Page 64 of Mistletoe and Malice
“Yeah.” She sighed. “I need to let him know there’s no future for us. But I know he’ll think it’s because of …”
He waited for her to finish. “Because of what?”
“Nothing. I just don’t think he’ll understand. But I need to do it. And I will.”
“Good luck.”
“I’m going to need it. I’m not good at things like this.”
“Because you’re too nice.”
“Oh, you think so?” she replied with a chuckle before swiping a cookie from the tray.
“When you’re not in court, that is. Hallie showed me a video the other day of you going after a guy on the stand during your last trial.”
“Well, he lied. Straight out. At the first trial.” She took a bite of her sugar cookie. “Fingered our guy and the so-called witness wasn’t even in town that day. If it hadn’t been for his testimony, our client wouldn’t have spent a day in jail, much less six years.”
“Forty minutes of jury deliberations. Unbelievable.”
“A new record for me.” She smiled and held out the platter to a man in a business suit leaving the room. “Thank you so much for coming.”
The man took a cookie from the tray with a nod.
“I’m hoping for as good an outcome for Shane. His defense team pretty much phoned it in. Makes me nuts when I see lazy representation. Now I’ve got a guy sitting in prison for a murder he didn’t commit. If we only had an inkling who it might’ve been.”
His gaze took another pass around the room as two more donors walked in. “You feel pretty strongly about him. His innocence, I mean.”
“I do. I know I shouldn’t gamble so much on my gut, but I never felt certain he did it. Even that day you and I met, the day of the funeral. Everybody was talking about him, but I couldn’t reconcile it. Of course, her father being on the bench himself didn’t help. Probably another reason the defense was so pathetic. Nobody wants to get on the wrong side of Judge Mulaney.”
“Except you, apparently.”
She winced but recovered quickly with a smile for the couple leaving. “You have to speak up for the truth, or why bother? I’m not in this for me, and there’s no reason this really nice guy who had a great life mapped out in front of him should do somebody else’s time. I’ll take whatever heat comes with it, but you have to stand for something or get out of the way.”
He smiled down at her. She was beautiful even all fired up. It had been fun, not to mention eye-opening, watching her in lawyer mode on that video. She might be tiny, but she had a fierce will. “You’re good at what you do. Everything you do.”
“So are you.”
Trevor appeared in the doorway. “Hey, guys. No more line at registration. Ri, do you want the ladies out here to wait for any latecomers or pack it up?”
She checked her watch. “Oh, my. We’re an hour over already. I didn’t realize that. Let’s go ahead and call it.” She offered Trevor the cookie tray. “Take this up for you, Paul, and the girls. Thanks for all your help today.”
“A pleasure.” He took the tray. “I’ll let the ladies know we’re shutting it down.”
Back at the estate that afternoon, Colton dismissed the other two after discussing the next day’s schedule. He walked upstairsand peered into Riley’s suite, where she stood with her back to him, leafing through a stack of mail forwarded from her home address.
Leaning against the doorway, he watched her for a moment. It pulled at his heart she would never return to that stunning home she’d made for herself. A sanctuary, she’d called it, now scarred forever with the memory of its decimation.
How he wished he could offer her more than the protection dictated by the parameters of his job. She deserved everything she seemed to believe she hadn’t earned. Is that why she worked so hard? To prove her worth beyond simply being a Hudson?
If so, she’d done that in spades, and then some.
“You did a good thing today, Riley.”
“No. All of those people who showed up did a good thing today.” She glanced over her shoulder at him. “I just gave them the opportunity to do what was already in their hearts. That’s what charity work is about. Giving those who have a chance to give to those who don’t. I don’t care what it is.”
“You’ll be happy to know I’ve put together my board. My sister, Theresa’s brother, and her best friend. Barbara also expressed an interest, so I asked her. And a couple of others you don’t know. Friends of mine who went through all of that with me. They were all there today, but I didn’t get a chance to introduce you.”
“That’s fantastic. I’m excited to hear that.”
