knew there was more to his interest in her case than wanting to repay her. Yes, his dad had backed off, but it was more than that. Sam cared about Julia and Charlie, about keeping them safe. No one should be able to make her feel this bad about herself. He also knew it was dangerous territory for him. He’d let his heart lead him before, with disastrous results.
His father might be the king of emotional diarrhea these days, but Sam remembered clearly the months after his mother’s death. He’d fixed lunches for his little brother, made sure they both had baths at night and taken money out of his dad’s wallet to buy groceries on his way home from school. He’d walked a mile out of his way once a week so no one at the local grocery would recognize him and be concerned. When he wasn’t at work, his father had sat in the darkened living room, paging through photo albums, a glass of amber-colored liquid in his hand.
That was what loving someone too much could do to a man. Sam had learned early on he wasn’t going to make that mistake. When he’d caught his brother, Scott, with his ex-fiancée, he’d been angry and embarrassed, but mainly numb.
When he’d broken off the engagement, Jenny had told him the entire situation was his fault. He’d been too cold and distant. She wanted to be with a man who could feel passion. She’d thought seeing her with someone else would awaken Sam’s passion. Talk about crazy, and she wasn’t even Southern.
He’d known he didn’t have any more to give her or any woman. Even though his pattern of dating hadn’t been deliberate, the look a woman sometimes got in her eye after a couple of dates scared him. The look said “I want something more.” She wanted to talk about her feelings. Sam felt sick thinking about it.
As far as he was concerned, a pretend engagement suited him fine. He cared about Julia and he wanted to help her, but their arrangement was clear. He didn’t have to give more of himself than he was able to, and she wasn’t going to expect anything else.
“Jeff asked me to marry him,” she said, breaking his reverie.
“During the mediation?” he asked, sure he must have heard her wrong.
She shook her head. “Last night. He came to my apartment.”
Sam felt his blood pressure skyrocket. “You let him in? What were you thinking?” Especially since Sam had practically had to hold himself back from making the short drive to her apartment. He’d had a long day at work, and as he was pulling into his driveway, he’d realized how much he didn’t want to be alone in his quiet house. He’d resisted the urge, telling himself that he shouldn’t get too attached to Julia or her son. They had boundaries and he was a stickler for the rules. Now to find out that her creep of an ex-boyfriend had been there?
“He came crawling back.” Sam kept his tone casual. Inside, his emotions were in turmoil. This was the guy she’d wanted to marry so badly. What if she still carried a torch for him? He’d obviously been an idiot to let her go once. If he came back now, trying to rekindle a romance and wanting to be a real family, would Julia consider taking him back? That thought hit Sam straight in the gut. “What did you say?”
She studied him for a moment. “He didn’t quite come crawling. More like trumpeting his own horn. He told me the reason they’re coming after Charlie is because his parents want an heir to the family business.”
“They’ve got a son. Let him take over.”
“Not his deal, and Jeff isn’t going to have other children. He’s made sure of that. Although it’s crazy to think they could start grooming a mere toddler. No wonder Jeff has so many issues. If only I’d been smart enough to see it when we were together. You know what the strange part of this is? No one in Jeff’s family has tried to get to know Charlie. It’s like they want him on paper but they don’t care about having a grandson. I want him to know their family if they have a real interest in him. But I saw how Jeff suffered from being a pawn in his parents’ power games. I can’t let the same thing happen to Charlie.”
He held her hand, his brilliant blue eyes warm with emotion. “Your son needs you. He needs you to fight for him.”
She nodded and wiped at her nose.
“What you need is a plan of defense. You flaked on some jobs. It happens.”
“There’s a reason,” she mumbled, almost reluctantly.
“A reason that will explain it away?”
She shrugged and shook free from his hand, adjusting the vents to the air-conditioning as a way to keep her fingers occupied. “I have severe learning disabilities.”
When he didn’t respond she continued, “I’ve been keeping it a secret since I was a kid. It’s a neurobiological disorder, both visual and auditory. Only my family and a few teachers knew, and I kept it from them for as long as I could. Everyone else assumed I was lazy or didn’t care.”
“Why would you hide that?”
“You have no idea what it’s like, how much shame and embarrassment is involved. To people who’ve never dealt with it, it seems cut-and-dried. It’s not.” Her hands clenched into fists as she struggled with her next words. “I’m a good mimic and my bad attitude served me well as a way to keep everyone from digging too much. I got by okay, but I can barely read. Numbers on a page are a puzzle.”
“All those books on your shelf...”
“I’m nothing if not determined. I’ll get through them someday. Right now, I’m working with a literacy specialist. They have a lot of methods that weren’t available when I was in school. But it never gets easier. For years, I tried so hard in school but people thought I was a total slacker. Ditzy blonde cheerleader with no brain. A lot of the time that’s how it felt. Once I was out on my own, I hid it as best I could. People can take advantage of me pretty easily when it comes to contracts or finances. And that’s what happened. A number of times. It always seemed easier to just move on rather than to fight them.”
“Every time someone got wind of it, you left.”
She nodded. “It was cowardly but I don’t want to be treated like I’m stupid. Although, looking back, I acted pretty dumb most of the time. Especially when it came to boyfriends. I trusted Jeff. He never let me forget it.”
“That you had a learning disability?”
“That I’m just a pretty face. The blond hair and long legs. When I told him I was pregnant, he told me that once my looks faded I wouldn’t have anything left to offer.”
“He’s a real piece of work.” Sam couldn’t believe how angry he was. At her idiot ex-boyfriend and all the others who took advantage of her. But also with Julia. Watching her, Sam could tell she believed the garbage people had fed her over the years. He threw the truck into gear, not wanting to lose his temper. “Where’s your car?”
“Around the corner.” She pointed then shifted in her seat. “Thanks for coming today, Sam. I was a mess after the mediation. You helped.”
“I could have helped more if you’d let me be in there with you.” He pulled out from the curb and turned onto the next street. Her car was parked a few spaces down.
“Maybe next time,” she said quietly. She reached for the door handle but he took her arm.
“You have a lot more to offer
