Jesse was sleeping. Finally. Elizabeth eased herself up from the bed and tucked the blanket snug around the little girl. For a moment or two, her hand hovered over Jesse’s head. The dark curls, still damp with tears, stuck to her temple and cheeks. Elizabeth gently caressed her silky mop and, bending low, kissed her softly. Telling her that Gina was gone forever had been unspeakably painful. Jesse had listened with wide, fearful eyes. Then she’d thrown herself into Elizabeth’s arms, her small body trembling, sobbing as if her world had ended—as in some ways it had. Elizabeth had tried to find words to comfort her, but what was there to say to a five-year-old whose mother would never return?
Elizabeth had encouraged her to talk, to ask questions, but oddly, Jesse still seemed locked in a silent world. What was more worrisome was the look in her eyes. There had been grief, yes, but more than that had been the stark terror as she’d peered fearfully at windows and doors, jumping at sounds. The ring of the doorbell terrified her. Cars pulling up outside sent her flying to Elizabeth, clinging and pale. Trying to guess the source of her fear, Elizabeth had assured her that she was safe, that her new home was here. That her mother was in heaven and was now an angel who would watch over her forever. She still had not let Elizabeth out of her sight.
Straightening now, Elizabeth watched for a long moment to be sure Jesse was fully asleep, then she tiptoed from the room, leaving the door open and a night-light burning. Just getting Jesse into bed had been a challenge. Even without saying so in words, she’d made it plain she wanted Elizabeth to stay with her. Finally, she’d fallen asleep, but in Elizabeth’s bed and only when Elizabeth had read her a favorite story over and over and had agreed to sit quietly beside her.
Now, almost swaying with fatigue herself, Elizabeth went down the hall to check that the house was secured for the night, all the locks thrown and the windows shut. In spite of the security system and the restraining order, she was still leery about Austin. If he reacted true to form, he wouldn’t let a judge or a piece of paper deter him if he really wanted to get to Jesse. Elizabeth would need to be as determined as he. And she was, she told herself fiercely as she checked the dead bolt on the back door. Jesse’s whole life was at stake and she vowed that the court system that had failed her at the same tender age wouldn’t fail Jesse, too.
The door was a half-glass design and Elizabeth stood for a moment looking out at the night. In that moment of quiet, she finally let the reality of the tragedy sink in. Gina was dead. And in dying, Jesse was now hers. For the past two days since the call from Megan that Gina was near death, that selfish thought had been lurking in the back of her mind. Gina had been her sister, without a doubt closer to her than her biological sisters, and she’d loved her. Still, she’d seen her shortcomings as a parent and had longed to rescue Jesse, but not at such a price. Never like this. What was wrong that such a tragedy produced so joyful an outcome? Guilt, crushing and ugly, made her moan.
“Are you okay?”
Startled by the unexpected sound of Ryan’s voice, she drew in a quick breath and wiped at her cheeks with both hands. “I was checking the lock.” She didn’t turn, afraid of what he’d see on her face.
“I’ve checked it and every other door and window in the house.” He was behind her now, almost close enough to touch her. “The place is secure.”
“I didn’t know you were still here,” she said, turning finally with a hand pressed over her runaway heart. Louie was often in the kitchen without exuding much male presence, but Ryan loomed tall and confident, almost filling up the space. Something about him made her feel crowded and breathless. “I thought everybody had gone.”
“Leaving you alone?” His eyes, watchful and quiet, were intent on her face. “I don’t think so.”
“Did Louie go home?”
“He’s in the den watching the late news. It’ll be difficult to persuade him to leave. He seems to think you need all the support you can get tonight.”
“That’s really not necessary,” she said, making a vague gesture. Only then did she notice the bounty in her kitchen. Every available inch of counter space held covered dishes and casseroles, containers of fruit, a cake on a pedestal plate, brownies in a cut-glass bowl, napkins, utensils and paper plates. Bottled drinks. Brewed tea in a tall jug. “Where did all this come from?” she asked, astonished.
“Your neighbors. Gina’s co-workers. Friends. Your agent, your editor.”
“How did they know?” She couldn’t believe so many people had been so thoughtful.
He smiled. “I’m not sure, but if I had to guess, I’d say Lindsay and Louie thought it appropriate to tell the people in your life what happened.” His gaze left her for a moment to look it over. “There will probably be a lot more tomorrow.”
“Oh, my.”
He was still smiling. “As for the brownies, I understand that Jennifer and Jesse made them.” Shaking his head, he looked wryly puzzled. “I didn’t know Jennifer could boil water, let along make brownies. She said she thought it would help to keep Jesse occupied.”
Elizabeth nodded mutely. Who would have dreamed that Ryan Paxton’s daughter would prove so sweet? Or that Lindsay would prove so thoughtful? Or that Megan so kind? Louie, yes, maybe, but expressions of concern from others were totally unexpected. “Is Jennifer here? It’s so late.”
“She got a phone call from Rick Sanchez a couple of hours ago and when he heard what was going on, he offered to pick her up and take her home.”
“Isn’t he the boy she struck on the bike?”
“Yeah. You’d think he’d run a mile to avoid her, but it seems the accident bonded them, so to speak.” Ryan rested against the counter, crossing his feet at the ankles. He appeared relaxed, but his eyes looking into hers were dark and intent. Did he sense the turmoil she was feeling, she wondered. Did her face reveal the confusion she felt?
“Rick has befriended Jen at school,” Ryan said, “and it’s made her transition from Dallas to Houston a lot easier. I owe him more than a spiffy new bike.”
“Are they alone at your house?”
Now his expression was almost funny. “They are and I’m praying my impression of Rick’s character is reasonably accurate.”
Elizabeth found herself smiling in sympathy. “Good luck.”
“I laid down the law, but I’m not fooling myself that they’ll resist temptation forever. Rick’s been raised right and he’s aware of the circumstances here. I think they’ll be okay until I get home.” Leaving the subject of his daughter, he regarded her with a look of concern. “I didn’t want to leave until Lindsay got here, Liz. She plans to stay the night. And even though Louie’s dead on his feet, he’s determined to stick like a burr, too.”
Elizabeth didn’t know what to object to first. That Lindsay was coming over? That she planned to stay? That Louie refused to go home? And Ryan. She couldn’t even find words to describe the role he had assumed. She blinked as he straightened, watched the overhead light strike his hawk-handsome features and turn him into someone she should have backed away from. Instead she had to stuff her hands into her pockets to keep from reaching for him. It was a bizarre reaction. It was because Gina was dead and overnight her world was changed. She’d never adjusted easily to change. “Lindsay’s coming here tonight? She’s staying?”
“She thinks you need sisterly support. And she’s right. And you know what else?” He straightened, then reached out and cupped her face in his hands. “You look like you need a hug.”
With a flash of intuition, she knew he wasn’t thinking about giving her a hug. He was going to kiss her. “Ryan—” She couldn’t seem to tear her eyes from his or make a move that would tell him no.
“Yeah, I know. You never need anything. You’re used to handling whatever comes your way—good or bad—alone. Besides, you’ve got a million things that you think you have to do for Gina.” He was still smiling, his thumbs stroking her cheeks. “No doubt about it, Liz, you look like you could use a hug.” His voice was low, almost a caress. Her heart was fluttering. “But would you settle for a kiss?”
She tried again to say something, to keep him from doing what he planned. For some reason, she knew that to be kissed by Ryan would change everything. Oh, God, more change. She felt dizzy at the prospect. Or was Ryan himself the source of her dizziness?
It was barely a whisper of a kiss…at first. His lips settled on hers, a nonthreatening touch of his mouth to hers. He was not touching her anywhere else. There was just that sweet, gentle blending of their lips and his big hands framing her face, and yet holding her in place. And then she was aware that he moved in a little, crowding her oh, so gently against the edge of the counter. Still nonthreatening, but firm enough so that she felt him, warm and solid, from her breasts all the way to her knees. It had been a long, long time since she’d been in a situation like this. On her rare dates, she never allowed a man to get so close. She was so caught up in the wonder of it that she was hardly aware of his hands leaving her face, skimming down over her arms, then slipping around her, closing about her until she was fully embraced. There was something elemental and so right in finding herself held fast by this man.
And then the kiss was suddenly much more than a sweet melding of his lips with hers. The whole tenor of it changed. It became deep and searching. Wondrously thrilling. He explored her mouth the way he might have the taste of something he’d wanted a long time, and would take his time, not rush and have it all over too soon. Or was that her reaction? Whatever, Elizabeth allowed herself to sink into the magic, to simply feel the heat of it spread deliciously through her. She’d once known something like this kind of pleasure, she thought dimly, but it had never come so close to overwhelming her.
And then a sound intruded. It was several seconds before, out of the delirium of the kiss, she identified it as the front door. Voices.
She stopped. Or was it Ryan who stopped? She honestly didn’t know. Her hand went to her mouth and pressed hard as if to deny what had happened. She stared at him, dazed and shaken and appalled.
Seeing her face, Ryan reached to touch her. She must have looked shocked and unsteady on her feet. She certainly felt that way. “This isn’t happening,” she said shakily, catching his wrist and pushing it aside. “Gina—”
“Wouldn’t deny you the comfort of a kiss,” Ryan said, a rough edge in his voice. Had he been as caught off guard as she was? But he stepped back and allowed her to slip past him and out into the hall. If it felt like escape, she refused to admit it.
Their walk to the front of the house seemed a mile long. When they finally got there, Lindsay was in the foyer in conversation with Louie and the homicide detective who’d questioned Elizabeth at the hospital. “Hi, Liz. Ryan. You remember Shepherd Steele, don’t you? From Homicide?”
“Of course.” Resisting an impulse to put her hands to her burning cheeks, Elizabeth nodded politely, hoping her agitation didn’t show on her face. It didn’t help that Ryan remained close, his size and sheer presence a solid reminder of her insanity.
Ryan reached around Elizabeth to shake hands with the detective. “You’re putting in some long hours, aren’t you, detective?”
“He’s not on duty now,” Lindsay said. “We stopped at the pub to discuss the case and he insisted on driving me home.”
“Her car’s still at the hospital,” Steele said. “I’ll drive it over tomorrow morning and catch a ride back.”
“I told him I was perfectly capable of driving,” Lindsay complained with exasperation. “How many beers did we have?” she asked him.
“I had a couple,” Steele said with only a hint of a smile. “You, on the other hand—”
She laughed suddenly and gave him a light punch on the arm. “He was probably trying to drive up my blood alcohol so he’d have an excuse to find out where I live.” She shook a finger in his face. “I never, but never, reveal my address or my phone number.”
“Area code 281-555-7628.”
“Where did you get that?” Lindsay hit him again, still laughing. “Oh, I know. Probably from the same illegal source we’re gonna use to flush out Austin’s past relationships, huh?”
Grinning, Steele winked at Ryan. “She’ll be a great investigative journalist just as soon as she learns to put a lid on it or drink less.”
“What are you talking about, Lindsay?” Elizabeth asked.
“Nailing Austin,” Lindsay said, without missing a beat. Then she looked at Ryan. “No offense, Ryan, but I’d rather you didn’t hear the plan. I know he fired you, but you’re still in a delicate position, legally speaking. Not to be forgotten also is his father, Curtiss Leggett. He’s powerful in your law firm and if he suspects you have a hand in bringing Austin down, he could do you some real damage.”
“Thanks,” Ryan said dryly, “but I think I can survive whatever Curtiss and Austin may throw at me at LB and J.”
“If we’re successful, Austin won’t be at LB and J to throw anything, isn’t that right, Steele?”
“It depends.” Steele had a hand on the door, ready to leave. He hesitated, looking now at Elizabeth. “It’s damn difficult to get evidence in domestic violence cases, Ms. Walker. Women clam up, families retreat in denial, the courts won’t act, even some cops turn a blind eye. Sometimes it takes a tragedy to wake us up.”
“I’m aware of that,” Elizabeth said, “but it’s time that Austin was held accountable for his behavior.”
Lindsay was staring at Steele with an open mouth. “Wait a minute. Something about what you said sounds very personal.”
His brown eyes, teasing and friendly until now, were suddenly dark and unreadable. “I don’t think we got around to the personal stuff tonight, did we?” She was shaking her head mutely as he pulled the door open. “My sister was married to an abusive bastard. The signs were all there, but we were blind. Until fourteen months ago when he killed her.”
Gina’s funeral was held two days later. Ryan spotted Austin the moment he appeared in the door of the chapel, mostly because he’d been on the lookout. Liz had mentioned using the restraining order to keep him away, but Ryan had promised to keep an eye on him to see that he didn’t approach Jesse. Better to let him appear to pay his respects, ignore him and hope he’d leave quietly. Common decency demanded that he attend the funeral of the woman he’d lived with for more than eight years and Ryan was convinced that Curtiss Leggett would have laid down the law, too, forcing Austin to show if for nothing more than to keep up appearances. There would be employees of LJ and B paying their respects to Gina and the law firm must appear to honor her memory. A huge spray of roses from the firm was placed near the registry book, not to be missed. Ryan felt disgust now watching Austin assume a somber expression as he stood looking over the crowd. Ryan noticed that he avoided glancing toward the flower-shrouded casket.
Searching for Liz, he found her across the room talking with one of Gina’s co-workers. Heading her way, he saw her eyes go wide with alarm as she spotted Austin. Her gaze flew to the other side of the room where Jesse sat with Jennifer. She ended her conversation and scanned the crowd, found Ryan and sent him a look of wordless appeal. He reached her in another dozen strides.
“Don’t worry,” he said, touching her arm. “I’m keeping an eye on him.”
She gave him a quick, concerned look. “Do you think he’ll try to get to Jesse?”
“He might try, but it won’t happen,” Ryan promised, his grim gaze following Austin as he worked the room. Liz was right to be concerned. In spite of his reassurances, he was worried that Austin would try to approach Jesse. He was a desperate man and as such Ryan considered him a danger to the little girl. If he’d had any doubt, it had been erased on the night Gina died.
He had driven home that night after leaving Liz in the care of Lindsay and Louie to find Jennifer in her pj’s ready for bed, talking on the phone to her mother in Dallas. He had stood outside her room listening as she told Diane about her role as Jesse’s nanny and described the household, including in her dialogue Louie, Archie, the dog, and even Liz. He was relieved to hear none of the usual bickering between them. He had smiled then, thinking his little girl was growing up….
Jennifer heard him at her door and told her mother to hold on. “Dad, can we drive to Dallas after all this is over and get Mocha? We could take Jesse. I don’t think Liz would mind.” She hesitated, then added craftily, “You could ask Liz to go, too.”
He went in and sat on the side of the bed, no longer surprised at Jen’s uncanny insight into his libido. As for her dog, he’d expected her to ask for Mocha before now. But the aging pet probably wouldn’t transplant to the rather confined quarters of the condominium. “Are you willing to take on the responsibility of exercising her and seeing that she’s taken outdoors to do her business?” He gave a tug on her hair. “She’s old, baby. She might not adjust as well as you.”
“We could ask Louie if she could stay with him. She’d be good company for Archie.”
“We’ll see.”
She sighed and said into the phone, “That means no, Mom. But I’m not giving up. Talk to you later.” She made a kissing sound and disconnected.
“That was Mom.”
He smiled. “I guessed that.” He pulled the comforter back and motioned for her to climb in. “How’s she doing?”
Jennifer made a face, plumping up her pillow. “She’s still dating that bald guy. His name is Gerald, can you believe that? It sounds so nerdy, doesn’t it? Actually, he is nerdy, but I guess she likes that. It’s light-years different from you.”
“You don’t see me as nerdy?” he asked, still smiling.
“You’re hot, Dad. Every woman who sees you goes nuts.”
“Hmm.”
“Mom was really dumb to let you get away.”
“Jen—”
“I know, I know. We don’t talk about how she got into an affair with Sam, who turned out to be a turd.”
He forced himself not to chuckle. “As opposed to a nerd?”
“Yeah.”
“Hmm.”
“But about Gerald, he’s really old, Dad. She just told me, he’s forty-five!”
“Whoa, that ancient, huh?”
“Well, it’s a lot older than you. What does she see in him, I wonder?”
Ryan knew exactly the appeal of Gerald Winthrop from Diane’s point of view. He was wealthy, besotted with her, semiretired so that he had time to lavish on her and did not want her to have his child. Ryan had been forced to listen as she’d gushed about Gerald a couple of days ago when she’d called for an update on Jennifer. But telling Jennifer exactly what Diane saw in her next husband wasn’t an option. “He seems a nice man and I’m sure they have a lot in common.”
Again, she made a face. “I just hope they don’t want me to come live with them if they get married.”
He hoped the same thing. He’d found he liked having Jennifer around. It was just a few short years until she’d be in college and then she’d be gone forever. He planned to make the most of the time he had with her while she still thought he was cool. Or un-nerdy. “So, how are you and Jesse hitting it off?”
“She’s a real sweet little girl, but she’s got some majorly big problems, Dad.” Jennifer sat up, punched at her pillow and shoved it against the headboard. “She does not talk at all since the accident. Isn’t that weird? Because that first afternoon when we met and had cookies and all, she was a little chatterbox. She talked my ear off. Now—” Jennifer shook her head, looking troubled “—not a sound.”
“Liz is concerned, too. Hopefully, it’s a temporary thing.”
“Like I said, it’s weird.” Jennifer wrapped her arms around her knees. “You know what I think, Dad? I think she’s scared.”
“Do you have any real basis for thinking that?”
“Well, all it takes to make her eyes go big and round and scary is to mention her scummy dad.”
Ryan winced. “Jen. Describing someone as scummy is about as low as you can get.” It was one thing for him to see Austin as he was, but to hear Jen express the raw truth was uncomfortable. It seemed that her perception of other people didn’t end with her own dad. He didn’t know whether to be impressed or alarmed.
“Get over it, Dad. Scummy’s the right word. I think it describes him perfectly. You remember I told you Jesse used to talk about her dad scaring her mom and she’d hide under the bed listening to the yelling and screaming and who knows what all else. Then her mom would cry. Well, in all the time I’ve spent with Jesse, she’s never mentioned her dad wanting to be with her. Now, ever since the accident, this guy’s nagging everybody to see his little girl. Well, get real, for heaven sake.” She rolled her eyes. “It’s a lie, Dad. I mean, he wants to see her, all right, but it’s not for love of Jesse. It’s because she knows something about that accident and he doesn’t want her telling.”
“How do you know this, Jen? Or is it just something you’re theorizing?”
“Oh, Dad, quit sounding like a lawyer again!” Jennifer ticked off points on her fingers. “One, Austin is hell-bent to talk to Jesse when he’s always ignored her. Weird! Two, Jesse acts scared. She gets paranoid over stuff like telephone calls. Or when the doorbell rings. Like, she’ll run to the bathroom and lock herself in. Me and Louie have to talk her out of there and it’s not easy, trust me. And third, she drew a picture and wow, it was something else!”
“What kind of picture?” Ryan asked.
“Well, it was pretty crude, like she’s not much of an artist at five years old, but you could tell she was drawing two cars on a road and you could tell it was night, too. When I asked her who they were, she said her mom and dad.”
“I thought you said she doesn’t talk anymore.”
“She doesn’t. I ask questions like, ‘Who’s in this car, your mom? Your dad? Is this the night of the accident?’ and she’ll nod her head. Or shake it if the answer’s no. But what made the picture scary was that she scribbled all over it with black crayon. You could tell the whole thing was…well, scary. Whatever she was drawing in that picture, it was not a sunshiny message, Dad. It was mean stuff. I’m even thinking, like dangerous stuff.”
Ryan rubbed his face with both hands. He hadn’t anticipated that having Jennifer baby-sit Jesse might expose her to the chilling prospect of a father who posed a threat to his child. “Did you keep the picture?” he asked.
“Uh-huh.” Jennifer scrambled out of bed and took her backpack out of the closet. Rummaging around in it, she finally produced a wrinkled sheet of Jesse’s art. Ryan was no child psychologist, but one look told him his daughter had not overreacted. He could see terror in Jesse’s childish rendition of that last ride with Austin and Gina. It was unsettling that Jennifer came to the same conclusion as Liz and Lindsay. Jesse was the only eye-witness to the accident. What if she did, indeed, know something that was damaging to Austin? And if Austin somehow managed to gain access to Jesse, what would he do? And was there any danger to Jennifer while she was taking care of Jesse? Would he harm Liz if she put up a struggle, which she was bound to do?
“What is it? What’s wrong, Ryan?” Liz’s hand was on his arm and she was looking up at him with concern.
He covered her hand with his own and managed a smile. “I hate funerals.”
“Don’t we all,” she said. Then he felt her fingers clench on his arm. “Look, Ryan, he’s moving toward the girls.”
Austin was moving amiably across the room, but was steadily closing the distance between himself and Jesse and Jennifer. At the moment, both were oblivious to the mourners and guests paying their respects to Gina. Jennifer had given Jesse a new Barbie doll and both were intent on dressing it. Austin, without making his true intent obvious, paused here and there to receive words of sympathy from people who knew of his relationship with Gina and assumed he was saddened by her death. Liz guessed his purpose and headed quickly toward the children while Ryan moved in an oblique line to intercept him. But just before Liz reached Jesse, she looked up and saw Austin.
The sound of her scream, high-pitched with terror, startled everyone. The somber atmosphere in the room splintered like glass shattering on stone. The shocked crowd stared as Jesse scrambled off the couch, strewing tiny Barbie accessories everywhere, searching frantically for Elizabeth.
“Here, Jesse!” Elizabeth opened her arms and Jesse flew into her embrace. She was swept up and held tight as Elizabeth hurried through the door toward the private office of the funeral director. Ryan silently congratulated her for arranging the escape plan beforehand. He wished she’d been able to whisk Jesse away before the child saw her father.
Ryan stepped directly in front of Austin. “Nice of you to drop by,” he said with a tight smile, taking a firm grip on his ex-client’s elbow and steering him out of the room. The maneuver was accomplished so smoothly that Austin couldn’t shake Ryan off without drawing attention to himself. Behind them, the funeral director began the business of soothing the crowd, urging people back to their chairs. After an awkward moment or two, they were indeed picking up the threads of their conversations. Hysterical outbursts were probably not uncommon at a funeral, Ryan thought with grim humor as he frog-marched Austin, sullen and scowling, to the front door.
Once outside, he let go of the sleeve and brushed his hands together as if ridding himself of something distasteful. “Don’t bother signing the register,” he told Austin with disgust. “I’ll take care of it. And I’ll be sure to tell Curtiss you paid your respects.”
“What do you think you’re doing, Paxton?” Austin jerked the sleeves of his jacket into place and straightened his tie.
“I’m attending the wake and funeral of a woman who, until a few weeks ago was a damn good employee to LB and J. As a partner, it seemed the decent thing to do.”
Austin’s mouth thinned in a sneer. “You don’t give a shit about Gina. You’re here to play bodyguard to that bitch Liz.”
“Liz doesn’t need a bodyguard, but it looks like Jesse might.”
Austin hesitated a beat, then his gaze slid away from Ryan’s. “I don’t know what that was all about. I’m thinking somebody’s working on her, trying to poison her mind against me. I’m not going to stand for it and you can tell the bitch that.”
“Such an idiotic accusation doesn’t deserve an answer, Austin, but do you honestly think Liz would stoop to do something like that? She’s never done anything except what’s best for your daughter. You should be grateful.”
“Yeah, well, how’s it best that a kid is kept from seeing her father? Especially after her mother’s been killed in a car accident.”
“And under normal circumstances, I’d agree with you. But you saw Jesse’s reaction just now. And it’s the second time it’s happened. Actually, the only two times she’s seen you since the accident, she becomes hysterical. You want to tell me what that’s all about, Austin?”
“How the hell do I know? She’s traumatized from the accident, I guess. If I got a chance to talk to her, I could probably calm her down. The problem is, nobody will let me get near her,” he added bitterly.
“Maybe she would calm down and maybe not. But it’s out of your hands for the present. Look, I’m not your lawyer, but I’m giving you good advice, Austin. Stay away from your daughter right now. Abide by the terms of the restraining order and let things settle down.”
Austin’s smile was hard. “Yeah, you’d like that, wouldn’t you? Stepping aside would leave the door open and make it even easier for Liz to grab my kid. Do you think I don’t see what’s happening here? You’re suddenly tight with her, your kid’s practically living over there and you want me to believe you’ve got my best interests at heart advising me to just step aside, be a gentleman and sign over my kid’s life like she was a pet cat that I don’t want anymore. What’s with you, Ryan? That’s nuts, man.”
“It would be nuts if I thought you were sincere in what you’re saying,” Ryan said quietly. “But there’re too many unanswered questions about the accident and too much bad history is bubbling up, Austin. I’d get a lawyer if I were you and play it very quiet right now.”
Austin looked at him suspiciously. “Was it you who sicced that homicide cop on me?”
“If you mean Steele, the way I heard it is he’s following up on something he heard in the ICU. And if there’s nothing there, you have nothing to be concerned about.”
“Then I don’t need a lawyer, do I?”
Shaking his head, Ryan turned to go back inside. “Suit yourself.”