Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 77415 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 387(@200wpm)___ 310(@250wpm)___ 258(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77415 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 387(@200wpm)___ 310(@250wpm)___ 258(@300wpm)
I nodded and tugged on Ellen’s arm.
“Let’s go.”
She went willingly, and followed close to my side as we each took a seat at the large eighteen-person table that dominated the room.
“Big table,” Ellen surveyed the space. “They could use some new curtains and a lighter paint color, though.”
I grinned at the interior designer. “Why don’t you suggest that to him?”
She tossed me a look. “Yeah, and ruin your pro-bono case?” she snorted. “I think not.”
I winked at her and pulled her closer to me.
“How was work?”
She shrugged.
“Okay.”
I looked at her, studying her face, as I realized that she hated work but likely didn’t want to talk about it.
I wasn’t one to dance around delicate subjects, though.
“Is there a reason you can’t go back to school?” I asked curiously.
She bit her lip, then shook her head.
She looked torn, as if she didn’t want to think about it because if she did then her dream might slip through her fingers if she thought about it too hard.
“No.” She cleared her throat and looked away. “It’s because I’m scared, and I don’t want to go back to school for that long.”
I knew that. I’d thought about going back to school multiple times over the last fourteen years, but not once had I scrounged up enough courage to do it.
“What about becoming a nurse. I hear that’s only a two-year program. Four if you want to get your bachelors. From there, you can go back to school at your leisure and get your nurse practitioner’s license.”
Her brows rose as she listened to me explain what she could do to satisfy this need inside of her. A need to do a job that she loved. One that she felt gave something back.
“I’ve been thinking about it,” she admitted. “But it might take something other than me wanting to go back to school to get me to go.”
“Like a nudge in the right direction?” I asked. “I think you won’t have any problems once you decide to go. You’ll love it. And if you’re smart and diligent about it, you’ll get done before you’re pregnant with our first child.”
She started to laugh.
“What if I wanted your babies inside of me now?”
“Then I’d say that’s fine,” I explained. “We’d just need to find a bathroom first.”
She struck me on the arm with her open palm.
“We can’t do that here,” she gasped in outrage.
I grinned unrepentantly.
“We could…”
“Hello!” Came a deep elderly voice. “I apologize for not getting here sooner. I was reading over some letters provided by someone pertaining to your case.”
I didn’t bother to ask who that was. It was likely Ghost, but the man wouldn’t know him by that name. Ghost went by something different with the club than he did in his day-to-day life, though I hadn’t figured out what it was. The one and only time I’d actually tried to figure it out, I’d been foiled at every possible turn by Ghost.
“All right, let’s get this started. Who wants to start first about when this all began?”
***
Ellen
Jessie seemed to hesitate.
“How about you begin the day you met Margot.”
And that was how I’d learned every little detail that had happened over the last seventeen some odd years of Jessie’s life, and what he had to endure in dealing with this woman who was clearly off her rocker.
Two hours passed as Jessie explained, Mr. Cantos interrupting him every few minutes to ask questions pertaining to what Jessie had just said.
It continued on like that until a little past eight, and by that point, I was sick to my stomach and barely able to keep my tears at bay.
Jessie had endured so much. Gone through so much. Put up with so much.
This man had literally thrown his life away just so his son could live a good life. It hadn’t always been glamorous, but Jessie had made it work the best he knew how.
“Well, Mr. James,” Mr. Cantos said as he sat back in his seat and looking at us both. “It seems to me like you’ve done everything you could to make sure she was happy. When that didn’t work, you distanced yourself. Yet, she continued to pursue when it was evident that she was nothing but a nuisance who didn’t have your child’s best interest at heart.” He paused and studied his notes for a long moment. “The things she’s done more recently are going to help our case the most. With her overdosing in the car on the way to the movies with your son, as well as the other tid-bits of information you’ve helped me with, I feel that we have a strong case. There’s not a judge in the county that will turn down your charges as well as your desire to have a restraining order.”
I breathed a sigh of relief, and moved my hand to rest over Jessie’s still clenched one.