Indemnity: Book Two: Covenant of Trust Series (8 page)

“
There’s a first time for everything,” Joel said, and then he turned back to his father. “Has she had a marriage fail or something?”

“
I doubt it,” Chuck answered, “but here’s what I do know.” As Chuck began filling his sons in, Bobbi motioned that she was leaving to put Shannon to bed. She’d heard enough of Tracy’s schemes for one evening.

She couldn’t have scripted this any better, though. The boys handled the news with reason and maturity. She expected a little more shock, but no matter. They could just keep chipping away at Chuck, forcing him to admit that he hasn’t thought this situation through, that he’s operating purely on instinct. Once they were done, she could explain what she read about Abraham, Sarah and Hagar, and the case would be closed.

“
Teeth brushed?” Bobbi asked Shannon as she stepped in her bedroom.

“
Yep, but what took you so long? What are you guys doing?” Shannon was propped up in bed, arms crossed, frowning in irritation.

“
I made some coffee and Daddy and the boys are talking.” Bobbi sat on the edge of the bed.

“
What about?”

“
Brad is showing us how well prepared he is for law school, and Joel is asking a bunch of questions that Daddy can’t answer.”

“
Sounds boring,” Shannon huffed.

“
It is. You aren’t missing anything.”

“
Promise?”

“
I promise,” Bobbi answered, raising her right hand.

“
Is Brat gonna work for Daddy?”

“
I think that’s the plan once he finishes law school.”

“
Does that take a long time?”

“
Three years.”

“
I’ll be ... eight!”

“
Good adding,” Bobbi patted Shannon’s knee. “You’re gonna sail through kindergarten.”

“
How old will you be?”

“
Old.”

“
In numbers, Mommy.”

“
Forty-nine,” Bobbi whispered.

“
That’s how old Daddy is now!”

Bobbi nodded. “Right again. Now, smart cookie, what time is it?”

Shannon squinted at the clock, and pointed with her index finger as she counted. “Kinda nine ... twenty.”

“
Kinda?”

“
Well, it’s between three and four.”

“
And what time is your bedtime?”

“
Eight o’clock,” Shannon groaned. “You’re so tricky with that.”

Bobbi smiled at her. “It’s a mommy thing. Now say your prayers.” She reached out and took Shannon’s hands, then bowed her head.

“
Dear God, thank You for our day, for Mommy and Daddy and Grandma and all my brothers. Amen.”

“
All your brothers?” There was no way Shannon could know about Jack.

“
Joel and Brad. I can’t thank God for just one of 'em.”

“
Of course not. Goodnight, sweetie.” Bobbi kissed her, and then pulled the covers up as Shannon scooted down in the bed. “Sleep tight,” Bobbi said as she turned out the light.

All her brothers ... No, Shannon had two brothers. Two. No more. The sooner they settled that, the better.

When she returned to the kitchen, Chuck was wrapping up details of his convoluted adventure through the public records.

“
Wait a minute,” Brad said, raising a hand. “She gives birth using her real name, files a fraudulent birth certificate, then drags the baby to Massachusetts to change his name. Then she comes back, running the risk of being found out.”

“
For the express purpose of being found out, I think,” Chuck said.

“
She’s nuts,” Brad said. “It makes no sense.”

“
That’s what I said,” Bobbi agreed. She hadn’t prompted or primed the boys at all. Chuck couldn’t claim she influenced them.

“
Crazy like a fox, maybe,” Joel said. He pushed back from the table, and walked over to the counter. “She couldn’t hold down a job if she was really insane. She’s either a sociopath, or there’s an explanation behind it that makes sense, at least to her.” Joel poured a second cup of coffee for himself and refilled Bobbi’s.

“
What’s a sociopath?” Bobbi asked as she slid into the seat at the table.

“
No morals, no conscience,” he answered dryly and began rummaging through the cabinets, finally settling for a bag of pretzels.

“
I think that just about sums her up,” Bobbi said.

“
What’s next? What are you gonna do?” Brad asked his father.

“
Go to court and make her give proof of paternity.”

“
What about custody?” Brad asked.

Bobbi watched her husband shift in his chair. “Well, Chuck?” She leaned forward, her elbows resting on the table. “What about it? Are you going to sue for custody?” He couldn’t lie to her now. She’d asked him point blank, in front of their sons.

He looked at Brad and then Bobbi and without any hesitation in his voice, he said, “Yes.”

Bobbi dropped her head and waited, but there was no indignation, no shock, not even a question. Her boys said nothing. “You guys are okay with this?”

“
Mom, what else can he do?” Brad shrugged, and shook his head. “Deny the boy’s his?”

“
What happened while I was upstairs? Weren’t you the one who said he had no proof? That Dad was just acting on speculation?”

“
Mom, first of all, I didn’t say speculation. I said worst-case scenario. Based on the public records’ manipulations she went through, I don’t see how the kid’s not Dad’s. Besides, what kind of damage would that do to him if he found out his dad didn’t want him.”

“
What about the damage this is going to do to your sister?”

“
Bobbi, this is not going to hurt Shannon at all,” Chuck said.

“
How can you say that? You don’t know!” She stood and paced across the kitchen. “Joel? Your dad has an illegitimate son he wants to bring into our family. This doesn’t faze you?”

Joel poured the last of the pretzel crumbs from the bag directly into his mouth, and chewed until he could manage to speak. “It’ll take some getting used to, but I think once we get to meet him—”

“
Meet him! Have you lost your mind?”

“
Mom, he’s our brother.”

“
No, that boy is the ‘son of the bondwoman’!” Bobbi’s eyes flashed, and she pointed a finger at Joel.

“
Bobbi, what are you talking about?” Chuck asked.

“
This is what I read this morning!” She whipped around to face him. “About Abraham and Sarah. He had Ishmael with Hagar, and Sarah told Abraham to throw them both out. And he did.” Bobbi clenched her jaw, and stared at Chuck, daring him to reply. “God told Abraham to listen to his wife!”

“
I don’t think that applies,” he answered quietly.

“
Why not?”

“
I don’t know. I haven’t read that story in a long time, but it can’t be the right thing to do.”

Bobbi jabbed at the kitchen table with her index finger. “Then you tell me how it can be good and right, to bring a living, breathing reminder of your affair into my house!” Bobbi said through clenched teeth.

“
You already have one,” Chuck said softly. “Shannon Hope Molinsky.” Bobbi’s chest tightened at the mention of her daughter’s name. “No affair, no reconciliation, no Shannon. You can’t separate those.”

She had no argument, no rebuttal. He’d done it to her again, cutting her off from anyone who might agree with her, leaving her isolated and speechless.

Her boys ... They betrayed her. They jerked all the supports out from under her and left her twisting in the wind. Struggling to maintain her composure, and her dignity, she turned, and without another word began loading the dishwasher.

After a long awkward silence, Brad made an excuse about needing rest, mumbled a goodbye and slipped out as quietly as he came in. Maybe he was feeling guilty. Bobbi hoped so anyway.

“
Mom?” Joel carried his cup over, and placed it in the top rack.

“
Joel, there’s not anything you can say right now that won’t make it worse,” Bobbi said without looking up.

“
I’m not choosing Dad over you. It’s nothing personal.”

Bobbi rolled the dishwasher rack back in and slowly raised her head to look at her son. “It is absolutely personal. I thought you, of all people ...” Her voice was low, controlled, but fury lay just below the surface. “You and Brad are something else. For you to sit here and self-righteously disapprove of me ...” She rolled her eyes up to the ceiling and swallowed hard before continuing. “You have never been married, have never been cheated on. You don’t know what you’re talking about, Joel. How dare you ... How dare you suggest that this boy ... that he’s just like you, or just like Shannon ...”

“
Bobbi, don’t take this out on Joel.” Chuck crossed the room to stand in between them, and nodded toward the doorway. “Son, why don’t you go on up to bed.”

“
Mom ... I never ...” Joel’s eyes darted between his parents as he lingered for a moment. “I love both of you, you know,” he said, then shuffled out of the kitchen.

“
I’m the one you’re upset with,” Chuck said.

“
Upset doesn’t begin to describe it,” Bobbi said, jerking the dishwasher door closed. “You haven’t given me the slightest consideration in this.”

“
That’s not true.”

“
It is! You’ve backed me in a corner and you’re forcing this on me.”

“
I am trying to face my responsibilities and undo the damage I did to another innocent person.”

“
At what cost? Your marriage?”

He stood straight, his fist clenched tightly.

“
Why are you getting defensive? You’re completely right, and I’m completely wrong.”

“
Bobbi, I never said that!” He took a long slow breath, his lips moving as he did. Was he counting? Reciting a Bible verse maybe? “Honey, that little boy shouldn’t have to pay for what I did.” He spoke calmly, his voice softer. “The way he was conceived is not his fault. He deserves a dad.”

How could he? He knew what she went through. How could he put this boy ahead of his own family’s best interests? What was he thinking? Was he thinking, period?

“
We have to be able to discuss this,” Chuck said.

“
There’s nothing to discuss. Neither one of us is changing our minds, so unless we have some divine intervention, you may as well go on to bed, Chuck.”

“
Are you coming?”

“
No.”

“
I love you.”

“
I’m sure you believe that.” It came out sharper, more sarcastic than she meant, but she was tired of fighting him and everyone else he lined up against her.

“
With all my heart,” he said, and then shuffled toward the stairs.

Finally, he quit arguing. If it’s not Ishmael, then what is the solution to all this? Bobbi sighed deeply. She put the empty pretzel bag in the trash, checked the back door and turned out the kitchen light.

Was she overreacting? Was it wrong to protest Chuck trying to wedge that woman’s son into her family? She went to the study, pulled her Bible from the desk and collapsed on the love seat. She revisited Psalm 142, which became her heart’s cry in the aftermath of Chuck’s affair. She needed something like that now. Her eyes drifted to the next psalm.