I take the hint and step into the hallway. “What sort of community service?”
“Tree planting in that burned acreage on the north side of Bear Mountain.”
“What about her ex?”
Zach gives a grunt. “He got the same.”
I stop in my tracks. “Wait. Like, they’re doing it together?”
“Yep. The judge thinks it’d be good for them.”
This judge must have an odd sense of humor. Or he’s eager to get back to his golf game.Only in a small town.
“Her ex shouldn’t be allowed anywhere near her,” I say.
“I agree.” Zach rubs his chin with his thumb, a thoughtful expression on his face.
“When is it?”
“Next weekend.” He glances at me. “Why?”
I tuck my footbag into my pocket and cross my arms. “Tell you what. Add my name to the list of volunteers.”
Zach cocks an eyebrow. “Uh, okay.”
As I head out of the station, I add this tree planting to my schedule. Despite the warning signs that I’m pushing my luck with Meg, I’m not letting her face her ex alone.
Chapter Six
“That’s bullshit,”Quinn says with a huff behind me as we descend another switchback. “You were only defending yourself!”
I stop at the creek crossing to splash some water on my hot face. At least I got out of the police station with enough daylight remaining to take Quinn to my favorite mountain lake.
“Why tree planting?” Quinn asks.
“It was that or a two thousand dollar fine.” The assistant D.A. had at least been nice about it.
Quinn jumps across the creek. “I think you should take out a restraining order.”
“What about when we have to work together?”
“Take it up the chain. Maybe they’d be willing to make sure you guys worked different routes.”
“I’m not risking my job.” Especially not after my mistake. I got off with a warning, but no way am I sticking my neck out right now.
“They couldn’t fire you.”
Technically, she’s right, but Russel has plenty of allies. Why ishe working so hard to make my life miserable? He fought me every step of the divorce, but it’s over. We’re over.
“Could you press charges against him?”
“He didn’t hurt me.”
“Any unwanted touching is considered assault.”
When I talked to Deputy Hayes, I got the feeling he was pushing me to fight back. But I just want to put it all behind me, not spend energy tangled up in legal actions against my ex.
Russel and Eric were clearly leaving The Limelight with those two women, so why that lewd invite to go back to his hotel? Talk about frustrating.
