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She was arrested and started rolling over on all her charges, claiming parents and prospective guardians forced bribes on her that she couldn’t turn down given her meager salary. I won’t go into that. But I do know that several of the cases she closed have been reopened and reinvestigated.
The woman who took over for Mrs. Bible was a lot easier to work with and a hell of a lot less scary. She was also a huge fan of not only Central Square, but of Greyson Monroe and Asher Reyes, and it just so happened that both were over when she made her first pop-in visit. After that, it was easy street.
In the end, it didn’t matter.
The last three months went smoothly for all of us, and as of two o’clock this afternoon, the judge ruled that Katy is permanently Callan’s. Which is why we’re celebrating and doing it in style. Octavia and Dr. Fritz senior invited everyone—all of my Fritz relatives and all of Callan’s friends—over to swim in the indoor pool and play games and eat. She even rented a bounce house that she has set up inside because it’s November in New England, which means it’s too cold to be outside for any length of time.
I swear, the woman looks for any excuse to throw a party, and I’m certainly not complaining.
Katy has been running around with the Fritz kids all afternoon, and in the months that Callan and I have been together, she’s grown especially close with Keegan and Kenna, who are only a year and a half older than her. It’s been everything to see her blossom and hold her own with all these new people in her life.
It hasn’t been all sunshine and roses though.
She misses her parents terribly, and though Callan and I do what we can to help with that, sometimes all you can do is be a shoulder to cry on, a pair of arms to hug, and an ear to listen. The night terrors have all but stopped and her psychologist recommended she keep a journal of feelings, which I think has been making a difference, especially on days she doesn’t want to talk about it.
“What are you doing next week?” Stella asks as she sits on a lounger beside me in her tiny bikini, sipping champagne. Her newest restaurant is a massive success, just as much of one, if not more so, than Stella’s. Plus, she asked Delphine to marry her, and Delphine said yes so, the girl has every reason to celebrate.
“Sitting on my ass, eating all the turkey and leftovers, and not studying,” I answer, my eyes closed as I take a blind sip of my own champagne. Thanksgiving is next Thursday, and I can’t tell you how much I’m looking forward to the break in school and clerkships. We do six-week rotations and right now I’m in the middle of psychiatry, which is fascinating, but not at all my jam.
“We should go somewhere maybe.”
I blink open my eyes and roll my head in her direction. “Where?”
“I don’t know. Feels like a lot of work to plan something.”
“Totally.” I snicker at how lazy we’re both being today.
“Maybe over your Christmas break?” she questions, her gaze cast about the room, watching her cousins swim and play.
“That could be fun.”
She laughs. “You don’t even know what I was thinking. I could have said Iceland.”
“Except I know you, and I know you do not like cold weather. You’re thinking Aruba or St. Barts.”
She finishes off her champagne and sets the empty flute down on the small table beside her. “It’s freaky how well you know me.”
“I’ll miss vacations. Being a resident will suck like that. They get no time off.”
“True. You should have become a chef. But for now, let’s plan something over Christmas break otherwise we’ll never do it and I won’t see the sun again until May.”
“If you’re lucky. This is Boston.” I sit up straight. “I’m down to go away. I wonder if Callan would be in for Aruba.”
Stella bounces her eyebrows at me. “Well, my, my, my. We’re in the planning and thinking about vacations with our guy phase now, huh? Last week you weren’t even sure if you were going to continue living there.”
Oh. That. I twist on the lounger to face her, giving the room my back. I chew on my lip. “He hasn’t asked me to. That’s why I’m unsure.”
She scrunches her brow. “I thought you both agreed you’d continue living with them until the hearing was over, and then you’d reevaluate.”
“Right. We did. The hearing was today.”
She’s still giving me that look. “Right. It was today, so slow your roll there, Suzie Homemaker. I’m sure he’ll get to it.”
I puff out a breath. “Stella, he hasn’t asked me to stay. He hasn’t even brought anything up to me. Do you know how un-Callan-like that is?”
She waves that off. “He wants you to stay. Obviously. The man is five-alarm fire obsessed with you. You could always bring it up.”
“I did, last week,” I argue. “He blew me off, and that’s when I told you I wasn’t sure if I was going to stay. Hello, it’s like you don’t know how my brain works.”
