Chapter 19 #2
Charlie had thought Dan was a bit fancy, until he got to know him better and came to appreciate the man of substance beneath the urbane veneer. “We’re both off today, but he wanted to give me a heads-up that the state is preparing to offer a settlement in your unlawful imprisonment claim.”
Charlie had resisted filing that claim until Dan, Stephanie and even Grant had compelled him to consider it.
After all, the original proceedings had completely disregarded the testimony of the girl he’d supposedly abused, who’d pleaded with someone, anyone, to hear her assertions that he’d actually saved her, that her mother had been the abuser, not her stepfather.
Renee had died a short time after he was charged without ever admitting she’d lied about what happened that day in their home. She’d condemned him to hell without an ounce of remorse, as if she’d never professed to love him when she was clean and sober.
“What kind of offer?” Charlie asked hesitantly. He’d told himself over and over that it didn’t matter if anyone ever paid for what he’d been forced to endure. He had his freedom, and his daughter was back in his everyday life. What else mattered?
“This is strictly off the record because it’s not an official offer yet, but he heard they’re going to come back with half a million for every year you spent in jail.”
Seven million. Holy shit.
“I still think we could get more,” Dan said. “This is just their preliminary offer, and they’ll expect us to come back with a higher number.”
“No,” Charlie said.
“Um, no? What do you mean?”
“No higher numbers. That’s more than enough. How much of it do you get?”
“None. I don’t want it, and I don’t need it.”
“I don’t get you. Why aren’t you like all the other hucksters out there who’d have their hands so deep into a settlement like this, I’d be lucky to be able to buy a hamburger when they were done?”
Dan tipped his head back and laughed. “Don’t think too much of my profession, do you?”
“Can you blame me?”
“Not one bit. You and most of the people I work with these days have seen the worst of us. I like to show you the best. I made a fortune as a corporate lawyer before I started the innocence project. I’m not in it for the money, but if you want to donate to the project so we can help others who’ve been unjustly convicted, I won’t say no to that. ”
“Done.”
“I wish all my clients were as easy to please as you are, Charlie.”
“It doesn’t take much to make me happy these days.”
“I bet it doesn’t. I’m happy for you. A thousand times more wouldn’t fully compensate you for what was lost.”
“Maybe not, but seven million will keep me pretty well for the rest of my life and give me something to leave my daughter someday, too.”
“Good enough. I’ll let you know when I receive the official offer.”
“You’re going to Virginia with Sarah and Owen, right?”
“I am. Are you?”
“Yes.”
“I’ll see you Tuesday morning, then.”
“I’ll be there. You’ll be looking out for her, won’t you?
” Judging by the fierce expression on Dan’s face, Charlie didn’t need to elaborate any further.
Sarah had become one of the most important people in Charlie’s new life, and he couldn’t wait to help her get justice against her son-of-a-bitch ex.
“You bet your ass I will. That’s why I’m going. I’ve been overseeing the divorce, and that husband of hers is a real piece of work. I’m not taking any chances that he’s going to pull anything on her. I’ll be right there the whole time.”
“Makes me feel better to know you’re on her side.”
“Always.” Dan offered his hand again.
Charlie grasped it with both hands. “I’ll never be able to properly thank you for all you’ve done for me—and for Stephanie. We’ll always be grateful.”
“Believe me when I tell you, Charlie, it was indeed my pleasure. See you at the party later?”
“We’ll be there. Wouldn’t miss it.”
Charlie waved to Dan when he drove off, leaving a cloud of dust in his wake.
Seven million dollars.
While part of him wanted to say fuck them and their money, the other part of him—the part that had once been an intellectual, a teacher and a fairly decent human being before life ripped the rug out from under him—would never say that.
He could do a lot of good with that kind of money, for himself and the people he loved.
He could buy Sarah any house she wanted, he thought with a smile, imagining her reaction to hearing that she could have her pick. He couldn’t wait to tell her.
“This whole thing is so freaking pretentious,” Kara said to Dan when they arrived at the Summer House, where her mother supervised the staff with the authority of a drill sergeant. “I hate it.”
He slipped an arm around her and brought her in tight against him, kissing the top of her head. “Your folks wanted to do something nice for you, hon. It’s really the least they can do.”
“I know, but I still hate it.”
“I don’t hate getting to see you in that dress.” He stepped back a bit to take a perusing look at her, spending extra time admiring the tanned legs that were on full display. “Mmm, mmm, mmm.”
A bolt of heat lit up her face whenever he looked at her that way, which of course he knew. “Knock it off,” she said in a low growl.
“Just trying to get your mind off how pretentious this party is,” he said with a wink that made her laugh. Dan took in the tables laden with crystal and silver as well as artful centerpieces made up of hydrangeas, roses and snapdragons. “My own mother would be right at home at this shindig.”
“Speaking of your mother—and your father,” Kara said, “when do I get to meet them in person?”
“I’ve been thinking about that and getting quite a bit of pressure from the home front. How about after we go to see Bertha, we take a trip to LA? I could use a little time in the home office, and my folks are dying to meet the woman who finally got me to commit.”
“I got you to commit?”
“That’s exactly how I remember it.”
She reached up to twist the bow tie he’d spent half an hour trying to tie just right. “You’re full of shit, you know that?”
Scowling at her even though he loved her best when she was feisty, he rescued his poor bow tie. “I’m almost positive that word is not allowed inside this building.”
In a flurry of movement and still barking out orders to the waitstaff who looked ready to have her killed, Kara’s mother came over to them, bringing a cloud of expensive perfume with her.
She was tall and lean and tanned, with every blonde hair perfectly in place.
To look at her, you’d never guess she was the mother of eleven children.
Rather, you’d picture a life of leisure on the tennis courts at the country club.
Kara had told him they’d had nannies to help out growing up and that her mother had, in fact, taken a lot of time for herself away from her children. The pampering was evident as Judith air-kissed her daughter.
“You look lovely, honey,” she said with obvious approval for the cream-colored dress Kara had bought at Tiffany’s store. Dan would bet a million bucks that if she’d known it came from a place called Naughty & Nice, she wouldn’t have been so appreciative.
She turned her attention to Dan, her scrutiny nearly making him squirm. “Love the bow tie. It works on you.”
“Thank you.” He’d decided to give Judith and Chuck Ballard the benefit of the doubt. They were going to be his in-laws, after all. But he would never, ever forget or forgive them for the way they’d treated Kara after the debacle with Kelly and Matt.
As soon as Kelly had gone home to Bar Harbor to report that Kara was engaged to a celebrity lawyer, her parents had suddenly taken an all-new interest in their daughter’s life on Gansett, much to Kara’s dismay.
None of that meant he couldn’t be cordial, however—unless they gave him reason not to be.
Kara had told him they’d been impressed by him after they met over dinner the night before. Dan was glad to hear that, but he honestly didn’t care what they thought of him. He would marry their daughter next June and make her happy for the rest of her life.
He stayed close to Kara as their guests began to arrive. Surrounded by their friends, all of whom had dressed up for the occasion, Dan felt Kara begin to relax. This was their new family, the one they’d cultivated together, and being around their friends always made them happy.
He had to give her parents credit—they stayed right by their sides, meeting their friends and exchanging pleasantries with each of them.
Chuck Ballard was tall with white hair, a deep tan and a friendly, engaging manner.
A guy’s guy, Dan had thought upon their initial meeting, the kind of man others gravitated to.
At the moment, he was talking marinas and the boating business with Big Mac and Linda McCarthy.
Dan had to admit that with the liquor flowing, the endless supply of tasty appetizers, his girl at his side and his friends all around him, this party didn’t totally suck the way Kara had told him it would.
“How ya doing?” he whispered in her ear when they got a break from socializing.
“Not bad.”
“It’s actually kind of nice.”
“I’ll remember you said that later when you want sex. You’re either with them or you’re with me. You can’t have it both ways.”
He burst out laughing, which earned him a glower from his beloved. “I love you so much, Kara Ballard. You’ll never know how much.”
She crooked her finger at him.
Tipping his head in close to her, he held his breath when she whispered in his ear.
“Knowing that makes this bearable.” She curled her hand around his arm and gave it a possessive squeeze that made him want to drag her out of there in search of a coatroom.
Certainly a place like this had a goddamned coatroom, didn’t it?
Probably not, since most of the venues on the island catered to a summer crowd that wouldn’t need coats.
But it was a hotel, too… The idea had his wheels turning.
“Would you excuse me for one minute, hon?”
“One minute and one minute only,” she said.
“I’ll be right back.” He left her with a kiss on the cheek and headed for the registration desk, delighted with his plan to surprise her after the party.