By the way he rubbed her hands, she was sure he could feel the same electricity on his skin that she did on hers. “Is there something wrong with my place?” He inhaled. “I mean, until you figure out how to find something the way the rest of us do.”
She saw the color rise to his cheeks. “Hmm. I can’t actually tell you what I think of your place.”
“And why’s that?”
She ran her fingers along his right side. “I’ve only gotten a good look at one of the rooms.”
“I guess I’ll have to show you around then.”
She wrapped her arms around his neck. “If I stay with you, do you promise I can make you blush some more?”
“Only if I can reciprocate.”
“I don’t blush.”
He flashed her a wicked smile. “Not yet.”
Chapter Six
The next day
“Being the Mayor of Boston is the best job I could have asked for, but this is a close second,” David said to the small group assembled in the apartment. “Joshua and Mariela, from the bottom of my heart, I want you to know how honored I am to officiate at your wedding.”
Mariela was dressed in a pale blue dress, which brightened her pale skin and made her dark eyes seem warmer. She smiled shyly, leaning on Josh, who was wearing a perfectly tailored dark gray suit. Josh held a firm grip on her shoulders and blushed. “Thank you, Mister Mayor,” he said awkwardly. “We’re honored that you could be here.”
“Of course,” David said sincerely. “Let’s get you two married!”
Robert was grudgingly impressed that David managed to get through his brief words in less than four minutes (that must have been painful for a politician) and condense the vows to three. He shifted his gaze between Baptiste and Hannah, who was standing between Mariana and Hellie, the only members of the wedding party. They were wearing matching light blue and pink dresses, and Robert marveled that she’d found the time to arrange everyone’s outfits.
He felt someone’s eyes on him as David pronounced Josh and Mariela husband and wife. He turned his head and met Emily Graham’s steely gaze. Terrific.
Everyone clapped as Josh gave Mariela a chaste kiss. Mariana ran to her parents and threw her arms around them. “Now we’re really a family!” Robert saw Hannah tear up. He was about to go over to her when he saw Emily rush to her side.
“What’s the matter, Bobby?” Baptiste teased as he watched Emily wish Josh and Mari, who were now seated, congratulations. “Weddings aren’t contagious.”
“Not to worry,” Mitch said brightly from behind them. “Teague already knows he isn’t good enough for anyone.”
“Why don’t I get you a drink?” Baptiste offered before he turned to find a server with a tray. Robert realized he was on his own when he saw Baptiste take a detour to talk to Hwang.
Mitch Graham was shorter than Robert, but he kept in shape. Robert could probably take him, but Mitch would make him work for it. “You don’t take a break even at weddings?” Robert asked. “What about funerals?”
“That is something else out of your mouth,” Mitch said as if marveling. “How many breaks did you give me and my friends?”
Robert blew a breath through pursed lips. Hell wasn’t fire and brimstone, it was constantly apologizing for things you’d never make up for. “That was work, Counselor. I promise, I’m off the clock now. But not you? Not sure what professional capacity Hannah would need you here for.”
“I’m here for Hellie,” Mitch replied. “But maybe it’s also not a bad idea to make sure that my client isn’t getting herself into anything with certain parties that might make her life more difficult.”
“Who are you, her father?”
“No, Teague, I think you’re closer to that than I am.”
I’m not that much older... “If I wanted to make her life more difficult, would I have called you to represent her?”
“No, you wouldn’t,” Mitch conceded. “And to be honest, I haven’t figured out your angle.”
“Maybe I’m good at my job and knew she didn’t belong in prison. What?” Robert asked as he took in Mitch’s smirk.
“It’s easier to believe you finally gave someone a break.” Mitch crossed his arms. “Fine, Teague. But here’s the deal now: Hannah’s a good kid who’s had a rough life, and Mariana is a sweet little girl my daughter wants to spend all her time with. Do not let either of them see what an asshole you’re capable of being.”
“Or what?” Robert challenged. “You’ll sic your wife on me?”
Mitch shrugged. “Her, or Martin.” Robert flushed. “Or me,” he said more menacingly. “Do not give me an excuse.”
“Everything okay here?” Baptiste asked as he rejoined the two with a drink for Robert.
“Everything’s great!” Mitch said loudly as he slapped Robert on the back. “Good talk, Teague.”
“And here I thought it was the wife who couldn’t stand you,” Baptiste said as soon as Mitch was out of earshot.
“I really need to meet other lawyers,” Robert said before he gulped down his drink.
—
Emily had been watching Mitch dress down Robert from across the room out of the corner of her eye. Mariela followed her gaze after Josh went to speak to David. “Your husband doesn’t like Robert,” she said softly. “Did he do something wrong?”
Emily tried to think of something tactful to say. “He was doing his job,” she settled on. “But it isn’t anything for you to worry about. The important thing is that they both like Hannah, and so do I.”
“I’m glad,” Mari said. “She needs friends.”
Emily crouched down so she was at eye-level with Mari. “I haven’t known Hannah long at all, but I can tell she’s very happy that you and Mariana are here. Everyone else is extra.”
“Friends are so important,” Mari said as tears filled her eyes. “Thank you so much for letting Mariana be with your daughter. It means so much to her after...everything.” Mariela couldn’t finish, but Emily knew the story from what Mitch had told her.
“No, thank you,” she said sincerely, putting her hand on Mariela’s knee. “Mariana is a wonderful little girl, and Hellie’s never felt so happy around another child before.”
Mari wiped her tears. “Your daughter is happier with adults?”
“We’ve been very lucky,” Emily said, and in that moment, she meant it. “Mitch and I have friends who think of her like family.”
“Yes,” Mariela said, biting her lip. “You are very lucky.”
Josh rejoined them a few moments later. “I’m sorry, baby,” he said as he kissed her hand. “I wanted to thank the mayor before he left. What’s wrong?” he asked gently when he noticed the tears in her eyes.
“I’m so happy,” Mariela said through quiet sobs. “I can’t believe everything that’s happened.”
“Sweetheart, you need to rest.” Without a word to Emily, he helped Mari up and walked her to their bedroom.
Emily found Hannah with Robert. “I’m sorry to interrupt,” she said, forcing a smile. “Can I have a word with you?”
“Yeah, no problem,” Robert muttered as he walked away.
“What did Robert do this time?” Hannah asked playfully.
“Nothing yet, but the day is young!” Emily said brightly. “It’s not about him. I think I upset Mariela.”
Hannah’s face darkened as Emily recounted her conversation. “It’s not your fault,” Hannah said when she’d finished. “It’s just like I was telling Josh a few days ago: Mari’s going to cry about everything and nothing.”
Emily took in Hannah’s helplessness. “Can I do something for you? You look like you’ve got a lot on your plate.”
Hannah shook her head. “Thank you, but don’t worry. I’ve got it under control.” But as she said it, Emily saw Hannah’s gaze shift to Mari and Josh’s bedroom.
Chapter Seven
Five Days Later
Emily texted Hannah in the morning. Can we meet?
I�
��m free after 2:00 at Josh and Mari’s apartment.
Well, that could be her late lunch...I’ll come to you. See you then.
That was easy enough, Emily thought, so she was unprepared when Hannah answered the door in tears. “Hannah...?”
“Sorry,” Hannah said as she wiped her eyes. “Come in, but, please, we need to speak softly because Mariela’s napping.”
“What’s going on?” Emily asked as she closed the door behind her. “If this isn’t a good time, it can wait.” Why hadn’t it occurred to her to check in on Hannah before?
“No.” Hannah stood up straight. “What can I do for you?”
“I wanted to talk about Mariana,’ Emily said delicately. “Hellie had a... I guess you could call it a meltdown yesterday, and when Mitch and I finally got her to calm down, she told us that she was really worried about her ‘best friend in the whole world’.” Hannah tried to smile. “She told me about some text messages Mariana sent her, and, well, if I don’t do something, Mitch and I aren’t going to hear the end of it.”
“She’s a good little girl,” Hannah said as she looked at the floor. “I mean, they’re both good girls.”
“Mariana is really lucky to have you.”
Hannah still looked at the floor. “Robert keeps telling me that, too.”
Emily forced herself to smile. “If we both agree, then it must be true.”
“Yeah, except maybe you guys don’t have a good point of reference for this.”
Emily looked around. She saw paper, crayons, and books that must have belonged to Mariana, but she didn’t see anything that an adult would use. “What’s going on? Maybe I wasn’t clear before, but I want to help.”
Hannah broke down and cried. “Thank you so much for letting your daughter be Mariana’s friend. I don’t want her to feel lonely anymore.” Emily reached out to Hannah, who sobbed into her shoulder. “I’m sorry,” she sniffled after a minute. “I... You caught me at a bad time. We had a rough night and morning.”
“What happened?”
Hannah bit her lip and looked away. “Mariela has flashbacks,” she finally said. “I don’t stay here usually, but Josh called me because he needed help. That’s how bad it was, because he doesn’t think I’m good for much. It was really hard—” Hannah’s eyes welled up again. “—it was really hard to hear. Mariana... She’s a good girl, but I don’t think there’s any way she slept through that.”
“I’m so sorry. I know this...” Emily took a breath so she wouldn’t say anything she’d regret. “I know how hard it is to watch someone you love suffer, and there is nothing worse than not knowing how to make it better. Sometimes all you can do is not make it worse.”
Hannah looked at her. “But isn’t there something that helps?”
Emily sighed. “Time. And never underestimate the power of a good therapist.”
“Yeah, that’s what I thought,” Hannah said as her shoulders slumped forward. “But that’s not an option right now.”
“Then maybe you should—”
“We’re going to be fine,” Hannah said numbly
“Let me help,” Emily repeated. “If you wanted Mariana to stay with us for a little while—”
Hannah snapped around so quickly that Emily braced herself for a tongue-lashing. “Yes.” Hannah looked at the closed bedroom door. “Maybe that’s a good idea.” She rubbed her fingers together. “Give me a few minutes to pack up some clothes and then come with me to pick her up from school, please.”
Emily could ask Miranda to pick Hellie up... “Sure,” she said. “Should I say something to her parents before I go?”
“No,” Hannah said quickly. “That’s not a good idea.”
—
“I ought to arrest you for kidnapping!” Robert shouted at Emily after he stormed into her office the next day.
Emily looked up. “Hey, Bobby! What can I do for you?”
“You had no right to take Mariana!”
Her coworkers Carlos and Vijay stared open-mouthed. “Guys, are you done in the conference room?” Emily asked calmly.
“Ah, yep, yep, we are,” Vijay stammered.
“Shall we?” Emily gestured toward the room. Robert stalked after her.
“You had no right to tell Hannah she couldn’t take care of her own flesh and blood!” Robert shouted as he slammed the door. “She has been crying her eyes out since last night.”
Emily folded her arms. “She told you I said she was an unfit guardian?”
Robert towered over her. “It was obvious, and don’t try to clever your way out of this. Your little Smart Girl act is annoying on your good days, but who the hell are you to decide who takes care of that little girl?”
Emily didn’t flinch. “I am the mother of another little girl who cares about Mariana like a sister and hasn’t been able to stop talking about how upset she is about her. Want to read the messages they’ve been sending each other? Or how about how Mariana started crying last night about how her mommy wakes up in the middle of the night from nightmares and doesn’t want to come out of her room during the day? Or how sad Daddy is? Or how Auntie Hannah is so tired, I’m guessing because she’s trying to take care of everything? I came over to see if I could help because my daughter was upset; it didn’t occur to me to offer to let Mariana stay with us until I saw how close to breaking Hannah was.” Emily scowled. “Or haven’t you noticed?”
He was unimpressed. “Hannah spent almost half her life looking for them, and it only takes you three weeks to come and tell her she’s doing it wrong. Congratulations on your restraint.”
“‘Half her life’,” Emily repeated. “And that would make your newest conquest how old, Bob? Don’t answer that, but do tell me this: Why aren’t any of them in therapy, including Hannah?” Silence. “Oh, right, why would she need a therapist when she’s got you?”
“Of course I tried to get Mariela to see someone,” he replied angrily, “but she can’t get out of bed, much less leave the apartment.”
“And you don’t know anyone who could come to her?”
“She can barely deal with her family!”
Emily narrowed her eyes. “Does that sound like a healthy environment for a little girl?”
“Being with her daughter is the only thing that was getting Mariela through and you just took that away!”
“Mariela can see her daughter whenever she wants! I will drop everything if she calls, and Mariana can go back whenever Mariela or Josh—or Hannah!—want her back. She can call her any time she wants. I am trying to help—”
“You are no better than Hilary Sayles,” Robert hissed. “I bet she told herself she was the great hope too. Only she didn’t have something to prove to everyone about how much better she was at everything than everyone else!”
Neither Emily nor Robert reacted to Richard and Mitch entering the room. “I don’t care if you are a cop, if you say I kidnapped that little girl again, I will break your jaw!” Emily shouted. “You’re accusing me of using her to make a point to—who—you? Go to Hell, because that’s the kind of scumbag thing you did. How are you any different than Alex Sheldon? You both use children to get back at adults, so you can’t believe it when someone genuinely wants to help.”
“And you are Mother of the Year, right? No one should be worried about you raising Hellie, much less someone else’s child.”
“After everything you did,” Emily yelled, “if you say my daughter’s name again—”
“Honey, back away,” Mitch said as calmly as he could.
“And where did you pick up your great parenting skills?” Robert asked cruelly.
Emily stepped closer. “That’s right, Bobby. We both have parents we’d just as soon forget existed, right? Are you proud of the person that made you? Don’t be. But who knew you were such a piece of garbage that you’d be jealous of a child getting something you didn’t?”
“You are not in charge!” Robert shouted as Mitch pulled Emily away.
Richard came around
behind Robert. “Teague, unless you have a warrant for something, it’s time for you to leave.”
Emily was turning red. “I was just leaving,” Robert said. He turned and walked out of the conference room, but this wasn’t over.
Chapter Eight
We need to talk
Robert wondered if Baptiste needed a hand on another case after he read Hannah’s text. Once he’d decided that Baptiste’s punishment had the potential to be worse, he steeled himself to take his medicine.
Fine. I’ll see you when I get home from work
You’ll see me at the diner near Chinatown after work. Bye
It was the same diner he’d followed her to when she was posing as Anne Brewster while trying to locate Mariela and Mariana. She’d toyed with her mark while he squirmed and shouted, but she only smiled until he wore himself out and gave her what she needed.
So, naturally, Robert was terrified.
He walked into the diner at six-fifteen. Hannah fixed her golden eyes on him when he opened the door and didn’t release his gaze until he got to the table. She had coffee, steak, and cheesecake waiting for him. “Okay,” he said slowly as he sat down. “I don’t usually get this kind of treatment before someone’s going to ream me out. Is this your version of a Last Supper?”
“Your favorites, right?” Hannah asked. “I didn’t want to give you an excuse to stall with an order, so I got everything you’d usually want.”
He wasn’t hungry. “Emily Graham—”
“Did me a favor,” Hannah said sharply. “She has a job and her own kid, but she agreed to watch Mariana anyway. I don’t know what you thought you were doing by screaming at her in her place of work, but that was way the hell out of line.”
Robert leaned forward. “When I came home last night, you couldn’t get two words out without crying. All I could get out of you was that Mariana was gone and that Emily had her. And you were miserable about it.” Hannah flinched but kept her gaze steady. “Since it wouldn’t be the first time Emily thought she knew better than everyone else, I assumed she talked you into letting Mariana stay with her because you—not to mention her parents—weren’t capable of doing it. Okay, I was wrong and I’m sorry.” Hannah stared at him without blinking. “I said I was sorry,” he repeated thirty seconds later. “Is there something else I’m supposed to say?”
Justice, Mercy and Other Myths (The New Pioneers Book 7) Page 5
