Chapter 7
SEATON
Just about a week later, Sam drove her to the courthouse for the TRO hearing.
She'd come close to this before, but it was different back then. Back then, she was afraid of her own shadow.
She could barely remember what had happened before, but now...
Now she was walking in with Sam beside her.
TRO hearings were only held on certain days, so it meant a lot to her that Sam had traded shifts with another firefighter at Station Four nearby. It meant that he'd have to work two back-to-back shifts to make up for it.
As much as she tried to tell him that she could go on her own, he'd insisted that he would go with her.
He wanted to be there, quite literally, at her back.
When they arrived at the courthouse, her attorney had agreed to meet her at a bench to the left of the main courthouse doors. When she saw her attorney waiting for her, Seaton let out a relieved sigh and felt Sam rub her back. "Make sure you breathe," he suggested quietly.
She nodded and walked up to greet her attorney with as much courage as she could gather together.
Calleigh met her a few steps away from the bench, a bright smile on her lips and a hand held out to greet her.
"Morning, Seaton. How are you doing?"
Seaton held out her hand and felt Calleigh's reassuring grip. "I'm feeling better now that I’m here. The wait has been the worst thing."
Calleigh nodded. "I understand, but the good thing is that we're prepared for this hearing and I have a really good feeling that the judge is going to grant this. That's the first step to making sure that your ex leaves you alone moving forward."
Seaton looked at Sam and saw his reassuring smile and felt the strong grip of his hand around hers.
"Okay," Calleigh picked up her briefcase from the bench. "It's time to go in. We'll be there right on time and believe me, it makes a difference."
Seaton nodded and followed Calleigh into the court house.
Sam stepped in behind her when they got in line to go through the security scanner. Someone behind Sam complained about the wait, but Seaton was happy to go through the metal detector.
Daryl had never threatened or hurt her with a weapon, his words and judgmental looks were more than enough to leave her sobbing. Still, it reassured her that they had to go through the detector. It made the courthouse safer for everyone.
How could that be a problem?
The courtroom they were assigned to was on the second floor, but rather than going in the elevator, Seaton opted for the stairs. The last thing she wanted to do was to be trapped in an elevator with Daryl. Her anxiety didn't want to consider the possibility.
She didn’t have to worry about him on the stairs. He didn’t like to expend any extra energy. He’d wait longer for an elevator instead of expending the energy to climb even a flight of stairs.
From the top of the stairs, Calleigh led them down the hallway on the right to the courtroom at the far end.
Seaton heard Sam talk from behind her. "Calleigh? Do you want me to go in first?"
Calleigh turned around with a smile. "The bailiff is already inside. They've got security set and," she held up her phone, "the court clerk just let me know that your ex hasn't arrived in the courtroom. We're good."
Seaton felt relieved to hear that and Sam rubbed her back to reassure her.
Calleigh went in first, holding the door open from the inside of the courtroom and the instant that she stepped inside, Seaton felt the world shift under her feet.
It wasn't an earthquake in the real sense, but the seismic shift she felt was just as real.
The two rows of seats behind the plaintiff's table were full.
Full of people who were there on her behalf.
As she fought back the sudden onslaught of tears, she moved down the side wall of the courtroom and saw the faces of everyone who was waiting for her.
The first seat was held by Station Seven’s Fire Chief, Ethan Blaise. His wife and daughter were next and beyond Aylin, was Rook.
Seaton could hardly believe it.
Sam had changed shifts with another firefighter so he could be there for her, but Rook?
He didn't have to be there.
Neither did Chief Blaise.
As she moved closer, she saw that every single firefighter on Sam's shift was sitting there behind her table. A woman stood up from the third row and walked over to her.
Seaton was stunned.
She'd met this woman a couple of times, but most of what she knew was from things she'd seen online or in the news.
"Missus Bravo."
Sloane King Bravo reached out and put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Call me Sloane, please. I wanted to come down and support you today."
Seaton looked at her in awe. "It's through your support that I was able to have Calleigh as my lawyer. That's already incredible. Thank you."
It was true. Calleigh Procter was on retainer for Helping Hearts, a community foundation funded by Sloane King Bravo to help women and children in need.
That included women who were victims of domestic abuse both physical and mental.
Seaton's first lawyer was hired while she was married, she was able to pay for it herself.
Now that she was divorced and living on her own, most of her savings, such as it was, was tied up in the home she was renting.
The money she had been earning selling the senior walker pockets she'd designed with her grandmother hadn't been all that much.
And she'd just started working at the diner, so she hadn't been able to make much there either.
If she hadn't had the access to the legal help offered by Helping Hearts, she wouldn't be here, because she didn't have the skill or calm to represent herself.
The man standing at Sloane's shoulder wasn't familiar, but he was certainly an imposing man.
Even with his dark good looks and his physique he didn't scare her in the least. There was something about his presence that said that he was a protector, a hero.
Sloane made the introductions. "This is my husband, Vincente Bravo, a Special Agent with the FBI. He's stationed in San Antonio."
Seaton looked at him with wide eyes. "Wow." She didn't know how to process that information. "The only thing I know about the FBI comes from Silence of the Lambs and the X-files."
Agent Bravo cracked a smile. "I'm not all that Spooky like Mulder,” he explained, “and thankfully I don't work in Behavioral Sciences. I just get to help save people and bring them back home."
"A true hero," Seaton murmured under her breath and reached out a hand. "Thank you for coming."
The bailiff pushed open the swinging doors separating the public area of the courtroom from the well. He spoke softly to Calleigh, but Seaton didn't need to hear the woman's words to know what she was saying.
As soon as the bailiff stepped back, Seaton looked at Calleigh as her heart rose into her throat. "He's on his way?"
Calleigh nodded. "He just got into the elevator."
"Okay." Seaton said the word because she understood what was happening, but she was also trying to get her heart to understand that she was going to be okay.
Sam reached out and took her hand in his. "Hey," he smiled at her, "everything is going to work out."
She nodded, trying to absorb his positive feelings.
"Thanks," she nodded at him and then turned to all of the people who were there to support her.
"Thanks to all of you for coming today. It really means so much to me.
I've felt so alone for years and now," she blinked back her tears, "I feel like I'm surrounded by the most wonderful group of people in the world. "
She saw the Chief's wife give her a nod. "We've got you."
Calleigh gently took her by the arm and led her past the bar that separated the two halves of the courtroom.
As she got to her table and started to sit down, the courtroom door opened and Seaton's heart seized in her chest.
The first person through the door wasn't someone she recognized but she knew the uniform.
He was a Texas Ranger.
The person holding onto his arm was a familiar face. Miss March.
Seaton's heart melted at the sight of her former teacher.
As soon as Miss March saw her, she pointed to the Ranger supporting her and mouthed, 'Look!'
Seaton nodded and turned when she felt Calleigh's hand on her arm.
She turned toward her lawyer and Calleigh gestured back at the door.
"The Texas Ranger is Sloane's distant cousin.
Ranger McCrae King. He volunteered to bring Missus March.
If the judge needs witnesses, she wants to testify along with Lincoln Abe and Zharia Zamora who were there that night.
May was one of the people who called the police. "
Seaton's stomach twisted. Knowing that Miss March had witnessed the scene that Daryl had created?
She didn't want her past mistakes to affect the people she cared about.
Calleigh sighed softly. "McCrae will make sure that no one bothers her. Don't worry."
She nodded, knowing that what Calleigh said was true. The Texas Ranger looked like he could eat a steer for breakfast, lunch, and dinner with all the protein it must take to maintain his incredible physique.
Daryl would never go head-to-head with a man like McCrae King, especially when he wore a badge and carried a weapon.
He might like to bully her, but she had come to realize that he was a coward at heart.
That's when Daryl walked into the room, followed by an attorney with cold, narrow set eyes.
The two looked like a couple made in hell.
Her own hell.
Lifting his chin, Daryl stared her down and walked along the side wall to the bar.
As he walked toward the center, he took a good look at the people behind her, glaring at the whole ensemble.
When his gaze fell on her again, she felt it like a physical touch and nearly lost the meager amount of food that she'd managed to get down that morning.