"Just so we're clear," Sunny added, her voice softening, "this is your last chance, Easton. One more incident, and not even I can keep you out of serious trouble."
I didn't respond. Resignation settled over me as we drove away from the city, the air growing fresh as the trees and hills rolled past.
Two hundred hours that should have been eight hundred. Six months of therapy. Monthly drug tests. All of it was paid for with money that meant nothing.
Judge Wilson had called it an opportunity to prove I was capable of change.
But sitting in Sunny's Corvette, all I felt was the crushing weight of knowing I'd bought something I should have earned.
How bad could it be?
Everything, probably. Everything I deserved and then some.
CHAPTER THREE
Palisade
Pinkish water swirled down the drain as I scrubbed my hands vigorously. My shoulders ached. My hands trembled slightly, but the kittens were breathing. Four healthy kittens. The warmth of that success spread through my chest, momentarily pushing back the exhaustion.
"Palisade?" Monique, my receptionist, poked her head into the washroom. "Your ten o'clock is here. The community service assignment?"
My stomach did an uncomfortable flip. "Thanks, I'll be right out."
Drying my hands on the rough towel, I caught my reflection in the dusty mirror. Dark circles shadowed my eyes from theemergency C-section I'd performed on the mama cat at dawn. My scrubs were wrinkled, spotted with small stains I hadn't had time to change out of. My black hair had mostly escaped its messy bun, wisps framing my face.
Not exactly the professional image I'd hoped to project for this meeting.
When the court had contacted me about assigning a community service worker, I'd agreed with little thought. The clinic could always use extra hands, and court-ordered volunteers usually needed direction and supervision. College students, retirees, even a former stockbroker who'd been caught embezzling, and I'd supervised them all.
But I hadn't expected Easton Henley.
Holly:
Did he show up yet? Are you okay?
My best friend had been apologetic when she'd warned me about the assignment. Apparently, she'd found out through her marketing connections with the Shadow Wolves. I'd told her I could handle it. Told her I was over him.
All lies.
That night seven years ago still haunted me. The way he'd looked at me across the crowded bar. The careful way he'd asked if I wanted to leave with him. How gentle he'd been when I'd admitted I'd never done this before. I'd gathered my clothes in the pre-dawn darkness, too scared to stay and face what came next.
Left before he woke up.
Left before I had to explain that girls like me didn't end up with guys like him.
Left before he could tell me it was just one night and didn't mean anything.
And then, nine weeks later, I found out I was pregnant.
Taking a deep breath, I squared my shoulders. This was my clinic. My territory. He was another volunteer who needed to learn that actions had consequences.
I pushed through the door to the waiting room.
And there he was.
Easton Henley looked exactly the same, yet completely different. Deep lines etched across his forehead and at the down-turned corners of his mouth. But those blue eyes… God. The same shade I saw every time I looked at our daughter.
He stood when he saw me, and neither of us spoke. The waiting room seemed to fade away.
