Forbidden Falls (Virgin River #9)(43)

Paul had once been to the law office where Terri worked, but he’d never met her boss. It turned out to be Scott Hanson, also the executor of her will. After the introductions, Paul sat facing Scott’s desk. “Let me skip the suspense, Paul. Terri had absolutely no way of predicting she would suffer an accidental, premature death. It was a traffic accident. But, Terri was savvy when it came to the law, and given her family situation, she made sure her affairs were in order.”

“Her family situation?” Paul asked.

“Her mother has advanced MS and her parents have been divorced since Terri was a toddler, she had almost no contact with her father. Last time he came up in conversation, she had no idea where he was. And she was the single mother of an infant daughter.”

“Ah,” Paul said. “I knew she was expecting.”

“She wants you to be the child’s guardian. She’d like you to adopt her.”

Paul’s face was frozen in shock. His mouth stood open and his eyes were huge. “But…” He cleared his throat. “But, it’s not my child.”

Scott Hanson took a breath and folded his hands on his desk. “I apologize for the shock. And for the irregularity. When preparing a will and living trust for a client, it’s customary to request guardianship from the adult you have in mind for the job. When I asked Terri about your willingness to take this on, she said you were a good man, would be a good father, had offered to help her even though she wasn’t carrying your child, and of all the people in her life, you were the only one who came to mind. The fact that she hadn’t gotten your consent to be so named was irrelevant to her as she only set up her will as a far-fetched precaution. Of course, she expected to live to be an old woman. She was in excellent health and of sound mind. She also fully expected to meet the right man one day and give Hannah a stepfather who would always be there for her. And who, of course, would replace you as guardian in the will.” He took a breath. “Obviously she thought you would never know how highly she regarded you.”

Paul scooted forward on his chair. “What do you know about our relationship?” he asked Hanson.

“Really? Hardly anything at all. That you were friends. That you were close.”

Paul was shaking his head. “That’s a stretch. We dated a few times. I mean a few. She tried to convince me it was my baby, but she knew all along it wasn’t and before that whole thing went too far, she admitted it. What about the father?”

“According to Terri, the father bolted. There’s a name on the birth certificate, but Terri collected documentation from him indicating he wasn’t interested in any relationship with his child so that Terri would be free to have that future ‘right man’ adopt her daughter.”

“We should contact him,” Paul said. “Because things have changed. She’s dead.”

Scott Hanson leaned forward. “That’s an option. You can certainly do that if you want to. But it’s been my experience that people with that level of disinterest don’t make good parents. I urge you to think about the baby. About Hannah.”

“Mr. Hanson, I can’t do this! My wife and I have been married just over a year. She was widowed when her husband was killed in Iraq and I’ve been a father to her son. He’s a year and a half and we’ve just decided it’s time for another child, one of my own. I can’t do this. I can’t take on the child of a woman I hardly knew.”

“I understand, Mr. Haggerty. Believe me. I knew this outcome was a strong possibility.”

“Then what will happen next?”

“Foster care for now. She’ll be available for adoption and I can handle those details. She’s a beautiful, healthy little girl and there’s a trust for her care and education—liquidation of Terri’s personal effects and life insurance money. She’ll find a family.”

“A family with an eye on a trust?” Paul asked, lifting a cynical brow.

“It’s not a lot, as money goes,” Hanson said. “Almost a hundred grand. That’s either a good college education or averages less than five thousand a year to help defray some of the costs of raising her. As a father I can tell you, it’s a pittance.”

“She’d be better off with no trust,” Paul grumbled. “How can you tell whether the couple who wants to adopt her has their eye on the money?”

“Lots of ways, actually. She’s a beautiful, healthy baby under a year old—I imagine a couple who’s been in the system looking for such a baby for a long time will apply. Someone who might otherwise find it difficult to adopt.”

Might otherwise find it difficult rolled over in Paul’s mind. Could a couple with health issues find this to be their lucky day? Could a couple with financial problems see it as a windfall? Aw, Terri, Terri, he thought in near despair. “Well, as much as I’d like to help out, this is an impossible situation for me,” Paul said.

“I understand completely. Frankly, if my wife and I hadn’t just put the last of four children into college, we’d consider taking little Hannah into our home—we were very fond of Terri and grew close to the baby. In fact, we’ve kept her since Terri’s untimely death and it will be hard to part with her. But we’ve raised four kids, are grandparents now and have worked hard to get to this place in life. I don’t think I’m up to another twenty years.”