AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Come on.” She gestured for him to come toward her.
After another quick glance over his shoulder, Clayton strode toward the front of the courtroom. Normally, he wouldn’t dare set foot on a judge’s bench, but this woman had him all twisted inside.
It was a little strange being back here. He stared at the platform for a long second before taking a step up. Then he was looking out over the courtroom, seeing things from the judge’s point of view for the first time ever.
“No,” he said out loud. “That isn’t right.”
Georgia had stepped aside but was still standing next to him, her arms crossed in front of her. He was surprised to see her watching him when he turned to look at her. Then he remembered he’d just blurted out something in response to his thoughts. She had no idea what he was talking about.
“I was thinking this was my first time ever up here, looking at things from the judge’s perspective,” he rushed to explain. “But I’ve been in the judge’s seat before today.”
“You’re not technically in the seat.” She gestured toward the empty chair.
He nodded. “Good point. In college, we did mock trials. It wasn’t nearly this fancy of a setup, but I sat in the witness box more than a few times.”
“Witness box?”
She looked behind her. Yeah, there wasn’t really a “witness box” in this courtroom, just a chair with a small table in front of it. A microphone was attached to the table with a button next to it.
“I imagine this was the original setup,” Clayton said, looking around. “We really should upgrade this courthouse to match the city’s growth.”
Georgia laughed. “We might actually have real cases here.”
“Real crime. Unfortunately, yes, that’s possible if we keep growing. I’m not a criminal attorney, though, so I’ll still be here, trying personal injury accidents and?—”
“Land disputes,” she said.
He looked at her then. Really looked at her. She was smiling, but her eyes were intense. She was worried.
“It’s going to be fine,” he said, turning to face her. Anything he could do to reduce those slight worry lines at the top of her nose. “We just have to take a look at what the boys offer and have your family counteroffer. He shrugged. “In the end, we come to an agreement.”
Georgia laughed. “Have you met my brothers?”
“No, actually I haven’t.”
Where had that come from? He had no plans to say anything of the sort, but she asked. And now, her worried expression had turned to a confused one. So he decided to spill all. He’d never discussed how he felt about being shunned by the Ludington family all these years.
“I didn’t even realize I was picking sides when I came to town,” he said. “I was a kid, really. I met Phoenix Knott in first period my first day, mentioned I was new to town, and he asked if I was looking for a job. The idea of having something just to help put food on the table sounded good. I needed the money. Next thing I know, an entire family wasn’t speaking to me because I was working for the Knotts.”
Georgia looked off to the side, hopefully thinking over his words. When she shifted her gaze back to him, he felt that unmistakable pull. He wanted to kiss her. In fact, he’d never wanted anything more in his life.
“It wasn’t by choice,” she said. “From the time we were old enough to walk, we knew not to speak to the Knott family. Not to even look at them. It’s silly, I know. You have no idea what the history is.”
She was right. He had no idea what the history was. Why was there such beef between the two families? It couldn’t be that old man Ludington plopped the house down on property that belonged to the Knotts. They didn’t know that until recently. Unless the grandparents knew and just passed the hate down.
“We don’t know, either,” Georgia said, letting out a sigh. “If we tried to ask, we were shut down.”
Clayton didn’t know what to say to that. He couldn’t imagine being forbidden to speak to someone without any reason why whatsoever. But kids didn’t really have the freedom to question their parents.
“It’s silly.” She shook her head. “We live next door to each other, technically, but we couldn’t even speak to each other.”
“I didn’t really care about speaking to any of your brothers,” Clayton said. “It was you. That’s what bothered me.”
There. It was out. It wasn’t like he’d been hiding it all this time. When would it have possibly come up in conversation? They weren’t even allowed to speak, and she’d honored that rule…until recently.
“What do you mean?” Her voice was slightly breathy, and she was staring at him with an intensity he’d never seen from her before. Was it possible Georgia Ludington wanted to kiss him as much as he wanted to kiss her?
“I guess you could say I’ve had a crush on you for a long time,” he said. The word “crush” sounded a little childish, so he corrected himself. “I’ve admired you for a long time—from a distance, of course. A very safe, acceptable distance. If one of your brothers had caught me so much as glancing in your direction, I probably would have been toast.”
