“They’re here already, inside the courtroom.” Frank motioned to the doors and Elise nodded. She was not going to let them intimidate her. She was in the right. Rennie was hers and she wouldn’t let them take her. Period. If they had to come all the way to Seattle to finally get it through their heads, so be it.

“We figured they would be. They’ve got a team of lawyers, but it doesn’t matter, Elise. You’re going to be fine.” Bill smiled and she smiled back.

She would. She had realized, over the last year-plus that she’d been in Seattle, that she would be all right. She could handle it, had been handling it and would continue to do so. Brody was with her, at her side right then, supporting her. Her parents were there and she had right on her side. It would be enough. She had to hope it would be enough, because despite the lingering fear of losing her baby, she had to believe in justice too.

“This is Brody Brown. Brody, this is Bill Weston. You know his son of course, and Frank Childers. Brody is my, um . . .”

“I’m her boyfriend. Significant other, whatever you want to call it. But I’m hers and here to do whatever you need me to today.” Brody shook hands with both men and then put his arm around her. Her parents greeted Frank, who’d only arrived late the evening before.

“Good. She’ll need you today. Let’s go in and get this taken care of.”

They were already seated when Elise walked into the courtroom. Courtrooms had a particular smell, and it brought memories she’d rather have not experienced again. Still, she looked them both straight in the eye before sitting down. Fuck them, they had no right to do this to her or Rennie. She would not quail in fear. Or at the least, she’d keep her fear where they couldn’t see it.

Brody’s presence was as welcome as it had been a surprise. She needed him and he was there. It only made her love him more, and she made the decision that once all this court crap had been resolved, she would tell him how she felt.

He sat right behind her, his presence at her back making her feel safe and secure. He stood for her and her child, and she doubted he knew how alluring that was. Her father squeezed her shoulder and kissed her cheek before sitting next to Brody and putting his arm around Elise’s mother as they all kept their eyes forward.

The rest of the morning was sort of lost in a series of surreal moments, like when Elise’s ex-mother-in-law stood up and screamed that Elise was a murdering whore and the judge blinked at her before rapping her gavel and sternly ordering the attorneys to get her under control.

Elise had to admit she felt disconnected, as if she watched the proceedings happen to someone else. She answered some questions the judge asked, clarified things, kept her calm even when she heard her father mumble under his breath in French. Bone deep, she believed everything would be all right. Now that she sat there, she just knew it.

They took a recess and the judge said she’d call them back for a decision. Brody hugged her in the hallway. “You all right?”

“I am. I feel very, I don’t know, settled? This is surreal, even though I’ve been across the aisle from them several times already. I just feel very calm. I was scared earlier, but now? Not so much. It simply has to end my way. There’s no other way for the judge to see it.”

He smiled and kissed her forehead. “That’s the way to look at it. You did great in there. My god, how did you stand them for the years you were married to Ken?”

“Lots of wine.” She stepped back, squeezing his hand. “I’ll be right back.”

Once in the bathroom, she did her business and touched up her hair and lipstick. That’s when Bettina Sorenson walked in. Elise sighed and kept her hands busy so she wouldn’t punch the old bitch out.

“You think you have that judge fooled, don’t you?”

Elise looked her former mother-in-law up and down and moved toward the door, but the wraithlike woman blocked her way.

“Excuse me, I’d like to go out.”

“I don’t care what you’d like. You killed my son. I’m going to take your daughter. Over time I’ll twist her until she hates you the way she should.”

“You totally need a mustache to twirl when you say stuff like that. It’s total cardboard villain. I wonder, do you ever hear yourself speak? You don’t love Rennie at all, you just want to use her. Yes, I killed your son and you know why. I killed him, and while I feel bad for the Ken of those first years, I’d do it again. He was a threat to my child and I’d do anything to protect her. Now, get out of my way. I’m done here. I’m done letting you harass me and my family. I’ve tried to be nice. I’ve tried to encourage you and Rennie to have a relationship, but you view her as a tool with which to hurt me. Just having to speak to you on the phone makes her physically ill and you don’t care. In fact, I think you like it.”

“Good. I’m glad it breaks your heart, the way mine was broken when you killed my son.”

“You never cared about Ken either. It’s easy for you to pretend now, now that he’s gone. But when he was alive you couldn’t be bothered. I loved him more than you ever did. But I couldn’t stop his descent single-handedly and you couldn’t be wrenched away from your bridge club to help. And now he’s dead. We’re both at fault there, but at least I can accept that. I loved your son very much. Enough to make a child with him. I don’t think you can say the same.”

“Your love.” Bettina snorted. “You’re trash. Middle-class, foreign parents, an artist. He could have had any woman he wanted. I don’t need to love that child. You want her; that’s enough for me.”