Chapter 24
24
B rielle and Rhett’s court date is today.
Other than my text thanking him for the soup, and emails regarding Rhett and Brielle’s divorce, Adrian and I haven’t spoken.
The county courthouse is a thirty-minute drive out of Blue Beech, and when I pull into the parking lot, I see an old Volvo stopping at the entrance.
Adrian steps out of the passenger side. I park, waiting until he’s in the courthouse, and then walk inside to find him sitting on a bench.
When he sees me, he stands and offers a gentle smile. Our smiles connect like long-lost friends.
“Did something happen to your car?” I ask when I reach him.
“Punctured tire,” he explains. “I must’ve run over something. That’s what I get for staying in the middle of nowhere.”
“Where are you staying?”
“I want to get this shit over with,” Rhett shouts.
I turn to find him barreling in our direction, waving papers in the air.
“I signed,” he yells. “It’s done. ”
Brielle chases behind him. “The bastard wants to marry his mistress,” she explains, crossing her arms.
Rhett thrusts the papers in our direction. “I’ve signed them, granting her what she wants as long as she signs to-fucking-day .” He snaps his fingers. “Right damn now so this is over with.”
I smile.
First case won.
Eek, yay!
Brielle shrugs, grins, and collects the papers from him. “Works for me. Does anyone have a pen?”
I hurriedly grab one from my bag and hand it to her.
Adrian smiles in satisfaction and slips his hands into his pockets.
Technically, his client didn’t get the deal he’d wanted.
Isn’t he supposed to be disgruntled about that?
He’s dressed in another one of his black suits that fits his frame perfectly. I can’t stop myself from roaming my gaze down his body.
Brielle clicks the pen open, presses the papers against the wall, and flips through the pages, signing each red-tabbed line. When she’s finished, she hands them to me.
“Thank the lords. Now, I’m taking the kids out for ice cream.” Brielle blows Rhett a kiss. “Pleasure divorcing you.” She squeezes me tight in a hug. “Thank you, Essie. I knew I could count on you.”
I watch her and her mom leave the courthouse, arm in arm.
“Fucking bitch,” Rhett mutters, scuffing his shoe against the floor.
I roll my eyes at him and move in the opposite direction as he and Adrian huddle in a corner, talking.
They shake hands, and as soon as Adrian walks away from him, Rhett is on the phone, telling someone, “ I fucking got rid of her .”
“Essie. ”
I whip around at the sound of my name to find Robert Sullivan coming toward me.
“I thought that was you,” he says, concern on his face.
Robert has aged some, but I’ll never forget how kindly he treated me—the teenager forced to give multiple interviews about the worst night of my life. He was one of the prosecutors in Earl’s trial. He pleaded with me to testify, but I refused. They did use my videos as evidence, though.
Robert rubs his chubby chin. “I heard about the Prison Exoneration Program taking Earl’s case. I’m sorry, Essie.”
I weakly smile at him. “You had enough evidence to put him behind bars. That should be enough to keep him there.”
Earl will be a free man one day—I know this. I just thought I’d have more time to prepare myself for it.
“Stay strong. I’ll do everything I can to keep him where he is.” He gently squeezes my shoulder and walks away.
“I’ll get there as soon as I can, okay?”
Adrian’s panicked voice grabs my attention. He’s pacing in front of the restroom, talking on the phone. I inch closer to eavesdrop.
“It’s not your fault,” he says. “Take him to the animal hospital.”
“Is everything okay?” I ask when he ends the call.
He swings around to look at me, his face as pale as a ghost. “A car hit my dog.” He stops to text on his phone. “I’m trying to find a ride, but the downside about small towns is that there are no Ubers.”
“I’ll drive you.”
He keeps texting. “You don’t need to do that.”
“Adrian, I’m already driving to Blue Beech.” I jerk my head toward the double doors and start walking. “Come on.”
“Are you sure?” he calls out.
“Let’s go to your furbaby.”
The second we get into my car, he’s back on his phone. “I’ll be there soon, Abuela. Where are you taking him?” There’s a slight pause, and he looks at me. “Blue Beech Animal Hospital.”
I exit the parking lot.
“Tell the vet to do whatever they have to do,” Adrian says. “I don’t care how much it costs.” He nods, listening to what she says on the other end.
As soon as we get to the animal hospital, I park my car, and we run inside. A few animals and their owners are in the waiting room, but thankfully, there’s no line.
Adrian rushes toward the receptionist's desk, nearly colliding with it. “They brought my dog, Tucker, in.”
“Hit by a car?” The receptionist stands.
“Yes.”
She opens a door and motions for us to follow. “Right this way.”
She leads us into a small exam room, where a woman—who I recognize as his grandmother—and Terrance are waiting.
His grandmother jumps up from her chair. “I’m so sorry! Tucker saw a squirrel and got loose.” She wipes tears from her cheeks.
Adrian wraps her in a hug, rubbing her back. “It was an accident. Don’t blame yourself.”
“Here, Essie,” Terrance says, standing to offer me his chair.
“Oh, no,” I say, stopping him. “Thank you, but it’s all yours.”
“Essie, this is my abuela, Valeria,” Adrian says when they separate. “Abuela, this is Essie.”
Valeria is an elegant woman with tan skin, black hair, and a tenderhearted gaze.
A warm smile graces her lips as she looks at me. “Ah, the pretty girl from the pub.”
Pretty girl from the pub?
I don’t ask why I’m referred to as that.
It’s not the time.
Instead, I return her smile .
“You’re so kind to give him a ride,” she says.
Adrian loosens his blazer. “I’ll be here for a while. You guys can go home.”
“You don’t have a car, honey,” Valeria argues. “You also don’t need to sit here all alone.”
“I can stay with him,” I volunteer before thinking about what a horrible idea it is.
Everyone’s eyes shoot straight to me.
“Are you sure?” Adrian asks.
“Of course,” I say softly.
Adrian hugs Valeria goodbye, and surprisingly, she hugs me next.
“You take good care of my boy, sweetie,” she whispers.
Adrian drapes his blazer over the back of a chair and sags back in the seat. I sit beside him, and as we wait, he taps his foot against the floor.
Over and over.
Louder and louder.
Reaching out, I grab his hand.
When he calms, I start pulling away, but he holds on to it like a lifeline.
“Thank you for being here,” he says lowly.
I squeeze his hand. “You were there for me when I was sick.”
His hand in mine feels like a missed comfort.
Like when someone who’s been gone from a long trip finally comes home.
The exam room is chilly with bright white walls. Posters, educating about heartworm and the importance of flea medicine for pets, decorate the walls.
“He’s an old dog,” Adrian rasps. “What if he doesn’t make it, Essie?”
“From the stories you’ve told me, Tucker’s a fighter. He’ll pull through this and be home soon.”
Foster walks in, interrupting us. “Tucker suffered a hip fracture, and we’re prepping him for surgery. We’re always cautious when administrating anesthesia to dogs his age, but I promise, he’s in good hands.”
I trust Foster. He received recognition as one of the top veterinary surgeons in the state this year. His uncle, on his mom’s side, owns the animal hospital and the one in Anchor Ridge. Foster alternates between the two.
“Can I see him before?” Adrian asks.
Foster smiles. “Of course.”
Foster leads us to a surgical room, where the vet techs are preparing Tucker for surgery.
He’s sedated, lying peacefully on the table. The vet techs move back a step, giving us space. Adrian blows out a series of breaths, and his eyes are wet.
“You’ll be okay, boy,” he soothingly tells Tucker. “And when you get home, I’ll give you all the treats you want.” He strokes Tucker’s head before giving it a kiss.
I pet Tucker, feeling his heavy breath against my palm.
“I’ll take good care of him.” Foster clasps Adrian on the back.
A blonde vet tech escorts us back to the exam room, and we sit there quietly for a few minutes.
Minutes that feel like hours, honestly.
Adrian slumps forward. “Tucker was my father’s dog’s puppy. I saw him as a piece of my father I never had. Now, I might lose him too.” His voice breaking crushes my heart.
He sits back, and I kick off my heels, making myself comfortable.
“Will you tell me about your father?”
“My mom said he was the funniest person she knew, but he lost all his humor when he got sick. I guess that’s to be expected.” He sighs. “She said she prayed every night that he’d live long enough to meet me, to have at least one day as a father. He died two days before I was born.”
“Even if you didn’t get to meet in person, he loved you.”
“No, he didn’t. ”
I flinch, waiting for him to explain.
He doesn’t.
I want to ask more questions, but don’t.
He can choose which scars to bleed open for me.
I, too, have a habit of hiding mine.
Lowering my head, I rest it on his shoulder.
Adrian clears his throat. “Do you remember the night we studied in my car for twelve straight hours, drinking only coffee and eating snacks?”
I smile at the memory. “Even though we technically didn’t need each other to study, you being there was a comfort.”
“I feel that same way right now. You’re my comfort. Thank you for this.”
We spend the next ten minutes in silence.
“Do you want me to read to you?” I ask when he grows fidgety.
In college, when he couldn’t sleep, he’d ask me to read to him either in the car or over the phone. He never cared what I read. Hearing my voice relaxed him.
He squeezes my knee. “I’d love for you to read to me, Essie.”
I raise my head, take my phone from my bag, and choose one of his favorites. He wraps his arm around my shoulders, drawing me closer, and we make ourselves comfortable as I read.
This is us.
Because it doesn’t matter where we are or what we’re doing, we’ve always been the other’s comfort.
Sometime during my reading, we fell asleep.
Foster knocking and entering the room wakes us. “The surgery went well. Tucker did great, but he’s groggy from the anesthesia. I’d like to keep him here for the night to monitor him. ”
Adrian stands. “Thank you, Foster.”
“Would you like to see him before you leave?” Foster gestures toward the doorway.
“I’d love that.”
Adrian offers me his hand and helps me to my feet. Our hands stay clasped as we follow Foster out of the room to the surgical recovery area.
“Hey there, buddy,” Adrian says in a whisper, as if he doesn’t want to wake Tucker. “You’re having a sleepover with Foster tonight, and then you’ll come home tomorrow, okay?”
I run my fingers through Tucker’s thick fur, careful to avoid his stitches.
Adrian lowers his head to kiss Tucker’s head before stepping away to thank Foster again.
They shake hands, and then Foster hugs me.
The sky is black when we walk outside to my car.
“I’m sorry I kept you out so late,” Adrian says.
“Don’t you dare apologize.” I snuggle into his side. “I offered because I wanted to stay.”
He helps me into my car.
“Do you want me to take you home?” I ask when he’s inside.
He rubs his tired eyes. “I’ve never gone home to an empty house without Tucker before.”
“Do you want to come to mine, then?”