“I could believe she’d do something like that, yes—if it suited her.”
Feeling even more deflated, Charlotte dropped her head in her hand and immediately felt Sloane touch her arm in a show of empathy. “He should still have to pay child support,” she pointed out.
“If he ever comes back to the States, maybe you could go after him,” Steve said. “But it costs money to track someone down—probably more than you’d ever get out of him. Since he’s in business for himself, it’s pretty easy to hide money. It’s not right, but it happens.”
So... the cost of trying to collect would outweigh the recovery. “That’s not hopeful.”
“There’s what’s right, and then there’s what’s practical. Believe me, if Sabrina thought she could get him to pay, she would’ve tried.”
Another comment that made her believe her birth mother leaned on others—mostly the men in her life—whenever she could. “I see.” She cleared her throat. “What about Lilly’s grandparents?”
“Sabrina was an unexpected pregnancy herself. Her mother was on drugs and wasn’t reliable, so she was raised by her grandparents, and they’re far too old to take on another child.”
“But they’re still around?”
“To a point, I guess. While Sabrina was with me, her grandmother had a stroke. Her grandfather spends what time, energy and money he has left taking care of her.”
“Even if... if they can’t help, it might be good for Lilly to reconnect with them—providing they’re willing. Do you know their names or how I could contact them? I don’t see them in Sabrina’s phone—but I also don’t know what name to look under. There’s nothing obvious like ‘Mom’ and ‘Dad’ or ‘Grandma’ and ‘Grandpa.’”
“Last I heard, there was a big blowup between them, and they were no longer speaking to her. Maybe she deleted them. I’m not sure. Sabrina didn’t like to dwell on anything she felt she might be responsible for. For the most part, what I’ve learned came from overhearing her on the phone or observing her behavior.”
“I see.” But there had to be someone... “What about other extended family? Did Sabrina keep in contact with anyone else?”
“I got the impression the entire family had written her off.”
“Why?”
A sigh came through the phone. “She burned a lot of bridges, wasn’t easy to love in the first place.”
“Didyoulove her?” She’d asked Luca the same bold, intrusive question, but Charlotte was willing to risk it—again—because the answer mattered to her. Did Sabrina burn every single bridge? Did she not learn from her mistakes and do better?
“I tried,” he said softly.
“What drew you to her in the first place?”
“I live in a small town, was hoping to meet someone. She brought fun and excitement. She was always up to something, always laughing. For someone who’s been entirely about work since I can remember—I was raised on this farm—that was appealing.Tooappealing,” he added.
“So what went wrong?”
“There wasn’t enough there beneath the shine,” he replied.
“What about Lilly? You cared for her, didn’t you?”
“I did. I feel bad for her. She’s a good kid. Deserves better.”
“She says you tried to give her ‘better.’”
“I hated to see her taken away from the farm. She was happy here. Loved Old Blue like nothing and no one else.”
Imagining whatcould’vebeen nearly brought a lump to Charlotte’s throat. “Old Blue’s your dog. Luca told me about him. He’s blind, right?”
“Yeah, he’s blind, but not as old as you might think—only about five. I just call him ‘old’ because he reminds me of a horse I used to have when I was a child. The horse was old,” he said with a chuckle.
“And Lilly and Old Blue were close?”
“Inseparable.”
“Can you send me a picture of him I can show her? She’s going through such a tough time. Maybe it’ll help.”
