‘No, thanks.’
He seemed disappointed not to have something to occupy his hands. ‘How’s Isaac?’
If in doubt, talk about Isaac.
‘He’s good, looking forward to being home soon.’
‘I shall look forward to seeing him.’
Maya knew she had to come out with it; it was too awkward standing here knowing what she needed to say, her dad waiting for her to reveal why she’d turned up.
‘I need some help,’ she blurted out. ‘It’s not for me, actually; it’s for a friend.’
She told him the basics: that Noah had guardianship but the biological father was going to go for custody. She didn’t get a chance to add in anything about the blackmail before her father’s defences came up and rendered her silent.
‘So you want me to give legal advice to this Noah, for free.’ Nigel folded his arms in front of him and moved backwards to the island in the centre of the kitchen, leaning against it, his legs crossed at the ankles.
‘I know it’s a big ask?—’
‘And this is so he can stop a biological father going for custody.’
‘There’s a bit more to it than that.’ She felt like a little kid caught doing something wrong; she could barely meet his gaze, uncomfortable at being here and having to ask him for a favour. Maya had always been determined and part of that determination had been to maintain independence, which meant not turning to her dad for money or favours. After she left the family home and their relationship became even more strained, she didn’t want to have to rely on him for anything; she wanted to make it on her own. She’d put herself through flight training, she’d parented Isaac, she’d built herself a different home when her marriage ended.
Nigel shifted edgily, crossing his feet the opposite way round. His arms were still tightly folded across his chest. ‘Don’t you think biological fathers have rights?’
Her gaze snapped up. The morality of this thing was what he was questioning? She’d expected him to say something along the lines of he couldn’t give much more than basic advice for free, that he was too busy with his paying clients, she hadn’t expected an argument so directly related to the case itself.
‘Dad, there’s stuff you don’t know?—’
But he cut her off. ‘Biological fathers have rights.’ He turned and faced the island bench, his back to his daughter.
And all Maya wanted to do was get out of there. Julie might want her to try but the effort had to come from both sides. And right now, he wasn’t even willing to hear her out.
‘Forget I asked,’ was all she said before she fled.
She wished she’d never even bothered.
27
Noah had to find a way to pay for legal advice because he knew deep down that the problem of Paul wasn’t going to disappear without a fight.
He put his name down for extra shifts should they arise, but Nadia said much the same as Maya, that there wouldn’t be many and, even if there were, he wouldn’t want to wear himself out completely. And he could see why when, after three days straight of shifts that were busier than ever, he was exhausted. The saving grace was Geraldine looking after Eva so well that Eva was settled enough to sleep through the night a few times in a row.
Eva was down for an afternoon nap and Noah lay on the sofa, scrolling through job adverts online to see whether there was some kind of job he could do on the side on his days off. A shelf stacker position was available, as was a cleaner at a fitness centre in the next town, but the jobs were unsurprisingly fixed hours and days. And that was no good to him. And neither was the hourly rate, which wouldn’t even cover Geraldine’s fees.
When he heard the familiar throaty sound of Paul’s car, much like the noise of a horror film you grappled to switch off assoon as it started, he leapt up. The curtains were closed despite the sunshine battling to filter in.
He sat frozen in position, not daring to move an inch.
After the thunk of the car door, followed by a short pause, as expected, his visitor hammered on the door, with every thump threatening to wake Eva up at any second.
His grating tone came through the letterbox. ‘I know you’re in there. Answer the damn door.’
Good, he was pissed off. Well, that made two of them.
But he couldn’t ignore him forever. And to save the neighbours complaining at the racket and Eva being woken, Noah emerged into the hallway and reluctantly wrenched open the door.
‘Given any thought to my proposal?’ No preamble accompanied his pathetic demands.
