Orlando (Boyle Heights #4) - Elizabeth Reyes Page 0,102
of trouble that might have meant for her had the incident gone on her record, but she was just glad it hadn’t, especially now that she needed this so bad. She wondered now if Ted had mentioned the incident at all to either of his kids. But given the fact that he’d told them the breakup was just them going through a rough patch, she’d assumed he hadn’t. Danica would just as soon not mention it either. She was certain Blaine would not approve, despite the circumstances warranting the way her sister had taken matters into her own hands. A few minutes remained until they let people into the courtroom. Blaine walked away to discuss something with another client. Danica stood in the busy hallway of the courthouse. She was lost in thought when someone nearly collided with her.
“So sorry—” To her surprise, a startled Felicia stopped in front of her. “Danica?” She glanced at the door behind Danica. “Hey,” she said, turning back to peer at Danica in question. “How’s it going?”
“Good.” Danica nodded, smiling nervously.
“You still watching Baby O?”
“Yes.” Danica nodded again, clutching the paperwork in her hands. “Matter of fact, I’m headed there later today.”
This time Felicia did the nodding. She glanced behind Danica again at the courtroom she’d be walking into shortly, her eyes furrowing a bit. “Oh.” Felicia lifted the file of paperwork she was holding for Danica to see. “I work for a law firm. I just dropped off and picked up paperwork.” With a tilt of her head, Felicia’s eyes traveled down to the paperwork Danica clutched even tighter now. “Why are you here?”
“I . . .” Danica lifted a finger toward the courthouse, scrambling for a lie because, even though Orlando knew the truth now, she didn’t feel like sharing about this with Felicia. “Just have some business regarding my parents’ estate to take care of.” Another past fact in Danica’s life that came in handy now so she wouldn’t have to pull a complete lie out of nowhere. “I remember now. Orlando had mentioned you worked for a law firm,” she added in an attempt to change the subject.
“Yeah.” Felicia’s smile felt forced as if the topic of Orlando wasn’t one she was eager to discuss. “I’m here often picking up and dropping off paperwork.”
Great. Danica would now have to deal with the possibility of running into her again in any of the upcoming inevitable appearances she’d still have to make before the judge. She could only hope now that Orlando would follow through with his assurance that he wouldn’t be taking any more of Felicia’s calls. Last thing she wanted was to give Felicia a reason to feel the need to reach out to him.
“Ah.” Danica nodded, not sure what to follow up with, but she didn’t want the subject back on her. “How’ve you been?”
“Good.” Felicia smiled, though Danica didn’t miss the slight lift of her chin. “Busy, busy.” She motioned to the paperwork in her hands again. “Well, it was good to see you, but I gotta get back to work.”
Relieved, Danica waved her off. Just as abruptly as they’d nearly collided into each other, they were both off in different directions. Clearly, the girl didn’t want to stick around and have the subject veer toward the only thing they’d ever had in common. Good-bye, Felicia.
As usual for a Monday, the county offices were packed. The hearing had gone well, but Danica still wasn’t clear. She’d have to be back next month after jumping through a few more hoops, but Blaine promised her they were getting close. Danica walked slowly through the long parking lot, contemplating what lay ahead. Sure, she was closer to being free of her past mistakes but not close enough. “Will you give me just a minute, please?”
Once again Danica had been so lost in thought she hadn’t even noticed the person passing alongside her wasn’t passing her but walking with her. She glanced up, instantly feeling annoyed, despite Ted looking as dapper and handsome as always in his crisp navy-blue suit. “I don’t have a minute,” she said as she continued walking. “I have to get to work.”
“Where are you parked?” She motioned to the parking lot ahead of them, even though she was parked way over at the very end of it. “I’ll walk you to your car, then. I’ll keep this short. I promise.”
Looking straight ahead, Danica crossed her arms in front of her, refraining from rolling her eyes. But she