“I think I’ll take that as a compliment. Daniel Hunter,” he said, stepping forward and extending his hand.
“Edna Addams but my friends call me Commander.”
“Pleased to meet you, Commander.” Hunter grinned his aw, shucks, you’re cute and so am I grin as he shook the older woman’s hand.
Molly groaned. He’d left Jessie awestruck and now was charming the matriarch of the family. Robin would be a goner for sure and Molly had no doubt her father would admire Hunter, too. He’d definitely like all of them. She suddenly felt adrift in her new family, the lone pariah who Hunter would tolerate only out of necessity while he defended her wrongly accused father.
“So you must be the lawyer Molly was telling us about,” Edna said, beating Molly to the explanation. She leaned on her cane, edging closer to where Hunter stood.
“I hope her words were kind.” His hazel eyes flashed with laughter for her grandmother, but when his gaze fell on Molly’s, the warmth evaporated and ice formed once more.
Molly tried not to shiver.
Edna nodded. “I can’t remember what she said exactly but ‘the best lawyer in the state’ comes close.”
Molly closed her eyes. She was doomed to a permanent state of mortification while he was here.
“She’s right on target.”
“Not modest. I like cockiness in a man.”
Molly sighed. “How’s your knitting coming?”
“Right now it’s a lumpy, ugly scarf but I’ll master it. You’ll see. I had to break in order to heat dinner.” Her gaze zeroed in on Hunter. A guest.
Molly knew exactly what would come next.
“Lucky for you, I made a big dinner. You’ll stay.” Edna didn’t ask Hunter, she presumed.
Molly moved beside her grandmother. “I’m sure he has to get settled,” she said, hoping to make it easier for him to decline.
No way would he want to sit around the table with a bunch of strangers. He didn’t enjoy family, he’d once said when telling her about his years in foster care. And for as long as she’d known him, he’d seemed to be a loner, preferring his own company to that of others-except for Lacey and Ty, the two people he considered his family. The two he’d let breach his walls.
He offered you the chance to come to the other side and you blew it, a little voice reminded her.
“Well, I did reserve a room in a local motel, but I left my credit card number to hold the room, so there’s no rush to check in. I’d love to stay for dinner.” Hunter spoke to her grandmother without meeting Molly’s annoyed stare. “Getting to know the family will help in forming a defense strategy. Thanks for the invitation, Commander.”
“My pleasure. I hope you like pot roast because that’s what I’m serving.”
“It’s my favorite.”
Molly felt sure he was doing this on purpose, making her sweat and squirm as retribution for the pain she’d caused him. Dinner with the family wouldn’t help her father’s case. Proving him innocent by finding other suspects would. She and Hunter would have to have a long talk on the subject as soon as possible.
“Oh, and as for that motel you mentioned?” Edna’s voice brought Molly out of her private thoughts. “That won’t be necessary. We have a perfectly good pullout bed for you right here.”
Molly tried and failed to catch her grandmother’s gaze. Like Hunter, she was avoiding looking at Molly. In the commander’s case, that meant she had an ulterior motive in inviting Hunter to stay. She wouldn’t have thought matchmaking was on her grandmother’s agenda, but today was full of surprises.
She intended to put a stop to the other woman’s meddling now. “Hunter needs space to spread out and work, and besides, we don’t know how long he’ll need to be in town. It could be weeks or months depending on how long this farce goes on. I’m sure he’d be more comfortable in a motel.”
“Nonsense.” The commander slammed her cane against the floor for emphasis. “That’s exactly why he should stay here. The pullout couch is in your father’s office. Hunter would have a built-in place for him to work without having to travel.”
“The motel’s five minutes away,” Molly said through gritted teeth.
As much as she hated to admit weakness, she caught Hunter’s eye and silently pleaded with him to go along. They weren’t on friendly terms and having him here would be too much stress on her already frayed emotions. He couldn’t possibly want to stay here, either.
Hunter cleared his throat. “I wouldn’t want to displace the general from his office.”
“He’s still in jail,” the commander said. “Can you believe that? His asshole-I mean, his lawyer hasn’t been able to get him out.”
Hunter winced. Obviously he hadn’t realized how dire the circumstances really were, Molly thought. Well, now he knew. Now he’d want to go right over to the motel and get to work on strategy.
“We’ll rectify that first thing in the morning,” he promised her grandmother. “Since I’ll probably have a lot of questions that need answers if I’m going to get him a hearing, maybe it is best if I stay here.”
“Excellent,” the commander said. “Isn’t it excellent, Molly?”
“Just swell,” she bit out. Molly was surprised her grandmother didn’t break into applause.
CHAPTER FOUR
CONSIDERING HUNTER WASN’T in his own home and had spent the night on a pullout under the same roof as Molly, he had to admit he’d slept pretty well. His first order of business today would be to get his new client out of jail. He’d had no idea Molly’s father was still behind bars, but he knew that was unacceptable. He’d risen early and made a list of questions to discuss with the general when they met, and he’d left a message with his office to call the public defender who’d been assigned to the case to have copies of all paperwork faxed or sent over as soon as possible. His first stop this morning would be the county jail.
Noise that sounded like ruffling feathers caught his attention and he walked over to the covered birdcage. Edna had instructed him not to disturb the bird during the night because macaws needed twelve hours of uninterrupted sleep. But since the sun was up and Hunter was curious about his roommate, he lifted the cage cover and the bird popped one eye open. It still didn’t talk.
“Keep this up and we’ll get along just fine,” Hunter told the macaw.
Without warning, the bird flapped his blue feathers, startling Hunter with the noise and the size of its wingspan. “Rock and roll,” he said.
“Not a bad first line.” Hunter laughed and then pulled his cell from his pocket. He hadn’t told Ty his plans and it was time he faced his friend’s reaction.
He dialed Ty’s number and he answered on the first ring.
Hunter spoke quickly. “I’m in Connecticut. I’m taking the case and do not say I told you so.”
The other man’s low chuckle rumbled through the phone line. “Okay, I won’t. How’s Molly holding up?” Ty asked.
Hunter closed his eyes. “She’s Molly.”
“And you’re still hooked.”
“I’m working on getting over it,” Hunter muttered.
“Can I ask what made you change your mind?”
Hunter paced the study where he’d slept. The sun shone through the pleated shade, bathing the room in warm light. “On top of the things you and Lacey said the other night? Lacey was right. I owe Molly.” The words tasted sour in his mouth.
“Whoa. I didn’t see that one coming.”
“Well, I hate saying I’m wrong and it wasn’t easy for me to admit Lacey had a point.” Especially since for the last year Hunter had felt like the wounded party. But there was more to the situation than he chose to selectively remember. “The whole time Molly claimed Dumont was innocent of trying to kill Lacey, I refused to consider her side. I didn’t trust her judgment. I sided with you and Lacey against her.”