order, I wouldn’t want it to be anything more than one hour per week under my supervision and in a public place. It might sound like nothing, but it’d be more than he’s ever seen her.”
Howard scribbled on his notepad. “I understand. I will make sure that our counterargument is structured in such a way so as to illustrate that even the bare minimum would be more than fair.”
He asked us more questions and walked us through the process. An hour later, April moved like she’d aged at least twenty years and hung onto my hand as we left.
“Why is he doing this? I just don’t get it. He’s never been interested in her. Why now?”
I hugged her closer to me. “He’s just trying to make you miserable.”
“Well, it’s working,” she spat. “I hope he knows I wasn’t kidding about those pictures. Revenge is a dish best served online for all the world to see.”
I stopped when we walked into the parking lot, then walked around her to look into her eyes while taking her hands in mine. “I get where you’re coming from, but you can’t release those photos right now, baby. It’ll be too easy to trace them to you and you could get arrested or sued for a whole host of other things.”
She blew out her breath before leaning forward and resting her forehead against my chest. “I know. I just feel so helpless.”
Closing my arms around her, I put my cheek on top of her head and did what I could to reassure her. “Everything’s going to be okay, baby. Howard’s the best. He’s taking care of this for us. Just let him do his job. We’ll keep fighting until we win.”
She nodded against my shirt, burrowing her face even closer to me. “Are there really any winners in something like this? It doesn’t feel like there will be. Adi sure as fuck can only be worse off for it, and if she loses even an ounce of her innocence because of this, we all lose.”
She got that right, but I didn’t have to tell her so. It went without saying. Adi might not biologically be my daughter, but I wasn’t letting that man hurt one hair on her precious head if I had any say in it whatsoever.
Chapter 30
APRIL
The physical therapy department was becoming like a second home to us. Adi and I spent so much time there that we were as comfortable there as in our own living room. Laughter rang out behind me as I went to pull up a chair to watch them work for a while.
“You look like a seal.” Adi giggled as Hunter struck a pose on the floor. “Can I try?”
“Sure.” He grinned and patted the mat beside his. “Just let me know if any of your muscles feel a bit stiff.”
“You should do just fine,” Chris said from where he’d been working on some fine motor activities with her at a low table. “Your progress over the last couple of weeks has been great.”
“Thank you.” She sat down on the mat and slowly lowered herself into position. While Hunter showed her what to do, Chris kept a watchful eye over her movements until he was satisfied she wasn’t hurting.
“She’ll have her full function back soon,” he said, walking over to me. “A few more sessions and then we’ll have a PT graduate on our hands.”
My heart gave a little pang. Seeing Adi this happy and carefree again was nothing short of amazing, but I would miss coming there once her treatment ended. “She’s going to be ecstatic once she can do everything she used to be able to, but I think she might want to keep popping in.”
“Any time.” He smiled, and a lock of his hair fell across his forehead as he looked down at me. “We’re going to miss having you two around to hang out with us. You’re welcome to come see us whenever you want. Some of the younger kids enjoy having recovered patients around to encourage them.”
“Really?” I frowned. “Do lots of your patients hang around even after they’re done with their sessions?”
He shrugged. “More than you’d probably imagine. Some come in to say hi whenever they’re in the hospital visiting someone. Others still have treatments in other departments or follow-ups happening. Mostly, they come in if they’ve volunteered for our graduate program.”
“What’s that?” I asked.
“We offer the kids the opportunity, if they want to, to come to sessions with patients who have