First Comes Love

by Heather Heyford

  “If the parents are deemed unfit, what’ll happen to the boys?”

  “Their case will be reviewed by a special multidisciplinary team. Almost without exception, the objective of CPS is to reunite the family unit, even when that unit is less than perfect. The children will remain in temporary protective custody. If that happens, cross your fingers we’ll be able to keep the boys together.”

  Until then, it hadn’t occurred to Alex they’d be separated. But of course, she was right. “Where I’m from, it seemed like there were never enough foster families to meet the need.”

  “It’s the same everywhere, I’m afraid.”

  At the prospect of the boys losing first their parents and then each other, a fresh anger rose in him. He pictured Travis with no big brother to look up to, and Tyler with no reason to keep from bowing to peer pressure and getting into progressively deeper trouble.

  He’d seen it for himself. Well-adjusted adults didn’t randomly start stealing cars and committing robberies. The seeds of criminal behavior were planted early. Children who were neglected by their primary caregivers sought human connections wherever they could find them. Too often, that meant the dregs of society.

  He dug his roll of TUMS out of his pocket and peeled back the wrapper. “What’ll happen to the parents?” he asked, tossing a handful of tablets into his mouth.

  “That’s up to law enforcement. But you said the storeowner doesn’t want to press charges for theft, so the only thing we have is another misdemeanor neglect charge. My guess is that the parents will be given a plan they’ll have to comply with to get the kids back. Typically, what that looks like is mandatory family counseling and psychological evaluations.

  “Now, I’m going home to get some sleep, and I suggest you do the same. Tomorrow’s another day.”

  They exited the station together, the sound of their footsteps echoing in the quiet night.

  “Where’s your car?”

  “This is Newberry, Detective Walker,” Ms. Bartoli said with an indulgent smile. “I’ll be fine.”

  “Call me Alex. That’s what I thought, too, when I moved to the Willamette. Now, this.”

  “I’m Olivia, or just Livvie, if you like. We don’t often see abuse of this type around here, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen. It’s just hidden in plain sight. Newberry is mostly middle class, with pockets of real poverty, especially in the rural areas outside town. But in my line of work you find out that affluence is no guarantee against child neglect or abuse. The problems are just different. The rich often use food as a means of control . . . for punishment and reward.”

  Alex paused next to her car while she climbed in. “When I came to Newberry, I hoped I’d left the worst sort of humanity behind. Should’ve known.”

  “Don’t give up on people,” Livvie said, her face partially hidden in the minivan’s shadowy interior. The buckle on her seat belt clicked and he heard the soft thunk of shifting gears. “There’s still a lot of goodness in the world,” she said just before she pulled away. “You just have to stay open to it. Keep trying to help, in hopes that one day, you’ll find someone who appreciates what you’re trying to do.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  “Addison invited me to the mall tomorrow with her and Mia! Can I go? Please?”

  “They did?” Through the phone, Kerry could almost see Shay there in the Community Center, jumping up and down with excitement.

  A breakthrough, praise God.

  “Good news?” Ryan sat at the conference table where he and Kerry had been going over the Lewandusky case.

  Kerry covered the receiver and whispered, “Shay made a friend!” She was almost as excited as her daughter. But the logistics were going to be tough.

  “How are we going to work it with day care?” Surely Addison’s mom wasn’t planning to be gone the whole day.

  “I can just stay home by myself tomorrow. She can pick me up and drop me off at the house.”

  “I don’t know . . .”

  “Mom, please? When are you going to start trusting me?”

  “I do trust you.” It was other people she didn’t trust.

  “Then why won’t you let me do this?”

  “Addison’s mom can pick you up and drop you off at the Community Center.”

  “Great. Addison and Mia will see me at day care. Do you know how embarrassing that is? They’ll totally drop me as a friend. Please, Mom?”

  The desperation in her daughter’s voice tore at Kerry’s heartstrings. The mall was an hour away. The Community Center was in the opposite direction. Not that Shay would know that, but Addison’s mom would. It would add time and fuel to the trip.

  They would probably stay at least a couple of hours to make the drive worthwhile. That meant Shay would only be at home alone for half the day at the most.

  “I suppose I could have Grandma check on you while you’re there.”

  “Really?”

  At her squeeee, Kerry winced and moved the phone away from her ear.

  “I gotta go call Addison back.”

  Kerry punched End and perched atop the conference table facing her brother. “It’s been a long time coming, but it finally happened. Couple of girls Shay met at the pool asked her to go to the mall tomorrow.”

  “Good for her. By the way, how’s the boxing coming along?”

  “Actually, Shay was just part of a demo at the pool. You should have seen her fancy footwork. Alex—”

  At the memory of their kisses, Kerry felt her face redden.

  “—her coach even let her take a few swings at him. That was how she got to know Addison and Mia. They came up to her after the exhibition and they’ve been talking ever since.”

  “Sounds like Coach Alex has been good for Shay. What about for you?”

  Kerry took her seat across the table and began sifting through the papers spread before them. “Alex Walker’s a cop. ’Nuff said.”

  “I call foul. Would you like it if people called you ‘just a lawyer’?”

  “That’s about all I am anymore. That, and a mother.” The sensual, feminine side of her was fast becoming a memory.

  “Is that enough for you?”

  Kerry let her hand filled with papers drop to the table. “We’re supposed to be reviewing the Lewandusky case.”

  “No wonder they call you Cutthroat O’Hearn,” teased Ryan, retrieving the papers he’d set down when Shay had called. He frowned. “Looks like we can’t get away from Detective Walker. Were you aware he was the Lewandusky arresting officer?”

  So far, Kerry had only spoken briefly with the prosecutor. She reached across the table, snatched the paper from Ryan’s hand, and skimmed down the page.

  Ryan said, “If this goes to trial, Walker is going to have to testify.”

  “Oh, Lord.” Kerry closed her eyes and rubbed her temples.

  “Now what?”

  She rose yet again with a sigh and looked out the window.

  “Ker. What’s wrong?”

  She turned around and sat on the windowsill to face her brother. “Do you remember the Sullivan case?”

  “My baby sister’s first murder trial. I’m not likely to forget it.”

  “I wasn’t the lead.”

  “You never would have known it from the media coverage. The press loved you. Hot young twenty-something as opposed to crusty, ol’ Donowitz? It’s a given.”

  “First, ew, you’re my brother and you’re not allowed to talk about me like that, and second, crusty ol’ Alan Donowitz happens to have been my mentor. He taught me everything I know, and I’ll be forever grateful to him.

  “Alex Walker ratted out his own partner rather than lie under oath,” Kerry reminded him.

  Ryan whistled. “That’s right. The illegal search and seizure of the shotgun, resulting in an acquittal.” He angled his chair away from the table, crossed his ankle over his knee, and massaged his lower lip. “You haven’t known that Coach Walker was the same guy you butted heads with in the Sulliv
an trial for long or you would have mentioned it. When did you put two and two together?”

  “Saturday night.”

  “Wait—the night Marcus and Paige watched your kids? You said you were going shopping.”

  “Jeez, Ry. I’m a grown woman. Aren’t I entitled to a little privacy?”

  Ryan leaned forward. “You were out with Walker?”

  She sighed and rolled her eyes.

  “Like, out out? On a date?”

  “For lack of a better word.”

  Ryan put his fingertips together and grinned salaciously.

  “Don’t give me that look. It was no biggie. Alex invited me over for a drink. That’s it. I knew if Dad found out, he would make noises, and you and Marcus and Keith would waste no time torturing me—”

  “If I didn’t give you a hard time, I wouldn’t be doing my job as a brother.”

  “Trust me, you’ve got that covered. Seriously, Ryan, I was protecting the girls. If I ever do start dating—and that’s a big if—I won’t drag them into it till I’m absolutely certain it’s the real deal.”

  “The Sullivan trial was ten years ago. How’d it happen to come up on Saturday?”

  “I didn’t remember Alex. He remembered me.”

  “Shocker.”

  Kerry made a face and was immediately annoyed with herself for taking her brother’s bait. “How is it you can still sucker me into acting like I’m four years old?”

  “Okay, I won’t insist on all the details. Just tell me how you left things with him.”

  She hesitated, deciding how much information to reveal.

  “Ker?”

  When she still didn’t answer, his provocative demeanor switched to one of concern, satisfying Kerry that no matter how mercilessly he taunted her, if anyone else so much as harmed a hair on her head, he would come at them with guns blazing.

  “Did things get . . . heated?”

  Interesting choice of words.

  “Everything’s fine.”

  “You’re lying.”

  “I’m not a kid anymore. You don’t have to worry about me.”

  “You? I’m worried about him.”

  “Ha.” She almost preferred his joking to making him worry.

  “You both need to realize that now that you’re in Newberry, you’re bound to go head-to-head again. Even though the vast majority of defendants plead rather than chance a jury trial, eventually, you’re going to be in another courtroom showdown. It’s inevitable.” He scooted in to the table again to get back to business. “Just Alex’s luck, it looks like it’s going to be sooner rather than later.”

  “Yes,” she said thoughtfully as she perused the document more closely. “It looks like Lewandusky has no intentions of pleading.”

  “You can’t discuss the case, obviously, but if I were you, I would make nice with Walker. He seemed like a half-decent guy at the Policeman’s Benefit. Word around town is he’s going to work out, despite some initial concern about his advanced age.”

  Kerry’s mouth dropped open. “Says the guy who’s older than he is.”

  “Oooh, right in the heart,” said Ryan, clutching his chest, falling sideways in his chair.

  “This is a small town, Ker. You’re going to have to get used to that. You don’t want to make enemies right off the bat, especially within the system. And look what Walker’s doing for the community, particularly for Shay. You said it yourself. It’s because of him that Shay’s finally making friends.”

  Kerry considered. “If I’m going to meet with Alex again, then you’re going to have to watch my kids for me.”

  Ryan sighed heavily and his eyes rolled to the ceiling. “Those brats? If I must.”

  She pressed her lips together and reached across the table to take a swat at him, but he was too quick.

  “Whoa.” He laughed. “I can see where Shay gets her gift for boxing. That right hook has real potential.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  The day after Shay went to the mall, Kerry showed up to get her from boxing practice a few minutes early, hoping to have a word with Alex.

  She told herself that she was only following her brother’s advice to establish a civil relationship with Alex, given the likelihood of them facing each other again in a court of law. But she couldn’t deny a certain tingle of anticipation at seeing him again.

  When she arrived, Alex and Shay were intent on demonstrating her jabs to his mitts to some fascinated onlookers, a clutch of other kids she recognized from day care.

  Alex finally looked up to see Kerry standing in the doorway. The two locked eyes.

  There went that flutter in her lower abdomen again.

  Alex set his hand on Shay’s shoulder. “I’m going to talk to your mom a minute. Why don’t you ask your classmates if they have any questions?”

  “Me?” she mouthed, putting her gloved hand to her chest. But she was grinning ear to ear as she skipped over to the kids, who immediately closed in around her, regarding her with equal measures of respect and awe.

  Kerry warmed inside. She was supposed to be the one with the silver tongue. But everything she said irritated Shay, whereas Alex had this knack of making her feel good about herself.

  His usual frown back in place, Alex strode over to Kerry, ripping apart the Velcro on his glove with the loud ripping noise she had grown accustomed to. “Something I can do for you?”

  “Stand down. I come in peace.”

  Alex looked at Kerry askance. “What’s the catch?” he asked, turning a blind eye to her to observe Shay’s interaction with his potential new students.

  “There is no catch.”

  “Kerry O’Hearn doesn’t make a move without a reason.”

  “We have to talk.”

  It was hot in the gym. “So, talk,” he said, wiping his forehead with the back of his arm. “I’m listening.”

  “Not here.”

  “Then where?”

  “The Turning Point. Tonight. Seven o’clock.”

  “Eight.”

  “Seven. I have story time at eight thirty.”

  “Seven thirty. A pair of house finches are building a nest in my gutter and my feeders need filling.” He’d just spotted the birds that morning, when it was too late to do anything about it.

  “Fine,” she said tightly, “seven thirty, then.”

  * * *

  At seven thirty-five, Kerry and Alex sat next to each other at the bar, looking straight ahead at rows of spirits on display.

  Both were thinking of the last time they’d been there, when they’d tormented each other with bad jokes.

  “I trust you got your feeders filled,” said Kerry, stubbornly refusing to make eye contact.

  “Did you know that only twenty-five percent of songbirds survive the first year of life? A reliable food source year after year can make all the difference.”

  “This is your first year in the Willamette. The birds don’t even know you’re here yet. Should I assume that means you’ll be staying?”

  He took a long drink. “Never know what the future holds.”

  Even though she was the one who had called this meeting, she wasn’t going to be the savior this time. He was going to have to contribute something to the conversation. She clammed up.

  “I apologize again for the other night. I don’t know what came over me.”

  Kerry looked at him in surprise. Did wonders never cease?

  “I’m sure it’s not easy to forget losing a case like that,” she conceded.

  “It’s been ten years. More than enough time for me to have moved on.”

  “You are moving on. You came here, didn’t you? And now, here we are, stuck with each other. That’s why we needed to have this talk. I’ll admit, it was my brother Ryan’s idea. He says it’s not good for us to be on the wrong side of each other, and he’s my big brother, so it must be true.”

  Alex grinned into his wine. “Your brother’s right. You and I already know too many people in common.”

>   “It’s only going to get worse. You know that, don’t you? We’re going to be running into each other on the reg.”

  He shrugged. “Can’t be helped. We’re in the same line of work.”

  “You’re my daughter’s coach.”

  “Shay’s my little rock star.”

  Alex’s words unlocked a side door to Kerry’s heart she hadn’t even known existed.

  Shay’s my little rock star. Kerry repeated his words in her head so she could experience again the burst of warmth they elicited in her.

  Shay, whose own father had rejected her, and whose stepdad never called or visited. Kerry loved all her girls equally, but not in the same way. She’d always felt Shay needed special protection. Now that her marriage to Dick was over, she could finally admit that even when he had shared their Portland home, he’d never really tried to form a close bond with Shay. He didn’t roughhouse with her or chase her, laughing, through the yard the way Marcus and Ryan did. He treated her more like the child of a friend whom he forgot the moment she was out of sight.

  True, Shay had Ella and Chloé and too many cousins to count, along with aunts, uncles, and grandparents. But to them, she was just another child among many. Precious but not unique.

  “Think about it,” Alex was saying. “I’m surrounded all day by bad actors who are damaged, compromised in some way. Then along comes your daughter, and she’s overflowing with all this pure, unadulterated . . . joy. Guess you could say Shay restored my faith in people.”

  Now Kerry looked straight at him. “I love her more than the sun and the moon and the stars, but lately I’m lucky if she gives me the time of day. The truth is, sometimes when it comes to Shay, I feel like an abject failure.”

  He snorted. “You want to talk about parental failure? Hop in the car. I’ll show you a prime example within a mile of where we sit.”

  That made her feel a tiny bit better. “You’re forgiven, as long as you cease and desist with the lawyer jokes.

  “What about you?”