the circumstances and I’d get them to understand. In time, they might even forgive me for making a terrible mistake but if you keep them from me how can I hope to make everything right again? I love my girls and if I had the chance to do things over, I’d do it all much differently.”
“Be that as it may, you didn’t do things differently and your children suffered. Particularly your youngest.”
What did he mean by that? Renee frowned. “Chloe? I don’t understand how she suffered the most…”
Judge Prescott peered over his glasses at Sheriff Casey and continued, “Your youngest daughter is suffering from bronchial pneumonia due to horrific abuse at the hands of your ex-husband. The doctor she was taken to discovered old bruises and a hairline fracture in her left arm that had been left to heal on its own.”
Renee felt sick. “I wasn’t aware…”
“Yes, well, the court isn’t interested in your excuses, Mrs. Dolling. The fact remains that you left your children in the hands of a dangerous and abusive man. It is the court’s belief that only through the vigilant actions of your other children that Chloe is still alive.”
Renee caught the stare of John Murphy—the man who was essentially getting her children—and she expected to see the same condemnation she was getting from the rest of the room, but she saw a flicker of something close to sympathy that took her by surprise. She looked away abruptly. She didn’t want his pity—or anyone else’s. Not that it was coming her way in waves at the moment but the scraps of her pride demanded she hold her head high. “How long is this temporary arrangement in effect?” she asked.
“As long as I deem necessary.”
She took a risk as she said, “Forgive me, Your Honor, but I think it would be more appropriate for my children to go to a state-approved foster home rather than that of some man you happen to know from school. How do I know that this John Murphy isn’t some kind of pervert?”
Nancy the court reporter-sheriff’s receptionist gasped and her eyes widened before she returned her attention to her typing. Yep. Nancy’s reaction pretty much clinched Renee’s sinking suspicion she just made things worse, but Renee wasn’t going down without a fight.
“I’ve had just about enough of your mouth,” the judge warned. Renee caught Sheriff Casey shaking her head as if Renee was just about the dumbest person on the planet to question the judge in such a manner, but Renee felt desperation setting in and, well, desperate people do dumb things. The judge shuffled his papers from the case and handed them to the court secretary for filing. “Get a job. Get a place to stay and then, when you get your ducks in a row, we’ll talk about modification. In spite of your infernal mouth, I get the sense that you didn’t know what a monster you’d left your kids with but that doesn’t erase what happened to those girls. They need stability. They need someone they can trust. And they trust John and Gladys. I could order them into foster care but that would likely traumatize them more as I’d have to break them up because the system’s full. They’d probably even go to separate counties. You want that?”
She couldn’t imagine separating the girls. “No,” she answered in a small voice.
“Then stop your complaining about how unfair things are for you and start focusing on getting your life back together so that your girls would rather be with you than a stranger.”
That hurt. Renee swallowed the sharp retort that flew to mind as her defenses went up, because she knew as whacked out and nuts as this whole court drama was, there was a certain kindness directed at her children. If the girls wanted to be with John Murphy for the time being, she’d go along with it. But as soon as she won their trust back, they were packing it out of this place—fast.
GLADYS MET JOHN AT THE DOOR, her expression anxious. He allayed her fears quickly. “Court ruling stands but their mother, Renee, gets monitored visitation for the time being.”
“Oh, thank goodness. Those poor babies have been tied up in knots since you left this morning. Alexis takes it the hardest. That poor lamb. I can only imagine what she’s been through trying to protect her sisters from that man. It boggles my mind why their mother left those babies in Jason’s care.”
“In court she mentioned something about being in rehab when Jason split,” John said, chewing the side of his cheek as he mulled over the information himself. What kind of rehab she didn’t elaborate but drugs of any sort were bad news by his estimation. “But Judge Prescott didn’t seem to care much for her excuse. I don’t think he much cared for her, not that she helped matters at all. Her mouth sure does overload her ass a lot.”
Gladys nodded. “I’m sure. I remember she had quite the smart mouth when I met her all those years ago. I’m just glad Larry was sitting on the bench today instead of a temporary judge that they sometimes bring in from the city to help with the backlog. Someone else less conservative might’ve given those babies back,” she said with a shudder. “Makes me sick to think of it.”
He agreed. Judge Prescott was an old-school kind of guy. If the law still allowed a hanging tree, he’d be the kind to supply the rope. “Where are the girls?” he asked, looking around.
She gestured toward the living room, where the faint sound of the television could be heard. He frowned. “I don’t think they should be watching so much TV. Rots your brain from what I hear.”
Gladys shooed him. “Stop being such a bear. Those babies could use a little pampering. Besides, now that we’ve gotten the court stuff out of the way we can start getting the older girls enrolled in school. They’re going to need some routine and stability after what they’ve been through and school will keep their minds busy. I’ve already placed a few calls. It’s going to be a couple days before we can track down Alexis’s transcripts but until then they’re going to need some clothes. They can’t go to school in those rags.”
He’d already been thinking about that, seeing as the clothes they showed up in weren’t fit to line a dog’s bed. “Maybe I could pick up a few pairs of jeans at the hardware store,” he speculated, which earned him a scowl from Gladys.
“Hardware store? You can’t put Rustlers on a bunch of girls. What’s wrong with you? They need pretty things, not work boots and coveralls. Leave it to me. I’m handy on the computer and Macy’s delivers anywhere in the United States.”
John fished his wallet out from his back pocket and pulled his credit card free from the plastic holder. He handed it to Gladys. “Buy them whatever they need,” he said. “I don’t care how much it costs.”
“John…that’s too generous,” Gladys protested softly but her eyes shone with love. She tucked the card into her apron pocket and gave his cheek a pat. “You’re a good man, Johnny. Now, go on and do something useful. Don’t you have horses to tend to?”
He did and Gladys giving him the go-ahead should’ve been a relief but he felt oddly compelled to check on the girls himself. He supposed that was only natural given the extreme circumstances but it still knocked him silly at odd moments that he was even in this situation. Him. The bachelor. With a house full of kids that he barely knew.
And despite his stern instruction not to, his thoughts kept pulling him in the direction of Renee. She ought to be the last person he was thinking about—just the fact that he was gave him serious pause—but he’d be a liar if he didn’t admit where his thoughts kept wandering. She truly looked stricken when the judge told her of Chloe’s injuries. Either she was a really good actress or she felt sick inside at the knowledge that
