Lauraine Snelling by Breaking Free

Author:Breaking Free [Free, Breaking]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

EIGHTEEN

Ms. Roberts?” Eddie smiled from his locked-down wheelchair when she looked over her shoulder.

“You can call me Maggie,” she said without thinking, then turned to the man driving the van. “If that’s all right with you.”

“I guess that would be all right.” Gil nodded and glanced in the rearview mirror to see his son. The man didn’t look at her.

Maggie watched everything Gil did and tried to see the scenery at the same time. She was free. Actually on parole, but out of the Los Lomas Correctional Facility. It had been Mr. James’ idea that she accompany Breaking Free to help him get settled with his new owner and help train him. A temporary arrangement, at best, she thought. But it meant she didn’t have to face filling out job applications right away and having to explain to every potential employer why she had a criminal record. Plus, she wouldn’t have to say good-bye to Freebie, at least not for a while. Nevertheless, she had hesitated when Mrs. Donelli had told her the conditions of her probation and about the job they’d arranged. She liked Eddie, but she wasn’t sure about his father. Gil Winters obviously wasn’t thrilled about her working with his son, so why had he agreed to it? If their roles had been reversed, would she have done the same?

The gates had closed behind her for the last time. She was not just taking one of the daily rides to the horse barns but riding down the freeway, in a van with a young boy and his highly resistant father. What did she know about them, other than their names, that Gil made his living as a public speaker and corporate trainer, and that the board had approved their adoption of Breaking Free?

Her mind flipped back to the meeting in the visitor’s room a few days before, the sober-to-the-point-of-unfriendly face across from her. Stopping the trembling in her hands took most of her concentration.

“I thought we should talk privately,” he had said after an abrupt greeting.

“I see.” Not at all, but that sounded polite.

“I got a copy of transcript of your trial.” He paused, perhaps waiting to see her response. When she just nodded, he continued. “It was pretty cut-and-dried. But I’m surprised that with no priors you received the full sentence.”

She nodded again. They’d all been surprised, including her attorney. Another one of those memories she’d managed to bury deeply enough to ignore—most of the time. Dennis, her husband, had walked out. The divorce papers arrived a week later.

Mr. Winters stared into her eyes. “Are you an alcoholic?”

She shook her head. “Two drinks doesn’t make me an alcoholic.”

“Did you drink frequently?”

How do you define frequently? “Only when my husband and I went out to dinner or had guests or . . .”

“Or you got upset or angry or . . . ?”

Now he sounded like the prosecuting attorney, who’d tried to beat her into admitting a drinking problem. How many times had she wished she’d never

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.