Page 38 of Finding Redemption

Taking it from my nightstand, I don’t even look at it. I know who it is. “Reese? Are you all right?”

“Hey, Mom. I’m fine.” I yawn on my last word.

“Are you in bed?” How inappropriate is it to say duh?

“I am.” I sigh. “Long week coming up.” I stretch with another yawn.

“Have you spoken to him?” Straight to the point. Ugh.

“No, I’ve been crazy busy, but I’ll let you know as soon as I do, Mother.”

“You’ve said that already.” I roll my eyes. “Well, then, I’ll let you rest. Please put cucumbers on your eyes to help with your bags.”

“I don’t have bags, Mother,” I answer.

“Just you wait, you will at the rate you’re going. Goodnight, sweetheart,” she says sweetly.

“Goodnight.” I end the call before she can go on. I love her but sometimes, I think she hates me because of who my dad is. She picked him, not me.

Daylight breaks, creeping through my window. I turn my alarm off. I didn’t sleep much. I’m too excited to touch base with The Historical Society about Walker’s offer. He really did a great job all around. I’m hoping to be able to tell him we accept.

I have a full day of court, but I want to swing by and forward Walker’s proposal. To keep the buildings, integrating it with the restaurant is ingenious. He went all in and I, for one, think it’s worth talking about.

As the day progresses, it becomes clear I won’t have time to forward the prospectus today. Before I can get myself pulled together from court, it’s time to go to the crisis center. I really wanted to give Walker some inside information on how it was received, but that’s not happening today.

Turning into the parking lot, I can see my day isn’t going to get any better. We’re at capacity and our hands are full. I hit the door running, tossing my briefcase over the counter and grabbing files as I go. I give Maisyn a heads up and get to work.

“I’m here. Crazy day,” I say as I lay my files on the table in the last room. “Walker already busy?”

“He is. Room three. You ready?” she asks.

“I am.” I pause. “Did I see Marie out there?” Marie is a domestic violence client we’ve been working with for a few months now.

“You did. She just got out of the hospital.” Maisyn’s face flames red. “Court date is next week. He’s been following her everywhere.”

I shake my head. “I know it’s hard to protect everyone all the time, but why didn’t they find a shelter for her and her children?”

“She told them we would do it. I guess she felt safer.”

“Well, then. See who can take her and put her in room four. I’ll be right down. She doesn’t need to be seen,” I tell her.

“Hey, Reese.” Walker’s voice sends a signal to my core, and it tightens with a delicious feeling of need. I turn to face him. His shirt is untucked and his tie off. Damn this man, he’s going to be the death of me.

“Hey, it’s gonna be a wild night.”

“We can handle it.” He winks.

I literally go weak in the knees. “True.” I bite my lip, trying to settle the butterflies in my stomach. “I loved the proposal. It’s great, and I can’t wait to get it over to them in the morning.”

“Did you? Good. That’ll help with dinner conversation.”

I smile coyly. “I don’t think we’d ever have an issue talkin’.”

He steps closer to me, causing heat to wash over me. “I don’t think we’d have issues doing a lot of things, Reese.”

My mouth goes dry as everything south of my neck begins to tingle. “Yeah?”

Walker gazes into my eyes, his head slowly bobbing up and down. I sink my teeth into my lower lip. “Oh, yeah.”