it.
Amanda shivered slightly in the freshening breeze, reacting to the awesome responsibility. But she soon set her shoulders, restored her confident smile and made her way into the great house that had sheltered members of her family for well over a hundred years.
Voices from the living room drew her to that section of the house. No one noticed her at first, so she had a moment to survey the scene. Her sister, Liza, sat on the floor, her long, lanky frame leaning back against her husband, Cliff Forrester. Cliff, relaxed in a wing chair, quietly combed a lock of Liza’s rebellious blond hair with his fingers and listened intently as she spoke. The girls’ older brother, Jeff, and his fiancée, Cece Scanlon, sat on the couch. Both looked rather exhausted from their respective work shifts at the hospital and the nursing care facility at Worthington House, not to mention the additional time each spent at the free clinic Jeff had set up in one of the empty office suites at Ingalls Farm and Machinery. For them to be off duty at the same time was unusual, as was the fact that they had chosen to spend their spare time with the family instead of away somewhere on their own. Alyssa, the Baron siblings’ mother, sat in another wing chair holding little Maggie. The worried strain that had become so much a part of her beautiful features was softened by the love she felt for her first grandchild. With strands of her fine golden hair falling gracefully over her cheeks, she played with the newborn infant’s tiny hand. Judson, the white-haired patriarch of the family, stood with his back to the bay window, his posture ramrod straight. He was the first to acknowledge Amanda’s presence.
“Amanda,” he said when Liza, too, noticed her and abruptly stopped talking. “I saw you drive up, but it took awhile for you to come inside. Are you having more trouble with your car?”
Amanda’s car was the joke of the family. As it grew older, it seemed to break down almost as frequently as it ran. Still, she loved it. It had been a sixteenth-birthday present from her father, and that above all made it special to her. She smiled. “Amazingly, it’s running beautifully.”
“You must have placed Carl on a retainer fee,” Liza teased. “I heard he closed his garage for two weeks this summer and went to Hawaii. Did you single-handedly subsidize his vacation?”
“No,” Amanda retorted. “Actually, we barter. I’m going to handle his divorce, and he’s going to rebuild my engine.”
“Better watch out about letting him get too close to your carburetor,” Jeff goaded. “I’ve heard he’s become quite the ladies’ man since he separated from his wife.”
“Jeffrey,” Alyssa admonished, pretending to frown while at the same time fighting a smile. “Leave your sister alone.”
“Yes, Jeffrey,” Amanda taunted, while Liza and Cece giggled.
Even Judson managed to find a grin. The family so seldom had occasion to laugh these days, any opportunity was appreciated.
Amanda placed her purse on a small side table and claimed a section of couch nearest her mother’s chair. She leaned toward the baby, smoothing a tiny tuft of fine blond hair. “And how is Miss Margaret Alyssa today? Learn any new words? Can we count past ten yet? Hmm?”
The weeks-old infant opened her eyes and blinked at her aunt, causing Amanda to feel the weight of responsibility expand to a new generation. Liza and Cliff had been through so much in their individual lives—Cliff having to learn to deal with the aftereffects of his time spent in Cambodia, and Liza at last coming to terms with one of the major tragedies of the Baron family, their father’s suicide. Now the two planned to make Tyler their permanent home, and as a result, young Maggie would have to live with the outcome of the trial. She would grow to maturity among people who would look upon her great-grandfather either as an upstanding member of the community, as he’d always been, or as a convicted murderer.
Amanda shook away the thought. She couldn’t deal with it at present. “What did I interrupt when I came in?” she asked.
All the smiles disappeared.
“We were talking about the trial,” Liza volunteered. “About Ethan Trask. Jeff heard someone at the hospital say he arrived in Sugar Creek today.”
Amanda felt her insides tighten. “He did,” she confirmed.
“What does that mean?” Alyssa asked.
“It means that he’s getting ready to try the case. He’ll set up his office, then start talking to people.”
Jeff frowned. “But I thought the district attorney had already investigated the case. The police...Karen, Brick. Why do they have to do more?”
“Ethan Trask will want to talk with everyone himself. He’s coming into this new, remember? The attorney general just appointed him.”
Liza’s frown was fierce. “I still don’t see why Mr. Burns had to ask for a special prosecutor. It’s not as if he and Granddad are best buddies. They barely know each other outside of a couple of charity events. Isn’t that right, Granddad?”
Judson nodded.
“I know,” Amanda agreed. “It’s hard to understand, but the district attorney had to disqualify himself because of the way the situation could be interpreted. If Granddad is found not guilty, it might be thought that the D.A. didn’t push hard enough. Mr. Burns and Granddad aren’t best friends, but they do know each other.”
Liza grunted. “Mr. Burns is watching out for Mr. Burns. He doesn’t want to do anything to foul up his chances of reelection.”
“That’s probably true, too,” Amanda conceded. “But it doesn’t change the original fact. He had no choice except to take himself off the case.”
“So he made sure we got Ethan Trask,” Liza complained.
“He had no say in the matter. That choice belonged to the state attorney general.”
“Remind me not to vote for him, either,” Cliff said quietly, gaining a quick smile of approval from his wife.
“Me, too,” Cece agreed. Jeff squeezed her hand.
Amanda decided that the time was right. She had planned to tell her grandfather the news later, but since everyone was here... “I think I gained a point for our side today,” she announced. “Actually, a whole lot of points. Do any of you remember when I was in law school and talked about a Professor Williams? How brilliant he was, and how lucky I felt to have him as one of my instructors?” She received blank looks all around. “Well, Professor Williams—Peter—is retired now, and he lives at Lake Geneva. I spoke with him this evening. That’s why I was late, why I missed dinner. He’s agreed to advise me on Granddad’s case!”
The expected excitement didn’t occur. Finally, Liza questioned, “Does that mean he’s taking over?”
Oh, if only that were true! Amanda thought. But she shook her head. “No. He’s agreed to help, that’s all. He’s very experienced in courtroom procedure and criminal law. He was a practicing trial attorney for years before he went into teaching. He’s very respected. He’s even written a book—”
“Does it make you feel better that he agreed to assist you?” Judson interrupted.
Amanda gazed at her grandfather’s strong face—the high cheekbones, the commanding Ingalls nose and chin, the eyes that could be stern but were mostly gentle.
