Prologue
Addison
Twelve Years Ago
“Shh,” Maddox said with a grin as he covered my laughing mouth. “Your father is going to hear.” He pulled me halfway across his body as we lay on my bed.
I slipped my hands underneath his T-shirt. “Who cares? Soon, we’ll be out of here, and he can kiss my ass.”
My father didn’t like Maddox. He didn’t think Maddox was the right kind of boy for me.
What my father meant was that Maddox didn’t come from the correct side of town. I was waiting for the day when my father came right out and said that Maddox wasn’t good enough for me, but I thought even he knew that would be going too far.
Maddox kissed me. “Addy, we still have two months left. I really don’t want anything to ruin our plans now.”
“You’re right. We’ve made it the last two years, so we can make it the next two months.”
In two months, the two of us would be going to college. Him to the state school and me to the private school. They were only twenty minutes away from each other. Maddox was going to be a doctor, and I was probably going to major in business. He was going to school on a football scholarship, and I was going to school on my father’s dime. It made no difference to me as long as the two of us got out of there.
I grinned.
“What’s so funny?”
“Two years, two months…the two of us. Everything’s in twos,” I explained.
His green eyes bright with the plans of our future, he kissed me again. Oh, how I loved this boy. This man. He’d turned eighteen five months ago.
He broke our kiss, and I ran my fingers through his chin-length dark blond hair. He was always saying he should cut it, so my father would respect him more, but I wouldn’t let him. I loved Maddox’s long hair, and there was nothing he could do to earn my father’s respect anyway. Maddox was a Wolfe. He had been born with that stain on his soul, as far as Brantley Graham was concerned.
Maddox glanced at my alarm clock. “I gotta go. I’m supposed to pick up Foster.”
I sighed my disappointment. How my father felt about Maddox was how I felt about his brother, Foster. One year younger and on the opposite end of the spectrum from Maddox. Foster already had a juvenile rap sheet as long as my leg, and it was a surprise he hadn’t been kicked out of school for skipping so many classes.
He was another reason I couldn’t wait to leave our godforsaken small town. I didn’t want Foster to take Maddox down with him.
Two months, two months, I chanted in my head.
I gave Maddox a peck. “Okay. Just be careful.”
He rolled away from me and shook his head as if he thought I was crazy. “Always, Addy. Always.”
I scooted to the edge of my bed and followed Maddox to my window.
He flung one leg over the sill. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
I smiled at him. “Promise?”
He grabbed my nightgown and yanked me toward him.
I had to put my hand over my mouth to stifle my laughter again.
“Promise,” he said to me. “I didn’t get to spend nearly enough time with you tonight.”
I longed for the time when we didn’t have to make love quickly in case my father came up the stairs or someone caught us in the backseat of his car. “Someday, we’ll get to take our time,” I told him.
He grinned. “Two months.”
I kissed him. “Two months.”
He let go of my pajamas. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow,” I agreed. “I love you.”
“I love you, too.” He swiped his finger over my nose and was gone.
I wouldn’t see him again for twelve years.
One
Addison
The Present
“Serena, do you have the Warner file?” I called through my open office door.
I had an intercom, but when it was just the two of us, we weren’t very formal. Hell, we weren’t very professional, even when we had clients. That was the beauty of living in a small town like Brook Creek. I knew almost everyone, at least by name, and I was the only lawyer within miles who took on the number of pro bono cases I did and charged such cheap fees for the others. They could either take me or leave me.
Serena came rushing into my office with a folder in her hand. “Here you go.”
I took it from her. “Thank you. I thought I had lost it.”
“At least it’s just a will.”
I looked at my assistant like she was crazy. “This isn’t just any will, Serena. I had to sit with the Warners for six hours. Six hours. They own a house and a car and have one child. It should never have taken me that long. That’s six hours of my life I can never get back.” I shook my head. “I refuse to do that again.”
Serena put her fingers to her mouth and giggled.
“It’s okay. Go ahead and laugh. I would, too, if I were you. Count yourself lucky that you’d taken the day off.”
Her eyes lit up. “Speaking of days off—”
“Serena, what have I told you about taking days off? You just can’t,” I teased her but pretended to be serious. “I need you way too much.”
She gave me a look. “You survived for years without me.”
“That’s because I didn’t know someone like you existed. My last assistant was worse than Karen Walker.”
“Who?”
I waved her question away. “Never mind. It was a TV show that was on when I was in high school.” I used to watch it with Serena’s uncle when my father was out for the night. Well, half-watch it anyway.
“Oh, I know. It’s from Will & Grace.”
I whipped my head up in surprise. “You know Will & Grace?”
“Yeah, it’s on TV again. It’s funny.”
“Huh.” I remembered hearing something about it coming back, but these days, I rarely had time for TV. “Anyway, you are a godsend. I’m just happy to have you working here.”
Serena had just been a girl when Maddox was arrested and taken away. Her mother was Maddox’s older sister, who had already started following in their mother’s footsteps. Maddox’s mom had had Serena’s mom, Kelly, when she was seventeen, and Kelly had had Serena when she was sixteen.
Despite Kelly being the oldest, Maddox had been the one to run the family. His mother was too busy drinking and chasing after guys. And Maddox had been the closest thing that Serena had to a dad.
I had loved Serena like a little sister and done my best to stay in touch with her. Despite her family’s reputation and limited resources, Serena had graduated with straight As. It wasn’t enough to get her a full ride anywhere, but it was enough to get her some scholarships. She was going to take community college classes starting in the fall while she worked with me to help out her family. I couldn’t lie that I was relieved that I wouldn’t be losing her. And she’d be able to put in more hours with me while she was in college than she’d been able to do while working after school for me.
“And I’m happy to be working here. But…”
“But?” I waited for her to finish before I remembered what we’d been talking about. “Oh, yeah. A day off.” I pulled up my calendar on my computer. “When were you thinking?”