so hurt when she found us.”
“What did you do?”
“I took her home. And went to the party at the lake Sandy told me about. We, um, did it there.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
“Let’s go forward some. Tell me about when you were in college. Were you an all-around nice guy then, too?”
“Yeah, I guess. Well, I think I am a nice guy.”
“And yet you cheated with whom?”
“My professor’s assistant.”
“And when you were in law school?”
“A classmate and I had an affair.”
“Hmm. So, all your life, you’ve been a nice guy, yet all your life, you cheated after Julianne took you back.”
“I did.”
“And you still considered that being a nice guy?”
“Not anymore.”
“What do you think that means, Seth?”
“Hell, I don’t know.” And he still didn’t when the hour was up. He left Christina’s office dispirited. But his phone rang, and when he saw the ID, his heartbeat escalated.
“Seth Casella.”
“Mr. Casella, this is Gretchen Lucas from OCFS. We’d like you and John Cordello to come in today, if possible. Could you meet at four?”
“I’ll clear my schedule. I’ll call Johnny and get back to you.”
He was on edge all day. Because of that call? Or the negative things he was feeling about himself.
When he and Johnny were shown into the same hearing room, and Tom Anderson was not present, Ms. Lucas stood. “Hello. Come sit at my table.”
When they did, she said, “I’ll get right to the point. I’m deciding in your favor, John. With conditions.”
The kid swallowed hard. “A-anything.”
Ms. Lucas smiled. “You’ll have to take the Foster Parent training course the OCFS offers. You have no parental experience, even though your grandmother has. I liked her, by the way.”
They knew Ms. Lucas had visited Dorothy.
“How long does that take?”
“Five weeks. It covers what services are available to foster parents, finding your own strengths and needs, developing skills to deal with troubled children, learning about the stages of child development and managing behavior of the children in your care.”
“Yeah, yeah, I’ll do it, but I practically lived with these kids for two years. And, ma’am, I’m worried about them bein’ in the Craigs’ home.”
“I am, too. I’m releasing them to you while you take the training.”
Johnny’s eyes filled. “Really?”
“Really. But social workers will visit twice a week and meet separately with the children, too.” She studied him. “John, my guess is, after a certain length of time, you might even be able to adopt them legally.”
Tears fell down his cheeks and he swiped at them. Since he was so overcome, Seth asked, “When will this take place?”
In answer, Ms. Lucas got up and went to the far door. Opened it. And out ran Marcella and Juan Torres. Once again into Johnny’s arms.
Seth watched them and sighed happily.
* * *
“He what?”
Julianne walked a few more steps before she realized Seth had stopped. She faced him. “Logan Rogers lost his job. Out of desperation, he keyed my car in the belief I’d get scared and close my studio and he wouldn’t have to explain the shortage of funds to his daughter.”
“That’s crazy.”
“I know. He knows it, too.”
She could tell Seth wanted to say something. Probably how to fix this. But he stayed silent until he finally asked, “What are you going to do?”
“I called Anabelle and told her what happened and that I wouldn’t press charges.”
“The police still can.”
“Why would they? The punishment is a fine. And he can’t pay it.” She shrugged one shoulder. “Anabelle said she’d have a talk with him, then let the whole thing go. They’ve done that before with vandalism cases.”
“Sounds like a plan.” He smiled. “I have good news today, too. Johnny got the kids. He has to take a five-week course in parenting. But the best parts are he gets them in the meantime and the officer said he might be able to adopt them eventually.”
She threw her arms around him. “Oh, Seth, I’m so glad.”
“Yeah, me, too.”
She drew back. He didn’t sound happy. They started walking again. The end of September was still warm and they tried to take a walk every evening. “You saw Christina today, right?”
“’Fraid so. She dug deep. We had a two-hour session and it…hurt, I guess.”
“That happens in therapy.”
He waited a long time before he continued. “She concentrated on me being a good guy to everyone but you.”
“I always wondered how the cheating fit in with the boy and man I knew you were, down deep. You tried so hard to be kind and generous to everyone. Help them out.”
“She compared it to