the bar. One turned. And smiled. That must be Jason Zyzeri. He slid off the stool and walked toward her. He was tall and well-built, but not pumped. His hair was dark and his eyes light brown, she could see when he got closer.
“Julianne?”
“Yeah. Jason, right?”
“Yes.” He extended his hand. “Nice to meet you.” He looked around. “Let’s get a table.” He motioned to one then allowed her to go first.
When they were seated, a waitress approached them. “I’ve got a drink,” he said to her. “Julianne?”
“I’ll have a gin and tonic.”
“So,” he asked when the woman left, “what do you want to know about me?”
“Well, I know you like old movies, you work at a computer firm in Camden Cove, and that you have a dog you love.”
“That’s on my profile. What else?”
She’d given this some thought. “What makes you happy, Jason?”
“Long walks in the park.”
Her face blanked.
“Gotcha, there.”
She laughed at the cliché. A sense of humor in a guy was a good thing.
“I like riding my bike in the morning. I love Italian food, red wine—” he held up his glass to prove it. “And I want a family. I didn’t put that down, so if you don’t, we can enjoy our drinks and part on friendly terms.”
“I want a family. I didn’t put that down either because the notion scares men away.”
“Yeah, parenting isn’t for sissies. I know that term isn’t PC, but it fits the bill.”
“Do you have any kids?”
His eyes crinkled. “A hoard of nieces and nephews.”
“Ah.”
“Do you have any? Kids or other little ones in your life?”
“No. There’s only my sister and me. She has no children either.”
When Alessia, Seth’s sister, had been in her life, she had her adorable little ones to spoil.
They traded more likes and dislikes, and at the end of the hour Julianne had set for herself, she reached down and picked up her purse. “Thanks for meeting me tonight. I enjoyed your company. I hope you felt the same.”
His eyes widened. “Do you have to leave now?”
“I’m afraid so.” She stood. “I have a strict rule for first online dates.”
“Have you had many?”
“No. You?”
“You’re my first.”
“I’m honored. I’ll be in touch.”
“I hope so, Julianne.”
“Thanks. Good night, Jason.
What she didn’t see as she walked away was Jason’s hand fisted, the dark scowl on his face. Nor did she hear the mumble arrogant bitch come from his mouth.
Chapter 2
* * *
“Hello.”
“Hello. May I speak to John Cordello.”
“This is Johnny.”
Seth settled back into the chair at a desk in the den of his mother’s house. “I’m Seth Casella from Legal Aid.”
“Oh, thank God. I really need your help.”
“I can see that from your application. Let me first tell you that I’m conducting phone interviews before we can decide which cases to take.”
“Oh, no.” The boy’s tone went from relieved to despondent in sixty seconds. “I thought—”
Seth jumped in quickly. “You have a good chance of getting our services, John. Just answer my questions.”
“Okay.”
“The first is to confirm your living situation. Your application says your parents kicked you out at 16 but you’re now 21. Is that correct?”
“Yeah, they disowned me because I told them I’m gay. Said I was a pervert.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.” He waited only a second to say, “I don’t think so. No one at Legal Aid will, either, so you can be assured there’s no prejudice in our decisions.”
“That’s cool. Wish the people in charge felt like that.”
John had gotten a phone interview, but after the Office of Children and Family Services did a background check, they denied him saying only that he wasn’t suitable.
“You’re living with your grandmother?”
“Yeah.”
“And you want to foster two children who used to live next door.”
“I do.”
“Your application says here they practically lived at your house after they moved in two years ago. The parents were drug users.”
“Uh-huh. Me and grandma wanted to protect them from what was goin’ on over there.”
“And what did their parents think about that?”
“They were glad to get rid of them. To give ‘em credit, the Torres’s knew we loved the kids.”
“That’ll be important.”
“Mr. Casella, nobody else is gonna want them but us. Juan and Marcy both got chronic asthma.”
“I see.”
“Look, I’m not doin’ this for myself. I can’t live with the thought of them being in the group home when they could be with us.”
His antenna went up. “Some specific reason about the home?”
He was silent.
“John? Is there violence involved?”
“Not physical. But the Craigs lock them up in dark places. Closets.”
“As a punishment?”
“Mostly. Sometimes just to