Chapter Thirty-One

Avery

The weekend had been relatively boring. Jake had been withdrawn. When I tried to ask him what was wrong, he shut me down. He’d been closed off in the den most of the weekend. I had gone to visit Sally on Saturday. When I returned home, Jake was on the phone once again. I had to remind myself we weren’t an actual couple. He didn’t owe me anything, including friendship or a way to pass the day.

I sighed and put my focus on the numbers in front of me. I wasn’t sure why I had chosen accounting as a career, yet I had. It was one of the few degrees that guaranteed I would find a job. It wasn’t fun, but it would pay the bills. At least that was the original plan. I didn’t see Jake letting me pay half the rent. I laughed. I couldn’t pay half the rent even if I wanted to, not on that house.

There was a knock on my door. “Yes?”

Janice opened the door. Shit.

“Do you have a few minutes?” she asked.

“Of course,” I said, knowing it was a rhetorical question. I didn’t get to say no.

“This is our final interview. I’m doing solo interviews. I’m sure Jake told you about our meeting on Friday.”

I gulped and nodded but had no idea what she was talking about. Jake had told me nothing. That was something I planned on bringing up the second I walked through the door tonight. I felt like I had been set up. It wasn’t a good feeling.

“Please, have a seat.”

She sat down and pulled the dreaded yellow pad from her briefcase. I took a deep breath and prepared myself to be grilled.

“As I said, this is our final interview before I give my recommendation to the judge. I expect the hearing will be sometime this week or next. It is best for all parties involved if we get this situation resolved quickly.”

I nodded. “I agree.”

“I only have a few questions for you.”

“Sure. Go ahead,” I said with a smile.

“Why do you really want Iris? Is this to help clear your conscience over some wrong you did against your friend?”

My mouth went dry. “What?” I couldn’t have possibly heard her right.

She cocked her head to the side. “You’re not ready to be a mother. You recently graduated college. You’re living in a rented house with Jake Colter. When he leaves, do you go back to your rented room at your friend’s house?”

I shook my head. “No. Why would I go back to Sally’s? What are you talking about when Jake leaves? You sound as if he is going to be filing for divorce.”

She sighed and rolled her eyes. “I think we both know what this is.”

“I don’t think both of us do. You seem to have some inside information I’m not privy to,” I said, doing my best to keep my cool.

She shrugged a shoulder and looked at me as if I were a serious inconvenience. “To be honest, after my meeting with Jake, I don’t have any real questions. This is something I have to do in order to finalize my investigation.”

“What do you mean you don’t have any questions? How do you conduct an interview without asking questions?”

Janice smirked. “You’ve just confirmed what I’ve suspected since all this started.”

I shook my head, feeling like I had missed something big. “Janice, I’m not sure I know what you’re talking about. Why don’t you say what’s on your mind and give me a chance to defend myself.”

“Of course you don’t know what I’m talking about because your fake husband didn’t tell you about our meeting. He didn’t tell you because you two don’t actually like each other or spend time together. I wouldn’t be surprised to find you only lived together when you knew I was coming.”

“You showed up unannounced and we were both there,” I reminded her.

“You got lucky. I’m sure you would have made up an excuse about him having to go out of town for work or something like that. You two are too practiced, too rehearsed to be a real married couple.”

“Excuse me. That is not true. We love each other. We’re newlyweds. I don’t know what kind of couples you’re used to interviewing, but we get along just fine,” I said, a niggle of worry creeping to the forefront of my mind.

She had called him my fake husband. That had been a bold move, one she only would have made if she knew for sure or had some real evidence.

Janice laughed. “No, you don’t. I don’t believe for a second you two are happy together. He dates models and Hollywood actresses. It is insulting that you expect me to believe he would give up all that to move here, marry someone like you, and live happily ever after.”

My mouth dropped open. She was a vile woman. “Are you implying I’m not good enough for him?”

“Well, you have to admit his type is a little more, uh, refined.”

“Wow,” I muttered, at a loss for words.

I looked around the room, wondering if I was on some prank show. There was no way any of this conversation was real. I didn’t know for sure, but I had a feeling it was illegal. I couldn’t imagine an officer of the court being allowed to talk to anyone like this, especially someone they were supposed to be investigating and giving an unbiased opinion of.

Janice took a deep breath. “The marriage was faked because you thought it would be enough to persuade me and a judge to give you that little girl. You barely got a job, and your so-called husband is a partying playboy. You aren’t suitable parents. Renting a furnished house and trying to put on a show isn’t fooling anyone, especially me.”

“I don’t understand why you’re saying any of this. You’re off base.”

She smiled. “You each tried to get custody. You pointed out he wasn’t suitable. When I told you both that neither of you was qualified, you suddenly decided you loved each other and so on. It’s fake.”

I gulped down the lump in my throat. I was a terrible liar. “You’re wrong.”

It was a flimsy rebuttal, but it was all I had.

“No, I’m not. Why not admit the marriage was a stunt? It was a ploy to circumvent the system. You two hashed a plan to get Iris. Admit it and maybe the judge will see it as some kind of grand gesture. I won’t. I think it is ridiculous.”

“I’m sorry you feel that way. Since you have no questions, I don’t really see any reason for this meeting to continue. You’ve already made up your mind. I’m not interested in defending myself or my actions.”

She slid the notebook back into her briefcase. “That’s fine with me. Expect your hearing notice in the next few days. I have my recommendation ready to present to the judge.”

“Thanks for coming by, Janice. You know your way out.”

I kept myself together through sheer determination. She left my office door open. It was typical Janice. She loved to get the last word one way or another. I waited several minutes before I got up and closed the door. I rubbed a hand over my face, fighting back the tears that threatened to fall as I leaned against the door.

I took a few deep breaths and then dug out my phone to call Jake. He had a lot to answer for.

“Hello?” he answered, sounding a little stressed.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” I said, trying not to scream.

“Tell you what?”

“That Janice stopped by on Friday. Is that why you’ve been so moody all weekend? What did you say to her?”

“Why? What happened?”

“She was just here!”

“Oh shit.”

“Exactly. Oh shit is right. She ambushed me! You should have warned me,” I said, trying to keep my voice calm but failing miserably.

“You’re right. I should have. I didn’t think she would try to talk to you. She made it clear she was finished trying to do her job. I thought it was over.”

“You were going to give up?” I asked in disbelief.

“No,” he said calmly. “You know I wouldn’t roll over and let that woman win.”

“Did you tell her our marriage was fake?” I asked, afraid of the answer.

He guffawed. “No, but obviously she used the same trick on you that she tried to use on me. She just keeps saying it, hoping one of us will break and admit it. You didn’t, did you?”

“No!”

“Good. Then it’s going to be okay. I’m on it,” he said in his usual confident way.

“She isn’t going to let us have Iris. Why didn’t you tell me?” I said, tears welling in my eyes. “I could have been better prepared.”

“Babe, she isn’t going to believe anything we say,” he said softly.

He called me babe. It was sweet and endearing, and it made everything worse. My emotions were all over the place. I couldn’t cry. I wasn’t going to let myself fall apart. It wasn’t over. It couldn’t be over. Not yet. I didn’t feel like I had even gotten a chance to prove I was worthy to be in Iris’s life.

“I don’t know, Jake. It’s all blowing up in our face.”

“Relax. I’ve been talking with my lawyer. I’ve got it handled.”

I shook my head even though he couldn’t see me. “How?”

“He’s a lawyer. He tells me not to be worried, and I’m telling you the same thing.”

“Well, I am worried!” I said and hung up the phone, not wanting to hear his cool confidence anymore.

I flopped down in my chair and rested my face in my hands. I had married Jake without really thinking it all the way through. Then the sex. That made everything even more complicated. What if Jake planned on leaving Phoenix and moving back to California without me, taking Iris with him? I would not be able to fight him in court. I had trusted him to let me have Iris while he went back to his life.

That had been a mistake. I saw the way he looked at Iris, the way his eyes lit up when he talked about her. He loved the little girl. There was no way he was going to give her up. If he went back to California and filed for divorce, I was screwed.

I had screwed up. I should have thought about what would happen when the fake marriage part ended. I had jumped in with both feet without looking at the long-term picture. I had been desperate and not thinking straight. I should have made him sign paperwork that stated I would get joint custody of Iris should we divorce. I had been in such a hurry to get the deed done, I hadn’t thought about anything else.

“Stupid, stupid, stupid.” I groaned aloud.

I couldn’t let myself get too distracted and mess up my job. I was going to need this job when all hell broke loose. If we didn’t get Iris, Jake was going to divorce me and head back to California. If we did get Iris, there was a good chance the outcome would be the same. Damned if I did, damned if I didn’t.

I walked around the office a few times, trying to walk the jitters off. It wasn’t enough. I grabbed my purse and headed out for an early lunch. The warm air was refreshing as I walked to the corner diner. I ordered a sandwich and fries and waited for my order.

As I walked back to the office, I thought about everything. Jake and I had never talked about what we would do if our plan didn’t work. He was so confident it would work that I had believed him. He had convinced me his power and wealth could buy anything. It had been too easy to fall into his world of comfort and security.

I had been so wrong.