Justice Is Always Ready (A Graham Family Story, 1) (24 page)

“
Yes,” he blurted out.
“There is no doubt within me that this is what I want.”

She held his gaze for a few moments,
her green eyes exhausted but sharp. “Okay. Now even before you get
before the judge I’ll tell you, they want to make sure you have a
good enough setup to care for her. You have a place where she can
have her own room?”

“
Yes. I can show you my
apartment and if you think I need something different, let me know
and I’ll begin looking immediately. I’m willing to do whatever
necessary to keep Torrie as my own.”

“
Okay, let’s do that. We
can talk more there.”

“
Great.”

When Carly left his apartment, he was
feeling better than he had since he listened to the message from
Kassidy. He had a chance to have Torrie. All that could make it
better would be to share it with her. But his calls to both numbers
went unanswered again. And it went like that for the next three
weeks. She wasn’t at the library when he went, and she never
answered the door nor took his calls.

He met a few of his friends for a late
dinner one night at a local chain restaurant. As they walked out,
he spotted her leaving a shop across the street with her father.
“I’ll catch y’all later,” he said before dashing across.

“
Kassidy! Mr. Barrow,” he
said as he pulled up beside them.

“
Hello again, Justice,”
Ethan welcomed him. Kassidy didn’t say anything.

He couldn’t tear his gaze from her.
Even in the glow of the streetlight she was the most gorgeous thing
he’d ever laid eyes upon. Her thick hair sat below a multihued
stocking cap and those big gray with green orbs she called eyes
stared back at him. Her cheeks had an endearing flush to
them.

“
How have you been?”
Kassidy’s father asked.

“
Fine, sir, thank you for
asking. And yourself?” He continued to stare at Kassidy.

“
Taking it one day at a
time.”

“
Kassidy?”

He could see it in her eyes, the
desire to touch him but as quickly as it raised its head, it
disappeared.

“
Nice to see you, Justice.
We… we… should be going. Goodbye.” She wheeled around and scurried
on her way. “Come on, dad.”

Ethan looked between the two of them
with confusion in his expression. “Good to see you again,
son.”

“
Yes, sir.”

He kept watch on Kassidy as she ran
from him. She slowed at the corner and paused. When her father
caught up to her, she cast a glance over her shoulder. It may have
just been his imagination but he believed he saw some tears in her
eyes. Then she was gone. Vanished into the night.

It seemed someone had taken a knife
and stabbed him in the gut before twisting it a few times for good
measure. It was over. Kassidy left with barely a word for him. He
felt sick all the way back to his place.

“
What did you say about no
one being hurt, Kassidy?” he asked his quiet apartment. “Because I
damn sure feel hurt.”

He went through days on automatic.
Torrie made him smile and he tried a few more times to get through
to Kassidy, but there was nothing coming from her. No response. No
anything. There wasn’t anything anyone could say that would make
him feel better. Bottom line was, he hurt. And despite everything,
he knew he still loved her.

He remembered Miz Dottie’s
words about how Kassidy would turn inward. So maybe,
maybe
there was still
hope. Forcing her to the back of his mind, he focused on his
upcoming court date and making sure he had everything he could in
his favor.

* * * *

Kassidy sat with Arlen and her father
at her house. Sari was playing on the floor with Libby. Pizza sat
on the coffee table and an unusual appearance of snow fell outside,
hiding the city in a blanket of white.

“
What are you doing, Kas?”
her father asked her.

“
About what,
dad?”

“
Justice. What is going on
with you two? You barely said a thing to him when we saw him in the
street and then you walked away from him. Which one, was rude, and
two, totally unlike you.”

“
We’re not dating
anymore.” The words hurt to say.

“
Why?” he asked. A
question echoed by Arlen.

“
I just…” She closed her
mouth with a shrug, unsure of what to say.

“
Does this have to do with
your mom’s death?”

She wanted to lie and say something
like she and Justice just weren’t a good fit but she couldn’t. So
she nodded in silence. Her dad and Arlen shared a look and in the
next second, Arlen, Sari, and Libby were all bundled up and had
gone outside to play in the snow, leaving her alone with her
father.

He moved the pizza to the
side and sat on the coffee table before he reached for and captured
her hands in his. “I was afraid that had something to do with it.
Listen to me, baby girl, and listen well. Don’t live your life in
fear of what
might
happen. I don’t want that for you and I know your mother
wouldn’t.”

“
Why didn’t she tell me
she had Lupus?”

“
Kassidy, do you remember
in school when that little boy was diagnosed with mono, and you
spent the next four months obsessing over the fact you may get it.
You’ve always been like that with sickness. She didn’t want you to
worry. You go to the doctor and are very careful. I know you’re
hurt by the fact we kept it from you but she didn’t want you to
worry or baby her.”

It hurt her to admit it, but he had a
good point. “Okay,” she said with a sigh.

“
Now, why are you and
Justice no longer together?”

She didn’t answer.

“
Your mama loved life,
Kassidy, and would want you to do the same. Grab happiness and make
it your own.” He squeezed her hands. “I don’t know what’s going on
with you and Justice, but if you’re running away just because
you’re scared of what may be in the future, you’re going to be
alone. I don’t want you to be alone. I want to know that you have
someone in your life who loves you so much he will do anything for
you. And I think we both know who that is.”

The thought of losing her
father hurt her heart.
So does the thought
of never being with Justice again.
“I’ve
ignored him for three weeks, daddy. I don’t know if there is
anything to salvage.”

“
Nothing worth having is
easy, darling. You need to fight. Remember it’s better to have
loved and lost than never to have loved at all.”

“
Would you do it again,
daddy? Even knowing this would happen?”

He reached out and tucked some hair
behind her ear. “In a heartbeat, Kassidy. In a heartbeat. The years
I spent with your mom were the best of my life. I will always love
her. True, she was taken from us too soon but the love we had for
one another transcends all that. I know she’s waiting for me. I’ve
had my chance at love, Kassidy. Don’t run from yours, go get
it.”

She blinked and licked her lips. He
kissed her on the cheek and ruffled her hair like he used to do
when she was a child. The door opened and Libby came back in with
Arlen and Sari in tow. The wet nose shoved against her made her
laugh and squeal, shutting her eyes against the coldness. She
shivered and opened her eyes to find Sari there with a small
snowball in hand.

“
What are you doing with
that?” she asked.

“
Daddy said to give it to
you.”

Lifting a brow in Arlen’s direction,
she said, “Did he now?”

“
Uh huh. He wanted me to
put it down your neck but then you wouldn’t be able to see how
pretty it was.”

Masculine laughter filled her living
room and she smiled. Hard to argue with the logic of a
child.

“
I think your daddy wants
to have a snowball fight.” She winked at Sari. “Let me get my coat
on and we’ll go.”

“
Yes!” Sari yelled and
bounced around.

Before long everyone was out in the
yard having fun playing in the snow, including her dad. Libby ran
between everyone jumping and chasing any snowball thrown for her.
After everyone had left, she sat cross-legged on the sofa with the
phone in her hand.

Don’t run from yours, go
get it
. Her dad’s words ran like a litany
through her mind. With a groan she dropped the phone beside her and
hugged a pillow to her chest.
A wuss, I’m
a wuss.

Wimp works too,
her subconscious informed her.

“
It sure does,” she
muttered in disgust. “Tomorrow. I’ll call him tomorrow.”

Her night was restless and she didn’t
feel all that confident in the morning when she woke. She let Libby
out and got ready for her day. Around eight-thirty she lifted
herself up on the kitchen counter and dialed Justice’s cell. It
went to voicemail so she hung up without leaving a message and with
a swallow to help fortify her nerves she dialed his home phone.
Same thing. No answer.

She sighed and left for work. Lucy met
her for dinner and afterward they went out to a movie, just to
relax and spend time together. They headed to a diner for some
dessert where she filled Lucy in on everything.

Lucy chewed slowly on her bite of
cheesecake, her head tilted at an angle so the style of her hair
covered her eyes. Kassidy waited for her to say
something.

“
Seems to me you need to
go hunt him down.”

“
It was just one day,
Luce. He has days where he doesn’t come home for at least
twenty-four hours.”

“
Okay, so then what’s the
problem?”

Leave it to Lucy to bypass
everything and get to the heart of the matter. “What
if

”

“
What if he treats you
like you did him?”

Exactly.
“Yes,” she said on a whisper.

“
I don’t know what to tell
you, Kas. I hope what I saw in him when he looked at you is still
there, but he is a man. You’ve shunned him for over three
weeks.”

“
I thought you were
supposed to be my friend,” she griped, stabbing her coconut
cake.

“
I am your friend, which
is exactly why I’m not gonna blow smoke up your butt. You hurt him,
Kas, you need to understand that.”

“
I was scared.”

“
Not saying you weren’t.
But I
am
saying
you need to explain this to him. I’m your friend and I’m always
behind you but I won’t sit here and sugarcoat what you have ahead
of you. He told you he loved you and you told him you needed to
take a break.”

She hung her head in shame. Her dad,
Arlen, and now Lucy had told her basically the same thing. She
screwed up and it was up to her to fix it.

“
I know,” she muttered. “I
know.”

“
Are we good?” Lucy
asked.

“
Of course we are, Luce. I
tell you things because I
know
you’ll tell me straight. No matter if it’s what I
want to hear or not. We’re good.”

“
Perfect, now, give me
some of your cake.”

Kassidy had a wonderful time and when
she made it back home there was a flicker of hope in her chest.
Hope that things could and would work out with Justice. He was the
one she wanted in her life. He’d been there for her through things
she couldn’t imagine having survived without him.

A smile filled her face and she knew
she would find a way to convince him she’d made a mistake in
pushing him away. That smile remained in place when she crawled
into bed. She woke feeling pumped full of renewed vigor. Making
sure not to call him too early in case he was sleeping, she waited
until about nine. Again, there was no answer on his cell phone and
feeling slightly disheartened she debated calling his
home.

“
Nothing like having a
face to face.”

Ensuring that Libby was fine, she
bundled up and dashed to her car. While the snow had vanished, it
was bitterly cold out. She drove to his apartment building, frowned
when she didn’t see his car but decided to take a chance anyway.
Climbing the stairs, she paused at his door and knocked.

It swung open and she found herself
not facing Justice but his mother, Dinah Graham, with Duke behind
her wagging his tail.

“
Kassidy?”

Words suddenly seemed hard to come by.
“Mrs. Graham, lovely to see you. I… I was wondering if Justice was
home.”

“
Come in here, child, it’s
too cold to be standing out there.”

She stepped in and rubbed Duke’s head
while Dinah closed the door. “Thank you. I take it he’s not
home?”

“
No, he’s not. Now,
normally I make it a practice to stay out of my children’s
relationships but you did a number on my boy and I don’t much
appreciate that. So what do you want to see him for?”

Kassidy understood her anger. “I
wanted to explain my stupidity and see if there was a chance for
us.”