Finding Her Family

It wasn’t a lot, but it was better than a refusal.

* * *

WITH THE FILE saved on his office computer, Mateo turned off the machine and prepared to leave. He wasn’t due in court until Wednesday, so he still had plenty of time to prepare his opening argument. His client, a twelve-year-old accused of tagging graffiti on a freeway bridge, was at least willing to work with him on his defense. The memory of Scotty made him stop and reflect, but he shook it off as he picked up his briefcase.

Outside, he pressed the button on the key fob to unlock his car door just as his phone chirped. He brought the phone up to his ear without glancing at the screen. “Mateo Lopez.”

“Do you always answer your phone so professionally?” his sister, Lulu, asked with a giggle. “Or are you always working?”

“More like the second one. What’s up?”

A pause. “I’ve got some news, and I don’t know how you’re going to take it.”

A bunch of alternatives bounced through his brain. “Your husband got a promotion, and you’re moving out of state?”

“Don’t even joke about that.” His sister sighed. “Dad’s dating somebody.”

Mateo missed the step down from the curb and almost fell onto his car. “Dad is what?”

“Dating. Some lady from church. Tia Laurie called and asked me if I knew, but I swear I didn’t. He hasn’t said a word to me. You?”

He’d had dinner with his dad last night, but he hadn’t mentioned anything like dating someone. Hadn’t said anything about forgetting his wife and Mateo’s mother. “No. Is Tia Laurie sure about this? That doesn’t sound like something Dad would do. He still loves Mom.”

“He can love Mom and still date other women. She’s been dead for thirteen years, Mateo. He’s probably lonely.”

Lulu made it sound like it was a foregone conclusion that their father would make such a ludicrous decision. “Or she’s a gold digger.”

“Then she’s looking in the wrong place, isn’t she?” Lulu took a deep breath and then let it out. “Can you call and ask him?”

Why did he have to be the one to call him? Lulu was just as capable of talking to their father, even if Mateo had a closer relationship with him. “Why don’t you do it?”

“Because you’re his son, and he tells you things that he doesn’t share with me.”

“You’re his princess and have him wrapped around your finger.”

“Please, Mateo. I think we need to know, don’t you?”

No, he didn’t need to know. Frankly, Mateo would rather stay blissfully ignorant. His phone beeped from another incoming call. “I gotta go. It’s a client.”

“Call him.”

“Maybe.” He’d mull this over for a few days, or a week, before talking to their father. “Love you.” He hung up with his sister. “Mateo Lopez.”

“Good, you answered. I need some advice.”

He frowned, trying to place the familiar voice. “I’m sorry. Who is this?”

“Oh, it’s Page. I need a lawyer. Stat.”

He smirked at the thought of her contacting him when it wasn’t too long ago that she wouldn’t give him the time of day. Or the time to apologize properly. “Are you in jail? Do you need to be bailed out?”

“It’s not for me. Uh, it is a little. I need a family lawyer.”

He opened his car and got inside. “Page, what have you gotten yourself into?”

“That’s the thing. I’m not sure what I’m about to do. All I know is that this girl needs somebody, and I want that somebody to be me.”

“You’re talking in code and I’m not following. What do you need me for exactly?”

It was several seconds before she finally answered. “I have a patient who’s a minor that I’d like released into my care, but I don’t have the first clue about how to go about it.”

Did this woman know what she was asking? Did she realize what she was about to take on? “Released into your care?”

“Yes, I want to be her foster mother. Can you help me?”

“I can. But let me ask you a question—why did you call me?”

A pause on the other end, then her voice was soft, hesitant. “Because Sherri says you’re the best lawyer, and that’s what I need. The best.”

“And the personal stuff?”

“We can keep this professional, can’t we?”

He could. But even as they made plans to meet, he couldn’t help but wonder why she’d even considered him in the first place.

CHAPTER THREE (#ua9e4af90-5d66-5641-a76d-f6b5304ca10b)

PAGE PACED HER living room, pausing every few minutes to glance out the front window for Mateo’s car. She checked her watch. He said he’d been close to her neighborhood. Was she crazy to think she could do this? To foster a pregnant teenager while she struggled with her own health issues? Would a judge even sign off on this?

A car pulled to the curb, and she sprinted to the front door and pulled it open.

Mateo strode up the walk and the two steps to her home. He gave her a nod and entered the house. “Thanks for agreeing to meet with me.”

His scent of spice tickled her nose. She took a deep breath and let it out. She had to get her awareness of him under control.

“Page, do you realize what you’re asking?”

She didn’t need to think about her answer. “Yes.”

He shook his head as if she was clueless. “You’re talking about accepting responsibility for the welfare of an adolescent that you barely know.”

“If you knew a child needed you, would you step in and do something or would you let her get lost in the system?” She stared at him hard. “Sherri’s told me about all the work you’ve done with the youth in the community, so I know what you’d say. Now I’m in the position to help this girl, so please show me how.”

He sighed and put his briefcase on the sofa next to him. “You’d be on the hook for her physical, financial and emotional well-being. Why would you put that on your shoulders when you have so much else to deal with?”

She couldn’t help but start to take this personally. “Did you ask Dez the same questions when Marcus needed a foster home? I’m just as capable.”

“I’m questioning you because a judge will be asking you these same things when we get to court.”