Chapter 60

“He had no relatives,” George said, “other than an elderly and very ill maternal grandmother. She signed off on the adoption, and we had a hearing in the Haywood County Courthouse the Friday before we came home.”

“Yeah,” Mike said, “and because our friendly judge was rushed to the hospital the morning of the hearing, our case got shifted to the worst bigot in the county.”

“Fortunately,” George said, “an attorney friend of ours from Atlanta came up to assist our Waynesville attorney, and he put the judge in his place.”

“Yeah,” Mike said. “He actually threatened to begin proceedings to have the judge removed from the bench for cause. It was quite a morning.”

“Well, all I can say,” Grandma said, “is more power to you boys. That little boy needed someone, and you stepped up to the plate, as they say.”

“Yes, Ma’am,” George said.

“Can we take a peek at the boys and see how they’re doing?” I said.

“Sure,” Mike said. “Follow us.”