Page 91 of Rules to Love By

“Do you want to fight him?” Lucky asked.

“I didn’t think I did. But now? Everything out of his mouth to the cops last night was a lie. I can’t let him get away with that, alone. Plus I’ve seen what he’s let happen to it. And now it’s not even weather-tight. It would kill Aunt Iris to see it like this. If she wasn’t already… well.” He waved a hand. “Dead.”

“You know we’re all behind you, right?”

“Even if I decide to let it go?”

“Whatever you decide.”

“I don’t know how I’m ever going to repay you for any of this.”

Kreed turned from the grill to lay a hand on Lucky’s shoulder. “You don’t owe us anything.”

“But a lawyer? That’s a lot of money.”

“Look. You aren’t the first person to come through here needing legal advice, and I doubt you’ll be the last. That’s why we have him on retainer.”

“Still, I appreciate it so much.”

“All part of the service,” Kreed said. He took him by the shoulders and turned him towards the office. “Now go talk to Schiffer. I promise you, he’ a good guy. He’ll help us get this sorted.”

He really wanted to have as much enthusiasm as the rest of them did. But how often had he tried to trust the system that consistently failed to have his back?

Tris met him at the door and hugged him hard. “This guy’s the real deal, Marc,” he whispered.

“Yeah?”

“Stewart’s in jail, isn’t he? And so’s the guy who hurt Lucky and Rod and Kristie. That’s down to him. He’ll help you too. He actually does care.”

Marcus nodded, then pushed through the door, letting it swing shut behind him. It was hard not to wish one of them—okay, Eli—was there with him, holding his hand. But maybe, if he was going to even think about getting the diner back, the first step was making sure he was strong enough to keep it. And that started with fighting Johnathan on his own. If he couldn’t even defend himself when he’d done nothing wrong, then he didn’t deserve the diner, and probably couldn’t handle it anyway.

By the time he’d related the entire tale to the lawyer, Marcus was shaking, his stomach had tied itself into knots, and his wish for Eli’s comforting presence was almost more than he could withstand.

“Take a breath,” Schiffer said in a quiet tone that wasn’t lawyerly at all.

Marcus nodded, wishing it was that simple.

“The good news is you have truth on your side.”

“You believe me?”

“I believe you. I happen to be a pretty good judge of people, and you are not the kind of man who goes around throwing bricks through windows.” He smiled. “Even if I didn’t have that sense for myself, I know Lucky and Kreed, and they would not back you if you were.”

Again, Marcus nodded, scrubbing his hands over his jeans and rocking slightly. “What now?”

“As I told the officers, I will make an appointment for you to go talk to them—”

“You’ll be there?”

“I will.”

That sent a sigh of relief through Marcus. “Good.”

“I won’t tell you there’s nothing to worry about, but I will say it’s up to them to put you in the right place at the right time for any of the things your uncle is accusing you of.” He shrugged. “I don’t see that happening.”

“So… that’s good, then, right?”

“It’s where we want to be, yes.”

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