Page 76 of But For You

To bring the tension down a little, I asked about Chaz’s three boys and Pat’s four girls. Pat’s oldest was graduating from high school in June, and the idea that her college acceptance letters would be coming soon was freaking Pat out. Not that he had to worry—I knew Iris was thinking of the University of Chicago, if not for her first choice, then certainly her second.

Apparently, from the grunted replies, the broods of both men were good. What was not was how Kola had been treated by Mr. Parker.

Pat moved over beside me after Kola showed him what had been done. “I would kill anybody who touched one of my girls like that. I’ll talk to the doc, and if he says, yeah, that the injury is consistent with Kola’s story, I’m gonna have this guy picked up. You hear me?”

I nodded.

“Did he threaten you? Kola says you told him to back off.”

“He was too close to the kids. If it had just been me, I wouldn’t have worried.”

He nodded and put a hand on my back lightly. “Kids stay home tomorrow, J, all right?”

“Okay.”

Chaz and Pat walked out to go and find the doctor, and Rick Jenner—my friend Aubrey Jenner’s husband—walked in, followed by two women.

“Oh.” I smiled at him as he walked over to me, hand extended for me to take. “I figured you’d send somebody. I didn’t think the managing partner of Riley, Jenner, Knox, and Pomeroy would be the one in my son’s hospital room.”

He smiled warmly. “It’s actually Jenner Knox now, Mr. Harcourt, and I’m the founding partner; Tobias Knox is the managing partner because I like to golf.”

“I hadn’t heard. Congratulations, Rick.”

“It’s because you and the marshal don’t come to parties that you’re invited to.”

“We don’t live in your tax bracket either.”

He chuckled. “I’ll see you tonight though, right?”

“I dunno. We’ll see how Kola feels.”

“No, Pa,” Kola whined. “I have to go to Auntie Dyl’s. She’s gonna make s’mores on the stove. Micah said it’s awesome.”

Micah—Dylan’s son, her oldest, but closest to Kola in age, only a year younger—often made big plans that his mother had no prior knowledge of.

“We’ll see how you feel, baby.”

“I’ll be fine.”

“Let me talk to your lawyer, okay?”

He squinted at me. “Isn’t he Uncle Dane’s friend?”

“Yes, he is,” I told my son before turning back to Rick. “Sorry, tell me what to do.”

“Well, for one, I hope it’s broken because a break will heal faster than a sprain, and what we’re going to do is sue that school to the ground.”

I shook my head. “Oh, no, I just want Mr. Parker not to be able to be near my kid, either of my kids, at all.”

“You want him barred from school property?”

“Yes.”

He nodded. “Okay, I can do that. But you’re sure that’s all?”

“And he should pay for this doctor visit, don’t you think?”

“Again,” he sighed, “you’re being very nice. If this were me, I’d sue him for everything he’s got.”