Page 6 of Irresistible Second Chance

I nodded as I climbed in, “He was my neighbor.”

“And best friend,” he said climbing into the SUV behind me.

“More like annoying follower,” I mumbled.

He grinned, teasing me, “We were inseparable.”

“Only because you wouldn’t leave me alone.”

“You hated being alone.”

“Yeah, when I was ten.”

I could hear Jesenia laughing as she closed the door. “You two play nice,” she quipped.

I poked him, “Stop it. We’re about to meet up with our clients. Can you at least try to behave yourself?”

He gave me a teasing look that let me know he knew exactly what he was doing, “I am behaving.”

“Really, Chris?” I narrowed my eyes and poked him again, “Keep it up, and I’m going to tell your mom.”

He grabbed my hand, pushing it away from his face, but not letting go, “She’ll just cheer me on. You know she’s my biggest fan.”

In the darkness of the car, I laid my head against the headrest and looked at him, “How is your mom? I heard she had to get knee surgery.”

He winced, “Both knees,” finally letting go of my hand. For some reason, I hadn’t wanted him to let me go so soon.

“She’s been driving Dad crazy. She’s the worst patient mostly because she has no patience. She signed up to run a marathon.”

My eyes grew large, “Oh my God, are you kidding me? Is she trying to ruin her knees again?”

He nodded, “That seems to be her plan,” he said with a sigh, “But Dad has other plans. So, we’ll see who wins.” His voice hardened when he spoke about his father. It was subtle, but I knew Chris well. He didn’t get along with his dad. They never saw eye to eye on anything that really mattered. The only thing they had in common was that they both really loved Chris’ mom. If she weren’t in the picture, I wasn’t sure if the two would ever speak to each other.

“But enough about me. How soon will your divorce be finalized?”

I was taken aback. That’s the last thing I wanted to talk about. “Chris, we’re on our way to meet with our clients. Do you really think that I want to talk about my divorce now?”

“You want me to go break his car windshield? I still have a few friends from juvie.”

It was almost as if he hadn’t heard me at all. “Chris!”

“What?”

“You want another court appearance?” One of the reasons Chris butted heads with his father so much was that he was prone to getting into trouble. I was considered the good influence on Chris. When I had left for college and he had started high school, he had more than a few appearances with the juvenile court system for doing stupid things like tagging the side of a train or an abandoned building with what he called his “art.” It was graffiti, plain and simple. I happened to show up at one of his hearings and got a bit too emotional in court when I thought they were going to send Chris away. He’d gotten into a fight at a party. A party that had been attended by the mayor’s son who Chris had gotten into a fight with. It had been just a scuffle if you let Chris tell it, but the mayor had been vindictive and pressed charges. The judge had taken it easy on Chris, thankfully, and he was only sentenced to community service. And luckily, as a juvenile his records were sealed.

He laughed, “Do you plan to defend me again?”

“And get thrown out of the courtroom or worse?

“You were such a fireball that day,” he said thinking back.

“More like an idiot,” I said shaking my head.

He laughed, “I think that pre-law minor went to your head.”

I nodded, “I’m well aware that I was a delusional 21-year-old trying to defend a stupid 17-year-old.”

“Hey, I wasn’t stupid.”

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