Page 48 of Second Chance for the Single Mom

Julie, my amazing paralegal, flashed a thumb’s up without looking up from her computer screen. “The full transcript, or just the relevant sections?”

I tapped my pen against the door frame. “Highlight anything that doesn’t match the footage. Also, can you draft a follow-up request for opposing counsel? We’re missing the keycard logs.”

“You got it, bossman,” she replied.

“What would I do without you?”

“Hire someone else.” She glanced up at me for a split second. “Someonedumber.”

“Everyone’s dumber than you,” I said.

“I’ll remember that when we have my performance review next month!”

I chuckled and returned to my office. I had to leave for court in ten minutes. I hadn’t had a chance to eat breakfast this morning, and my stomach rumbled insistently, so I opened a protein bar from my desk drawer. It onlykind oftasted like chalk.

Before I could finish it, my phone rang. “Lucas. To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“Just seeing if you’ve got plans tonight,” Lucas said. “I’m watching the new Dune movie.”

Lowering my voice, I said, “Are we actually going to watch a movie this time? Or is it going to turn into something more… adult?”

“Why, Shay,” Lucas said with fake-confusion, “what do you mean?”

“I’m in the office, so I have to watch my phrasing.”

“You’re good at that, being a lawyer and all. But no. Just a movie.”

I’d known Lucas since we were young. He was originally my brother’s friend, four years younger than me. As soon as I had my driver’s license, my parents made me drop off my brother—and Lucas—at their middle school on my way to high school. Over time, my brother and Lucas had a falling out… but I still liked him. And I could tell he looked to me as an older brother figure.

So I felt an obligation to call him out when I thought he was doing something stupid.

“Have you talked to Haley since that night?” I asked.

There was a pause on the line. “What do you mean? Why would I talk to her?” Lucas asked.

Yep. He was getting defensive. I’d touched a nerve, which proved my suspicion. I saw it as clearly as if it were a witness being cross-examined on the stand.

“It’s okay if you moved back to Vancouver to try and rekindle things with Haley,” I said carefully. “I wouldn’t blame you. She seems like a great girl, based on my small sample size from that one night.”

“I didn’t move back for her.” Lucas sounded exhausted, like he’d been having this argument already. Probably with Jordan.

All I said was, “Okay.”

“We’re actually having lunch today,” he added.

“Oh?”

“I ran into her at the grocery store. Totally random. We chatted a little bit, and I asked her to lunch.”

“All right. I’ll ask the obvious question. Is it a date?”

“I honestly don’t know.”

I tapped my pen against the desk. It helped me think.

“I know you don’t believe in fate,” I said carefully, “but surely you have to admit this is a sign.”

Lucas groaned. “Not this again.”

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