Hunter glanced around at the faces that had become familiar to him in such a short time and his sense of panic grew. These people were counting on him. And though all of his past clients and their families had counted on him, these people were special. They were Molly’s family. Never before had two words meant so much. She’d spent a lifetime searching for the love and acceptance she’d found here. And Hunter held their future in his hands. He broke into a genuine sweat.

“In a nutshell, this hearing is our last chance to get the charges dropped before going to trial.” He tried to keep his voice even and unemotional, as he would with any client and any case.

“Without any tangible evidence that will exonerate the general, my best hope is to point to the lack of evidence to convict him. I’ll present our view of the night of the murder, where the general was and why the court, based on his character, should believe him. I’ll offer alternative suspects and point out that the police failed to investigate anyone except the general and in doing so didn’t meet their burden of proof.” He shoved his hands into his front pockets. “Any questions?”

Everyone spoke at once. A cacophony of sounds surrounded him and he couldn’t focus on any single one until finally, a lone voice won out.

“But you think you’ll get Frank off, right? If not at the hearing then at trial?” Seth spoke from across the room. He leaned against the doorway, looking exactly like the scared fifteen-year-old he was.

Hunter heard the desperation in the kid’s voice and he understood. In the general, Seth saw the last male adult figure in his life, and he didn’t want to lose him in addition to his father. Not on top of finding out his dad hadn’t been the hero he’d thought, but someone very human. Hunter had never really had a male role model of his own, but he had known fear. And he could imagine the fear and pain Seth was experiencing now.

He swallowed hard, wishing he could give the kid the answers he sought. But years of experience had taught him to level with families.

“I’ll do my best, but I have to be honest with you, this is a very tough case. We don’t have any scale-tipping factors on our side except for Frank’s character and-forgive me for saying this, Paul’s lack thereof-and I plan to play those angles for all they’re worth.” He spread his hands out in front of him. “I wish I could give you more than that, but I have to be realistic.”

“We’re just glad to have you on Frank’s side,” Edna said from her seat at the table.

He wondered if they’d feel that way should he actually lose the case.


***

SINCE HUNTER and the general were locked together in strategy sessions prepping for the hearing, Molly decided to head over to the senior center for her friend Liza’s art class.

Today was her still-life painting class. Molly slipped through the door and grabbed a seat in the back, content to watch and listen to her friend, who had a degree in art history, discussing her passion.

After a thorough explanation of the concept, Liza asked everyone to begin by sketching first.

Irwin Yaeger, who Molly noticed had been fidgeting in his seat throughout the lecture, stood, paintbrush in hand. “I have a question.”

Liza finished pulling her hair back off her face before dealing with the unreformable elderly gentleman. “What is it, Irwin?”

“I thought we were doing nudes today.”

Molly bit the inside of her cheek and tried not to laugh.

Liza couldn’t hold back her grin. “Nudes aren’t on the class schedule. You know that.”

“We all pay for this class, so shouldn’t we get to choose our art form?”

Lucinda stood. “Sit down and stop being a pain in the butt, Irwin. The rest of us want to work on our fruit.”

“I saw how you looked at me in the hall the other day, Lucy, and I know that nudes would be right up your alley.” He wiggled his bushy eyebrows her way. “But if you insist on painting fruit, how about cherries? Or bananas?”

“Lordy.” Lucinda fanned herself with the dry paintbrush. “Behave,” she chided.

Liza strode over to the man. “If you’re going to bother my class, you’re going to have to leave.”

“Are you seriously throwing out a virile and willing model?” Irwin asked and reached for the belt buckle on his pants.

“No!” Liza yelled. “Do not undress. Sit down and sketch like the rest of the class and you can stay.” She met Molly’s gaze and shook her head.

“Oh, all right, but you can bet I’ll be filling out one of those complaint cards,” he muttered.

“You be sure and do that.” Liza crooked a finger at Molly as she walked to her side. “Can I talk to you outside?”

Molly nodded.

“And the rest of you, keep sketching. Irwin, if I come back and you aren’t dressed, I’m filing a sexual harassment charge against you, so don’t even test me.” Liza strode out of the room and Molly followed.

When they reached the hall, they both burst out laughing. “Sometimes it’s so hard to keep a straight face,” Liza said. “So what are you doing here? You don’t take my art classes.”

Molly shrugged. “I haven’t been here in a while and I wanted to check on everyone.”

Liza stepped back and studied her. “You look tired.”

“Stressed is more like it.”

“Well, I can’t say I blame you, what with your father’s situation and all.”

Molly leaned against the wall, letting it support her weight. “Did I mention my mother arrived for an unannounced visit?”

Liza had heard about Francie but had never met her in person. “Why in the world would she come to this little podunk Connecticut town?”

Molly grinned. Apparently Molly’s descriptions had been accurate enough that Liza had Francie pegged. “She says she’s here to support me in my time of crisis. I’m guessing she pissed off her wealthy boyfriend and had nowhere else to go, so she’s here until she regroups and thinks of a new strategy to bag herself a rich man.”

“And her presence is an added stress you don’t need.” Liza might have majored in art but she had a good heart and a solid understanding of human nature. Molly often thought she could have been a psychologist.

“Hunter thinks I should lay down some ground rules.”

“Hunter, huh?” A wide smile crossed Liza’s face. “And we care what Hunter thinks?”

Molly rolled her eyes. “I told you, we go way back.”

“What you told me was vague, but I’m good at reading you, and that man makes your eyes light up like I’ve never seen.”

Heat rose to Molly’s cheeks. “He might have a teeny effect on me.” He was also complicating her life at a time when she didn’t need any more things to think about.

On the other hand, he wasn’t pressuring her or making demands, he was merely working on her father’s case and being there for her, anticipating her concerns and worries, and acting more like someone who cared about Molly than a lawyer hired to defend a client.

“Well, no matter how you feel about him, it sounds like the man has a point. From what you told me, your mother expects you to drop everything when she arrives and cater to her whims.”

Molly nodded. “This morning she asked if I’d pick her up and take her for coffee. The hotel coffee tasted burnt. Then she needed dry cleaning because the hotel wouldn’t have her suit back in time for what I have no idea.” She shuddered, remembering her mother’s authoritarian tone as she couched her orders as requests that weren’t.

“What did you tell her?” Liza asked.

“That she’d have to find a way to deal with her own problems because I had a boatload of my own. Then I hung up and came straight here before she could grab a cab, show up at my father’s and start making demands in person.”

Liza nodded slowly. “Wasn’t there a time when you’d have done anything she asked just so that she wouldn’t get upset and leave you again?” Her compassionate gaze bore into Molly’s as she spoke.

In the wake of Molly’s silence, Liza glanced into the art room.

Molly knew their time to talk was running out, but hearing her pathetic behavior summed up so succinctly struck like a knife in her heart. “Yes, there was a time I would have done whatever she wanted. So isn’t it progress that I said no?”

“If you call running away saying no.” Liza reached out a hand and touched Molly’s shoulder in a gesture of true friendship. “Listen, I think Hunter has a point. You need to level with your mom about what she can and cannot expect from you from this day forward. Until you do that, you aren’t really telling it like it is. You’re avoiding facing the reality that once you put down some ground rules, she might not come back again. Ever.” Liza’s voice was softened, but Molly heard every word.

Fear lodged like a rock in her throat. “I don’t know if I can do that.”

“Listen,” Liza said. “I have to get back inside before Irwin starts stripping, but if you ask me, whatever kind of relationship you and your mother end up with after you confront her can’t be worse than what you have now.”

Molly swallowed hard. “You may be right, but if my father goes to jail and my mother bails on me forever, what’s left?”

Hunter. But Molly had spent the last twenty-eight years thinking family was the way to fill her emotional void. The idea of willingly pushing her mother away scared her beyond reason. Not a particularly adult notion, but an honest one, Molly thought.

Liza pulled her into a quick hug. “I’m free after this class if you want to talk, okay?”

“Thanks,” Molly said. She appreciated her friend and the fact that she could confide in her about things so personal.

Liza walked back inside. “Irwin, put your shirt back on now!” she yelled.

Molly shook her head and laughed. As she headed back to the main lobby, her cell phone rang and she pulled it out of her purse. Her father’s home number flashed on the small screen.

She flipped the phone open. “Hello?”

“Molly, it’s Dad. You need to come home immediately. Seth’s missing. Nobody knows where he is and Jessie’s locked herself in her room. She won’t talk to anyone and I’m worried about her.”

Molly’s throat grew parched and dry. “I’ll be right there,” she promised and ran for her car.

The whole way home, she tried to imagine the sheer agony Seth was living with. His father had been murdered, his mother was an emotional wreck, the only other male influence in his life was accused of the crime and might go to jail for the rest of his life. All things the adults were having a hard time coming to terms with.

How could a teenager cope?

And then there was Jessie, who worried about Seth like a brother. If she knew what had happened to him, Molly felt certain her sister would be torn between keeping his secret or doing the right thing and snitching so he’d come home safe.

Molly’s emotional issues paled in comparison and she felt like a baby for even thinking she had problems. Whatever her own issues, they had to be put on hold while she took care of her family. Including her feelings for Hunter.


***

EDNA WAS IN commander mode. While everyone else was falling apart, she pulled the family or in this case, the families, together. Molly walked into the house to find lasagna baking in the oven for dinner and her grandmother making a huge salad. The general was on the telephone with the police department, Sonya by his side. Hunter stood alone in the corner of the family room by the large windows, talking on his cell to Ty about putting a P.I. on Seth’s trail.

Just seeing Hunter issuing commands made Molly feel better. He caught sight of her and crooked a finger her way. She strode over to him as he finished his call and snapped his phone shut, shoving it into his pocket.

Without a second thought, he reached out and pulled her close. “It’s going to be okay,” he promised her.

When Hunter spoke, she believed. She let him enfold her in his arms and relaxed her body into his hard, masculine form. He smelled good and she was reluctant to step out of his warm, safe grasp.

“How do we know he ran away as opposed to he’s just out and hasn’t checked in?” she asked.

“He left a note for his mother that said, ‘I love you. I’m scared and I need time to think.’ Plus, when Jessie heard the news, she insisted that she didn’t think he’d do anything drastic and locked herself in her room. She’s not talking to anyone. Doesn’t sound like a kid who just went to the library to me.”

“Me neither.” Molly realized she still had her purse hanging from her shoulder and tossed it onto the table near the couch. “What did the police say?”

“They’re looking into it. But these are the same people who zeroed in on your father and no one else.” While he spoke, Hunter kept one hand on the small of her back.