“Ice cream parlor. I need something filled with sugar after dealing with this idiot client all morning. Where is your guard dog?”
She rolled her eyes, but smirked nonetheless. “Merrick is upstairs painting the room I think is going to be Wilder’s long term.”
“Oh. That’s nice of him.”
It really was.
Begrudgingly, I had to respect the alpha who Hailey had chosen to bond with. He was a solid guy who clearly adored her and was constantly doing things with his hands and looking after everyone, even me and Wilder.
To our faces, he still acted like he wasn’t our biggest fan, but he cooked enough food for all of us and bought things that he thought we'd enjoy, like those stupid sour candies that Wilder was obsessed with, and was now painting the rooms that he was so graciously giving us.
“What can I say, I'm a wonderful person,” Merrick said in a tone full of sarcasm as he came down the stairs, blue paintsplattered on his cheek. “My ears were burning. Are you guys talking about me?”
“Nolan wants to go get a sweet treat, and he mentioned the ice cream parlor. Want to come?”
Well, at least that meant she wanted to go with me.
Merrick looked at me for a moment, and I could feel his gaze boring into my face, like he was trying to make an assessment. “Actually, I'm halfway through this coat of paint, so you two go and enjoy,” he said with a smile, leaning down to place a loving kiss on Hailey's forehead.
She closed her eyes and hummed happily at the contact, and I cocked my head as Merrick nodded at me when he straightened.
There was an unspoken moment that passed between me and the fellow alpha.
I knew exactly what he was doing. He was showing me that he trusted me to take Hailey out and was giving us an opportunity to be alone together.
Something I greatly appreciated.
“Come on, princess, your carriage awaits,” I said, jingling the car keys.
“So what exactly do you do at your job?” Hailey asked as we pulled away from the house.
I chuckled lightly. “I’m a family lawyer. I used to be a criminal lawyer, but that got to me after a few years, so I changed my specialty.”
“What does afamilylawyer do?”
“Lots of things. For example, I’m currently dealing with a daughter contesting the will of her father.”
Her curiosity piqued. “Why is she contesting the will?”
“I can't go into details of an active case, but sometimes, people will leave things in their will that can't be upheld by law, such as discriminating based on sex.”
“Like when someone decides that their alpha son should have all the money and their omega daughter should get nothing because they're just going to bond into another pack?” Hailey asked.
“Exactly. The entitlement of some people is infuriating, but sometimes I get to help those who really deserve it. I've helped children who have lost their parents find suitable guardians and deal with their estate. I've also dealt witha lot ofcustody cases.”
“That sounds like very taxing work.” Hailey said, looking out of the passenger window.
“It is, but it's also extremely rewarding. I guess we could say the same about being a paramedic.”
Hailey chuckled. “It does take a lot out of me, but I love it. I feel bad that I've been leaving my partner short-staffed. Without me, he's having to drive around with astudent.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “I take it from your tone, he's not a big fan of that.”
“Everyone needs to learn, but every now and again, we get a student who issoincredibly stupid, it makes me doubt the future of humanity.”
We pulled up outside the ice cream parlor, and I was pleasantly surprised to see it wasn't too busy.
“I haven't tried this place before,” Hailey said. “But I've heard really good things from my friends.”
