"Oh!" I said, interrupting as I remembered something. "Dan Suthers, the officer who arrested me? He gave me his card at church today. Said you could subpoena him, and should."
I reached into my pocket for it, remembering that I slid that in beside my phone when I'd changed into clean and dry clothes. Pulling it out, the card was a little bent and damp from being in my pocket when I'd been messing around with Cy, but it was still legible. Cessily accepted it, read over the information, then nodded.
"His cousin was a victim too." She dropped that out as she stuck the card into a folder. "I'll get in touch with him tomorrow."
"If you'd like a little advice..." When she looked up with skepticism in her eyes, I kept going. "Dan's single, Cess. If you took him out for a beer, I'm sure he'd go, and it would give him a good excuse to talk to you. He seems to be a pretty decent guy, but I don't know him that well. He graduated when I was a freshman."
Her lips curled. "Do not tell Darnell that."
I couldn't help but chuckle. "So, that's not a thing then, huh?"
"It's casual," she assured me. "I'm committed to the rainbow, my career, and my cat - in that order. Love does not fit in my schedule."
"Yet," I added. "But believe it or not, I get it. And if he asks, I'll make sure he knows it's just for the case."
The smile she gave me was worth it. "You're a good man, Emerald."
"Thank you, Chartreuse." Then I leaned over my knees. "So, just to be clear, things with me and those guys? If it happens during school hours, I'm not in shit?"
"I don't want to see it," she told me. Then she paused. "I mean while Faith's in the house. Not a longing look, a lingering touch, or anything else. You are friends with those men, and you are an intelligent, driven, and tolerant father. Your reason for being here is because it's a good job that allows you to take care of your daughter first, and that things with Violet seem to be working comes second."
"Which is true," I assured her. "I'm honestly here because I want to pay it forward. In the last few months, I've come to realize that Southwind is something the world needs more of. I want to do my part to help those who can't help themselves. Keep in mind, I came here after dumping them."
"Her," she corrected, "and I'd rather that doesn't get out. As far as the rest of the world needs to know, you helped Violet when she had a flat, made sure this fragile city girl was ok up here in this big house all alone - because that's what gentlemen do. You realized that she had no clue about farming, so offered to help, which became gig work. A few odd jobs to buy things for Faith."
"All true," I agreed.
"And your little romance was simmering, but didn't ignite until you started working here. Seeing Violet making coffee in the morning was your undoing or something. I doubt it will come up, but we want the judge to believe that you fell for the operator of this organization after she hired you."
"Cy hired me," I reminded her. "He's my boss, and I wasn't sure if they were a thing, so I kept my mouth shut. When I realized that he and Ash were a couple, I began to flirt more openly with Violet."
"Good boy," Cessily praised. "That also makes it clear that Cy and Ash aren't showing off their romance in front of Faith. Now, here's the big thing. Meredith is going to ask for an extension on this, and we're going to let her have it."
"What?" I sat up in surprise. "Why?"
"Because we need it too," she explained.
"But that's going to give her time to divorce him, and - "
"Annul," Cessily corrected. "Her lawyer will advise her to annul the marriage, and she'll get it. Never happened. Doesn't negate the fact that she still moved in with him. That happened before her marriage, and we can use it. But she was never married to a pedophile - legally - and she's going to get her act together. Now, what are the chances that she'll become financially stable?"
I groaned. "Most jobs in town pay minimum wage. She doesn't have the skills to do farm labor. Receptionist for someone at best, but a thirty-year-old woman who's only worked at the feed store for a month? I can't see it happening unless she has a family friend. That woman prefers that I pay her bills, Cess."
She grunted in disgust. "I see. Plus, from what Cy has said, she isn't the best about lifting Faith up. She makes the girl feel like a burden. That will come out with the child psychologist. She'll need to see one. The fact that she has Cy to talk to will help, but he can't officially treat her as a client. He can as a doctor, but there are ethical considerations there."
"Because he and I are..."
"Friends," she finished for me. "You live in the same house, and that creates a conflict of interest. This is going to be messy and ugly, but just keep in mind that our goal is to get enough time to deal with the arrest charges. Officer Dan might be able to help with that, but we won't know until after this mediation."
I nodded. "And my job is to sit there and shut up, right?"
"It's just a mediation," she assured me. "The judge isn't present, and I'm sure you've already had plenty of fights with Meredith. Do not put your hands on her, and try to be the bigger man, but you do not have to act like a whipped dog."
"I'll still let you handle it," I assured her. "Seems that when I listen to the women around here, things get a lot better for me."
She nodded, but it was slow, and her eyes had lost focus like she was thinking about something. "Luke?" she finally asked. "What happens if I can't win this?"
"Faith gets to choose, right?" I asked.
