Breaking Hearts Read Free

me, I had no idea what he would say or do on the stand. He raised his right hand, swore to tell the truth, and took his seat to the left of the judge. After he stated his name for the record, he shot me a half smile. I hoped against all other hope it was a good sign.
    When he tightened his tie, adjusted his jacket, then pointed a straight-forward gaze at the jury, several of the female jurors sat up straighter. His beauty inspired the same reaction wherever he went.
    “Mr. Shaw.” Calvin walked from his seat to the podium, almost wringing his hands together in evil merriment. This had to be his nerd dream. He had the captain of every sports team in our graduating class sitting in front of him testifying against the homecoming queen. It played out like an after school special gone wrong. “How do you know Mrs. Turner?”
    Keaton’s eyebrows moved toward the center of his forehead as though he’d never heard a question more stupid. “We all grew up together.” His tone clearly indicated he included Calvin in the group.
    Calvin chuckled. “Right. We did.”
    Though I’m sure Cal remembered growing up outside their circle a little differently than Keaton remembered growing up surrounded by Gatlin, Joss, Simon, Kelly, and Luke.
    “Growing up, how well did you get to know Mrs. Turner?”
    Keaton smiled. “We were friends, then we dated in high school. After high school we lived together for a while.”
    “And when you were living together, was it while you were still married?”
    Uh-oh.
    “I was in the process of getting divorced.”
    “But you were still married?” Cal’s question left Keaton no room to wiggle out of the answer.
    “Yes.” He ground out the word as one eyebrow cocked on his forehead, daring Cal to take it further.
    A bubble of anger formed in the pit of my stomach as Calvin asked, “And your divorce stemmed from your involvement with Mrs. Turner?”
    Oh, good Lord. I nudged Grace. Object, dammit . She’d never been good at hearing my mind messages, so I kicked her shin. She whirled to look at me and tilted her head. “Stop.”
    “My wife thought I was having an affair.” Explain, explain, explain. I hoped Keaton had the gift of telepathy Grace did not. Unfortunately, he remained sitting, hands clasped in his lap, waiting for the next question.
    Calvin continued grinding his ugly little axe to a razor sharp point. “During the time you lived with Mrs. Turner, did either of you use drugs or alcohol?”
    “Yes.” Keaton looked at me and frowned.
    “Both of you?”
    “We didn’t do drugs.”
    I closed my eyes as memories of those days washed over me…dim, alcohol-fogged memories.
    “And during your time away, Mrs. Turner became pregnant?”
    I wanted to smack Cal’s self-satisfied smile right off his smarmy, thin lips. If eye rolling topped Grace’s no-no list, I had to assume smacking the prosecutor was off-limits, but the desire itched inside my palm.
    “Yes.”
    “And she let you believe the child belonged to you for how long?”
    “She didn’t do it on purpose. We lived together like couples live together.”
    I guessed that was his way of saying we’d had some sex. Knowing Joss had a seat a few rows behind me, I couldn’t decide if his lie helped or hurt either of us.
    “He could have been mine.” Keaton frowned.
    Calvin peered up at the judge. “Your Honor, the witness is non-responsive.”
    The judge glared back at Calvin. “And your question was leading. Rephrase.” She shot a lifted brow look at Grace.
    “How long did Mrs. Turner let you believe you’d fathered her child?”
    Grace stood up. “Objection. Relevance and foundation.”
    The judge looked at Grace, a half smile crooking her lips. “Sustained.”
    Calvin clarified the details. When had we lived together and where? How long after we began living together did I become pregnant? How long after I told him did I have the baby?
    “And how long before you discovered he belonged to someone else?”
    Grace