I’d taken control back.
Holden pulled into the parking lot at the side of the courthouse and I was grateful to end the conversation. And a part of me was happy I finally knew what really happened the day of Paul’s funeral.
“You ready to do this?” he asked.
“Yep.”
Holden smiled, and not for the first time I noticed the crinkles around his eyes. Lines that were not there seven years ago. I’d missed out on them forming. I’d missed out on a lot of things. Things I was not willing to miss out on in the future.
Please God, prove to me I can trust you.
“Bail’s set at one million—”
“That’s absurd,” Beatrice screeched and I jerked in surprise.
Patty hadn’t said a word when Judge Price set her bail at the same one million dollars. However, the bitch had turned her head to glare at me before the bailiff took her away. Chad Bullock hadn’t uttered a word, nor did he glance in my direction while he was in front of the judge.
But leave it to Beatrice Towler to make a complete ass out of herself.
The judge furiously pounded the gavel while Paul’s mother continued to shout, “That bitch has my money. My son died protecting you and this is how I’m treated.”
I rolled my eyes and heard Holden grunt his displeasure.
Oh, boy.
“And you!” Bea turned and pointed at me. “You and your bastard child won’t take what’s mine. Do you hear me?”
I heard the crazy woman loud and clear. Suddenly, I was no longer in my seat and Holden was pulling me down the empty row toward the aisle.
“It’s you. It’s always been you. You stole everything from my boy and you’re stealing what’s mine.”
The pounding of the gavel made me wince as Holden did his best to shield me from Bea. There was a loud commotion, but before I could turn to see what was happening, Nixon was behind me. His hand went to my shoulder and I jumped in surprise.
“Easy,” he murmured.
Then Jameson was there and I could only see the huge wood courtroom door. I was completely boxed in. Three men surrounded me. All I could feel was relief. The last time I had the misfortune to sit in the same room with that vile bitch, I’d been alone. There’d been no one to protect me from the vitriol she spewed. It was always the same thing. Faith was a bastard and I stole her money.
God, I hated that bitch.
The door whispered closed, silencing the banging and shouting. Once we were a few feet away, Holden stopped us. Both of his hands went to my shoulders and he held me steady.
“Are you okay?”
I shook my head.
“Damn.”
Holden yanked me forward. My face hit a wall of muscle and his arms wrapped around me. “That’s the last time you ever see that woman.”
“The trial—”
“Bitch will take any deal put in front of her.”
I loved that he wanted to shield me from her crazy, but I was strong enough to face her if I needed to. However, I was smart enough not to argue with Holden.
“Can we leave?”
“Yeah, baby. Let’s get you home.”
“Faith—”
“I’ll take you home, get you settled, and go get Faith.”
I swallowed the lump in my throat. Kennedy had watched Faith a few times while I worked, Macy had picked her up for a play date with Rory, I’d dropped her off with Evie for guitar lessons, McKenna had invited her over to play with her pony and goat, Silver and Weston had even taken her to lunch. But no one had ever picked my daughter up from school. No one. Not ever. Not for as long as she was alive and started to go to daycare. I dropped off and picked up every single day.
When I cleared my throat and Holden held my eyes. When he smiled, I knew, he knew, I was feeling something big. So when he pressed his lips against my forehead, he let them linger for a long while before he murmured, “My Leigh-Leigh.”
“Mom!” Faith shouted and I rushed from the kitchen to the enormous foyer and found Faith tugging off her coat.
“Don’t you drop that on the floor.”
My daughter’s eyes got wide and she turned to hang up her coat.
“How’d you know?” Holden chuckled.
“She had that look like she was going to drop her bag and coat and leave them there for me to pick up.”
Holden nodded and I shrugged. What could I say? I knew my kid.
“Guess what?” Faith happily chirped and I glanced at Holden.
We needed to talk to Beth again. Faith was still not talking about what happened. She’d shared what she shared then clammed up about it. I was scared the longer this went on, the harder the crash would be. Now she was back to happy-go-lucky, everything-was-perfect-in-her-world as long as Holden was close. That worried me, too. She didn’t want him out of her sight while she wasn’t at school. Last night, she’d even tried to get him to read her a bedtime story. Luckily, since I’d been actively trying to avoid alone time with him, I’d bribed her by telling her I would read her three chapters instead of her normal two.
“What?” I returned.
“Holden said we could get a puppy.”
Faith did a cute little girl jump and twirled around as she continued imparting her news. “He said we could get a Tank. That’s a…what’s it called again?”
“German Shepherd,” Holden helpfully supplied and smiled.
I felt it, the bubble of irritation rising, and the closer it got to the surface, the more danger there was of it bursting.
“Faith, we talked about this.” My words were for my daughter but I hadn’t taken my gaze from Holden’s.
There was no way for him to miss the laser beams I was shooting in his direction, yet he opened his mouth and spoke. The better option would’ve been for him to remain silent.
“Faith told me you couldn’t have
