Eric Gardner’s voice in her cell phone rang with excitement. The most cheerful lawyer Jesse had ever known, was now practically giddy. “This will make my life so much easier.” Her counselor’s tone darkened. “Garrett is serious, Jesse. He’s fucking loaded for bear. From what his lawyer intimated to me, Garrett plans to file for full custody.” Jesse couldn’t hide her shock. “My God, Eric. Can that happen?” “It’s unlikely especially if you get your cute butt back here AND out of the Army. The picture you present now will be totally different than before. The court is always more inclined to favor a 50/50 arrangement. But that’s hard as hell to defend when you’re gone for weeks, sometimes months at a time, and moreover that you can’t tell anyone where you are. Even when you’re a national hero, gone is gone is gone. Face it, sweetheart, it will be a lot easier to contest Garrett’s suit if you are here in Albuquerque, not in some godforsaken hole across the world.”
