glad Orlando stayed so busy so she could read it without him noticing her unease about it and questioning it. She read it quickly before deleting it.
I know you don’t want me calling you, but I just wanted to share a few things about this new district attorney and what he said when I spoke with him today. Call me when you get the chance.
She didn’t dare call until after she left the shop and only did then because of the subject matter. She hated to have to need Ted like this. It felt rotten to give into talking to him only because it was convenient for her, but she needed this so bad. She would finally be free of one of the biggest mistakes she’d made in her life.
Bracing herself as she hit the call button when she came to a stop, she waited for him to answer. “Danica, how are you?”
“Better now that this mess might finally be over. Blaine explained about you knowing the DA. Thanks for offering to put in a word for me.”
“You know I’d do anything for you.” Danica squeezed the steering wheel, refusing to comment on that and he went on. “Just wanted to let you know he’s all for getting this thing taken care of for you. You just have to go along with what I told him.”
“And what would that be?” Danica asked, already suspicious because she’d known, the moment Blaine told her about Ted’s offer to help, that it wasn’t entirely selfless.
“I just had to build you up a little. Make it sound like he was helping someone who’s completely worth it in case he had any doubts. Hard worker, excellent student, zero issues during your probation, volunteering at a child therapy facility for kids with special needs. That kind of stuff. But I left out a few things, like that it’s your sister’s facility, and I wasn’t sure if you’re still in the honor society, but I told him you still are. I just wanted to give you a heads-up, in case he or the judge asks you about any of it, so you have it straight.”
Danica frowned, chewing the corner of her lip. She appreciated Ted helping her with this, but this was what she meant about his help not being entirely selfless. He could’ve easily told Blaine to pass this information on to her, but he’d used the excuse to get her to call him. Now she’d have something else she’d be keeping from Orlando—the very thing he’d specifically asked her not to. “Alright, thank you, Ted. Anything else you need me to know just let Blaine know.”
She knew she sounded like an ingrate, but she did not want to encourage Ted to start reaching out again. With or without him, Blaine had already promised her this was almost over. If she had to cut him off again and he refused to continue to help, so be it.
“Danica?”
“Uh huh?” she said, taking a deep breath.
“You given any thought to us getting together so we can talk?”
“We’ve already talked, Ted. My mind’s made up.”
She reached Nadia’s townhouse, and thankfully, no cars were parked in front of her place, so she easily parked.
“Just one cup of coffee or one drink; it doesn’t have to be—”
“No.” She shook her head as she pulled the keys out of the ignition. “I can’t, Ted, and I gotta go. I need to pick up the baby.”
Freezing when she realized what had just slipped out, she squeezed her eyes shut because he went silent for a moment. “The baby?”
“Yeah.” She cleared her throat. “My sister hooked me up with a few babysitting gigs. ShopMart just wasn’t giving me the hours I needed. But I gotta go. I’m late. Just let Blaine know if there’s anything else I need to know. Thanks again, bye.”
She hung up before he could comment further, and just prayed he didn’t put it together. More than anyone, he knew what a torment it’d been for her to give Oreo up, but he couldn’t possibly come to the conclusion that she’d managed to worm her way back into his life from that one slip, right? Deciding there was no way, she rushed out to get the baby.
Thankfully, Nadia had been on the phone with a call she couldn’t cut off because it had to do with her parents’ therapy, so she didn’t get to grill her the way Danica got the feeling she wanted to. Later that evening when Orlando got