The bailiff walked over a box of tissues and I let go of Anna’s hand long enough to grab a few for her.
Anna took one, wiped her face, and gripped my hand again. “The three of us had a great summer together. And no, maybe we didn’t make it the whole ninety days, but it wasn’t a failure. Not by a long shot.” Her words were picking up speed, growing a little too intense. I squeezed her hand. She paused and blew out her breath. “The only thing Silas and Lemon are guilty of is falling crazy, madly, and completely in love with each other.” Her free hand curled into a fist against the wooden podium. “Exactlyhow my momma wanted them to. Sheknewthey belonged together. Sheknewneither of them would be happy until they found their way back to each other. And she was right.” She thrusted her arm toward Silas and Lemon. “Look at them. Look at the way they look at each other.” She pointed at them again, urging the judge with hereyes. Judge Franklin did as Anna requested. We all did. Anna held all the cards at that moment.
It actually hurt to watch Silas and Lemon right then, gazing at each other, like they had everything they could ever want between them—except for Anna, of course. I would never have that. I rubbed at a knot in the center of my chest.
Anna pointed at them one last time. “I want a love like that someday.”
I was done for. I wiped my eyes on the shoulder of my shirt, not even trying to hide the fact that I, a grown man and a lawyer, was crying in a courtroom because of a teenage girl.
Anna pressed on. “My momknew.She knew about them and, your honor, she knew about me. She knew who I should be with. Who would love me and raise me the way she wanted me to be raised. And whose love would be powerful enough to pull me out of the darkness of her passing. ” She sobbed. “Ilongto be with them. Granny and Gramps are everything to me. They always will be. But it’s with Silas and Lemon that I belong. And I am asking you to let me be with them.Please.”
Everything in the room was pin-drop quiet for five seconds. Somebody sniffled. Mom or Lemon, I couldn’t tell.
“Do you have anything you’d like to add, Mr. Dupree?”
It took a second to realize the judge was talking to me since she was a blur. My throat was clogged. I wiped my eyes and studied her face for a moment. I shook my head. There was no need. In all my cases, I’d never given a closing statement as eloquent as Anna’s. “No, ma’am. I don’t think I can top that.”
Anna led me back to our seats. I pulled her under my arm and pressed a kiss to her temple. “Dang, girl. You should be a lawyer someday.” She smiled and handed me one of the tissues. If this didn’t go her way, it had nothing to do with the Duprees and everything to do with Judge Franklin. And I would make sure Anna knew that.
“Well. I feel chastened,” Judge Franklin admitted. “I thinkthe way is clear, here.” She leaned forward on her elbows once more and picked up her gavel. “Annaleise Nicole Dupree, I hereby grant Silas Dean Dupree and Clementine Laura Dupree to be your legal guardians.” Then she smacked the gavel against the sound block.
It was over so fast, I sat there stunned. Anna jumped up. I thought she’d go straight to Silas and Lemon, but she didn’t. She dove right between Mom and Dad, pulling them into a tight hug.
I shook my head, filled with wonder.
And a little child shall lead them.
Just then Jedd Pruitt caught my eye in the back of the room. His gaze was locked on me. He tossed his chin up and I reciprocated, grinning. I owed that man everything when it came to my law career. To this day, I was convinced it was his letter of recommendation that had landed me a spot in the law program at the University of Virginia. He tipped his head for me to join him.
Anna’s words were like a cure-all antidote emitted into the air because right then Silas, my normally tough, unemotional brother, made a beeline for me, wet-cheeked. I held up a finger to Jedd and he nodded. I was hardly to a full stand before Silas tackled me in a rib-cracking hug. I laughed and hugged him back even harder. It’s what I’d hoped for.
“Thank you, man.” He pounded me hard, almost breathless. “Thank you.”
“I hardly did anything.” I smiled as we stepped back. “It was all her.” I gestured to Anna who had pulled Lemon into a four-way celebration. My mom ran a hand over Lemon’s hair and they shared a smile. All was right in the world once again.
Silas wiped his cheeks, nostrils flaring with a silent laugh. “You were here when we needed you. You came for this.”
I gripped his shoulder, narrowing my gaze. “And I would’ve been here for your wedding if I could’ve been.”
He nodded. “I know, I know. I was just giving you a hard time. Taking it out on you. Stressed out of my mind over this. Sorry, dude.”
“It’s fine. I get it.” I tilted my head. “Are we okay?” Maybe I should’ve been more eloquent like Anna. Said something like, “Sorry you have to have a brother who’s such an out-of-control headcase that he has to put his lips on every pretty girl he meets, even your ex.” But Silas was a man of few words and I was confident he knew what I meant.
He nodded, understanding in his eyes. “Yeah. We’re good.” A smile lit up his face and he glanced over at Anna, bursting with pride. “We got our girl. Everything is fantastic.”
“Yeah, you did.”
Just then, Lemon motioned at Silas to leave. He grinned and held up a finger to indicate he needed a second. “We were thinking of heading to Lucy’s to celebrate. We’d love for you to come.”
Lucy’s Italiano was one of three restaurants in town, and the only one that was any good. I didn’t love going into public in Seddledowne, but there was no way I was missing this celebration. “Heck yeah. Just let me catch up with Jedd real quick. I’ll meet you there.”
He squeezed my shoulder one more time before hurrying toward Anna, Lemon, and our parents.
I walked the other way, to my old mentor. Since the last time I’d seen him, his hair had gone white. But he still wore his corduroy slacks and sock ties just like always.
“Man, what’s up?” I offered my hand and he gripped it, crushing my bones.
Jedd was in his early sixties, but he’d always made me feel like his equal, even when I was a hot-headed teenager who thought I knew everything. “Same old,” he said. “The question is, what are you up to?” His eyes sparkled like a proud father. “You don’t need to tell me. I follow every case you’reon.” He bomb-whistled. “But Bromhorst. Dupree, you have guts.”
