“My neighbor took us in because my place is a crime scene thanks to Theo’s baseball bat.”
“Jesus fucking hell.Where is he?”
“The cops took him.”
“Which means he’ll probably be out on bail by the morning.I’m going to talk to my friend Julian about this.”
“The fancy-pants Hollywood divorce lawyer?I’m sure he’ll jump on taking my case, especially since I can’t afford to pay him.”
“He’ll do it if I ask him to.We go way back.Been playing together since high school.”
She’d been in elementary school then, so she didn’t know many of his friends from that era.She barely remembered living in the same house with him until he moved back home from college after their parents died.
“Ask if he can refer me to someone cheap.”
“You don’t want cheap for this, Isla.You need someone who gets results, and that’s Julian.”
“He’s probably three hundred bucks an hour, and don’t say you’ll pay it, because you can’t afford it any more than I can.”Julian had negotiated Denny’s child support and alimony paymentsdownto three thousand a month.
“We gotta get you away from that guy.God, I told you not to marry him!”
“You were right!Is that what you want to hear?”
“No, I want to hear you’re leaving him for good this time.”
“I want to.I just can’t seem to figure out how that’s going to happen when I haven’t worked in three years and can’t do four and a half times the rent upfront, or whatever nonsense they want these days.”
“I’ll see Julian tonight and call you after.”
“Thanks.”
“I’m sorry about this, Islands in the Stream.You deserve better.”
The silly old nickname he’d given her years ago brought tears to her eyes.“I know I do, but damned if I can figure out how to get it.”
“Let me see what I can do.”
“Don’t commit me to paying him anything.I couldn’t even if I wanted to.”
“I know.Try not to worry.I’m on it.”
“What?Me worry?When everything I own is smashed to smithereens and the so-called love of my life is in jail?”
“That jackass is not the love of your life.He’s just the sperm donor for my awesome niece and nephew.You haven’t met the love of your life yet.”
“If you say so.”
“I say so, and as the big brother, I’m always right.”
Her chin quivered at hearing him tease her for the first time in years.“Whatever you say.”
“I’ll call you later.Don’t go out anywhere that he can get to you if they spring him.”
“Nowhere to go.”
“I’ll call you back.”
When the line went dead, she put down the phone and stretched.“Goodbye to you, too, big brother.”Was he overbearing?Incredibly.But he was also the only man in her life who’d never once disappointed her.He’d been there for her at every stage of her life, moving her into her first apartment and helping her and Gabriel move even after taking an immediate dislike to a man he’d deemed not worthy of her.
