draws my attention to May standing before my desk. Her eyes fall to the to-go coffee cup and then drift to the artistic piece. “What’s this?”
Her fingers reach forward but don’t actually touch the artwork. There’s really no other way to describe the fixture before me.
“I don’t know. It was on my porch along with the coffee this morning.”
She’s still smiling, but tears blur my vision once again. I should have tossed the coffee, but that’s a waste of perfectly good liquid gold.
As I reach for a tissue, May clears her throat and lowers for the chair opposite my desk.
“I’m assuming the tears are heartbreak and not excellent nookie,” she assesses of the sudden swipe to my eyes. “What happened?”
May’s soft voice opens the fountain, and I explain the events of the past forty-eight hours. I tell her what Scarlett did and how Jake responded when I confronted him.
“First, let me ask if you are okay? Did you drink?” Moments like these could certainly push someone off the proverbial wagon.
“I’d considered it for all of three seconds. Then I called Meredith.” Meredith had been my sponsor from the start. As a fellow lawyer, she took me on when I decided I needed help and wanted a professional women-only AA group. Talking amongst peers felt like the right course of action in attempts to keep my law practice afloat while I tried to navigate my emotions.
“But you didn’t drink?” May confirms, and I nod. “Okay. Next, he didn’t hurt you, right?”
My head pops up, and I stare at my young friend. “Jake isn’t violent.”
“Right,” she states. “Broken heart, not broken body.” May pauses again. Her mouth opens and shuts as her hands clasp together on her lap.
“Just speak your thoughts, cookie,” I weakly demand.
“Is it possible he’s telling the truth?”
“He was found guilty,” I state, reminding May of Jake’s circumstance.
“Yes, but . . .” She waves, her eyes drifting to the unusual lamp on my desk. “We both know there is fault in the system sometimes. Who was his lawyer? Maybe we can contact him or find the old case report.”
“I have it,” I mutter, lowering my eyes to the law school invite on my desk.
“You have the report? Have you read it?”
My lids close, and I shake my head. “I can’t bring myself to do it.” The declaration makes me sound like a coward. I feel like a coward, but I just cannot read the document and remain impartial to the details. This isn’t a case study with random persons but my former fiancé in the file.
“Let me read it,” May states. “I’ll pull out questions if I find any.”
“May, it won’t matter. What’s done is done. He went to jail for setting a fire. He’s served the time for the crime.”
May sighs. “You remember my friend, Jude, right?”
“The silent, broody one?” I’ve met the entire Shipley clan and their friends on a few occasions.
“Yes, the one who came to live at the farm for a while. He’s also in recovery for narcotics.” I stare at May, waiting on her point. “He was convicted of a crime and served time for it as well, but it was later proven he didn’t do it. He was exonerated.”
I recall the details of the crooked police chief and his son’s untimely death.
“That’s a wonderful story, cookie, but what does it have to do with Jake?” My tongue swells on his name, and my hand lowers for my chest, where I ache inside like I’ve only ever hurt one time before.
“I just think you need to do your own investigation into the case. Find out why he set the fire, if he set the fire.”
May’s right. I shouldn’t accept the hearsay of Scarlett’s research, and I hadn’t listened long enough to Jake to allow him an explanation other than the basics.
“I don’t know if I can,” I admit, hating once again the defeat in my tone and lack of will in my drive. Then I admit my greater concern. “I don’t know if I can be with a man who burned down a building. It was a crime, the very thing I defend against. For a moment, forget Ian in the equation. I’ve been so wrapped up in lust with Jake that I’ve ignored the fact he committed a crime,” I reiterate. “Holding people accountable for their actions is important to me. It’s the essence of our restorative program in Building Buddies, yet I’ve been blindsided by a sexy smirk and pretty eyes.”