FISHER HOME
The afternoon sun is hot on
Claire's
bare arms as she settles into the lawnchair. She sits herself in a comfortable
position and then reaches for the iced tea that she placed on the small
table standing between her chair and
Paula's.
"It looks great out here," Claire
says, gesturing out at Paula's garden.
Paula nods slightly. "Thank you.
I've been putting a lot of time and energy into over the last few months."
She pauses, clearly thinking, and then says, "After we lost
Tim, I could
hardly wait for the spring to come. I wanted so badly to be out here arranging
everything and watching it all come alive."
"Has it helped?"
"I think it has ... Apparently crawling
around in dirt is therapeutic," the older woman muses with a chuckle.
Claire smiles but it fades quickly.
"I wish I had something like that. It would be nice to get lost in an activity
or hobby or something and just try to forget everything. Especially when
it feels like things just keep piling up."
Paula detects the lead in Claire's
voice. "I thought things were beginning to calm down for you," she says,
waiting for the contradiction.
"Ever so briefly." Claire sighs.
"Something else has come up these last few weeks, Paula. Something bad."
"Oh no. What is it?"
"Diane.
I had my lawyer contact her
to tell her about Tim -- I couldn't do it myself. A few weeks ago she showed
up at my door demanding to see
Samantha."
"Oh, dear."
"Yep. It was typical Diane, too.
She wanted me to wake Samantha up from a nap and hand her over right then
and there. I refused, obviously. So now we're falling into this whole legal
mess."
Dread swims over Paula's face. "Diane
is suing for custody?"
"Uh-huh. She's out for blood, I swear.
That woman is like--God, I don't even know. She's just so determined to
get Samantha away from me."
"You'll contest her, I hope."
"Of course. The thing is ..." Claire's
gaze drops. She ponders the ground for a moment and then lifts her head.
"I know that Travis
and I are Samantha's real family. She loves Diane,
but it's different than it is with me. I am her mother. Her time
with Diane is like ... it's special time. I'm the one who deals with all
the little day-to-day things."
It is obvious to Paula that there
is more coming, so she just listens.
"But I'm worried," Claire continues.
"I'm worried that none of that is going to matter just because Diane is
her biological mother. They're going to take away my daughter on a technicality."
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