Page 2 of Made For Me

She nods at me and turns around, walking out faster than ever, for fear I’ll change my mind. I sit back down in my chair and put my head back. “How did it go?” Rosalind asks, and I turn to look at her.

“She has fourteen days to straighten up,” I inform her. “I know we said that—”

Rosalind holds up her hand to stop me from talking. “This is your case, and you know best how to deal with it. I haven’t doubted you once since you’ve been working here.”

I take a deep inhale. “Thanks for the vote of confidence,” I say as she walks away laughing. “When does this get easier?”

She stops walking and turns around. “I’ve been doing this for over twenty years, and I still ask myself that every single day.” She shakes her head. “You will have good days and bad.” She smiles at me. “Cherish those.”

“Thanks,” I say as my phone vibrates on my desk. I turn it over to see Jillian, my twin sister, is FaceTiming me.

Pressing the green button, I see the circle going around while it says connecting. “Hello,” I greet, and my face lights up when I see my six-year-old nephew, Jamieson, on the screen. “Well, isn’t it the most handsome man in the whole world?” I love three people more than anything in the world, and those three people are my nephew and my two nieces. I would lay down my life for any of them. I put the folder away, looking down at my watch and seeing it’s just after five o’clock. I get up, grabbing my purse and the canvas bag I got when I started working here. It had my information package in it, and since then, it’s been with me. I know it’s silly, but the bag has a sentimental part to it being as it holds everyone’s story.

“Auntie Juju,” he says softly. “Mommy said I can’t have the cookies you bought me.” I can tell this little man is playing me.

“And why did she say that?” I ask as I walk into the elevator and press the P button. “Mommy wouldn’t say no unless there was a reason.”

“No.” He shakes his head, and his black hair falls on his forehead. His baby-blue eyes look full of mischief, and I can’t wait to hug and kiss him. “I did nothing.”

I roll my lips because his face is so angelic-looking. “Let me ask Mommy,” I say, walking out into the parking garage. The clicking of my heels fills the empty garage as I grab my keys and unlock the car doors. I get in, putting the phone in the holder as I start the car, and Jamieson calls Jillian.

She comes to the phone and grabs it from him. “Did he call you?”

I try not to laugh as I pull out of the garage. “Um, I refuse to answer that question.” I chuckle. “Why can’t he have a cookie?” I ask, and she turns and glares at Jamieson. I mean, glare is too strong of a word. She gives him the mother look that means watch out.

“Did you tell Auntie Juju why you can’t have a cookie?” she asks him, and I can hear my nieces yelling in the background. “Today, Mr. Horton called one of his friends a small dickhead,” she shares, looking at him, and he just looks down at the floor. “And then told him he was going to cut him.”

I roll my lips, trying not to laugh. “I mean, not that I’m saying it’s right or not, but…” She now glares at me. “Did this little boy do something to bother him? There are always three sides to every story.”

“Julia.” She says my name between clenched teeth. “That is not the point. We don’t attack other people.”

“Are you alone?” I ask, and she nods her head.

“Michael is gone for two days,” she says of my brother-in-law. The two of them met seven years ago and ended up having a one-night stand. She had no idea who he was, and five months later, their paths crossed again. Not only was she pregnant with Jamieson but she also found out he played hockey in the NHL and came from a hockey royalty family.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” I ask as I make my way over to her house. “I’ll be there in twenty minutes, depending on traffic.”

“You don’t have to do this,” she huffs.

“Please, it would be my pleasure, especially after the day I’ve had,” I say. “Why don’t you order food and I’ll be there to help give the girls a bath.”

“Is everything okay?” she asks. Over the years, I’ve shared a couple of things with her, but mostly it’s all private and confidential, so I can’t disclose certain things. But when a case gets to me, she can feel it. My mother calls it the twin intuition.

“Just a hard day, that’s all.” I shrug. “But now I get to spend time with my favorite people.” I smile at her. “See you soon.”

CHAPTER2

Chase

“Two minutes to go!” the coach shouts from the bench, and I look up at the Jumbotron. “I’d like to get on the plane with at least one win.” I lean against the side of the wall, just out of the way, folding my arms over my chest. “Stone!” he yells for my cousin, Dylan, to get his ass on the ice. Dylan jumps up and throws his leg over the bench getting on the ice and in the middle of the play.

I watch the Jumbotron, seeing them score in the empty net. Clapping my hands, I turn around and walk back to the small office they gave me when I got here. As a visiting team, they give you the bare minimum, just enough to get your stuff set up. I pack up the medical bag I travel with as I hear the players start to walk back into the dressing room. “Bus leaves in one hour!” I hear someone yell, and I smile, knowing I’ll be sleeping in my own bed tonight. Not all teams carry their own doctor to games. Some just use the doctors the other teams have, but not Nico. Nope. He doesn’t want anyone touching his guys but the best.

Forty-five minutes later, I’m shrugging on my suit jacket and walking out of the office with my bags packed. I place my bags on the trolly at the same time Cooper, my older brother, comes from the dressing room. His hair’s still wet from the shower, and he holds his tie in his hand. “Don’t you look all Rico Suave.” I roll my lips to stop from laughing as he glares at me.

“This coming from the walking, talkingGQmodel.” He points at me. “Your ponytail is crooked.”

“It’s called a bun.” I wink at him. “And the girls love it.” We walk toward the bus side by side. This is another reason I took the job here. When Nico offered me the position two years ago, I laughed it off, but then I kept coming to Dallas more and more to see my brother, Cooper, who plays with the team, and my two cousins, Dylan and Michael, who also play for the team. I liked the weather, and it made me want to finally plant roots. “Just the other day, Erika was running her hands through it.” He stops walking and just glares at me. He’ll take any joke, but you bring up his wife, and all bets are off.

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