Just Destiny (37 page)

“Is it true that, without your nephew’s knowledge, you coerced Jenny into having an attorney draw up a prenuptial agreement?”

“I didn’t force her to do anything.”

“But you did try to persuade her to obtain the document?”

“It was my idea,” he conceded. “But it was for her own good.”

“Her own good?” Helen raised her eyebrows. “Jenny didn’t have any assets to protect. The prenuptial agreement would have benefited only your nephew.”

“Okay,” he shrugged. “So I was mostly looking out after Gabe. However, it
would
have proved to those mean-spirited people that she wasn’t marrying him for his money. Nobody could have called her a gold-digger—if she’d have signed.”

And she would have signed it if Gabe had wanted it. Jenny hadn’t cared about his money. It was Gabe who had been outraged by the prenup—not her.

“The prenup was never drawn up. Why?”

He stared hard at Jenny, suspicion deep in his eyes. “’Cause she went running to Gabe, acting all confused, tellin’ him it was my idea, usin’ it to try and turn him against me.”

Liar
. It had been all Gabe objecting—rather ripping up the sample document. She’d never tried to interfere in Gabe’s relationship with his uncle. Even though George had never been one of her favorite people, he was her husband’s family and she’d always respected that. He’d been welcome in their home.

“And did Jenny turn Gabe against you?”

“Naw.” Bushy gray eyebrows drew together as George pursed his lips. “Gabe was sore with me at first, but he got over it. It’d take more than a woman to come between us.”

“Mr. Turner, were you in favor of donating Gabe’s organs?”

George visibly stiffened in his seat. “Definitely not. Which was why she did it behind my back.”

“Did Jenny know your feelings about organ donation before the accident?”

“I don’t know, but she sure as hell knew that day.”

“What happened when you learned that it was Jenny’s decision and that you had no say in it?”

“I told her not to.”

“You
ordered
her not to,” Helen clarified.

He scowled. “Told, ordered. Whatever. I told her to stop it.”

“And what did you do when she refused?”

“I got on the horn to my attorney.”

“Isn’t it true that Jenny’s donating your nephew’s organs enraged you?”

“Of course,” he snapped. “They carved him up. It’s inhuman.”

“Isn’t it true that you could care less about your nephew’s wishes regarding his organ donation and this baby? That you filed this lawsuit to try to keep Jenny from having his baby out of revenge?”

“No. Gabe had two kids already, he was against single parenthood, and he would
never
want a kid of his brought into the world that way. He just wouldn’t.” He frowned. “In fact, he only married Judith ’cause she was pregnant. He didn’t want his son being raised by a single parent.”

Jenny gasped and resisted the urge to turn around and look at Judith. That was more than anybody needed to know. She was glad Ted wasn’t here to be hurt by his great uncle’s insensitivity.

Helen looked thoughtful. “Mr. Turner, you sued the reporter that ruined your wife’s professional reputation for defamation of character and wrongful death, correct?”

Crossing his ankles and tucking his legs under the chair, George scooted back and sat up straight. “I did.”

“Did you prevail in the suit?”

“No. The mor—” he glanced at Judge Delaney, apparently choosing his words carefully, not wanting to alienate him—“the judge didn’t see things my way.”

“In fact, the lawsuit was dismissed before ever getting to trial?”

George clenched and unclenched his jaw before forcing the answer through taught lips. “Yes.”

“No more questions.” Helen turned to Ms. Blair. “Your witness.”

Ms. Blair rose. “Mr. Turner, when your nephew was orphaned, you didn’t
have
to take him in; he could have gone to foster care. Why did you bring him into your home and raise him like a son?”

George pulled back, frowning, clearly affronted at her question. “Well, that’s a
stupid
question. He’s family. He was my responsibility.”

Ms. Blair’s cheeks reddened at George’s insult. Her tone became a bit harder. “And did you have feelings for your young nephew even before he lived with you?”

“Of course.”

Ms. Blair did a good job of hiding her impatience with her client. He had to be frustrating her; he certainly wasn’t making her job any easier by making her drag every little bit of information out of him. George’s rudeness, even to his attorney—his only ally—was incomprehensible to Jenny, but Ms. Blair remained calm and moved on.

“And what exactly were those feelings you had for your orphaned nephew?”

“I loved him, of course. Adele did too.”

“You loved him.” She nodded. “Mr. Turner, was it out of love that you lied about how your sister died?”

“Of course.”

“Mr. Turner, why did you conceal Gabe’s mother’s disease?”

George swallowed hard before answering. “Our Dad had Huntington’s, and we didn’t have money to put him in a nursing home, so me and Jan had a front row seat in seeing how bad it gets.” He shook his head and blew out a deep breath. “It was brutal.”

“Brutal? How so?”

“He was bossy and controlling and his paranoia got so bad Mother couldn’t go to the grocery store ’cause he was sure someone was gonna kill him when she left.” Frowning, he bit his lower lip and stared at his hands before raising his head and continuing. “He got depressed. Couldn’t hold a job. He’d shout and hit us when we’d try to help him.

“In the end he couldn’t walk, couldn’t feed himself, messed his bed. He wouldn’t—or couldn’t—talk. He just lay in bed like a lump, waiting to die.” He looked up at Ms. Blair with tears in his eyes. “It was hell to live through. Jan, she didn’t want to scare Gabe like that, so…so…” His throat muscles worked as he tried to continue.

“So her husband took her away and you concocted the story about them serving in the Peace Corps?”

George nodded. “Yeah.”

“Before they left, did your nephew ever notice his mother’s illness?”

George shook his head. “He didn’t say anything. In the early days you get good at making up excuses for the clumsiness and shakies. It’s only later that it’s impossible to hide. But it’s the in between…” He raised his head and looked at directly at Jenny. “The in between is bad.”

Jenny wondered what George was thinking at that moment. Was he thinking that she was lucky to have been spared watching Gabe go through that hell? Perhaps dying young had spared Gabe the indignities and suffering Huntington’s promised, but that didn’t mean she shouldn’t have his child. They could test the embryos. The devastating legacy could stop with their child.

“Mr. Turner, did you sue that reporter out of petty spite?”

“No.”

“Did you sue him in hopes of retaining a hefty monetary settlement?”

“No.”

“Did you sue him to get revenge?”

Another swift denial was what Jenny—and apparently Ms. Blair had been expecting, because she closed her eyes, to maybe count to ten, while George considered her question.

George looked away. A hardness in his eyes belied the weariness wrinkling his face.

“Partly,” he admitted. “I sued him because he destroyed the woman I loved more than anything on this earth. I didn’t want his money. I wanted to teach him a lesson. He didn’t take his job seriously enough.

“You can’t just prance around writin’ things about people that aren’t true. He had a responsibility to print the truth, and maybe
not
print the truth if it’d really hurt somebody. He had a responsibility to do his job keeping in mind human decency. This was people’s lives he’s screwing with. Some things the public does
not
have a right to know—does not need to know.”

Wow, Jenny could almost respect George just then. She glimpsed the decent side of him that he kept well hidden behind a thick wall of abrasive rudeness. And she had to agree with him; reporters should be sensitive and respectful of the people they write about. It was a thin line they walked sometimes.

She felt sorry that one reporter’s poor judgment had such a disastrous effect, but there were crummy people in all professions. It wasn’t sensible or healthy to hate all types of people just because one had hurt you.

Ms. Blair looked resigned. “No more questions.”

“Redirect?” The judge asked Helen.

“Yes.” Helen stood. “Mr. Turner, you just claimed that a reporter has a responsibility to do his job keeping in mind human decency. That some things the public does
not
have a right to know. Correct?”

“Yes.”

“Well, don’t you think that the same human decency and right to privacy applies to this case too?” She raised a hand, keeping him from replying. “No. Just think a minute, before you answer.”

George watched Helen through steady, angry eyes.

“Jenny Harrison’s life has been torn apart by the loss of her beloved husband; just like yours was when your beloved Adele died,” Helen began.

“Jenny’s been so devastated by the loss of the man she loved more than anything on earth,” Helen said, pausing, allowing the deliberate use of his words to sink in, “that she wants to have his baby. And because you can’t respect their love and her loss, you’ve dragged her into court, and forced private discussions, mistakes, and tragedies to be laid wide open in the most public way.” Helen paused a moment for effect. “How is what you’re doing to Jenny any worse than what was done to you?”

George didn’t answer right away. His mouth pinched in a tight, angry line. Jenny imagined that single long hair protruding from his bushy eyebrows even quivered with his emotions.

“This trial does invade her privacy, bringing out things that are none of the public’s business.” George looked straight at her with raised eyebrows, layering his forehead in wrinkles. “And I
am
sorry for that. And I hope to hell you all know what you’ve done in telling poor Alex and Ted about their dad. I tried to protect them, but…well what’s done is done. But my privacy and my life are being invaded by this trial as much as hers. My family’s business and mistakes have been exposed too. But it’s the price I have to pay to see justice done.

“I sympathize with her loss, but what she’s trying to do is still wrong. To be honest, I didn’t know embryos could be tested so she doesn’t have to worry about passing the Huntington’s on, but what she’s trying to do is irresponsible and defies human decency. I’m sorry we had to go to court this way, but she
needs
to be stopped. Before anybody else gets hurt.”

Helen backed away. “No more questions.”

“Okay, let’s break early today. Tomorrow we’ll have closing arguments.” The judge smacked his gavel. “Court adjourned.”

Jenny climbed into Steve’s Mustang and turned her face from the cameramen pressing close, trying to take her picture. She huddled in her seat, feeling truly awkward with Steve for the first time ever. He’d been coldly polite to her in front of others, putting up a professional lawyer front, but now that they were alone Jenny didn’t know what to expect from him.

After fifteen minutes of silently reassessing her miserable situation, Jenny was unable to endure the quiet any longer. She turned in her seat to face him. “Say something.”

Steve looked straight ahead.

“Please.”

Several long uncomfortable seconds passed. “What do you want me to say?”

“I don’t know,” she nearly wailed in frustration. “Yell at me. Say you hate me. Tell me I’m a selfish bitch. Say
something
. Please.”

Stopping for the light at the Yacht club, Steve looked straight ahead. “I don’t hate you, Jenny.”

He accelerated through the intersection. But she was a selfish bitch; he hadn’t denied that. Jenny shrank back, wounded. He
should
be pissed. She wanted his anger—she deserved it. His disappointment hurt so much more.

Steve flipped on his blinker before turning into his driveway. They rolled up the long drive and parked in front of the garage. Without a word to her, he got out of the car and walked toward his house.

Jenny jumped out and rounded the car. Grabbing his arm she swung him around to face her. “You
should
be angry. I withheld important information that nullified our advantage. And I made you look foolish in court.”

He stopped and looked at her. “So why’d you do it?”

Jenny’s hand dropped to her side. Ah. The million-dollar question. “I just wanted the baby so badly. You and Judith said it was our ace. I never thought they’d ask if the baby was an accident—you didn’t.” She shrugged. “I didn’t really think about what it would mean to you—to our friendship.”

“You want the baby that badly?” He stared at her with steady penetrating eyes that seemed to bore into her, yet gave nothing away as to what he was thinking.

“It was an accident, really. Judith assumed that Gabe and I’d been trying to have a baby, and I didn’t see a reason to correct her. I wanted it to be true.” She shrugged; it was simple, really. “After a while, I almost convinced myself.”

“Do you do that often?”

“Do what?”

Steve watched her carefully, studying her as if she were a curiosity. “Convince yourself that a lie is true.”

“No. Well…maybe. I convinced myself Michael really was my little brother and not my baby. But not often, no.”

“So, when something’s really important to you, when you really want to win, you go to such lengths that you delude yourself into believing a reality that doesn’t exist?”

He made it sound as if she was unbalanced. There was nothing psychotic in what she’d done. Just an assumption gone awry. “No, I—”

“You get on me for being competitive, but this is no different.” Catching his bottom lip between his teeth, he nodded. “But I get it.”

Get what? He didn’t get it at all. Her nerves hummed at his calm understanding. She didn’t know what he
thought
he understood, but she had a feeling it wasn’t what she’d meant. She was
not
a bad person. She hadn’t started out to deliberately mislead anybody.