“Your honor, we are here to ask that Marc Christensen’s petition for joint custody be denied. He’s proven that he’s not building a relationship with his estranged daughter at all, and has, in fact, demonstrated negligence that could adversely affect his daughter’s welfare.”
“How dare you! Samantha’s boyfriend is the one who is endangering her welfare, snatching her away from her father like that.” Jeannie’s face was red as she glared at Lucas. “She’s estranged from her father because ofhim!”
Their lawyer pulled Jeannie into her seat. I’d never seen her so unglued. She was always a bit stern and cold, but now she was in full Disney villain mode. All she needed was the fur coat made of Dalmatian hides.
“Control your clients, please.” The judge didn’t look happy as he reprimanded her. I guessed that was one point for us.
Robyn turned to us and raised her eyebrows, silently reiterating whatnotto do. Then she returned her attention to the judge.
“Your honor, what Mrs. Christensen was referring to was an incident in which her son took his daughter to a coffee shop while she was sick with a high fever, and then ignored her while he flirted with an employee. Mr. Hunter removed her and took her to a doctor. I have further evidence of negligence beyond that incident that I’d like to share with the court.”
My blood ran cold.Bella’s been in some kind of danger with Marc before? Had Robyn been investigating the house on weekends and saw something?No, I was sure she would have told me. My breath caught as I waited to see what Robyn meant. She did seem sure she could “shut this down” today. Lucas took my hand under the table and laced our fingers together. I gripped his hand as I braced myself.
She opened her laptop and walked it over to the judge. She was logged onto Facebook, which I found to be odd.
“Every single weekend that Mr. Christensen had custody of his daughter over the past couple of months, he was actually out the entire weekend. There are posts and check-ins at various bars, clubs and parties, often both days and almost always both nights of the weekend. You can open the tracking information in each photo to view the date, time, and place it was taken. Since he’s returned from Chicago, he hasn’t acted like a father wanting to be close to his daughter. It’s obvious he hasn’t attempted to spend any time with her while she was supposedly in his care.”
“Are you fucking serious? You’re tracking me on Facebook? This has to be some kind of violation.” I almost felt bad for Marc’s lawyer as he dragged Marc back to his seat.
“I’m not going to warn you again.” The judge looked pissed as hell as he glared at Marc and his mother.
“If it’s on social media, anyone can see. All rights to privacy are lost when someone posts their every move. The one thing to note that’snoton his Facebook page are any pictures of his daughter since he’s been back. In fact, the only mention of her over the past three months was the night before Bella got sick in the coffee shop. He updated his status to read, ‘I’m on kid duty. Looks like the weekend is going to suck for me.’”
“Why are you going after Marc? She’s the one who practically has a live-in boyfriend while she’s still married to my son. I have no words for this situation.”
Jeannie was out of control, and after everything she’d done, it would’ve been sweet to see her hauled off in handcuffs.
“I have a couple of words,” Lucas whispered in my ear. I turned around, and he winked at me. I managed a smile and squeezed his hand.
The judge looked irate. I didn’t know if Marc’s Facebook was going to be what cracked the case open or if it even had any validity in court, but Robyn’s plan was certainly getting under Marc and Jeannie’s skin.
“Fuck this!” Marc yelled and looked over at me. “She can have sole custody. I’m not going to answer to anyone for what I do on my own time. It’s a free fucking country.” He turned to his mother.
“I’m taking the full-time job in Chicago. I went along with this because you begged me to, but I’m not dealing with this aggravation. You want to see Bella, work it out with her yourself.” Marc grabbed his jacket and stormed out of the courtroom.
Robyn slid into her seat next to me. Marc was a hothead and hated to be told what to do. He never wanted custody. Once he realized the inconvenience Bella would be to his lifestyle, he threw his hands up and walked away. His mother did boss him around sometimes, but in the end, Marc looked out for Marc. Robyn played him perfectly.
“Holy shit, you’re good,” I whispered in Robyn’s ear.
She shrugged in response. “It’s what I do. I fight for the happy ending that people deserve. Sometimes, you need to be a little creative.” She squeezed my hand and turned to face the judge.
“Sole custody of Isabella Christensen remains with her mother, Samantha Christensen. Marc Christensen’s appeal for joint custody is dismissed.” The judge frowned at Jeannie.
“Grandparents are supposed to protect their grandchildren, not hurt them for their own selfish reasons. You should apologize to the little girl who has been made to suffer needlessly because of your actions. Any visitation rights to Isabella that you will have in the future will be at her mother’s discretion.”
It was over.
I left the courtroom lighter like a brick had been lifted off my chest. I hugged Robyn with tears in my eyes. I had no idea how to thank her.
“No need to get weepy,” Robyn teased as she grabbed my shoulders. “I told you I would shut things down today. Now go home and tell Bella she can look forward to weekends again.” I laughed as I wiped my eyes.
Lucas slid his arm around my waist and kissed my forehead.
“My little mushball.” I jabbed him in the side with my elbow, and he laughed. I could see the relief in his face, too.
“Work has been texting me, so I need to call and see what this is about. And you …” He picked Robyn up by the waist and kissed her cheek. “Thank you so fucking much.”
As Lucas walked away, my tough-as-nails lawyer giggled like a schoolgirl and blushed.
