Chapter 16: Unfit

Ruby's POV

My grandfather's lawyer kept her office on the ninth floor of a building downtown, with a glass lobby and a security desk.

I came down to that lobby at four with her beside me, because Nolan's attorney had asked for a meeting before the hearing.

I had said yes.

I wanted witnesses, and a lobby has plenty.

Nolan was already there, in his charcoal suit, holding a bouquet of white roses.

Marlene sat beside him on a bench in a navy coat, a cane across her knees that I had never once seen her use.

Their attorney stood to one side with a folder.

"Ruby," Nolan said. "Thank you for coming."

"You filed a petition that says I'm unfit."

"I filed it because I love you and I'm frightened."

"You're frightened."

"You've been out at that cabin for three weeks with a man you barely know."

"And?"

"You played a video of us at my mother's birthday. You told a roomful of strangers I was a criminal."

"I told them what the video showed."

"Honey," Marlene said, in a thin, sweet voice. "We only want you to rest. A doctor is going to see you."

"Which doctor?"

"A good friend of the family."

"Nolan's friend."

"He is a licensed physician."

I turned to the lawyer.

"Is that the letter?"

"It's a two-line letter," she said. "It says he reviewed a description of your behavior and finds it concerning. He has never met you."

A man at the security desk had stopped typing.

Two women waiting by the elevators were watching us over their phones.

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