while rubbing at her arms. “I can’t be with someone who doesn’t have faith in me.”
Briskly swiping at her cheeks, Rita pops her head up and meets my eyes. “I do. I do have faith in you.”
“You believe me about the fire?”
“I believe you about the fire.”
Suddenly, I’m suspicious although this is everything I want to hear. I tilt my head. “Why?”
“Because I know you’re a good man. In here.” She taps my chest over my heart. “You light me up.” She states the title of my second piece to her. “I just can’t believe a man who does such a thing, who has made me feel so alive, could do what you’ve been accused of doing.”
I swallow hard again. My own eyes prickle. She believes me.
“I talked to Scarlet and May and Albert, and—”
“Albert?” I interrupt.
“The director of Building Buddies. He told me something that made me pause. You didn’t have a spot on your record before that night, right? Not even a parking ticket.”
“Well, I might have had one,” I mock, wondering where she’s going with this.
“So it doesn’t make sense. You don’t become a criminal out of nowhere.”
“I’m not a criminal,” I state, squeezing her arms.
“I know. I know. That’s why we need to know the truth.”
“The truth?” My hands slip down to her wrists.
“We need to know who did this to you. We need to help right your name.”
I’m caught in the crossfire between her saying we and her wanting to investigate. “It doesn’t matter anymore. I’ve already served the time. I can’t get that back. The State isn’t interested in the truth. They wanted a fall man, and it was me. They got what they wanted, and I’m almost free. I don’t want to go through this again. I don’t want to keep looking back at the past.”
“I know people.” Her tone softens. “Just let me look into things.”
I shake my head. “I can’t do this.” Releasing her, I step back and swipe a hand into my hair. I turn my back on her a second and notice my hand trembling. What would it feel like to have my name cleared? What would it mean? In many ways, I wasn’t certain it would change anything. I’d still have gone through what I’ve been through. I’d still have spent seven years in prison. I can’t get that time back.
“I can’t do it,” I say, turning back to her, my voice low.
“Just one name. The prosecutor? Or the defending attorney?”
“I didn’t pick Gordon Howard. He was a shit lawyer.” The department assigned him to me, and I took him in good faith he could help. He hadn’t.
Rita closes her eyes a second. “I agree. I don’t even think he’s still practicing. He was a terrible attorney.” The fact Rita recognizes his name surprises me. Is there some kind of lawyer club? Then I remember us discussing how she went to Vermont Law, as did her partner, as does my nephew. Vermont is a small state. Maybe many of them do know each other. I’m about to ask her such a thing when I hear the telltale sound of wheels moving down the ramp before the house.
“Hey.” Nolan’s hesitant voice rings out as he glances from Rita to me and back at her while he approaches us. Things have been strained between my brother and me since our big blowup.
“Hey.” The single word is a warning. Play nice.
Rita steps forward and holds out a hand to shake his, formal and proper as though he’s a client instead of my brother.
“Rita Kaplan,” she states.
“Nolan.” He sounds like a disgruntled teenager in response to her name.
“No hello beautiful today?” she teases, attempting to dispel the weird tension coming off my brother.
“Not feeling it today, no,” he replies a bit harshly. Swiping nervous hands over my jeans, I step forward, preparing to put myself between Rita and my brother. Why is he being so rude?
When Nolan doesn’t move or say more, Rita glances at me. “I guess, maybe I should be going.” Her eyes seek mine. I don’t want her to leave. We have so much to discuss, but maybe we’ve said enough for tonight.
Rita turns to Nolan. “Nice to meet you.” Her voice is bright, hopeful even, despite his strange demeanor.
“We already met, remember?” he mutters. My brows pinch at my brother’s belligerence, but I redirect my attention to Rita. “I’ll walk you to your car.”
Stepping forward, I feel the need to protect her from my brother’s glare although I