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“We’ve hung out.” I try to keep my voice level.
“Hung out?” He pops both brows. “Is that a polite way to say you’ve been fucking?”
“It’s more than that,” I correct him. “We’ve gone out for dinner. We went dancing.”
“You’re dating Eden?” He cracks a wide grin. “Look at you acting like a stand-up guy. I’m proud of you for keeping your dick on a leash.”
I move to take a seat on a chair across from him. Coach Conrad was an influential force in Barrett’s life too. He was the one who broke the bad news to my best friend that an athletic scholarship wasn’t in the cards for him.
Barrett took the news like a champ.
He thanked Coach for his honesty and then got drunk on cheap beer.
“I need to tell you something.” I edge into the conversation slowly. “It’s about Eden.”
Curiosity draws his body forward. He rests his elbows on his knees. “What?”
I scratch the back of my neck. There’s no easy way to do it, so I come right out with it. “Coach Conrad died three years ago. He’s gone.”
The look on his face mirrors the one I know was on mine last night.
I go on, “It was cancer.”
Barrett’s head drops into his hands. “Dammit. Life’s not fair. He was the best. You know he was the best.”
“I know.” I exhale on a sigh. “I was as surprised as you are.”
He looks up at me. “How did Eden handle that on her own? Was she on her own when it happened?”
I didn’t bother to ask, because she made it damn clear that talking about Clark is off limits. “I don’t know. She didn’t say.”
“Coach had our backs.” He pats his thigh. “He looked out for us at every turn. We should have been there to say goodbye to him.”
I can’t argue with that, so I don’t. “I know it.”
“I should talk to Eden.” He looks at my phone on the coffee table. “Give me her number so I can text her. I need to tell her I’m sorry.”
Shaking my head, I lean back in my chair. “I’ll tell her that you’re sorry when the time is right. It’s painful for her to talk about it.”
“Whatever you think is best, Colt. You know her better than I ever have.”
I can’t say that I do. I want to, but time is ticking on my relationship with Eden. The clock is about to run out, and when it does, I’ll become a memory from her past again.
Chapter 29
Eden
Frustration brought me to the offices of Kent & Colt.
The court clerk called me thirty minutes ago to tell me that the Alcester case was set back another ten days at the request of Judge Mycella.
I noticed the rapport between Dylan and the judge.
They referred to each other by their first names during our sidebar. It’s evident that they have a connection outside the courtroom.
This unexpected delay is his doing. It has to be.
He knows that my client wants this case wrapped up as soon as possible. Prolonging the proceedings is an amateur tactic that some lawyers resort to when they want the other side to settle.
