The Country Guesthouse (Sullivan's Crossing #5)(48)

That night at two in the morning the phone rang, jarring Hannah awake.

“I had a signal,” Owen said triumphantly. “I don’t know how long it’ll last. I may lose you.”

“Tell me quick—is it wonderful?”

“It’s unbelievable,” he said. “When Noah is stronger and has more endurance, I’m going to bring you both here. I am getting some great pictures.”

“We’ve been looking through your books, making lists of places we’d like to see. Most of them are shrines or temples that involve steep climbs of millions of steps.”

Owen laughed. “Incentive,” he said. “How is he doing?”

“Fantastic,” she said. “We’ve been busy every minute so we hardly miss you, but I promise when you get home, I’ll make you feel welcome.”

“Don’t knock yourself out,” he said, a laugh in his voice.

“I really do miss you very much,” she said.

“And you haven’t had any problems?”

“None,” she said. “The weather is beautiful, high seventies, sunny, and there are a million people around. Vacationers, I think. Most of the long-distance hikers on their way to Banff have passed through, but there are a few stragglers. We’ve been spending time with all our friends. The one thing missing is kids Noah’s age, but he doesn’t seem to be bothered by that. He has Romeo, his best friend. And I have a nice surprise for you—”

The connection was suddenly lost. She had no way of knowing how much of that he might’ve heard. “Oh, Owen, you big tease,” she said to the phone. “Only four more days...”

  She was thinking about a lazy day around the lake anyway, but Owen’s middle-of-the-night phone call made that even more desirable. She took her coffee onto the porch in the early morning and caught a couple of young deer grazing on the big lawn that separated the house from the barn. She’d been there only about three minutes before the sound of a car disturbed the deer and they scattered. She squinted. She didn’t know the driver. She was just about to run into the house and lock the door behind her when the driver stopped in the drive, got out of his running car and stood behind the door. “Hannah Russell?” he asked.

“Do I know you?” she asked.

“I doubt it,” he said. “I have something for you.”

He held up a piece of paper. He didn’t turn off his car but took several steps toward her. He mounted the porch stairs as she backed away. He held the paper toward her and she took it warily. He wasn’t the postman after all.

“You have been served.”

He turned and bolted back toward the running car. To her relief he backed away, made a three-point turn and headed off Owen’s property. She opened the paper and saw it was a summons to family court.

Mrs. Victoria Addison was suing for custody of Noah in Colorado.

  “Try not to panic,” Cal said to Hannah. “I’ll get in touch with her attorney and find out just what she’s asking for. I can’t imagine that she has a leg to stand on if she hopes to take Noah back to Minneapolis and raise him. First of all, custody has been established. The wishes of his mother have been carried out. Second, she has no history with the boy. Third, he’s a special-needs child and she hasn’t cared for him for even a day since his birth, so his routine must be unknown to her. Fourth, according to this letter Erin wrote before her death, Victoria has a biological son who frequently lives with her who could be a danger to Noah. I could go on and on, listing the reasons this seems like a preposterous request. Too little, too late on her part.”

Hannah had called Cal immediately and Cal told her that Maggie was home, as was Elizabeth. Maggie offered to watch the children play in the great room while Hannah met with Cal in his office.

“Do I have to try to explain this to Noah?” she asked.

“Let me find out what I can from her attorney. He’s licensed to practice here but his office is in Minneapolis.”

“Isn’t that unusual?” she asked.

“Not so much. It’s possible he has vacation property here and made sure he was licensed to practice law here. Or maybe he plans to retire here. I was originally licensed in Michigan, but Colorado has licensing reciprocity with Michigan, which means I didn’t have to take the bar again to practice here, but I did have to apply, fill out a lot of paperwork, get credentialed here.”

“So if I ran back to Minneapolis, I wouldn’t escape this suit?”

“Her custody has already been denied in Minneapolis, remember?” he said. “That judge upheld the ruling in Madison. I highly doubt Judd Tamaris is licensed to practice here but the good news is we don’t need him to practice. We can use him as a witness and he can work up video depositions from other close friends that we can use in court. Given that Erin worked for Judd for years, he was very close to her and her situation, is the executor of her will, and he explained he and his family considered her a close friend. But defending this custody is not what worries me. What I want to know is why? Why does a grandmother who never visited her grandson now want to raise him? Is it sentimental? Something like this happened to Sierra...”

“I know,” Hannah said. “I had a nice long visit with her and she told me all about Sam’s grandmother.”