Zelda should have known that it was too good to be true. It had been three weeks since her and Eden's weekend with Lucy and Zebadiah. She had left them that weekend full of hope as her world turned into a dream come true. They had spent the weekend lazing around the house. In the evenings they had played board games in front of the fire and eaten delicious food, and during the days they had inspected the attic, which was full of treasure, and roamed the woods that surrounded the house.

Boone had spent the entire weekend with them, and none of them spoke about the conversation that they had had in Zebadiah's study, but it had eased Zelda's heart to know that she wasn't as alone as she thought.

Eventually, the weekend had ended, and Zelda was sure that they would all fall into their same routines, but it hadn't happened. She and Zebadiah had several lunches and dinners to discuss her finances, and Boone was old school courting her. They didn't go out much because he spent time at the bar most nights, but they talked on the phone and through texts, and he had spent a little time with her and Eden the past two weekends.

In class, they acted no different towards each other, but Zelda could feel Simone's side-eye as she watched for any hint that a relationship had developed between her and Boone, but other than the two of them spending time with Eden as chaperone nothing had happened.

There had been no more kisses or hand-holding, unless you counted his and Eden's displays of affection. Boone, for reasons unknown to Zelda, was keeping it strictly platonic for the time being, and she was having a hard time figuring out why. They had admitted that they loved each other, albeit through other people. But there was no secrecy about how they felt, and Zelda thought she was giving out the right signals to hint that she was open to more, although she wasn't sure how much more.

She knew that there would come a time that she would have to finish telling Boone all of her secrets for their relationship to move on, but she wasn't there yet, and she was beginning to think that Boone had sensed it which was why he was holding back.

Zelda had just finished up at her Friday committee meeting for the ballet fundraiser and was at Maspero's eating lunch at the bar, mulling everything over in her head, when an older man sat down next to her. She didn't think anything of it at first, but she noted that he kept looking at her out of the corner of his eye while she ate.

She pretended like she was unaware of the situation, but it was making her uncomfortable, so she finished her meal, paid Jonny, and left, aware that the man paid his bill and followed her as well.

Zelda wasn't sure what to do, so she walked for a few blocks then slipped into the crowds at Jackson Square, finding a bench and sitting in the middle of everything. She wanted to go home, but not if she was being followed.

The man appeared next to her, sitting on the other end of the bench turning towards her.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you nervous. I'm Charles Strauss. I believe you knew my son, Collin."

Zelda turned to look at him wide-eyed with shock. She had no clue that Collin had a family. He had never told her that he had. She studied that man and noted his t-shirt and frayed jeans with dirty sneakers. He looked like an average tourist except for the tattoos that wrapped around his arms.

"You were his wife, right?" he asked. "I'm sorry we never got the chance to meet before now."

He was saying all of the right things, but there was something about him that made Zelda want to back away. There had to be a reason that Collin never mentioned him.

"Collin never mentioned you," Zelda said, watching a muscle in his jaw jump at the news. He didn't appear angry, but she could sense it just under his calm façade.

"You know Collin, he was always a private individual," he insisted.

It was a weak excuse at best, especially considering she was his wife.

Collin had even gone so far as to tell her that there was no one to take Eden, that Zelda was her only chance. Why would he say that if he had a father?

"I'm sorry, but I'm having a hard time believing you." Zelda knew there were crazed fans out there who would claim to know Collin when they didn't, and it was very likely that he could be one of them.

The man reached into his back pocket and drew out a copy of his license, a folded up piece of paper, and a torn and battered photo. The license had the name Charles Strauss, the paper was Collin's birth certificate, and the photo was of the man and a very young boy who could be Collin.

"If you really are his father, where have you been? Why weren't you there when we got married, and why weren't you at his funeral?" Zelda watched him as he gave a strained smile.

"I was unable to attend for personal reasons," he explained without really explaining anything at all.

"Why are you here now?" she asked, feeling her gut churn and her hands start to shake as she handed him back his information.

"I want to see my granddaughter, get to know her." Charles paused, taking his time, looking at all that was going on around them as if he had all day as he pocketed the documents. "You know, just before he died, Collin reached out to me, and he told me a few things about his past sins." He let the words hang heavy in the air.

Zelda couldn't ask him what he meant without giving away secrets that he might not know, so she stayed silent.

"I thought that it might be a good idea to make amends for my absence with my son through his daughter." Charles looked at her with a smile Zelda didn't trust.

"I'm sorry, I'm not willing to let that happen. I don't know you, and I'm not going to let you near her for any reason." Zelda stood, ending the conversation. If he had tracked her down to the bar where she had lunch, then he probably already knew where she lived, and she swallowed back panic at the thought that he had been following her and Eden.

"Just let me see her, Zelda, then this won't have to get ugly." He stood towering over her, using her name, which sent a chill down her spine.

"No, if you want to see her get a court order." Zelda turned to walk away.

"Sure, I'll do that, right after I tell the press about how you're keeping her from me, and how your not even her real mother. I wonder whose side the court would be on in a case like this? An adoptive mother or a blood grandparent who didn't know about the child until after the father's death, when it was too late to intercede," he softly said before she could take a step, and she could hear the threat in his voice.

"I'll take my chances," Zelda said without turning around, then walked quickly away towards her house.

When she got there, she locked the door behind her and fell into the couch, wondering what she was going to do. Could he really take Eden? The reasonable part of her realized the improbability of it, but the part that had always feared something like this would happen rose up and took over as she started to pace, making wild plans. She would leave, runaway. She had full custody so she wouldn't be breaking any laws.

Zelda sunk to the couch and started to cry as panic consumed her.

What was she going to do?