uncontested. There was little reason for your attorney to look deeper than she did.”
Will had just stared at him until he continued.
“Ms. Wilkins repeated the same thing with another player the following year, giving birth to that baby when she was seventeen, and again received money for the baby in a private adoption. The following year, she met you.”
Will closed his eyes over his own stupidity.
“For reasons we can only guess, she had a change of heart with Katie. Katie was her first girl, so maybe that weighed in. It may also have been that because she was nineteen when Katie was born and could legally make her own decisions, she thought she could raise the child on her own. In none of the cases did our research show that she attempted to contact the baby’s fathers before they were born.”
Will had to know. “What did you learn about Katie’s upbringing?”
“As far as we can determine without a much deeper look, Ms. Wilkins did as well as she could. She worked at the local supermarket to provide for her and Katie. She had the support of her family and local members of the community. There are standard records with a pediatrician for Katie’s first three well visits.”
“Three?”
Ryan had hesitated. “It appears Ms. Wilkins’ depression interfered with her ability to focus on Katie’s care sometime between when Katie turned three and when she turned four. There isn’t much we can determine beyond that. Katie wasn’t in school and didn’t see any other professionals who would have kept records.”
Will had weighed all of that in silence. Carol Ann had mentioned “mistakes,” and he’d wondered about the plural form of the word. Now that he knew about the other babies she’d given up, it made more sense. She had undoubtedly led a hard life.
“Why do you think we should record this meeting?” he had asked at last.
“Because you’re a wealthy man with wealthy, influential friends, your daughter is the latest YouTube sensation, and Ms. Wilkins is flat broke.”
The sound of the guest room door opening drew their attention to the hallway. Katie shuffled into the room carrying JoJo under her arm. She still looked half asleep. Pillow creases lined her right cheek. One leg of her Moana-themed pajamas was stuck several inches higher up her calf than the other. Her hair was a spectacular display of frizz and tangles.
She had trudged over to the sofa, climbed up onto Will’s lap, snuggled against his chest, and closed her eyes.
Will looked back at Ryan. “Let’s make it happen.”
The next few hours had involved contacting Carol Ann about the change in location, calling his attorney’s office and asking for a call back the moment Sharon was out of court, discussing everything with his dad when he got home, and making arrangements for him to take Katie out for the afternoon with Ryan for protection. Between all that and trying to stick to Katie’s routine as much as possible to avoid alarming her, Will hadn’t even thought about sleep.
As he had arranged ahead of time, Carol Ann parked in his dad’s garage and used the backyard gate to get to Will’s house. He met her at the rear deck sliding doors. When he opened them, a loud chime resonated through the house. Carol Ann’s eyebrows lifted.
“I know,” he said apologetically. “I had audio and visual monitoring installed to help keep an eye on Katie. It’s not the subtlest thing.”
She let out a light laugh. “I get it. Can’t be too safe, right?”
And that was all Will had said about the cameras and mics Ryan installed.
“Thanks again for meetin’ with me,” she had said when they were seated in the family room. “You have a beautiful house. I’m sure Katie’s very happy here.”
He hadn’t seen any point in touching on either of those comments. “Look, Carol Ann, I realize you’re being polite, but I don’t have a lot of time or interest in small talk. It’s been a really long couple of days. Why don’t you just get into what you’d like to tell me?”
An irritated look flickered over her pretty features, though she masked it quickly. “Of course. I know you’re a busy guy.” She rested her hands over her knee where her long legs were crossed. “As I mentioned on the phone, I’ve been workin’ through some of the most difficult parts of my life to help with the healing process.”
He nodded.
“One of the hardest things I have to learn to do is forgive myself for