In Too Deep (Man of the Month 10)

"If she's not using it, and if your father wanted you to have it, why doesn't she just give it to you? Was it your dad's wish that you be in a relationship?"

"No," Hannah said sharply, then shook her head. "If that's what Daddy had wanted, then I wouldn't take the money until I was fully committed to someone. All he said was that it was for me."

"Then why?"

"Because my mother...oh, hell. It's like she found Ernest, and everything she used to think or believe went flying out the window."

"Ernest is your stepfather."

He spoke the words as a statement, but she nodded anyway. "They got married long after Mom had put herself through school and started working as a teacher. But he changed the dynamic completely. I was about to start law school, so I wasn't around much, but we get along okay. About most things."

"What does he do? He's a lawyer, too, right?"

"What doesn't he do? He's a lawyer, but he doesn't practice so much as he consults and lobbies. He owns a couple of companies and sits on about a dozen boards. As far as my mom is concerned, the two of them are the picture of all that is right and good in the world of marital bliss." She grimaced. "I don't know. Maybe they really are happy. But the way she talks about my dad now..."

"How?"

Hannah blinked. No way was she going to cry while she was driving. "Like she'll say that he never should have been a cop--he was killed in the line of duty. She says he put his family at risk by putting himself at risk. And she never talks about what a hero he was anymore. He died saving a woman who'd been held hostage by a drug dealer. That used to make her so proud. Now she says it's a waste. And every time she says it, I can imagine her mentally sorting through all of her various bank and brokerage account statements. Because she and Ernest have told me more than once that he was such a talented man to have wasted it all on such a base occupation. Not even profession. They can't even grant him that. Shit," she added, then wiped away the tear that was tickling the tip of her nose.

"I'm so sorry."

Hannah shrugged. "Yeah. Me, too." She sniffled. "I blame Ernest, but all of that must have been in my mom somewhere, you know? And even though she says that she loved my dad with all her heart and always will, she still completely discounts what he did. Guess it's a good thing I went to law school, right? Otherwise she'd probably completely disown me."

She sniffed, then forced a smile. "And speak of the devil," she said brightly, more to change the subject than for any other reason. "We're in Waco. This is where I went to school. Baylor Law, right over there."

She pointed vaguely to her right, indicating the entire Baylor campus.

"Did you like it?"

"What? Law school? I loved it. Not the mock trial stuff--Easton's the showman who thinks on his feet--but I loved the research and the analysis and the legal arguments. I mean, Constitutional Law? I jammed on that class." She glanced at him. "That's one of the things that I disliked about my old job. I was in-house counsel. Everything was paper-pushing. Very little thinking. Very little that felt like I was stretching myself. You know?"

"Honestly, no. Academics really aren't my thing."

"But you still get it. I've seen you at the gym. The way you push your clients. And you've opened other branches. That's stretching. Doing. You're not just going through the motions."

She glanced sideways at him. "Right?"

"Maybe. But--"

An electronic ringtone interrupted them, the display revealing that the caller was Hannah's mother. With a sigh, she pressed the button to accept the call.

"Hey, Mom."

"Sweetie, so good to hear your voice. I just wanted to make sure I understood you. The young man you're dating will be joining you this evening?"

"Absolutely."

"Oh, good. Is he with you?"

"Right beside me," Hannah said. "But he's got his headphones in, and he's asleep. So you'll have to wait to grill him about his intentions until you meet him."

"Funny girl. I'm not going to grill him or embarrass you."

"I'll believe it when I see it."

"My daughter the smart ass."

Hannah grinned. "I take after my dad."