Page 66 of A Cheesecake Christmas

My shoulders slump, fatigue overtaking me. “I don’t understand why I’m being villainized for trying to uphold the law here.”

“It’s Elijah, and he’s my friend. And it’s Christmas.”

“Christmas? Does that make a difference?” I choke out a laugh. “Hey, I have an idea. Let’s let a criminal go free as a Christmas present.” I dig the knuckle of my thumb in my forehead. “It doesn’t work like that.”

“He’s not a hardened criminal. Showing some compassion and mercy could go a long way. If he gets put in the system and his wife leaves him for good? I don’t know, Theo. There’s a lot at play here.”

“Exactly. There’s a lot at play. That’s what I’m trying to tell you. I don’t want to hurt the family.” I open my arms wide. She wants the truth? I’ll tell her the truth.

“That was me. Iwasthat family. IwasElijah. All I’m saying is no one was there to prosecute my father when he didn’t pay a dollar of child support. When he ruined my mom’s and his own reputations, which blacklisted her from all the big circles, which gave her all these mental and emotional blocks so she didn’t want to practice law anymore.” I take a breath, but it does nothing to calm me.

“She didn’t have it in her to practice and had to quit,” I say, and I watch as Aria’s face falls more and more with every confession I’m making. “He took the family money and ran. He should have been put in jail for what he did, but no one cared enough to prosecute. My mom just wanted him to stay away from us.” I give a humorless laugh. “He certainly did that.”

Aria is breathing heavily. “I’m so sorry your own father did that to you. But Marty Fleming isn’t your father!”

I rear back as if I’ve been slapped. “I’ve never said he was,” I say quietly. “All I’m saying is I won’t be part of this problem, this system that doesn’t hold people accountable for their actions. Charges are dropped all the time. You have meth babies detoxing in hospitals and where are their fathers? Off repeating their mistakes over and over again.” My voice cracks. “Fatherlessness is an epidemic.”

“This case is about the theft, not if he abandoned his family or not.” Her voice is quieter now, and I look away when I see the concern in her eyes. “You’re going after him for something you have no business going after.”

She shakes her head and gets up from the table, her food grown cold. She stands at the edge, turns away, then turns back to the fries. After staring at them a moment, she grabs two, bites them in half, chews, and swallows.

“This isn’t about Marty or Elijah,” she says. “This is aboutyou, Theo. The best way to help Elijah and his mom and sisters is to figure out yourself.” She takes a step from the table.

“Where are you going?”

“I need a second.” She flicks me a glance, her fawn eyes soft. Tortured. “I’ll be in the bathroom.”

“Wait.” I get up from the table and take a few steps to fall into step beside her. I grasp her wrist, gently. “There’s something else. Weatherby reached out last night, and I called him after I left your place. He got an anonymous phone call, obviously from someone who is so bored with their life they have nothing better to do than peek in windows and make judgements. But, look. Remember when we kissed? The first time?” I let go of her wrist.

She nods and then screws up her features, opening her eyes just enough to see me, her head cocked back. “At the firm?”

“Yeah. Well, apparently someone was walking by. I’m guessing to visit their storage unit. That’s all I can figure. But they saw the kiss and eventually called Weatherby. Told him they thought he had a right to know.”

Aria’s gone pale, and she’s chewing on her bottom lip.

When she doesn’t say anything, I do. “It’s okay. There was nothing wrong with a goodbye kiss. Nothing wrong at all . . .”

I wait until she meets my gaze, and the look I’m giving is, I hope, letting her know just hownotwrong it was.

Her tongue darts out and she licks her lips. “So, are we in trouble or something?”

I smile. “No. Weatherby had to tell me about it, but he’s not concerned. Frankly, I think he was sorta happy for me. He told me a few months ago I needed a private life, that I’d been working too much.”

She steps to me, clasping both of my hands in hers. “There’s nothing we can do about it now. It’s out there. People know.”

“The community has been talking about this, you and me, ever since the billboards of us went up.”

“I know. Let’s let it ride. Let’s see what happens.”

She brushes her lips against my cheek.

I have a lot to work on. Aria is probably right. I need to figure out a plan of what to do. All I know is, I want to be a better man.

And for the first time, I might have a plan that will help me do that.

Chapter 26

Aria

---