Page 123 of The Redemption of Remy St. Claire

Greeted at the front door by a smiling waitress, Remy held up two fingers. “Do you have a booth?”

Taking in Sissy’s bedraggled appearance, the waitress hesitated for a moment. “This way.”

The woman led them to the booth and while Remy sat, Sissy hesitated. “I’m going to the ladies’ room.” She turned to the waitress. “Can I get a hot chocolate?” Not waiting for a reply, she left.

“Of course.” The waitress seemed momentarily fazed.

Although Remy wanted to apologize for Sissy’s rudeness, she didn’t see the point. Instead, she shrugged. “I’ll also take a hot chocolate.”

Seemingly mollified, the waitress moved off—leaving Remy questioning her own sanity. She could’ve driven right by. She could’ve pretended she hadn’t seen the lone figure on the side of the highway. But her conscience would’ve niggled at her, and she would never have forgiven herself if something had happened to Rusty’s ex-wife.

The former Mrs. Stevens and the present Mrs. Stevens at the same table. Rusty’d have a conniption fit. She glanced at her purse. A quick call to her husband would be the prudent thing to do. She was reaching for the phone when the waitress brought the drinks, and then Sissy was back.

Remy sighed. What would she have told him anyway? No reassurances would put his mind at ease. He thought she was at work, so she had time to do…whatever it was she was doing.

Sissy sat down across from her and reached for the warm drink, wrapping her hands around it. She eyed Remy. “Why are you doing this?”

A good question.Why was she doing this? Because something was wrong, and like a good investigator and prosecutor, she wanted to know what. She didn’t take things at face value. How to answer Sissy’s question? “I thought maybe we could talk.”

“What is there to talk about?” Sissy’s hands shook.

Remy suppressed the urge to demand if the woman really was clean.She’s cold.Just because shelookedlike she was coming down off something, didn’t make it so.

The waitress came over, stopping her train of thought.

“What can I get for you ladies?”

Remy hadn’t even glanced at the menu. “Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad.”

“Spaghetti.”

The waitress picked up the menus. “I’ll place that order.”

“I want to make sure you’re okay.”Because I need to know you’re not coming after my husband.

“Like you care.” Sissy instantly looked contrite. “I’m sorry, that was out of line. I’m being rude, and that’s not really who I am.” She took a sip of her drink. “Not that you’d know. I’ve only ever shown you my bad side. I have a good side, you know. I am a good person. Or at least I used to be.” She didn’t meet Remy’s gaze, instead looking out over the parking lot and the teeming rain.

In her mind, Remy’d built Sissy up to be a monster. That’d been the only way she could justify fighting to take away the woman’s parental rights. If she allowed that Sissy was a good person, that’d preclude the harsh actions they’d undertaken. But the woman wasn’t a one-dimensional figure. Rusty’d once loved and married her. He was a good judge of character, and he would never have married a monster.

She took a deep breath. “I know you’re a good person, Sissy. None of us is claiming anything to the contrary. Your actions concerned us—not your intentions. I know you never meant to hurt people, but you did.” She watched the other woman push damp curls from her eyes. “Do you understand why we had to do this?”

Sissy hesitated before nodding. “I just wish I could go back and change the past. All of it. Erase all of it. Make it like it never happened. But I can’t, can I?”

Remy shook her head, but acknowledged the desire. There were moments she’d do anything to undo, but that was the thing about life. Nobody could get a do-over. Each person had to live with both one’s actions and their consequences.

“I had to come today.”

“What were you hoping to accomplish?”

Yet another apathetic shrug. Each one was more terrifying.

“I wanted to see for myself that Mira will be okay. That people who love each other will surround and love her. I—”

The arrival of their food cut off anything else she might have said.

She offered a somewhat genial smile and a quiet, “Thank you.”

She received a grin in response. “My pleasure. You look a little drier.”

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