Unfortunately for the father, I was very, very good at my job and had just wiped the floor with him and his attorney. I’d gotten everything my client asked for, which included her ex-husband losing all parental rights to their nine-year-old son. It wasn’t that my client was the best parent in the world, or actually concerned about her kid. The little boy was the only thing her ex had shown the slightest interest in fighting for, so she’d latched on and thrown everything into keeping father and son apart. Like I said, she was a snake.
Right now I was wondering if I was any better. I cast a look out of the corner of my eye to the man silently seething on the other side of the courtroom. Our eyes met briefly, and I had to look away almost immediately. If looks could kill, he’d have to arrest himself for murder. He hated me.
It shouldn’t hurt, but it did.
Because Case Lawton had always been that guy.
You know the one. The guy who was always taller, bigger, stronger, faster, smarter, and more handsome than any other. He was witty, unfailingly polite, and full of good ole southern charm. He seemed completely untouchable, unstoppable. He never had a problem getting whatever it was he wanted, be it a football championship, a nearly perfect score on his SATs, or the prettiest girl in the entire county. His constant good fortune and the ease with which he had the entire small town of Loveless, Texas eating out of the palm of his hand should’ve been annoying. It should have built up loads of resentment in the rest of us who didn’t have the same kind of unwavering luck.
It never did though. Because it was no secret that, as perfect as Case’s life had looked on the outside, on the inside, it was far from flawless. Case’s father was the sheriff of Loveless. He was also a bully who used his position and his badge to abuse the locals. He had a very loose definition of law and order. Rumors had floated around for years that Sheriff Lawton was a bigger criminal than half the people he put away. No one missed how Case tried to make up for all of his father’s blatant shortcomings. It was almost as if he was trying to save the entire Lawton name from disgrace, and because he was that guy, most of the people in town applauded his effort and encouraged him to be the very best of all of us.
But everyone, including me, knew Case wanted to leave Loveless right after graduation. He had a football scholarship locked down for a Big Ten school up north, and he didn’t hide that he was ready to leave Texas, and his father, far behind.
It was right before graduation when his precariously built house of cards came tumbling down around him, and Case fell from grace in the way only idols and gods can.
His mother passed away suddenly. He broke his leg in two places during the last game of the season. His father lost all the restraint he pretended to have, and all the Lawton siblings started showing up to school with obvious bruises and marks all over them. And last but not least, the prettiest girl in the county ended up pregnant. There would be no escape, no bigger and better things for Case Lawton. He joined the military days after graduation and minutes after putting a ring on the finger of the girl who’d effectively trapped him. He served his four years and returned to Loveless harder, colder, and so much angrier than before. He also came back to a very young wife who was practically a stranger and to a son who hardly recognized him. The rushed marriage was not one anyone would call happy.
Instead of being the town’s favored son, he was no different from any of the other young men who couldn’t find their way out of the city limits. Soon, Case gave up all pretense of ever wanting more and went to work as a deputy for his father in the Sheriff’s Department.
I didn’t have a logical reason as to why his giving up affected me so deeply—all I knew was that it did. I’d harbored a passionate infatuation with Case from the first moment I saw him. My family moved to Loveless from Chicago my freshman year of high school. To say I was a fish out of water in the small Texas town was an understatement. I stood out like a sore thumb, had trouble making friends and fitting in. I mostly kept to myself, watching the new people and the world around me. Case was impossible to miss, so he immediately became the center of all my focus. Obviously, he never noticed me or returned my avid attraction, but I didn’t mind. I was so used to being ignored, I might die if I ended up in the center of his attention.
After high school, while Case was busy doing exactly what everyone expected, I was doing the opposite. I graduated from law school and decided to move back to Loveless, even though my parents had long since retired and moved to Florida. When I went away to college, my father fully expected me to go into environmental law, the way he had. But I wanted to help families and kids, those who felt left behind and discarded. I was there for the underdogs, not the winners, and eventually, I ended up lost inside my own status quo, building a business, getting married, trying to start a family, and finally feeling like I belonged in the adopted small town I proudly called home.
It was all going pretty smoothly, if not boringly and predictably, until the day I happened to be at the wrong place at the right time.
I was walking into the Sheriff’s Department to speak with one of my clients. She was a young woman who was a victim of domestic violence. Case’s father had arrested her instead of her husband, even though she was the one with black eyes and a broken nose. It just so happened I was walking up the steps and Case was walking down when a process server shoved a set of familiar documents into a surprised Case’s hands.
“You’ve been served, Deputy Lawton.”
I knew they were divorce papers before Case did. I’d sent plenty of them out in my few years practicing. I should’ve kept moving—my client needed me—but I couldn’t get my feet to cooperate. Instead, I was frozen on the spot as Case read through the pages and pages of documents, pale blue eyes widening in an almost comical way as he learned exactly how done with him his wife was.
When he got to the last page, he lifted his head and looked right at me. I doubted he even realized I was there, but when he whispered, “She wants to take my boy,” I couldn’t stop myself from reaching out and putting a hand on his tense forearm. It was the first time I’d ever been brave enough to touch him.
“It’ll be fine. Get a good lawyer.” It was the advice I would give to anyone in his shoes. And, by a good lawyer, I obviously meant myself, but we didn’t know each other well enough for me to be that bold. He still intimidated the hell out of me, and I still questioned his sincerity and trustworthiness, since he knowingly went to work for a crook like his father.
In a split second the man morphed from a confused spouse and scared father to a fire-breathing dragon. He shook my hand off his arm and glowered at me from underneath lowered, dark brows.
“Do I know you?” His tone was icy and every line in his big body locked as if he was ready for a fight.
I fell back a step. Again, it shouldn’t hurt to be so forgettable and unremarkable, but it did. “I’m Aspen Barlow. We went to high school together.”
His eyebrows twitched, and his mouth shifted to an emotionless line. “The weird girl who moved here from New York? That’s you?”
I bristled and locked down any scrap of emotion that might betray how badly his words stung. I’d lived here for years, built up a solid reputation. I thought I was finally fitting in and had shaken the “weird girl” reputation.
“Yep. That’s me, the weird girl, but I moved here from Chicago, not New York.” I nodded to the papers in his hand. “Trust me. Don’t fight her without a good attorney. Courts always tend to give mothers the benefit of the doubt.” I was speaking from experience.
“What do you know about it?” Case sounded confused. I felt for the guy, especially considering his marriage was about to implode.
“More than I want to. I’m a family attorney. Divorces and custody agreements make up about eighty percent of my case list.” I jumped down a full step, not easy in heels, mind you, when he let out a bark of disbelieving laughter.
“People actually let you represent them? Most lawyers in town grew up here. I’ll go w
ith one of them. They have to know there’s no way Becca is a better parent to Hayes than I am. Thanks for your advice, but I’ve got this.” He rolled the papers into a tight tube and stuck them in the back pocket of his tan uniform. Face set in a scowl, he walked away without another word, dismissing me as inconsequential.
I thought it was all said and done until the senior partner at my practice, who also happened to be my father-in-law, walked into my office and informed me I would be representing Becca Lawton in her divorce.
Before I could tell him there was a conflict of interest, Becca Lawton was sitting in front of me, airing years of dirty laundry between her and Case. She wanted to bury the poor man. She wanted everything he had. And she really, really wanted to break his heart by taking away his son. She did have some valid points. Case worked too much. Drank too much. He had an unpredictable temper, and his family was a volatile mess. She suspected he was unfaithful, but there was no proof of it. Mostly, she was tired of pretending to be happily married when she was anything but. She claimed she wasted her youth on Case, and her resentment was evident.
It was on the tip of my tongue to tell her I couldn’t represent her. Sure, Case had issues, but nothing worthy of separating father and son permanently. But then she looked me dead in the eye and told me she could convince the court Case was abusive if she needed to. It made my blood run cold. She was vindictive and sympathetic at the same time. If she ended up in the hands of a less scrupulous attorney they would take her offer and run with it, so I pushed every reservation I had down and promised her I would get her everything she wanted. I promised myself I could do it without completely ruining Case’s image and dragging his name through the mud.
Case foolishly hired an old football buddy, an attorney I knew relied more on charm and flashy theatrics in court, rather than on any actual skill. I almost felt sorry for him. Almost. If he hadn’t smirked at me like his victory was guaranteed the first day, I might have even extended more effort into trying to convince Becca to be reasonable. Instead, we battled it out for months and months, and in the end, it was Case’s father who finally swayed the judge to give Becca everything she asked for.
It seemed Sheriff Lawton thought he could use his usual intimidation tactics on the presiding judge. Threats were made, weight was thrown around, and for once, the patriarch of the Lawton clan ran up against someone who wasn’t scared of him. The judge was concerned about young Hayes being under the influence of such a morally questionable man. He advised Case to take a good hard look at his life choices over the next year, and the case was closed.
At least it was supposed to be.
I should’ve known a guy like Case Lawton wasn’t going to let such a catastrophic loss go without a word.
When I noticed he was waiting in the hallway, I foolishly hoped it was for his former spouse. When Becca breezed by him with a tiny wave and a wink, his entire face flushed and his cheeks turned a furious red. I told myself to keep moving, my job here was done.
His massive arms crossed over his wide chest, and his eyes cut through me like twin lasers.
“Are you happy? Do you feel good about what just happened, weird girl?” His words were cutting and blunt.
I cleared my throat, tightened my hand on the handle of my briefcase, and refused to flinch away from the absolutely murderous look in his eyes.
“I told you to get a good lawyer, Mr. Lawton.” I kept my voice calm, but the sarcasm in my tone was unmistakable. I wasn’t a woman prone to sass, or particularly standing up for myself, but something about him pushed every button I had.
He growled an ugly string of swear words in my direction and leaned forward. He loomed over me, and I had to suppress a full-body shiver.
“You ruined my life, Aspen Barlow. Everything that matters to me you’ve ripped away. I would give what little I have left for you to have never stepped foot in this town. You better hope to God our paths don’t cross again.” He gave me one last scathing look before marching off down the hall, rage evident in his stride.
After that day it was common knowledge that Case and I were enemies. I went out of my way to avoid him, and he made it a point to make my life a living hell whenever the opportunity arose.
If there was one person I didn’t expect to lean on when my own house of cards went up in flames a few years later, it was the newly appointed sheriff, Case Lawton.
About the Author
Jay Crownover is the international and multiple New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the Marked Men Series, the Saints of Denver Series, the Point Series, the Breaking Point Series, and the Getaway Series. Her books have been translated in many different languages all around the world. She is a tattooed, crazy-haired Colorado native who lives at the base of the Rockies with her awesome dogs. This is where she can frequently be found enjoying a cold beer and Taco Tuesdays. Jay is a self-declared music snob and outspoken book lover who is always looking for her next adventure, between the pages and on the road.
Learn more:
www.jaycrownover.com
Twitter @JayCrownover
Facebook.com/AuthorJayCrownover
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