Keeping Sam Read Online Free PDF Page A

or did – no one would take Samuel away from her. She simply could not let that happen.
    ***
    The woman was twenty minutes late. It simply wasn’t good enough, not when the appointment had been arranged for a specific time, and Barbara had had to arrange for a babysitter for Samuel. It was hot and sticky in the waiting room, but Barbara had worn her lightest linen shift dress, and had twisted her hair into a French pleat so it didn’t lie heavily on her neck. She tapped her fingers on the arm of the wooden chair. Was it so very difficult to keep to an appointment system? She supposed solicitors were very busy and important and constantly in demand, dealing as they must with all sorts of undesirables.
    Her last visit had been no different. This was where she had sought advice six months ago, found out about the Special Guardianship Order. At least then they’d offered her a cup of tea. Today, nothing. She glanced at the collection of dog-eared magazines again. Pseudo celebrity gossip and “real life” stories to make your toes curl. No, thank you very much.
    Finally her name was called and she walked through the double doors into Bridget Cohen’s office. This was more like it – wooden panelling, certificates on the walls, a nice view of the bay. The prosperity of her legal counsel calmed her: she was in safe hands now.
    ‘Mrs Steiner. How nice to see you again.’
    Barbara sat down and shook her solicitor’s hand.
    Bridget flicked through a manila file on her desk, then pulled out a sheet of paper and gave it a cursory glance. ‘Here we are. Samuel Steiner. And how is Samuel doing?’
    Barbara hadn’t come all this way to indulge in small talk. ‘As I said on the phone, my daughter, Samuel’s mother, has … Well, she has recovered from her accident and appears to be quite fit and well, and now she wants to take her son back.’ Barbara paused and smoothed her palms along the length of her thighs. ‘I told her that we have an order from the court to look after the boy, so she can’t simply take him away. That is correct, is it not?’
    The solicitor regarded Barbara steadily. ‘May I ask you a question, Mrs Steiner?’
    Barbara nodded.
    ‘Why don’t you want Samuel to be with his natural mother?’
    It was a simple enough question, but one Barbara was not prepared for. She stared at Bridget in alarm.
    ‘Why would you ask me that? We can provide a loving, stable home for him, which is exactly what he needs. He’s a happy boy, healthy and full of life. And what does it say in that file of yours? You were the one who showed me the police report. Kate was a drug addict before Samuel was born, and what they found in her flat proved that she’d gone back to her old habits. Do you think I’m just going to hand him over and say, “There you go, have a nice life”? We haven’t been looking after the boy for the weekend – it’s been almost a year!’
    ‘Presumably she has missed her son rather a lot in that case,’ Bridget said, clearly nonplussed by Barbara’s outburst. She closed the file and threaded her hands together. ‘Mrs Steiner, do you any have reason to suspect that your daughter is still involved with her former habits now, today?’
    What an unusual way to put it. Barbara shrugged. How could she know for sure? She felt her face heating up as she realised she hadn’t even considered where Kate might be staying in Corrin Cove, or who she might be staying with. Probably that frightful social worker thought Barbara was the worst kind of mother possible for not welcoming her daughter into her home with open arms.
    ‘If your daughter decides to apply for a variation of the order, the case will go to court,’ Bridget continued. ‘In the majority of these cases, the court will naturally consider that a child’s rightful place is with its mother. It would be up to any interested party to prove otherwise, but the proof would have to be compelling.’
    Barbara digested these words. She couldn’t