Chapter 6 - The Complaint Against Their Mother
The petition did not automatically grant anyone custody, Rebecca told us.
It was an allegation requiring scrutiny, not a verdict.
That fact gave Evelyn little comfort.
She recognized the wording about instability from letters Eleanor's lawyers had sent years before.
"They don't have to win," she said.
"They only have to make me afraid enough to run again."
I wanted to hire every lawyer in the state and overwhelm the petitioner with filings.
Rebecca warned that an aggressive corporate response might reinforce the picture of wealthy people trying to control a mother.
"Then tell me what helps her," I said.
"Listening to her is the first thing," Rebecca answered.
Evelyn contacted the boys' pediatrician, former teachers, and the neighbor who had cared for them when she worked nights.
They agreed to provide truthful records and statements about the children's wellbeing.
Priya traced the private agency's funding to a foundation that had recently received a large grant from a Vance-affiliated entity.
The connection did not prove coordination, but it raised questions the court deserved to hear.
We retained independent counsel for Evelyn at my expense, with a written agreement that the lawyer answered only to her.
She read the agreement twice.
"I decide what I tell him?" she asked.
"Everything," I said.
"Even if it's something you don't want to hear?"
"Especially then."
For the first time, her shoulders relaxed.
Later, she told me why she had been at O'Hare.
A former coworker in Milwaukee had offered her a steady job managing a small event venue, and the airport had been a connection on their trip.
Their flight had been delayed overnight.
They had slept in the terminal because paying for a room would have used the money she needed for a deposit on a new apartment.
I had met my children because an airline canceled a flight and their mother could not afford a hotel.
The irony made me feel sick.
"If you'd walked past us," she said, "we would've gone on."
"And I would never have known."
"Maybe not."
At lunch, Theo asked whether we could see airplanes from the window.
I took the boys to a public viewing area with Evelyn beside us.
Oliver asked why Grandma Eleanor wasn't there.
My heart stopped.
"Who told you about her?" I asked.
Evelyn went very still.
Oliver said a lady who visited his school had called herself their grandmother's friend.
"She said Grandma was waiting until we were older," he explained.
Theo added, "She knew our birthdays."
Evelyn's face drained.
She had never told the boys about Eleanor.
Before we could ask anything further, Rebecca rang with news that the school had recently received a request for student records.
The request came with an authorization bearing Evelyn's signature.
Evelyn stared at me across the table.
May you like
"I never signed that either," she said.
