Chapter 3

Cal pulled up in front of the address that he'd been given. The house was small and had seen better days. It was shabby and in need of serious repairs and he frowned as he got out of the car and walked up the front walk.

He knocked lightly and smiled when an older woman opened the door. "Mrs. Sanders?"

"Yeah and you're that Lightman fellow."

"I am."

"Well, come on in then," she said as she pushed on the door.

Cal walked in and stood in the doorway.

"I don't bite so you don't need to stand in the doorway there, Dr. Lightman."

"Cal, you can call me Cal."

"Good, and Mrs. Sanders is my mother-in-law and she's dead so just call me Isabel, yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, well park your butt in a seat there Cal. Can I get ya something to drink? A beer maybe?"

"That'd be great," Cal said, immediately at ease.

She came in and handed him a cold bottle then sat down heavily in a chair.

Cal got his first chance to truly observe her and could tell that she was a very sick woman.

His reaction must've shown on his face because she nodded. "Yeah, ain't gonna be in this world a lot longer…"

"I'm sorry," Cal said honestly.

He had taken an immediate liking to her and Isabel could tell he was being truthful. "Thank you but I ain't called you here to talk about me cause my time is just about up…I want to talk to you about little Amy."

"Amy?"

"Amy…Sophie…whatever you want to call her."

"Okay…"

"First I want to know a few things about that Foster couple."

Cal was puzzled and felt really uncomfortable being here without Gillian. "You want me to answer some questions about my partner?"

"Yeah, you all right with that?"

"Not really but …"

"Well…too bad…cause you're gonna do it anyway."

Cal smiled slightly at her straightforward attitude. "Well, then…fire away."

"That Dr. Foster…she still married to that weasel of a husband of hers?"

Her comment was so unexpected, Cal choked on his beer. "No," he coughed then shook his head. "They actually divorced a few months ago."

"Who started it…"

"The divorce?" At her nod, Cal continued. "Um…Gillian did, why?"

Isabel ignored his question as she moved forward. "She don't see him no more? He ain't buggin her all the time?"

"Not that I know of."

"Good. What about you two?"

Cal was taken aback at the question. "What about us two?"

"Are you two together yet?"

"Gillian and I are business partners…"

Isabel shot him an angry glare as she interrupted him. "Ain't I just told you I ain't got a lot of time left to this world? Now quit your yammering and just tell me if you and the doctor are together."

"No, we're not a couple if that's what you're asking."

"Why not?!"

"Bloody hell!" Cal spat, clearly at a loss as to why she was grilling him on his feelings for Gillian.

"Don't be doin' none of that fancy English cursin' in my home! I asked you a question plain and simple!"

"And I answered ya' Gillian and I are not a couple."

"Well ya' oughtta be! You know…I was there at the hospital the day my Amy was given to them. I could see on your face that ya love her and I seen the way she looked at you even though her husband was standing right by her…so why the heck ain't you two together?"

Cal sighed and rubbed his hands over his face as he decided to be honest. "I have no idea."

The woman grunted. "Well, maybe it will come. Now, I gotta tell you a story and I want you to just set there and listen."

"Okay…"

"My husband Earl doted on our daughter Stephanie, treated her like she was some kind of princess. And my Stephanie loved her daddy and when he done passed away, her whole world fell apart. Being daddy's little girl she kinda lost her mind and got into them drugs people's always talking about. Then when she got pregnant with Amy, she tried to straighten out, she really did. She ate good and took proper care of herself. She was so happy when she found them Foster's wanted to adopt Amy. She was relieved that Amy was gonna be in a good home…my Stephanie even started to talk about going back to school. Then after Amy was born, a few weeks later, Stephanie took some money from that Foster fellow."

Cal's jaw dropped open in surprise. "Alec gave her money?"

"Yep, Stephanie used it to sign up for school."

"At's great…" Cal smiled weakly.

"Yeah, I thought so too until one day Stephanie came home with ten thousand dollars. Done told me that Foster fellow gave it to her and told her if she came back and reclaimed the baby he would give her another ten thousand."

Cal's stomach clenched with dread at the news. "Are you sure?" he gasped when he realized it was Alec that had caused Gillian to lose Sophie. "I mean are you absolutely positive that Alec gave Stephanie money?"

"Yep, said taking care of a baby full time was too much for his wife and him to handle and that at this point in their careers, they couldn't care for the baby the way they wanted to."

"That's a bloody lie," Cal mumbled. "Gillian would have quit work without a second thought…but she didn't need to…I would've allowed her to take any amount of time off she needed."

"I kinda thought that may have been what happened. That bastard dangled that money in front of my Stephanie and she thought she could go to school, maybe make something of her self. She got Amy back and moved back in with me. Then that Foster fellow came around a few more times. He said his wife was done torn up inside…couldn't get over the loss. He said he regretted telling us they couldn't take care of the baby and he wondered if Stephanie was doing okay with the responsibility. That piece of shit thought he could just treat that baby like a yo-yo...like Amy didn't have any adjustments to make in her little life! Well, when Stephanie wouldn't give back Amy, I guess he slipped her some more money for school."

"But Stephanie didn't use it for school, did she?" Cal guessed correctly.

"No," the woman said as tears fell from her eyes. "That devil done gave her some drugs as well as money. Poor Stephanie was weak, she got back into them drugs again full time and about seven months ago she overdosed on them."

"I'm so sorry."

"Yeah, me too…but she's with her daddy now and I'll be with them right quick here." Cal reached out and squeezed her hand comfortingly but the woman patted it. "That's why you're here."

"You're worried about Amy," Cal guessed correctly.

"I wanted to know if Dr. Foster would still want her? I wasn't going to ask if she was still with that bastard husband of hers but if he's out of the picture and she's still interested in Amy, I'll sign over custody to her."

Cal was speechless and remained silent as his mind raced with possibilities.

"So, do you think she'd still want her?"

"Meemaw?"

They both turned at the small voice. Cal smiled weakly at the little girl who stood in the doorway to what he could only presume was a bedroom. He stared and though her features had changed dramatically over the past year he could still see traces of the baby he had seen daily for almost two months.

Isabel patted her lap. "Come here, Amy."

Amy walked tentatively forward and slipped into her grandmother's lap. She eyed Cal warily.

He made funny faces at her and she gradually smiled then started to laugh aloud.

Isabel smiled warmly at him. "You'd make a good father."

Cal chuckled. "At's good to know 'cause I am a father! I have a sixteen year old daughter."

"So you done this all once already?"

"Yeah."

"It ain't easy."

Cal nodded. "No, its not. My ex wife and I did pretty good balancing it out though and my Emily's a fantastic kid. She's starting to look into colleges."

"So let me ask you…would you be there to help that sweet lady if she got into trouble raising my Amy?"

"Gillian would never get into trouble, she's one of the strongest people I know but yeah, if she needed me, I'd be there for her, same as she was there when I had some questions with Em."

"So you think we could call her…ask if she'd want my Amy back?"

Cal sighed and blew out a long breath. "I don't know…"

"Look, I done told you I ain't gonna be here much longer and I got to know my little Amy is gonna be all right! Don't want her to go to into no temporary home and be bounced around all the time!"

Cal could see how agitated the woman was and reached for her hand. "No, at's not what I meant, I can promise you, Luv, Gillian will want Sophie back. I just don't want to tell her all of this over the phone."

"Okay, fair enough, that woman done went though hell and I don't want her to face this alone, that's why I called you to begin with."

Cal stood. "Look, I'll go and explain this all to her right now, we'll be back in the morning, would that be okay?"

"Yeah, I reckon I can hold out until then." The woman stood and frowned. "But what if she says no? I don't know what the hell I'm gonna do then?"

Cal knew in his heart that wouldn't happen and as hard as it would be, Gillian would eventually open her heart again and love this little girl.

"Cal?" the woman asked again.

"I'll adopt her myself!" he said flatly before he reached for Amy/Sophie's cheek and caressed it lovingly. "See ya tomorrow, Darling." He turned and looked at Isabel. "One more day, all right, we'll be here first thing in the morning."

"I can make it…" Isabel declared bravely.