Jennifer Morey - Mission - Colton Justice

“Do you know where he is?” He sipped his coffee.

“Yes.” But she didn’t care. That had been the point in finding out. She knew where her biological father was. Now she didn’t have to care.

“Where? What’s he doing?”

She just shook her head. Not going there. It wasn’t completely true she didn’t care. She hated what her father had done. She hated what he represented, the kind of man who had no heart. Maybe he was a serial killer.

“It sounds like your mother did well,” he said. “Worked hard but did the right thing.”

“Yes, she did.” But she was lonely and unhappy, and... “I barely ever saw her, especially when I was old enough to take care of myself, which started about when I was nine. She helped me go to college. Not financially, but she helped me find and apply for scholarships.” She smiled softly with the memory. “That was important to her, too.” Her mother loved her daughter. Adeline had never felt the lack of that. The few quality times they’d had together were all special.

“Why didn’t she find someone else? If she looks anything like you, she should have had no trouble.”

That often bothered Adeline. She worried her mother had never gotten over him.

“She didn’t want to. Being a mother was enough for her.”

After several seconds where Adeline felt Jeremy’s doubt, he finally said, “What did your mother think of you giving Tess and I a baby?”

“She had a very open mind about it. She supported me.”

He got a thoughtful look. He must come from a different kind of family. Wealthy. Elite college education. A mom and a dad. He had no trouble talking about his family because he came from a solid unit. While she’d come from a solid unit as well, hers was just two people: her mother and herself. She and her mother were close friends, made closer by the parental bond. She encountered few people who truly understood what it meant to be raised by a struggling single parent—at least, not that resembled her experience. And most she did encounter didn’t struggle to make a living. Adeline could now count herself among that demographic. She’d risen above what her mother had endured.

“I’m sorry,” Jeremy said. “I didn’t mean to make you talk about anything that upsets you.”

“No. I’m not upset. Don’t be sorry.” She warmed to his sensitivity. Had she ever met such a nice man before? “Your turn.”

He chuckled softly. “All right. Well...as you know, I had a dad. He was demanding. Started teaching us at a young age. I could read junior high level by the time I was six. Forget the baseball bat and glove. It was all brains for my dad.” He glanced away, the memory not seeming to sit great with him.

“No wonder you’re so successful in tech start-ups,” she said.

He looked at her again. “He wanted me to be a lawyer. He was so disappointed in me I joked with him that I should star in a family drama movie where the mother or father tries to force their child to be a mini version of them.”

“Are you bitter?”

His discomfort eased in his eyes. “No. I’m grateful my father pushed me. I didn’t like it as a kid, but I wouldn’t have been as successful if I hadn’t been shown the way of the world from early on.”

Her mother had done similarly with her. “I can’t imagine it’s unusual for fathers to want their kids to be raging successes.”

“No. Mothers, too. My mother stayed home to raise us. She was the supporter and my dad was the enforcer. But I wish he would have let the kid in me discover things on his own. Teach. Don’t cram education down kid’s throats.”

She nodded. She’d had a little of both worlds. “I didn’t start reading junior high level until junior high, but I was cleaning house and cooking dinner by the time I was eleven.” She sipped her coffee, taking her time, then putting the cup down. “Are you from Shadow Creek?”

“No, Austin, but I’ve always liked Shadow Creek and moved here after college.”

He must like smaller towns. So did she, as long as authorities cleaned out the people like Livia Colton. “What about brothers and sisters?”

“I have a younger sister. She’s a lawyer,” he said.

“Is she nice?” she asked in a teasing way.

“Yes, as long as you agree with her.”

Now Adeline laughed briefly. Most lawyers she knew or heard of bulldozed their way through life—Oscar aside. He seemed nice. They might have nice qualities to their personalities but hospitality workers, they were not.

“She’s single. Incurable workaholic. But she makes Dad proud.”

“You adore her, don’t you?” She could see his eyes and heard his tone.

“Yes. She’s a lot of fun when she isn’t wearing her lawyer hat.”

He had the same outlook as her and Adeline wondered how many other ideas they shared in common. “Isn’t your dad proud of you?”

“I think he’s jealous. I followed my own path and I’m more successful than him.” He didn’t brag, only stated the truth. Adeline liked that. Straight shooters always appealed to her most. She’d mark that as another characteristic they had in common.

“Maybe you should remind him he taught you to read junior high level by the time you were six,” she said.

“I have. Except I wouldn’t say ‘I remind him.’ It’s more like ‘I accuse him.’”

She smiled at his light tone. “But you love him, don’t you?”

“Of course I do. I love my whole family. We just have hot buttons like every other family.”

Adeline wouldn’t comment on that. She didn’t know what it was like to have a dad and feel love for the man. She felt nothing but disrespect for her dad.

She checked on the deputy, amazed that she’d almost forgotten him. He’d finished eating his Danish and coffee. Was it a break and a snack or was this breakfast?

“Our friend is going to be leaving soon,” she said.

“Did you ever hook up with a guy?” Jeremy asked, apparently not finished quenching his curiosity. “You’re what...twenty-seven now?”

He was thirty-four. Adeline remembered when Tess had told her about when she’d first met him, all bubbly with infatuation. Adeline had been a little green with envy over it, wanting that for herself but never having found it.

“I’ve had boyfriends.” This was another thing she didn’t talk about.

“Didn’t rise to the bar?” he teased.

“I’m picky.”

As he met her gaze, she felt him about to probe into why when their subject paid and stood.

“He’s on the move,” she said.

Jeremy had already put down cash to cover their ticket. She was relieved to be finished with their conversation, and wondered why it had begun anyway.

* * *

After three more hours watching the Nicholson’s house, it had become clear the man wasn’t going anywhere else. His two young kids had bounced out of the house when he’d pulled into the driveway and his wife waited with a smile in the open doorway, watching as the deputy knelt with open arms and his little girls crashed into him. Jeremy was a pretty good read on people and this guy didn’t strike him as a criminal or anyone who’d associate themselves with Livia, but appearances could be misleading.

He’d driven Adeline back to his place.

Parked in front on the stone slab drive area, he wasn’t ready to go inside. Once they did, she’d go off on her own. He’d keep her nearby for a while longer.

“Let’s take a walk,” he said. “The sun is setting. There’s a lake not far from here. I want to show you.”

After staring at him briefly, probably wondering why, she got out and said, “I need to change.”

“We won’t go far. What you have on is fine.” The air had begun to chill but she had her coat. He started walking.