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When I awaken and open my eyes, it takes me a minute to figure out where I am. A figure moves to my left, and suddenly I see Meredith’s worried face as she stands next to my bed looking down at me. But it’s not my bed. As my eyes dart around the room, I take in the IV tube running from the crook of my arm to a bag of fluids and the gown I’m wearing. I’m in the hospital.

“You’re awake. How do you feel? Are you okay?” she asks.

“Why—What happened?” I shake my head as if to clear it. The fog slowly lifts and then I begin to remember. The beach. The girls. Taken away by the police. I spring up, needing to get to them, when a wave of dizziness makes me fall back again.

Meredith rests a hand on my shoulder. “Hey, take it easy.”

I look at her and she must see the confusion on my face. “Jackson called me and told me they were bringing you here. Daph, you overdosed.” Her eyebrows knit together in concern. “I didn’t know you were taking antianxiety meds. They had to treat you with something to counteract the pills. You also had alcohol in your blood.”

“No, no.” I shake my head. “I didn’t take anything, and I would never drink while watching the kids. You know that. My therapist prescribed the pills for anxiety, and the last time I took one, it threw me for a loop. I was totally out of it. Tallulah almost called 911 when she couldn’t wake me up. I don’t even know why I brought the damn pills with me. Jackson must have found them. He had to have done this to me.”

“What do you mean? How?”

And then it hits me. The lemonade. He had to have drugged it. I bet he put Klonopin in the drinks. That bastard, he must have spiked all of them. “He’s lying. He did it. I know he did it.” I tell Meredith about the drinks he brought.

“Unreal! That son of a bitch could have killed you! What the hell is he up to?”

I go cold. The children. “Where are the girls?”

Meredith’s hand flies to her mouth. “With Jackson. A judge issued him an emergency custody order. He did this to get the kids from you.” She goes to her purse and pulls out her cell phone. “You need a lawyer. I’m calling Dean right now.”

Hours later I’m finally discharged from the hospital and sitting in the reception room outside the office of Dean Manchester, Esquire. Meredith has already apprised him of my situation, and he’s pulling in the top family law attorney from the firm to help with the case. I’ve been calling Tallulah’s cell phone over and over, and it rolls right to voicemail every time. Now I wish I hadn’t been so adamant about making Bella wait another year to get a cell phone. I keep flashing to the anger on Tallulah’s face at the beach. I spring up from the leather couch and begin to pace again.

Meredith watches me walk back and forth and finally says, “Daph, sit.” She pats the cushion.

“I can’t stand it. I’m so worried. Do you think the girls are okay?”

Meredith nods. “I’m sure they’re fine. No matter what, Jackson loves them. He’s not going to hurt them.”

“But he’s going to do whatever he can to damage my relationship with them. This is his revenge for keeping them from him. If you’d seen the way Tallulah looked at me.” I try to take a deep breath, but I feel like I’m suffocating. “What if she believes I did this on purpose? All his talk about changing. Being sorry for how he treated me. What a load of crap. I should have listened to my mother and stayed far away.”

Meredith puts her arm around me. “I know this is hard, sweetie. But you need to calm down. We’re going to get this sorted out. I promise.”

The door opens and Dean steps out. I’ve met him socially but have never seen him in a professional setting. This silver-haired man in a tailored suit and starched shirt looks high-powered and formidable, unlike the casual and charming guy I’ve seen on the tennis court.

“Hello, Meredith, Daphne,” he says with a warm smile. “Please, come in.”

He shuts the door behind us, and Meredith and I each take a chair across from the large crescent-shaped desk. Plush carpet, wall-to-wall bookcases, and subdued lighting give the room a hushed and protective feel, as if whatever business you conduct here will be effectual.

“Would either of you care for something to drink?”

We both shake our heads.

“Very well.” He focuses his attention on me when he speaks. “Daphne, I’m very sorry that you find yourself in these circumstances. Meredith has given me some background, but I’d like to hear what happened in your words.”

I take a deep breath, gathering my thoughts. “After my divorce, I moved to California with my daughters. The marriage was not a good one—Jackson was abusive, and I was able to get him to terminate his parental rights.”

He cocks an eyebrow. “Really? How did you manage that?”

“Without getting into a lot of detail, I knew something incriminating about his new wife and threatened to expose her if he didn’t terminate his rights. I know it sounds bad, but trust me, the last thing my girls needed was his influence in their lives.”

He says nothing. Waiting for me to continue.

“The only reason I came back to Bishops Harbor is because my oldest, Tallulah, has been very depressed.” I fill him in on what happened on her field trip. “My therapist thought it necessary for me to allow her and her sister to establish some sort of relationship with their father.” I bring him up to speed on how things have been going and Jackson’s charade of having changed. “The last thing I remember is drinking the lemonade he brought and then being awakened by the police.”

He nods. “Of course I know of your husband’s problems with the government. I’m actually very surprised, given the circumstances, that he was able to get an emergency order of custody. The courts don’t look kindly upon parents who voluntarily forfeit their rights, and the fact that he’s got a prison record also makes his suitability questionable.”

I know the reason before he even articulates it. I give him a wry look. “I’m guessing the judge is a friend of his.”

“It appears so.” He sighs. “I don’t know if you’re aware of this, but Mr. Parrish has informed DCF that you suffered from postpartum psychosis and were a danger to your first child when she was a baby. They’ll be interviewing the doctors who treated you when you were admitted to the hospital there as well as the psychiatrist you were ordered to see following your release.”

“But all of that’s a lie. Jackson set me up then too.” I protest.

“I believe you, I do. But you have to understand how it’s going to appear to the social workers. Blaming your ex-husband for both events. It makes you look bad.”

Frustration overtakes me, and I want to grab the glass globe on his desk and smash it to smithereens. “So what am I supposed to do?”

“We’re going to have to come up with a strategy for when you’re interviewed by DCF. I need to give that some more thought and will be consulting with one of my associates whose specialty is family law. I’ll be with you during the interview with DCF, and please, no matter what, do not speak to anyone about this without my being present.”

“All right, I understand. But how long will all of this take? I need to see my girls.”

“As soon as they file the order of temporary custody, the OTC, we will appeal it. They have to set the hearing within thirty days of the appeal. We’ll use that time to gather evidence of your suitability and get your character witness testimonies.”

“So in thirty days then, I should be able to get them back?”

He tilts his head. “It’s not quite that simple. It’s within thirty days from the filing of the OTC. Jackson has the girls under an emergency order. The court still has to file the paperwork, which could take a bit longer. We’ll push as much as we can.”

“Can you speak to my therapist? She can attest to my sanity and to what’s happened in the past with Jackson. Surely if she speaks to the social workers that will help.”

“Give me her information. That will definitely help.”

Meredith leans forward. “Dean, we’re worried about Jackson having the girls. Is there any way we can get custody transferred to Daphne’s mother? We could get her here on the next plane and she could stay with me.”

I nod. “She’s in Peru right now. I don’t even know how long it would take for her to arrange to get back here.” I hate the thought of ruining her trip, but it doesn’t seem like I have any choice. “Hopefully she has cell service on the boat.”

Dean raises his eyebrows. “I’m not sure that will work. Jackson has given a statement that she has dementia. It’s quite possible that she’d have to undergo psychological testing before they’d release the girls to her.”

“That’s ridiculous!” I say. “Why would they believe that?”

“Apparently your daughter, Tallulah, corroborated that. I can only assume it’s because she wants to stay with him. If he gets his parental rights reinstated, he would take precedence over a grandparent anyway.”

My mouth drops open. I can’t believe Tallulah would agree to such a heinous lie. I shake my head. “I’m not going to drag my mother into the middle of this if it’s not even going to do any good.”

“I’m not at all confident that it would be an easy thing to have custody transferred in light of your daughter backing up Jackson’s assertion,” he says.

I can’t think of a response, and I stare at him mutely.

Dean stands up, and the meeting comes to an end. “We have to assume that he’s going to continue to play dirty. I have folks doing some digging. Try to keep your head while I put together a game plan.”

“I don’t know how I’m supposed to go on like everything’s okay. My older daughter won’t answer my phone calls, and I have no idea how Bella, my youngest, is coping. This is unbearable.”

Meredith reaches over and squeezes my hand. Dean gives me a kind look. “I’m going to move as quickly as I can. But you don’t want to do anything that could hurt your chances in the long run.”

My blood runs cold. All I’ve been thinking about is clearing up this misunderstanding and taking the girls back to California. I hadn’t considered the possibility that Jackson might actually be playing for keeps. “Are you saying I could lose custody?”

He puts a hand up. “Let’s not even go there.”

“But it’s possible?”

He gives me a somber look. “Anything’s possible.”