Chapter 38 - THE HEARING THAT DID NOT REWARD GRANT
Grant petitioned for one unsupervised afternoon each month.
The request came three years after the original custody hearing.
He had completed treatment, complied with supervised release, paid restitution, and followed the visitation plan without violating Lily’s boundaries for more than a year.
Dana represented me again.
She reminded me that opposing every change simply because Grant once abused control could become another way of refusing to evaluate current evidence.
I hated hearing it.
I also paid her for honesty.
Lily’s therapist did not recommend a full afternoon.
She recommended a ninety-minute visit in a public place, with a trusted adult nearby but not at the same table.
Lily chose the location.
A pottery studio.
“If I want to leave, the paint washes off,” she explained.
Judge Miriam Cole reviewed the recommendation.
Grant’s attorney emphasized his testimony against Kessler.
The judge stopped him.
“Mr. Mercer’s cooperation in a corporate investigation does not purchase parenting time.”
Grant looked toward his attorney.
Then he spoke quietly.
“I understand.”
The court approved a trial period based on Lily’s needs, not Grant’s usefulness to prosecutors.
At the pottery studio, I sat in the coffee shop next door.
Grant and Lily painted separate bowls.
He did not ask her to make one for him.
After sixty-four minutes, Lily came through the connecting door.
“I’m done.”
“Do you want to go home?”
“Yes.”
Grant remained at the table until the supervisor confirmed Lily was ready to leave.
He carried his unfinished bowl to the counter.
Outside, Lily slipped her hand into mine.
“Was it bad?”
“You tell me.”
“He asked about school. He didn’t ask if I missed him.”
“How did that feel?”
“Less heavy.”
At home, she placed her painted bowl beside the framed drawing Emily had made of two houses and a bridge.
Grant’s bowl remained at the studio for firing.
He later mailed it to Thomas.
The bowl was painted red with a white ambulance along the side.
Inside, Grant had written:
I REMEMBER.
Thomas kept the package unopened for six days.
Then he sent Grant one text.
Remembering is not repairing.
Grant replied:
May you like
I know.
Thomas did not block the number.
