That hadn’t gone in the direction Savannah intended. Her order was called, and she went to pick it up as Nora entered the coffee shop. She’d been a steadfast friend since they bonded in a grief group.
“Good morning.” Nora followed Savannah to a corner table. “I’m so glad you called. I wanted to hear how the house reno is going.”
“I can’t wait to show it to you! Hez and I started painting the interior yesterday.”
Nora slung her bag over the side of a chair and got situated. “I’ve driven by a few times. That tower is amazing.”
“Stop next time if you see a car there.” Savannah sat in her chair and checked her phone. There were no messages with problems she had to deal with at the office. “How are things going with Graham?” Nora had been dating the TGU bookstore manager for a couple of months, and Savannah was thrilled her friend was moving on with her life.
Nora poked her glasses up on her nose. “Great! I—I think I might be falling for him. Hard. He’s so kind and supportive. He’s very understanding when I get called into work at odd hours too.”
Savannah reached across the table and squeezed Nora’s hand. “I’m so happy for you.”
“I feel the same about you. I’m thrilled everything is going so well for you and Hez.”
“And that brings up an important question. Would you be my maid of honor?”
Nora’s smile was wide. “I’d be honored! I wouldn’t want anyone else propping you up. How’s the wedding planning coming? Have you picked out the flowers yet? How can I help?”
Wedding flowers were way down Savannah’s priority list. “Oh, uh, not yet. And I can use all the help I can get.”
Nora took a sip of her coffee. “You seem a little distracted this morning. Is something wrong?”
Michael was Nora’s uncle. Would she be likely to open up about his true nature? Savannah raised her voice above the hiss of the milk steamer. “Have you spent much time with your uncle Michael?”
Nora lifted a brow and set her cup back on the table. “More when I was growing up than lately. Why are you asking about him?”
“I realized I don’t know the Michael Jess knew as a father, and I’m not sure how to take him. Jess always described him as a stern but attentive father who took her on motorcycle rides, taught her to shoot, told great stories, and took her to Mimi Willard’s for homemade ice cream and cobbler. Did you ever see Jess there?”
Nora nodded. “And I saw those traits she described often. He really loved Jess.”
Had Savannah believed the wrong man all these years? “What’s his character like? He seems overbearing and arrogant to me.”
“His strong personality can be overwhelming. If he likes you, he’s great—especially if you’re part of the family. But if you’re not a Willard and you cross him, he’s apt to show you why his nickname is the Punisher.”
And Savannah had just crossed him.
Chapter 8
Hez hummed as he walked down a dimly lit corridor in Connor Hall. He stopped in front of a battered office door with a gray plastic sign in the nameplate holder that readJustice Chamber. He turned the knob and shoved with his shoulder to pop the door loose from its jamb. Then he walked into his favorite spot on campus.
The Justice Chamber had been Hez’s dream ever since he got sober over a year ago. It was technically a legal clinic operated by the TGU Law School, but it was Hez’s baby. He opened it in February, and he spent as much time there as he could spare.
The Chamber occupied the second-worst office in Connor Hall. It held a much-used table, a tiny desk bearing an old computer, and a scattering of mismatched office chairs. A grandiose trefoil window did little to keep out the weather, which fortunately was pleasant today. A plaque over the desk read:But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!—Amos 5:24.Hez flipped the light switch, tapped the plaque, and fired up his Italian coffee maker, which was probably worth more than everything else in the room combined. He worried a little that something might happento it, but it definitely drew people to the Chamber—including him. With his classes over, he could enjoy a coffee reward.
“Smells good,” a familiar bass voice said behind him. “Captain Davy’s?”
“You know it.” Hez turned to greet his friend, AA sponsor, and former boss, Jimmy Little. Jimmy was an enormous man, but most of his bulk was still muscle, and he carried it with the grace of a dancer. He was dressed for court in a navy suit and a perfectly tailored cream shirt that complemented his dark brown skin. He also wore his 1992 national championship ring, which only came out of its display case for special occasions. “You look like a million dollars.”
Jimmy grinned and his eyes twinkled under bushy salt-and-pepper brows. “Five million, actually.”
“Congratulations!” Hez extended a hand, which Jimmy enveloped in a meaty paw and shook. “Have a seat and tell me about it. That’s a million more than you thought you could get, right?”
Jimmy eased into the sturdiest of the chairs. “It is, but Judge Hopkins really let the other side have it during the pretrial conference today. Their lawyers had been getting under his skin for a while—patronizing him, ignoring his advice to consider settling, and so on. They walked into court this morning with six lawyers surrounding the client like an entourage. The judge looked straight at the client and said, ‘How many lawyers would you trade for one good fact?’”
Hez leaned against the rickety desk and laughed. The Honorable Achilles Hopkins was a plainspoken ex-cop, andHez had no trouble picturing him saying that. “Ouch! Did they see reason after that?”
Jimmy shook his head. “Nope, they decided to make it worse for themselves first. Their senior lawyer started going on about all the big cases he’d won and how he’d win this one. Blah, blah, blah. The judge let him talk for about ten minutes and then said, ‘Let me tell you what’s going to happen at trial, Counsel. Mr. Little is going to walk in and sit at the plaintiff’s table wearing that ring, and you’re going to lose half the jury. They’re going to like a former Crimson Tide player a lot better than some fancy lawyer from way out of state. And that’s before you open your mouth and lose the other half.”
