by Elena Aitken
“Yes, sir.” She clenched her hands so tightly, Evan could see the white fingertips.
“Well, it’s true. Which is why I think fifty hours of community service will prove to the community that you are a good girl who made a bad decision and is willing to take responsibility for such decisions. Do you agree?”
Morgan didn’t immediately answer. Instead, she made a gasping type of noise, followed by something that could have been a sob or a cough. Finally, she choked out the words, “Yes, sir.”
“Good.” The judge turned to Evan. “Anderson, you’ll see to it that she completes the hours, and will act as her advisor.”
It was Evan’s turn to make a strange, gasping, cough-like noise. “Me, Judge?” He stared at the older man with wide eyes.
“Can you think of anyone else?” The judge gave Evan a smirk and wink, clearing holding a meaning known only to the two.
Evan could, in fact, think of someone else. He could think of any number of people who would have been better equipped to handle Morgan and her community service. People who didn’t have any kind of connection, or at least not such a strong connection, to her mother. If he was working closely with Morgan, he’d be working closely with Cam. And that wasn’t something he’d planned on at all.
Not that it would be terrible. Not at all. But there was a lot of history between them, and many years had gone by, changing a lot of things.
No, changing everything. He didn’t know whether he could do it. Not with the kind of detachment that would be required.
He glanced at Cam, who, judging by the look on her face, was obviously thinking the same thing. But the judge was waiting for an answer.
“No, sir,” he said. “I would be happy to oversee Morgan’s community service.”
“Good.” Judge Stewart nodded. “And you, young lady. I don’t want to see you in here again. Do you understand?”
“Yes, sir.”
“I trust you will offer Dale Gordon a suitable apology as well?”
Morgan glanced at Evan, who nodded curtly. “Yes, sir,” she mumbled and looked at her feet.
“Good. Now if you’ll excuse me, the missus is waiting for me to watch Wheel of Fortune.” He smiled and spoke to Cam for the first time. “She always guesses the answer before me. At least that’s what I let her think.”
Cam smiled. “That’s a good policy, sir.”
He chuckled. “It certainly is. Keeping each other happy, that’s the key to a happy marriage. Life would be long and lonely without her, that’s for sure.”
Evan watched Cam closely, and he didn’t miss the little wince and the slight dip in her smile as the judge spoke. He wondered again what had happened to Cam and her marriage. She wasn’t wearing a ring, and if Daisy was right about the gossip, there’d been some sort of public scandal with her husband.
His heart squeezed. Cam didn’t deserve that. She deserved everything that life could give her. Including love. Especially love.
Wasn’t that why he’d stepped away all those years ago? So Cam could have everything she deserved in life and more?
He swallowed hard. Because for the life of him, at that moment, Evan could no longer remember why he’d turned his back on the love of his life.
Chapter Five
Morgan should feel lucky, she supposed. Really lucky. If she’d been caught stealing back in Portland, there was no way she would have been let off with only community service. At least not without going to court or something. And the judge hadn’t said anything about it going on her record. In fact, he’d been really cool about the whole thing.
Except she didn’t feel lucky. Not even a little bit. Because if her mom hadn’t opened her big mouth, the cop who obviously had the hots for her mom would have let her off the hook.
There was totally a story there. Not that her mom would tell her anything. She still treated Morgan as if she were a little kid and didn’t know anything.
No doubt she thought she was protecting her, but Morgan was almost sixteen and she wasn’t stupid. Not at all. Not even if her parents both thought she was. But she knew what was going on. Her dad had found a new girlfriend—hell, Chastity was only a few years older than she was. She didn’t know that, but it could be true. And he’d left them.
From what she could tell, he didn’t want anything to do with her at all. Her mom, fine; she guessed she could understand that. People fell out of love. It happened all the time. Half of her friends back home had divorced parents. But how did you fall out of love with your kid? That’s what Morgan couldn’t understand.
She stuffed her journal, still unopened, underneath her pillow again. She hadn’t been able to bring herself to write in it since everything had happened. Which was stupid, because that was the kind of stuff she should be writing about. Getting her feelings out. That’s what her mom would say. It’s good to get your feelings out. Don’t keep them bottled up.
But what could she say?
Morgan tapped the pen against her teeth and finally shoved it under her pillow too before flopping on her back on the little bed.
It had been nice of her mom to give her the only bedroom. Morgan knew she was trying. She should probably cut her a break. It couldn’t be easy for her either, to have your marriage come apart on television in front of the whole city. Her mom probably needed a hug.
Morgan wrapped her arms around herself. Hell, she needed a hug. But every time she thought she might be able to reach out, her mom got that look in her eyes that she was going to cry or tell Morgan it was okay for her to cry or some other bullshit.
So she didn’t.
Morgan rolled over and reached for her phone, but didn’t bother picking it up. Who would she text? None of her friends back home cared about her. Not really. They were the kind of friends who only cared if you were there and could do something for them. Fake friends. She’d figured that out the second they’d driven away. Out of sight, out of mind.
Not one of them had returned her texts.
And she didn’t have any friends in this stupid little town. At least not yet. There were a few kids who might be okay.
She reached over and flicked off the lamp. Her stomach growled and again, Morgan regretted going to bed as soon as they got home from the station. She shouldn’t have refused the chicken. As soon as she’d seen the table, it was obvious her mom had made an effort with the dinner and that only pissed her off. Why should they sit around and pretend they were a happy little family when they obviously were anything but?
The last thing Morgan heard before she drifted off to sleep was the muffled sounds of her mom crying in the next room. Something twisted in her stomach. She swallowed hard and pulled the pillow over her head and fell asleep.
The next morning, Morgan’s alarm went off before her mom could wake her. If she had to go to the stupid new school, and she obviously did, she might as well make an effort.
Not that she cared to fit in with the townies and their boring lives, but maybe it was better than sitting alone at lunch and feeling like a total freak.
This time when Morgan applied her eye makeup, she lightened up a little on the dark eyeliner. She hadn’t really liked the look that much anyway, but her mom had really hated it, which was why she kept doing it. But maybe for one day she’d try it this way. Couldn’t hurt.
Her mother insisted on driving her again, even though the school was only a few blocks away. She probably thought Morgan wouldn’t go if she didn’t personally see her into the building herself. Fortunately, she didn’t insist on walking her inside. Morgan would have drawn the line.
Besides, of course she was going to go. There’s not like there was anything else to do in the stupid little town.
Morgan was pulling the books she’d been assigned out of her locker and stuffing them into her book bag when a blonde head appeared around the side of her locker.
“Hey,” the blonde said. “You’re Morgan, right? The new girl?”
“Do you get a lot of new girls here?”
The blonde laughed. “Just you.” She slid around the locker and stuck her hand out. “I’m Jess.”
Morgan glanced down at the hand with its perfectly painted pink nails and looked back up at the girl. She was pretty in that all-American, cheerleader kind of way. Not at all the kind of girl Morgan would normally be friends with. Still, she took the hand.
“Hey.”
“My mom used to know your mom when they were kids,” Jess said. “Well, I guess she sort of knew her and her friends. She worked with your mom’s friend, Amber.” Jess shrugged. “Small town and all. Her name is Shelby. My mom’s older, but she remembers her.”
Morgan had heard her mom talk about Amber. And Christy and Drew. Apparently they were inseparable growing up. As close as sisters, her mom used to say. Not that close if she’d been able to move away and barely see them. But Morgan wasn’t in any position to judge friendships. Not when she didn’t really have any of her own.
“I’ve heard of her.”
Jess nodded. “So what classes do you have?”
They spent the next few minutes discussing timetables and teachers. Jess moaned over the fact that Morgan had Mr. Gilman for English, but beyond that, Jess approved and they had math together that afternoon. Jess insisted that Morgan sit with her and her friends at lunch and they made plans to meet at her locker when the bell rang.
By the time Morgan made her way to first period, she felt something that she might even be able to describe as the slightest bit of happiness.
Maybe she’d have a new friend after all.
“I cannot believe you dumped an entire tray of drinks on Darrell Benson.” Christy hadn’t been able to quit laughing since Cam told her about her not-so-perfect first shift at the End of the Road.
“It wasn’t funny,” Cam said, which only made Christy laugh louder. “It was a huge mess and Darrell turned this weird shade of red and—”
“He’s always a weird shade of red.” Christy howled and clutched her stomach.
“Well, he was definitely mad.”
“I can just picture him,” Christy said between chuckles. “Red and mad and covered in beer.”
“I’m sure glad you think it’s funny.” Cam shook her head and reached for her glass of wine. “I thought for sure Tommy was going to fire me on the spot.”
“Tommy is not going to fire you.” Mark, who’d been mostly silent on the other end of the table, spoke up.
“Why would you say that?”
Mark shook his head and looked down at his drink.
“Mark?” Christy had stopped laughing and stared at her husband seriously. “Why would you say that? Why wouldn’t Tommy fire Cam?” She turned to Cam quickly. “Not that you deserved to be fired, Cam.”
Cam shrugged off the comment, more interested in Mark’s remark.
“It’s nothing,” Mark said. “Forget I said anything at all.”
“Oh, I don’t think that’s going to happen.” Christy’s lips pressed into a thin line and she examined her husband before she rolled her eyes. “You might as well tell me now, Mark. I’ll just get it out of you later.”
With an exasperated sigh, Mark put down his beer. “All I’m saying is that hiring Cam is probably a real coup for Tommy Jenkins.”
“A coup?”
“Yeah.” He took a slow, careful swallow of beer. “Remember the way it was between Tommy and Evan back in high school?”
“They were friends.” Cam remembered. Evan and Ben were best friends, and thank goodness for that because Ben’s family more or less adopted Evan and gave him some semblance of family. Evan’s mom had worked so much. But every once in a while, Tommy Jenkins would come around and convince Evan to ditch school, or get drunk in the woods, or steal a car, or…all of the above. Cam had always hated it when Evan would fall in with Tommy, and they used to have terrible fights about it that usually resulted in Evan telling her that she was too good for him, and she would be better off without him. She’d leave, crying and heartbroken, until a few hours later, or the next morning, Evan would appear at her front door, begging her to forgive him, bringing her flowers and promising he’d be the man she deserved.
Until one day he didn’t.
The memory, long buried, rose up like a thorny weed in her memory, picking at her tender skin.
Mark’s voice brought her back to the present. “They weren’t friends so much as…well, I think we all remember.”
Christy clicked her tongue and nodded. “But why would it make a difference now with Cam working for Tommy?”
“Because Tommy always wanted what he couldn’t have,” Mark said easily. “Especially if it was Evan’s. And Cam—”
“Was Evan’s,” Christy finished for him with a nod.
“She was most definitely Evan’s.”
Cam ignored his words, but mostly she ignored how they made her feel inside. They used to say those words to each other. “You’re mine and I’m yours. Forever.”
It was another memory she couldn’t afford to let herself sink into.
“But they’re not friends anymore.” She didn’t know for sure, but the way Evan had gotten upset when she’d mentioned trying to get a job with Tommy, it didn’t seem likely.
Mark laughed. “No. Definitely not.”
“Not since high school. In fact, they’ve been more like enemies,” Christy filled in. “When he came back from the army, he was different. Grown up, serious.”
“A man.” Mark finished the thought for his wife with strong certainty.
“Yes. A man.” Christy nodded in agreement with her husband. “He’s a totally different person since he came back. At least as far as the getting into trouble. But Tommy never changed.”
“He just made a career out of it. And now the two of them are constantly at odds with each other.” Mark took over the story again. “So having you, the love of his archenemy’s life, working for him…” He grinned. “No doubt he’s probably pretty proud of himself.”
The love of Evan’s life?
Of course she knew that probably held a thread of truth. Just as it did for her. In fact, there was no probably about it.
“Well, I certainly didn’t take the job to get in the middle of anything between them. I needed work and I’m in no position to be choosy right now.”
“I wish I could offer you something in the office,” Mark said. “But there’s only so much work.”
“And I’m doing it.” Christy smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes.
“No worries, guys. I’m okay. Honestly.”
Her friend gave her a questioning look, but thankfully didn’t push. “It’ll be so good when the girls get here, don’t you think? Like the old days.”
“Just like the old days.”
They spent a few minutes chatting about their friends. Christy seemed to know more about everyone than Cam did, and that made her ashamed. She hadn’t been a good friend to any of them after she left town. At the time, she told herself it was because they were all so busy with their own lives, but really it was because the memories hurt too much. If she allowed herself to go there with her friends, it was a slippery slope before she started to think of Evan and the heartache would return. And once she was with Ryan, and pregnant with Morgan, she couldn’t allow those feelings in.
She’d made her choice, or it was made for her when she got pregnant. Either way, there were consequences for her actions and she’d had to live with them.
“So…” Christy leaned across the table the moment Mark went to the bar to get more drinks. “Have you heard from Evan again? I mean…I get it if you don’t want to say anything around Mark, but…”
Cam didn’t want to say anything around Christy either, but it’s not as if she could say that. Christy would be devastated if Cam told her to mind her own business. Not that she would. Well…she probably wouldn’t. It had been so long since Cam had a real friend to confide in, she wasn’t sure she remembered how.
And that wasn’t entirely true. Christy had
always been her friend. She’d always been there. It was Cam who hadn’t been the friend.
As if she needed the reminder.
“Well?”
Christy was clearly oblivious of the internal chaos going on within her.
“Well, yes. I have.” That was an understatement to be sure, but she didn’t want to lie to her friend. She also wasn’t tripping over herself to tell her that her daughter had been caught shoplifting on her first day of school.
“And?”
“And…I think he’s very good at his job,” she said mildly. “He’s very different from how he used to be.” She regretted that particular statement the moment it was out of her mouth.
“Isn’t he ever?” Christy practically bounced in her seat. “So different that you might actually—”
Cam held up her hand to stave off the rest of the sentence, whatever it may be. “Don’t go there.” She shook her head. “Don’t go anywhere near there.”
“Okay.” Christy sat back in her seat. “But just to clarify, would you be okay if he walked in here right now and sat down? I mean…we are all kind of friends and…the Log and Jam is kind of his place. I just don’t want it to be awkward.”
Like, any more awkward than it already was? Cam wanted to laugh. And not in an it’s so damn funny way. But she wasn’t worried about Evan walking into the pub, at least not on this particular night.
“He won’t be coming in,” she said.
“But it’s Tuesday and that’s trivia night.”
Cam shook her head. “Well, maybe he’ll be by later, but not now.”
Christy tilted her head and narrowed her eyes. “And how is it that you happen to know that?”
There was no point hiding it. Besides, in Timber Creek, news would travel fast. “Because Evan is with Morgan.”
“Morgan?”
Cam drummed her fingers on the table. “Helping her with her community service.”
“Community service?”
“She’s been assigned fifty hours of community service and Evan is in charge.” She rushed the words out, hoping the details would slip by her friend.
