Chapter 6 - APRIL PARKERI did not call April directly.
That restraint cost me.
Instead I hired an attorney.
Not because speaking to my grandson’s mother required legal warfare.
Because finances were already involved, the credit-card charges were disputed, and I did not want to show up in an eleven-year-old’s life with the emotional judgment of a seventy-year-old man who had just committed ceramic assault.
My attorney was Nina Caldwell.
Fifty-three.
Estate and family-business work.
She listened to the entire story.
Then:
“First, stop using the phrase ‘my grandson’ until you understand what the child has been told.”
I hated that.
She was right.
“Biologically—”
“Walter.”
“Fine.”
“Second, Brian being an authorized cardholder complicates how the bank may treat historical transactions.”
“I didn’t authorize Eli’s expenses.”
“Specific limits matter. Do you have them in writing?”
“No.”
“Then don’t call every charge credit-card fraud.”
“I didn’t.”
“You were going to.”
Probably.
“Third, April and Eli do not owe you access because Brian lied.”
That one hurt.
“What do I do?”
“We contact April through counsel or a carefully worded letter. No demand. No surprise visit.”
So we did.
April agreed to meet me.
Without Eli.
Coffee shop.
Public.
She was thirty-nine.
Dark-blond hair.
Nurse’s uniform beneath a coat because she came after a hospital shift.
She looked exhausted before we started.
“I wondered how long.”
“What?”
“Before the card got declined.”
I swallowed.
“You knew it was mine?”
“Melissa told me it was a family account.”
“Did she say I knew?”
April looked down.
“Yes.”
There.
Another lie.
“What has Eli been told about Brian?”
“That he is his biological father.”
I was surprised.
“No secret?”
“Not from Eli.”
“Does he call Brian Dad?”
“No.”
“What does he call him?”
“Brian.”
That word made my chest hurt in a way I did not expect.
“How often do they see each other?”
“Depends on the year.”
That answer contained everything.
Sometimes monthly.
Sometimes not for six months.
Brian attended two birthdays.
One school play.
Several medical appointments.
He did not live as Eli’s father.
He existed at the edge.
“Does Eli know about me?”
April nodded.
“As Brian’s father.”
“What has he been told?”
“That you don’t know.”
I looked away.
“Was that Brian’s choice?”
“Yes.”
“Yours?”
“At first.”
Fair.
She continued:
“Then it became ridiculous.”
“Why didn’t you contact us again?”
“I contacted Elaine.”
My heart stopped.
“When?”
“Eight years ago.”
“What happened?”
May you like
April looked surprised.
“She came to see me.”
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