Her stomach twitched with nerves. "I'll send you the character reference as soon as I can. If you think of anything else I can do, let me know."
"Will do."
Libby hung up. It was probably the last time she'd hear from George.
Chapter 20
Adrian was preparing lunch in the kitchen, though he wasn't hungry. Kate had been living with Susan for a couple of days now, and while he'd been allowed to speak to Kate on the phone, he hadn't been allowed to visit.
He missed her.
The court case was tomorrow and strangers would decide whether he'd get Kate back.
"How do you think it will go?" he asked George.
George's phone beeped, signaling a message. Adrian searched for his own cell and saw it lying on the bench. Picking it up, he noticed it was turned off. The battery must have run out. He'd not checked it in days, as he hadn't been in the mood to talk to anyone. He plugged it in to charge.
"I honestly don't know how it'll go," George said. "We've got statements from everyone who knows you and Kate, Emily's video confession and the supervised visit reports. The only thing we haven't responded to is your father's accusations."
They'd had the discussion multiple times, but Adrian had never worked up the courage to face his father. He kept convincing himself that it wouldn't help.
But what if it did? What if something his father said could make the difference between winning custody of Kate and losing it? Would not knowing eat away at him?
Adrian turned his phone on and noted a missed call. He dialed to listen to the message.
Libby's voice washed over him like someone had thrown a bucket of cold water at him. He was so startled that her words didn't sink in until the last sentence – "I don't need you in my life."
He boosted himself on to the kitchen bench as he replayed the message. The only other time he'd heard Libby use that tone was the day after Kate's nightmare when she'd come to his defense against Susan. It was her somebody-needs-their-head-examined tone and this time it was directed at him. He couldn't prevent the smile that covered his face. He loved that tone, could picture her indignation and the way her eyes flashed fire when she spoke.
He loved her.
Adrian froze. He loved Libby.
How could it have taken him so long to realize it?
"You all right?" George's voice waded through the shock.
Adrian nodded as he listened to the message a third time. Libby was right. He was trapped by his childhood and she did deserve better than that. But the fact that she had called to tell him gave him hope. She had to care for him. Maybe he hadn't completely ruined things with her.
"Do you want to go through our statements again?" George asked.
The question brought him back to the now. He couldn't think of Libby at the moment, he had to focus on winning the court case. There was still one more thing he could do.
Fear shivered unwelcome down his spine. Adrian fisted his hands. It was time he freed himself from this fear. Time he freed himself from his past. Adrian braced himself and then said, "I'm going to visit my father."
George's eyes widened briefly. "Are you sure?"
Adrian nodded, not as certain as he'd like to be.
"Do you want me to come with you?"
"No." He could do this. He had to do this himself.
Before he could change his mind, he stood up and walked out of the house, feeling like he was walking into a minefield.
But the thought of Kate – and Libby – gave him courage.
***
Adrian drove through his old neighborhood, the stress building the further in he drove. He hadn't been back since the day he and Daniel had run away, but it had hardly changed. The school he'd attended was to his left and on the right he drove past the supermarket where he and Daniel had bought their microwave dinners.
Then he turned into his old street and his heart beat heavily in his chest. He pulled into the drive and turned off the engine. He stared at the house, not ready to go in.
The paint was peeling away from the timber cladding and the grass in the front was long and unkempt. The porch sagged and the wood was a silver gray color from neglect.
He gripped the steering wheel and focused on his breathing as the memories tried to overwhelm him.
He could do this. He had to, for Kate and for himself.
He thrust the car door open and climbed out, forcing his feet to keep moving toward the house.
The steps groaned as he climbed onto the porch. The front door was open and through the flyscreen Adrian could see into the house. The hallway was lined with empty bourbon bottles.
The twelve-year-old inside him shuddered. Adrian took a deep breath and knocked, the sound like a gunshot to his ears.
In another room he heard someone getting to their feet and walking toward the door. He fought the urge to run.
"If you're here to sell something, I'm not buying." It was his father's voice, the deep Texan accent slightly slurred as it preceded him into the hallway.
Fear pricked Adrian. Was his father drunk?
The man entered the hallway, walking slowly, and finally looked up. He met Adrian's gaze and his jaw dropped, his expression first shock, then perhaps fear.
"Hello, Pa." Adrian was pleased his voice was steady.
His father closed his mouth and grunted. "Didn't think I'd see you again."
Adrian didn't know what he'd expected his father to say, but it was more than that. Pushing past the surprise, he focused on his purpose. "I want to talk about the lies you've been spreading."
"Those suckers will believe anything," his father said, not the least bit apologetic.
Anger began to dissolve Adrian's fear. "Don't you care how those lies might have affected me?"
"Why should I? You and your no-good brother left and never looked back. I suppose he's got some hifalutin job as well."
The grief hit him. "Daniel's dead."
"How?" There was shock in the old man's eyes and sorrow in his voice.
Adrian was so surprised he answered immediately. "A car crash a year ago. It killed Daniel and his wife. Kate was the only survivor."
His father squinted at him. "Kate's the red-haired girl?"
"Yes," Adrian said. "Your granddaughter."
His father unlatched the flyscreen door and pushed it open. "You want to come in?"
Adrian didn't. The thought of crossing the threshold into the house that was his prison throughout his whole childhood filled him with dread, but there was a vulnerability in his father's eyes that he had never seen before.
Adrian walked in through to the living room.
It hadn't changed in the eighteen years since Adrian had been inside. The brown couch he'd raced around so many times to evade his father, the coffee table that had been chipped when he'd tripped and his father had pushed him into it, the dirty, threadbare beige carpet. The whole room had an odor of stale cigarettes and bourbon.
His father hovered near the doorway, uncertain. "You gonna sit?"
"No." He couldn't. There was no way he could relax in this room.
His father walked over to the sideboard and poured himself a drink.
"Don't." Adrian's tone was sharp.
The old man's hand shook but he put the glass down. "You tryin' to order me around in my own home?"
"Someone needs to." Adrian didn't want to hang around here. The fear he'd felt for all these years had evaporated and been replaced by pity. The man's life revolved around the bottle.
"I came here to talk to you about Kate."
"My granddaughter?" His father seemed stunned.
Adrian nodded. "Daniel named me guardian of Kate if anything happened to them. Because of what you've been saying, Penny's sister believes I can't care for Kate and is trying to take her from me."
"The bitch." Adrian's father was outraged. "You can't let her do that." He didn't seem to comprehend his part in all of this.
"It would help if you withdrew your accusations about me."
His father's outrage was replaced with calculation. "How much is it worth to you?"
Adrian blinked in surprise. His father had gone from grieving to outraged to calculating in a space of seconds. This was the man Adrian remembered. "Kate is priceless." His voice was cold. "But you won't get a cent out of me. If you have any shred of decency left in that alcohol-pickled brain of yours, you'll do what's right. You'll retract your accusations and tell the truth." Adrian walked toward the door and then stopped. "You never cared for your own children, but this is your chance to do something for your grandchild."
Disgusted, he brushed past his father and headed to the entrance. Once outside he took a deep breath of fresh air.