diplomas and honors were displayed on one wall. The rest was chaos as far as she could see. Files were stacked on every flat surface, even the floor. They were neat stacks, but they were everywhere. The remains of his lunch were on a computer desk near the window, and the wastepaper basket was overflowing. She was trying to take everything in when he offered an explanation.
“I’m sure this isn’t what you were expecting in a law office, but in my defense, I can find everything I need at a moment’s notice. I have a photographic memory and it serves me well, but it drives everyone else around me crazy, especially my secretary. So don’t pay all this any attention. I can assure you that you’ll get the best legal advice in the state from me. I’m not bragging—it’s a fact. And if you’re not satisfied, there’s no charge. Aretha asked me to give you my best and there’s no way I’d ever disappoint her. She’s a wonderful woman,” he said, “and someone I hold in very high esteem, so I’m all yours. Tell me about your situation.”
Sherri felt compelled to trust him, unorthodox as his approach might be. She gave it to him as concisely as possible without leaving anything out. She explained how she’d found herself pregnant after dating Sydney’s father for two years, how he decamped for California as soon as she revealed her condition and how she’d never heard from him again until the day she’d encountered him at her parents’ house.
“What I don’t understand is why he’s decided to come here and try to get me to marry him out of the blue. He’s never shown the least bit of concern over his child. To be honest I don’t think he knew whether he fathered a son or a daughter. Now he wants to not only make amends, but he also wants to marry me and he wants us to be a family,” she said with a frown.
“I have no reason whatsoever to trust him or his motives. I don’t want him anywhere around my daughter until I know what he’s up to. My primary concern is Sydney. I can take care of myself, but her welfare is my biggest concern. He’s being really subtle about it, but he did say something along the lines of ‘I’d hate to take you to court.’ And because he’s an attorney, there’s no telling what he could do in court. Do I have to allow him to meet her? Is there a way that I can keep him out of her life, or will doing so backfire on me when or if we end up going to court for some kind of custody arrangement?”
She finally stopped talking and apologized. “I’m sorry that I just ran off at the mouth like that, but it all came up out of nowhere and it’s not going to go away just because I want it to.” She took a deep breath and accepted the glass of icy-cold water he poured her from a carafe on his windowsill.
Royce’s voice was soft and comforting and his words were even more so. “Look, at this point I really don’t think you have anything to worry about as far as him being able to get custody, not even visitation. Has he ever tried to establish paternity?”
“No. He left Columbia as soon as I told him the test was positive, and as far as I know, he never looked back. He was my only sexual partner and he has to know that Sydney is his child, even though I didn’t put his name on her birth certificate.”
“Did you ever try to contact him regarding child support?”
“I was too angry and too proud. I never asked him for a dime, even though it would’ve made our lives easier, at least when I was doing my internship and residency. If he didn’t want us, we didn’t want him,” she said with a touch of defiance.
“Man, he was a big fool,” Royce said with admiration in his voice. “Do you have a man in your life right now?”
She blushed becomingly at the sudden turn in his questions. “Yes, I do.”
“Sorry, I couldn’t resist,” he said with a self-deprecating grin. “I’m human—what can I say? Back to business. First of all, unless he’s willing and able to come up with seven years of child support in one lump sum, you don’t have to worry about visitation at this point. The fact