure she had all the details correct.
She also wanted to see about finding someone to represent Maddox. Jacob might have a lawyer but now that she’d worked through some of the clauses in the trusts her father had set up, she knew Maddox needed his own.
The trusts pertaining to any children she or Renee had were worth a lot of money. And while each of them became executors of those funds once their first child was born, there were a few things the Dawson estate lawyers could put in place that would stop either herself or Renee getting their hands on the money for anything other than the raising of their children.
