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She started walking again, forcing him to keep pace. “I can’t give it to you, sorry.”
“Why not?”
“The nature of the proof would put my client’s identity at risk.” She gave him a playful nudge with her elbow. “You’re a clever guy. You’ll find the evidence on your own. I have faith in you.”
He tried to keep the exasperation out of his voice. “Can you at least give me a hint on where to find it? I—”
Martine stumbled against him. “Ow!”
He instinctively put an arm around her waist to steady her. “Are you okay?”
“I stepped on something.” She lifted her right foot andexamined the sole. “No blood. It must’ve been a rock.” She tried putting weight on it and winced. “Can you help me back to the boardwalk?”
He didn’t have much choice. “Of course.”
They turned around and recrossed the beach. She held on to his shoulder for support, and he kept his arm around her. He really hoped no one he or Savannah knew was watching.
They reached the boardwalk. She brushed the sand off her feet and slipped her heels back on. “Thanks. That feels better.”
“Do you need help getting back to your car?”
“I’ll be fine. Hez, I...” She paused and seemed to reconsider what she was about to say. She put on her sunglasses. “Good luck in court.”
She turned and walked away without a trace of a limp.
Chapter 35
Savannah clung to Hez’s hand as they headed for the iron stairs to his condo. Her eyes burned, but she couldn’t cry. The meeting with the funeral home had left her gutted. Only Hez’s presence and her pastor’s gentle support had gotten her through picking out Jess’s casket and choosing the flowers for the funeral. She’d forgotten a funeral involved so many details, but she’d been in such a haze when Ella died that Hez’s parents had handled many of the smaller things. This didn’t seem real. How could she say goodbye to her baby sister? And how did she reconcile the way Jess had loved her and Simon with the way she’d betrayed them all?
The aroma of tomato sauce, garlic, and cheese rushed toward them when Hez opened the door. Will Dixon turned from stuffing the remains of pizza in the garbage. His normal smile was missing, and his dark eyes darted from her to Hez. “Simon didn’t want to work on his homework, and I didn’t want to push him.” His Adam’s apple bobbed. “Poor kid.”
Hez whipped out his wallet and handed over cash. “Thanks for helping us out today, Will. It’s going to take time.” His worried glance lingered on Savannah. “For all of us.”
Will stuffed the money in his pocket. “I’m here if he wants to talk. I can’t imagine how hard it would be to lose my mom.”
Savannah patted his forearm as she passed. “Thank you, Will.” She walked into the living room and found Simon in the armchair. Cody snoozed under the chair with his head on Simon’s bare left foot. Simon stared at the big-screen TV on the wall with a blank expression.
She approached and touched his shoulder, but he didn’t move. “Hey, buddy. Looks like Will fed you pizza.” The two pieces of pepperoni pizza on his plate on the coffee table were untouched.
He didn’t shift his gaze from the screen. “Uh-huh.”
How did Savannah help guide him through his grief when she didn’t know how to navigate her own? So far she’d dealt with it by keeping busy, which meant she hadn’t really faced it. Her grief was a tsunami waiting to engulf her, and she saw that same expression of impending doom in Simon’s blue eyes. Even picking out a casket had been surreal, like some kind of nightmare that refused to be pushed away by the sunrise.
Hez joined her and took her hand. The strength of his grip reminded her she didn’t have to do this alone. The two of them went to the leather sofa, and Savannah sagged against Hez. Was this even the right time to tell Simon what the future held? If only he would cry or scream. Anything that would break the blankness he’d wrapped around himself.
Hez cleared his throat, and she tensed. He reached for the remote and clicked off the TV. Simon blinked, but that was his only response. No objection, no question about why they’d turned off the show. Hez put the remote back on the table. “Um, Simon, there’s something we wanted to talk to you about.”
The boy’s stare cleared just a bit, and he blinked again. “Okay.”
Savannah’s thoughts were a jumble, but she rushed to spill the important things. “You still have us, Simon. Your mom left everything to me to take care of you. We can never replace your mom.” Her voice fell to a hoarse whisper. “We love you very much, and we are still your family too.”
Hez leaned forward. “We both loved you from the first minute we saw you, buddy. We’ll be here for you every step of the way, and that’s a promise. I’ve already started the paperwork for adopting you so we’re officially a family. Like Aunt Savannah said—”
Simon leaped to his feet and his rage eddied out in a wave that was almost visible. Cody whined and ducked deeper under the chair. “I don’t want new parents! I want my mom, not anyone else. No one can replace her—not anyone! You should have talked to me first. How could you think I’d want to call anyone else Mom?” His gaze speared Hez. “Or Dad. It was me and Mom. We were our own family. It might not have looked like what other kids had, but it was good.” Tears gathered on his lashes and rolled down his face. He stomped to the balcony door and slid it open to go out and stare toward Bon Secour Bay.
The tears Savannah thought she’d cried out already formed in her eyes too, and she rushed after him. “Simon, we only want what’s best for you.” She touched his arm and he jerked away.
His face was red and he balled his fists at his sides. “My mom is what was best for me, but no one can give me that.” He ran past her back into the house and dropped to his knees by the chair.