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“You represent criminals and get them off on technicalities so they can do more damage. Is that a fun thing for you?”
Cecile touched the other woman’s arm but she shook it off. He couldn’t ignore the anger in her accusation. He also couldn’t understand where it came from.
“That’s not exactly how things work, but I do represent my clients to the best of my ability and it’s my job to protect their rights and see that they get a fair trial.”
“Even if it means letting a murderer go free.”
Luke’s muscles stiffened under his skin. He had to admit he’d done things he wasn’t proud of, and this woman must have felt the effects of it.
Before he could respond, she started walking away, saying to Cecile over her shoulder, “I guess I’ll go now. I have time to run by the clinic before I pick the kids up from school.”
She patted her leg and a German shepherd he hadn’t noticed before trotted after her. A vet with kids. She was probably married. Even if she wasn’t, kids meant home and stability and a legion of other things he’d avoided so far. He couldn’t risk a relationship that would complicate his situation. But his curiosity got the best of him. Luke had to know what had made her so hostile toward him.
“So, you want to tell me what’s given you such a negative opinion of public defenders?” he shouted after her. Cecile, he noticed, was shaking her head and staring at the ground.
The scrumptious vet, a title that suited her much better than Jayden, turned and he could see the tracks of tears on her face.
“My sister was Caitland Casio.” She turned sharply and hurried away.
“I tried to stop you,” Cecile said.
Luke stared at the grass on the side of the road, crushed by vehicles driving over it, then shrugged. “I guess I’d have found out sooner or later. Not exactly my most shining moment, was it?”
“You were doing your job.”
He sighed. “I better get back to the office.”
The soles of his shoes scuffed against the asphalt. He’d lost so much in his life, but he’d always kept moving, focusing on a goal. Cypress Landing was a good place and he liked it. If things had been different, not now, but in the beginning, when he was a kid, he could have been happy living here. Maybe with an attractive woman like the vet. Buried in this deception, he was beginning to lose track of himself. Occasionally, he wanted to ask for the real Luke to please step forward. Though, he couldn’t be certain he’d recognize the guy if he did.
THE WHITE CARD with the huge numbers printed on it reflected in the windshield. Jayden inched her car forward, watching the line of teachers and tiny people streaming from the building. It was how she’d decided to think of the two boys who’d fallen into her lap, waist-high humans. What else could she do? She was much better at dealing with Kasey than she was with two kids both under the age of twelve. For three seconds she contemplated spinning the car around and driving west until she ran into the ocean. But then she saw two curly mops of black hair bobbing as the kids raced toward her, their backpacks nearly toppling them. In the seat behind her, Kasey whined and wagged his tail. Even he was better at this parenting thing than she was. The door flew open and the two piled in, smothering Kasey with hugs. Her, they glanced at cautiously. She had to fight to keep from dropping her forehead to the steering wheel in utter defeat. Jayden had never intended to return to Cypress Landing. Beverly Hills might not have been the home she’d been dreaming of, might not have filled that empty spot she’d felt for ten years, but coming here surely wasn’t the answer. She was trapped raising two kids with no idea how to do it.
CHAPTER TWO
JAYDEN STARED at the breakfast she’d set out before calling the boys. Oatmeal, juice and apple slices—what kind of strange kids were these two? Her mother would have had to sit on her and funnel liquefied oatmeal down Jayden’s throat to get her to eat it when she was ten years old. Thankfully, Evette Miller had been more of a biscuits-and-tomato-gravy cook, likely accounting for Jayden’s elevated cholesterol count. Her sister had managed to train these boys to eat healthier.
Elbows on the counter, she battled the tightness in her chest. When Caitland and Robert had died in a car crash a few months ago, she’d dropped everything to come and raise their children. Her sister hadn’t told her they’d made her legal guardian. But then, who else was there? Their mother couldn’t be expected to be responsible for two young boys, not when she was getting ready to retire. Besides, Caitland had wanted Jayden in Cypress Landing for years. She’d always said she’d get her home if it was the last thing she did.
Jayden blinked rapidly, had to fight to get her breath. At times like this, when the birds sang in the morning air and the light north wind began to make the dimming green leaves wiggle…Her mother would be by soon. She straightened, and prepared to unleash chaos.
“Boys, breakfast!”
She heard squeals from the bedroom, then a thump, followed by the dog barking. The day had officially begun. She spread her feet apart and bent to hug eight-year-old Garrett as he ran into the kitchen. He smiled. It was a start.
“You’re dressed and I only came to get you one time. Wow.”
“I’m great, huh?”
“You and your brother are the best. I didn’t know little boys could be so smart.”
Garrett struggled loose, grinning, and scurried to the table. But there was still no sign of Elliot, who at ten deemed himself the man of the house, a title much too overwhelming for a boy. She strode to his room, and found him carefully tying his sneakers. She often wondered if the older brother had come from the womb sporting a pair of neatly double-knotted tennis shoes.
“Ready for breakfast?”
He bobbed his head in a gesture that meant less than nothing to her.
“Anything wrong?”
He shrugged.
“Hmm,” she said as he followed her to the kitchen. “Is that yes, no, maybe, I don’t know, the dog ate my homework?”
Elliot snorted. “Kasey wouldn’t eat my homework.”
“You’re probably right. So what’s on your mind?”
“We’ve got baseball practice tonight and tomorrow, then they’re going to pick teams.”
“I know. I’ve already made plans to take you.”
“But what if I don’t get picked to be on a good team?”
“Then you’ll be the best player on a not-so-good team.”
He slunk into a chair at the table. “You haven’t seen me play, Aunt J. How do you know I’ll be the best?”
“We’ve been throwing the ball in the yard every evening, and you’re excellent at that. Though I’m mostly going by how the people in the clinic the past few weeks have been asking if you were playing this year and telling me how much they wanted you on their team. I’m guessing you’re an outstanding player.”
He spooned his oatmeal obviously unimpressed. “I like baseball, a lot. My dad and I—” He paused and swallowed hard. Jayden held her breath. “We played all the time.”
“I’ll be glad to practice with you.”
He snorted then took a bite of his apple. “You’re not much help.”
She put her fists on her hips, mustering an offended scowl. This was the first time he’d been able to mention his dad without crying. “Maybe this Saturday we should get your friends together and go to one of the fields for a game. I’ll show you my skills.”
Even Garrett laughed at that.
A knock on the kitchen door preceded her mom by two seconds. Her short steel-gray hair stuck up in various appropriate directions as though she’d just stepped out of the stylist’s chair. Which she had. Evette had owned her own salon for as long as Jayden could remember. She hugged the boys and went to the cabinet to find a bowl.
“I’ll take the kids to school this morning and get them in the afternoon. I’ve got to run to town early then give Helen a perm.” At sixty-three, her mother seemed much younger.
“Thanks, I need to get to the clinic.”
The brothers brought their dishes to the sink, and Jayden rinsed them and stuck them in the dishwasher. Garrett went back to the table to eat his apple while Elliot dug in his backpack, asking, “When’s Mr. Eric coming home?”
Her mother paused with a spoonful of oatmeal inches from her lips, but the spoon Jayden held clattered to the floor, splattering bits of oatmeal on the tile. She peered through the window above the sink at the darkened windows of the guest house across the field.
“They’ll hear it at school,” her mother said in a low voice. “Do you want me to do it?”
Jayden shook her head. Eric had been renting for nearly a year before Caitland and Robert had been killed. The boys knew him well. Three deaths in less than two months was far too much for a kid to deal with.
She slid a chair next to Garrett at the table then hauled another closer for Elliot. The older boy recognized bad news was coming. She could tell by his slumped posture and his reluctance to sit.
“We think Eric’s been hurt and he may not be back.”
Elliot stood again and Garrett’s eyes instantly filled with water.
“Did he go to be an angel in the clouds, too?” A tear trickled down Garrett’s cheek, and Jayden wanted to throw up.
“We don’t know for certain yet, but it looks that way. I want you to know what happened in case you hear about it at school.” She swallowed the choking sob clogging her throat.
“Did he have a car wreck?”
She glanced at her mom who gave a slight nod. If Jayden didn’t tell them the truth now, they’d probably hear part of it or even an exaggerated version later today.
“It wasn’t a car wreck. We believe somebody hurt Eric and he might have died. We don’t know for sure who, but the sheriff will find out.”
“Why would somebody hurt Mr. Eric?” Garrett rubbed his face. She pulled her chair next to his so she could hold him close.
“We don’t know.”
“It was because of that stuff he was writing on the Loyalist people, wasn’t it?” Elliot’s eyes held a hint of anger.
“I said we don’t know who did it or why, Elliot.”
“I know. They’re mean. They’re the ones that call us half-breeds. Eric said they didn’t like him asking questions about their Militia group. He had a dog when he first came, but they killed it. Last year they painted mean stuff on the garage about me and Garrett. I’m going to get them one day, you wait and see.”
His fist was in a knot, nearly as tight as the one in her stomach. “Elliot, no one knows who’s responsible for hurting Eric. You’re angry, very angry, and so am I. But we can’t accuse people. It will only make more trouble.”
She could see him processing the information. “We’ll help the sheriff and the police if we can, won’t we?”
She caught his hand in hers. “Of course we will.”
“I’ve got to get my homework.” Elliot’s chair bumped the table as he wheeled around and left the room. Garrett pulled away and followed him.
“Poor kids can’t catch a break,” her mother said. “But do you think it’s fair to only say he might be dead? They did find his watch on an arm.”
“Until they’ve got DNA confirmation, we don’t know Eric’s dead.”
Evette shook her head. “I think we know. And now when it’s confirmed, you’ll have to do this all over again.”
Her mom was right. It wasn’t likely that Eric was off enjoying himself somewhere while an appendage with his watch on it was buried near Cypress Landing. She twirled a napkin while her mother finished eating.
“Why didn’t anyone tell me what was going on?”
Taking a sip of her coffee, Evette studied her. “What do you mean?”
“You know exactly what I’m saying. These idiots writing slurs on the garage and calling the kids names—why did Caitland and Robert stay? Why didn’t they move when they adopted the kids? They should have known there’d be trouble when they tried to raise mixed-race children here.”
Evette pushed the empty bowl away. “They stayed because this is their home and they didn’t care what people said. The boys will have to confront those attitudes their whole life.”
“But it’s worse here because of that damn Militia. I can’t believe they’re still harassing people like that.”
“What did you think when you left? It would go away?”
“No, but I thought the law would put those people in jail.”
“They do put them in jail, then others take their place. And then they get out of jail anyway. But why am I telling you this? You were part of it. You understand how it works.”
The air went out of Jayden as if she’d been punched. She expected comments like that now that she was home, just not from her own mother. “I was not part of that. I’ve told you a million times. I would never have been part of it.” She squirmed in her chair. She didn’t want to have this conversation again. It wouldn’t change anything.
“That’s not what I meant. Mark Dubois lived in it and you were his girlfriend.”
“And because of that I’m as guilty of murder as he was.”
“I didn’t say that.” Her mother patted her leg.
“No, I did, because I know how people in this town think.”
“It doesn’t matter now. These two boys need us, you and me. That’s more important than people’s theories.”
“I guess I wasn’t prepared to deal with the Militia and the past right now.” Jayden went to the sink and clunked the last bowl in the dishwasher. “I better go to work.”
Evette followed her. “None of us want to have trouble with the Militia. But we’ll get by.”
Jayden yelled for Kasey and the two of them hurried to her brother-in-law’s old farm truck. The door creaked when she opened it but she didn’t care. It was handy for taking to work, especially if she had to drive to someone’s farm to treat a sick cow. Besides, it had belonged to Robert and she wanted to keep it for the boys.
JAYDEN PERUSED THE TABLE covered with plastic bottles, syringes and whatever else she could think of that might be needed to stitch a few cuts on a horse. She was waiting in the barn where they worked on large animals, which was attached by a breezeway to the main clinic. She could see Jeffrey Sabine at the rear door of the office talking on the cordless phone. He went into the building and she tapped her foot, fiddling with the disinfectant for the tenth time.
“He’s on his way with the horse,” Jeffrey said as he crossed the breezeway. “Says he has several bad cuts.”
“How did he let his horse get cut?”
Jeffrey regarded her skeptically.
“Sorry,” she added. “I don’t mean to sound negative.”
“Right, but you did and it would be better if you got rid of that attitude before he gets here. I didn’t ask what happened. If I need to know I’ll ask later.”
He inspected the supplies. “Did you get the twitch?”
She groaned before starting for the storage room. Naturally, she’d forgotten something.
“Relax, Jayden. After you’ve worked with the big animals more you’ll get used to them. I know you’re used to working with dogs and cats, but I need you to do small and large here.”
She placed the sticklike object with a chain on the end on the table. It resembled a torture device more than anything else. Of course, Jeffrey wouldn’t use it unless he had to, if the horse wouldn’t stand still. But Jayden hated it.
“Come on, J. What happens if I go on vacation and a client has an emergency with a horse or cow?”
