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In the end, he said, “I’m ready to make my ruling.”
Nate stood up, as did his lawyer. Everyone in the courtroom seemed to be holding their breath, Ginger included.
“Mister Mulbury, I don’t see you as a flight risk, nor do I believe you were fleeing when you took Miss Talbot’s truck. I think if Miss Talbot will have you back, you should go.” He looked down at his paperwork. “Let’s see, you were doing a reentry program of six months there. You were there for nearly four…back for one….”
He sighed like this whole proceeding was just too taxing. “I can’t just look the other way when you’ve broken the number one rule of the reentry program. So, Mister Mulbury, do you think you can handle six more months at Hope Eternal Ranch?”
“Yes, Your Honor,” he said. “I can handle that.”
“Miss Talbot?” the judge asked. “Can you handle having this man at your ranch?”
“I think so,” she said, excitement parading through her. She tamped it down, because she didn’t think it would be appropriate to squeal in court. It definitely wouldn’t do to kiss him either.
So Ginger stood very still while Nate and his lawyer exited the courtroom, and then she went with the Warden.
“Thank you for coming,” Warden Dickerson said as they left the courtroom. “I think you made all the difference.”
“I doubt it,” Ginger said, looking over her shoulder. “So now what?”
“Now we process him, and then he’ll be ready to go back to the ranch.”
“How long does that take? The processing.”
“A couple of days.”
Ginger thought of Connor and Spencer, waiting for her at the hotel where they’d all stayed last night. They could stay for a couple of days. She could probably use the time to get the words of her apology in order anyway.
* * *
“Watch, Ginger,”Connor said, and Ginger was beginning to think the child didn’t know any other words. She looked up from her phone and employed her patience. He watched her for an extra moment to make sure she was watching him, and then he jumped into the pool.
Again.
She’d taken him to the beach again yesterday, but today, he said he was fine with just going to the pool. Ginger had brought her tablet and her wireless keyboard so she could at least go through the end-of-month statements for the ranch. She also had to submit all the items for the payroll by the fifth, and that was tomorrow.
She grinned at the little boy when he came bobbing up out of the pool. “Nice one, bud,” she called to him, wishing Spencer hadn’t met a woman at the beach yesterday and asked her to breakfast. It wasn’t like their relationship would last through the weekend, since he lived and worked hours from River Bay.
But neither he nor Cassandra seemed to care about that. He’d promised he’d be back by lunchtime, but Ginger had her doubts.
A sigh slipped through her lips as she tried to focus back on her screen. Her attention had been wandering after only a few seconds for days now, and she still hadn’t heard anything from the River Bay facility, Nate’s lawyer, or Nate himself.
She told herself it had only been a day and a half, and she could stay in the hotel as long as necessary. The ranch waited only a few hours southwest of here, and Ginger could easily take everyone home too. But she wanted to be here—and Connor had to be with her—the moment she got the call.
In her experience, the BOP didn’t usually call until things were already in motion, and that didn’t allow for a three-hour drive. She didn’t want Nate to have to wait one more moment to be reunited with Connor, and selfishly, she wanted to see him as soon as possible too.
She glanced at her phone, but it didn’t ring or flash. No messages. No calls. Nothing.
“Watch, Ginger,” Connor called, and Ginger looked toward the little boy. He sat on the side of the pool now and started kicking his legs and churning up the water when he was sure she was looking at him.
“Wow,” she said, infusing a lot of false enthusiasm into her voice. “Go faster, Connor.”
His face scrunched in concentration as he tried to make his little legs move quicker. Ginger giggled at him and added, “Don’t hurt yourself, Connor.”
The splashing stopped, and Ginger practically lunged toward her phone when it rang. But it wasn’t Greg or Lawrence or Warden Dickerson. “Hey, Emma,” she said, still using that fake tone. “What’s up?”
“I don’t want you to freak out,” Emma said, and that caused Ginger to start freaking out. “But, Jack just called in to say that Scalloped Potato was lying down in her stall this morning.”
“She’s going into labor,” Ginger said immediately. Her adrenaline kicked into gear at the same time her stomach dropped to the pool deck.
