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“You’ve been quiet.” I tilted my head. “Come to think of it, you’ve been absent too.”
“This isn’t the end, Pepper.” She lifted her tired gaze to mine. “It’s a temporary truce.”
I plopped into the other chair. “I know.”
The momentary hope that had planted itself deep within me began to evaporate. It couldn’t be this simple. Teague had done what his father asked.
When would that no longer be enough to keep him satisfied?
“I went to see him.”
I sat up straight. “What?”
“I thought—it was a fool’s game, but I thought I could talk some sense into that man.” She drummed the desk. “There is no reasoning with him.”
Anyone who could kick a dog had no heart, or at least not one that wasn’t rotten.
“You shouldn’t have gone to see him. Not alone. Now without telling anyone.” Fear fueled the volume of my voice. “He could’ve hurt you.”
She blinked at me in surprise. I’d never yelled at her before. What she’d done was plain stupid. I don’t know what I’d have done if something had happened to her.
“I had to try,” she said with far more calm than I felt.
I took in a deep breath, trying to steady the turbulent emotions tossing about inside me.
“I wish you’d told me,” I said once I felt a little more in control.
We were a team. We should’ve worked out a strategy together. But I didn’t blame her for going all in to try to stop this chaos.
“Oh. This envelope came for you. With everything going on, I forgot.” She offered me the overnight package.
“I haven’t ordered anything,” I said as I took it. “What did you offer Teague’s father? You had to bargain with him with something.”
She refused to meet my gaze. “It’s not important. He’s unreasonable.”
Stubborn woman. She’d never tell me even if I interrogated her all night.
I checked the return label on the envelope.
Wood and Wood Attorneys at Law Cope, South Carolina.
A pit formed in my stomach. I tried not to think of Cope and all it symbolized very often. Only when I needed a reminder of how far I fell and how far I’d come.
My hands trembled as I stared at the envelope. I hadn’t done anything illegal. Why would a lawyer send me this?Howdid anyone from Cope find me?
“Are you gonna open that? Unless they’ve invented something I don’t know about, I don’t think it’s going to do it itself.”
Finally, the first trace of normalcy from Miss Adeline in . . . I couldn’t remember when.
“It’s not an early edition of the fireman’s calendar,” I shot back, relaxing a bit.
“Hmph. Since you have an in, I figured I’d be the first to have one in my hot little hands.” She did jazz hands, and I laughed.
“And with your in, I thought you’d be directing the photo shoot.”
She pointed at me. “That’s not a bad idea.” She pushed out of the chair. Millie stood along with her.
“It’s from South Carolina.”
