Loving Justice (El Camino Real Book 2) Read Online Free PDF Page B

Charlee fled, dumping the food into the nearest garbage can. Clamping a hand over her mouth, she raced down the sidewalk, trying not to scream. Blindly, she turned down the first street she came to and lost herself in a group of people coming from a funeral at the Baptist church on the corner.
    Desperate to be alone, Charlee ducked into the church and sat down on the back pew. Everyone was gone except the attendants moving the flower arrangements from the front of the church to the vans waiting to take them to the cemetery. She bowed her head so they wouldn’t notice her. As quietly as she could she sobbed, her shoulders moving with each wrenching breath. Over and over again, she replayed the words Justice had said. He’d done nothing important last night. Nothing important .
    Her stomach was rolling in sick realization of what he must be thinking. Or was he just too drunk to remember what they’d shared—the kisses, the touches, the way she’d clung to him, how she’d whispered his name when she came. Nothing important . With those words, he’d ripped part of her soul from its moorings.
    How long she sat there, she didn’t know. When she rose, it was daylight no longer. The truth was sad. She was nobody. She was nothing. Nobody wanted her. Curtiss Parker, her adopted father, didn’t want her. Justice didn’t want her either. If she found her real mother, how would she feel? Had she not wanted her either or had she been too young to keep her? The question was eating her alive.
    Not knowing what else to do, Charlee returned to the clinic. Still crying, she fought back the anger and the pain. Realization of the stupid mistake she’d made with Justice was pounding in her head like a drum. Clutching her arms around her waist, Charlee walked through the yard. Her feet were sore, she had blisters on the back of her heels because she hadn’t stopped to put on hose this morning.
    The house was dark, her father was gone. If he was hitting her again, he was probably drinking again also. Panicking a little at the thought, Charlee wanted to leave, she had to leave. There was nothing for her here. She couldn’t live in the same house as her father anymore. Now was her chance for a fresh start. Should she just go to the bus stop and buy a random ticket? Or should she try to find something—anything—about her past?
    Switching on the lights, Charlee boldly walked into his office. The old bastard kept everything. If something existed that could give her a clue to who she was and where she’d come from, Curtiss Parker would have a copy of it. Methodically, she started going through files, drawers, file cabinets, and the desk. She wasn’t neat about it either. Without care, she tossed things to the left and to the right. Let him clean it up for a change. “Please, please, please,” she chanted until she finally found a file with her name on it. It was stuffed behind a drawer, bent and stained. Still, it was the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen. With shaking hands, she plopped down at the desk and opened it up.
    Quickly, she read, then she reread and reread again. Mother, Dawn Cortez. Father, Santino Cortez. The address was Pine Ridge Reservation, South Dakota. The lawyer’s name was Pete Sheldon and there was a phone number. And the baby’s name—her name—was Cha’risa Cortez. Cha’risa. Keeping her eyes on the paper, her heart rate through the roof, she fumbled for the phone and placed the call.
    One ring, two, three.
    “Shepherd and Associates, may I help you?”
    “Ah, hello. This is Charlee Parker, uh, Cha’risa Cortez, I guess. You handled my adoption. I found the information, and I need to talk to you. I want to know if my real parents would have any interest in meeting me.”
     
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    Charlee offered no explanations to Curtiss Parker. She kept her door locked and stayed out of his way. A young lawyer by the name of Hampton Forbes drove down from Dallas and met with her at his motel room. He