Chapter 14.
Maxine couldn't help but feel out of place as she walked into the building, her eyes scanning the room, taking in the huge crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling to the grand flower displays. It was almost too much.
"Can I help you ma'am?" A concierge asked, dressed in a smart suit with a warm smile on his face.
"Ah yes." Maxine said hesitating briefly. "I'm meeting someone, Charlotte Hanshaw?"
"Of course, Mrs Hanshaw said she was meeting someone. Right this way." He said, stepping out from behind the desk to guide her to a table.
Charlotte spotted Maxine as she stepped into the room and stood up to greet her.
"Maxine, thank you so much for agreeing to meet me." She said, shaking the other woman's hand before she sat back down.
Charlotte Hanshaw had called Maxine out of the blue saying there was something important she wanted to discuss with her in person. Charlotte had flown in from the Cayman Islands to meet Maxine in Darton and the other woman couldn't refuse to meet up as Charlotte had obviously made a big effort to just tell Maxine something that could not be discussed over the phone.
"It sounds like you have something you want to discuss. Oh thank you." Maxine said as the concierge pulled the chair for her.
"Sorry to interrupt ladies, but before I go can I interest you in something to drink?" He asked politely.
"I'll have a glass of chardonnay, I trust you to know what I like Joseph." Charlotte said with a smile.
"And you for you ma'am?" Joseph the concierge said, turning to Maxine.
"Could I get a glass of orange juice?" She said, not wanting to be rude by not getting anything.
"Of course. I will be back shortly." He said, nodding his head before disappearing off.
"As you said before, there are some things I would like to discuss. Firstly I would like to apologise for how me and my husband have reacted to the situation regarding Joanna." Charlotte started to explain, not missing the way Maxine stiffened slightly. "We have been struggling to move on, Sandra meant the absolute world to us and over the years we welcomed Isaac onto the family and it's been hard on us."
"It's been harder for her. She's just a kid that lost both her parents to horrible fire, she was forced to live on a ranch with strangers in a whole other state while her grandparents turned a blind eye and even worse is that she is in the foster system." Maxine couldn't stop the words from leaving her mouth, she always tried to be polite but anger got the best of her this time.
"I know and this is why I wanted to see you, talk this through face to face. It's not that I don't want Joanna, I honestly want what's best for her but each time I think about taking her in something stops me. It sounds terrible and I feel awful, I really do but…" Charlotte stopped talking as tears filled her eyes. "She's not even my granddaughter. At least not by blood."
Maxine reached out to hold the other woman's hand, feeling empathy towards the woman as her anger was forgotten.
"You must think I'm a terrible person and I can't say that I blame you." Charlotte said.
Maxine opened her mouth to say something when a waitress brought over their drinks before disappearing off.
"I can't begin to understand the pain you are going through but I hope you can see the pain I'm going through. I've always wanted a daughter but instead me and my husband have been blessed with seven sons." Maxine said.
"I admit I was shocked to hear that. How did Joanna cope? She was with you for a few months and I wondered how she got on." Charlotte said as politely as possible, causing Maxine to chuckle.
"The boys were amazing but she spent her first 3 years living with us. When she came back they respected her space and helped her in whatever way they could, always looking out for her. She didn't live in the house, she stayed with Luke's father in a cabin he has on our property but during the day she would always come over to be with the boys and very quickly picked up her own routine." Maxine explained and could see Charlotte paying close attention to what she was saying.
"Did she manage to make any friends? Not anything against you but did she have a group of girls her age?"
"She did. Ashleigh, her best friend, lives on a neighboring ranch. She also hung out with a lovely group of kids at school." Maxine said, smiling at the thought.
"That's good to hear. Did she do well in school?"
"Her grades were excellent. She's very bright, highly intelligent and pays attention to detail."
Charlotte sat back, thinking for a moment as she sipped her glass.
"How do your sons feel about her being gone?" Charlotte asked.
"They miss her and they often talk about her. Me and Luke were shocked at first but then it turned into pride because we did something right raising the boys and with Luke's father we were coping."
"Would you fight to get her back?"
"What do you mean?" Maxine asked, the question catching her off guard.
"I had to see you after I heard some very shocking news." Charlotte said, "I'm so sorry Joanna was taken away from you, it sounds like she was really well settled and it's horrible she was taken away under false claims." Maxine's heart stopped at what was just said.
"False claims?"
"My other daughter Donna, she lives in New York and has always been a very business driven woman. We don't see much of her, she is devoted to her work and remains unmarried, not wanting children because they would only slow her down. She never understood how Sandra fell in love with Isaac and Joanna, it caused a big drift between the two sisters. Donna cut herself off from the family when she said Sandra was tarnishing and disrespecting the Hanshaw name by marrying an Indian and his Indian child. She couldn't understand how Sandra could love a child the way she did Joanna when she had no blood relation to her. I still don't understand how Donna turned out the way she did, she was such a stark contrast to how we raised her." Charlotte took a moment to recompose herself, "I found out through a source that Joanna had been taken away from you and I wanted to know why, so I hired an investigator after I came up with incomplete answers. Turns out, Donna had managed to get herself involved in Joanna's life and she had been sending reports to the state declaring you and Luke unfit to raise her. She kept going until a meeting was called and then she made false claims that got backed by a lawyer she blackmailed."
Maxine couldn't stop the soft gasp that escaped her as she held a hand to her mouth.
"She was angry about Sandra's decision to marry Isaac but I never imagined her still being this evil. Her sister and Isaac had died in a horrible fire that a little girl survived by some miracle and she is still so consumed and blinded by hatred that she does something like this? Maxine, please please believe me when I say I had nothing to do with this." Charlotte held Max's hand tightly as she spoke, her voice wavering as she tried not to cry.
"I don't know what to say." Maxine said, feeling light headed.
"It's no longer about what you say, it is about how you will fight."
"Charlotte…"
"She belongs with you and Luke, Joanna shares his DNA and deserves what's best for her. Me and Mark are semi-retired, we live on an Island six months of the year and then six months in Lexington just to keep tabs on everything."
"We can't afford to raise another child." Maxine admitted.
"Then let me help. I have more than enough money and it's not going anywhere anytime soon. I can give her whatever she needs. You take her in and leave me and Mark to pay for whatever she needs. We can talk about a weekly or fortnightly payment that can go towards clothes, personal items and anything she might need because she is growing up and raising a young lady is very different to sons. We can also readjust her healthcare plan, currently she should be covered by the state but in your care I want to know my daughter's baby has good insurance."
"This is an incredibly generous offer." Maxine started to decline the offer knowing what her husband would think.
"There is more to it than me trying to fix Donna's wrongdoing." Charlotte began saying, "I got a call I never ever want to get again. I picked up the phone and was greeted with the sound of broken sobs from Joanna, she told me she hated her current foster home and that no one wanted her because she had already been through five too many. I asked her what she wanted me to do and she asked me to take her home to Darton, she wanted to be back at Three Ponies. I then heard a commotion of shouting and then the phone went dead. Maxine our girl is not coping and she needs stability and a warm, loving home."
"Charlotte… there is so much to consider."
"Luke is her biological father. I'm not saying Isaac wasn't her father because I saw the way he loved that girl, you wouldn't doubt it for a second but in a court of law. Luke has the right to take custody, we just have to fight the system."
"I fully hear what you are saying but before I agree to anything, I need to talk with my husband." Maxine said seriously.
"Absolutely. Thank you so much for even coming out to see me, I appreciate your willingness to hear my side despite your judgement." Charlotte said, noticing how Maxine's fell slightly as she realized she had misjudged her. "It's alright, I can understand. You definitely have a soft spot for children seeing as you have raised seven of your own and you're a school teacher. I won't hold you up any longer." Charlotte started rising from her seat.
"I am truly sorry for your loss. Thank you for trying to help and for telling me the truth." Maxine said as she got up.
"I couldn't stand back and keep turning a blind eye when I heard what Donna had done. I'm doing what's best for her and trying to undo what has been wrongly done to an innocent girl. I'll be in touch with you over the next week and I'll get a lawyer sorted for you too."
"That is very generous but we should be alright." Maxine said, politely declining the offer.
"Without sounding like a snob. I have a very good lawyer and he hasn't lost a case yet, trust me. He's very good and he knows Joanna well."
"Thank you, I will let you know."
"Before you go. Does Joanna know anything about Luke's involvement?" Charlotte asked.
"No and Luke would like to keep it that way for now."
"With her being a minor it means she doesn't need to know the full process, we can call it an adoption. I will ensure everyone on my end talks to her like this is an adoption and hopefully the court will be satisfied enough with what's written in writing."
"Here's hoping." Maxine gave her a half smile before parting separate ways.