Read Online The Man She Once Knew by Jean Brashear - Free Book Online

was that he had called the jail, but David had refused to see him.
    Are you crazy? As she left the meeting, she was tempted to go back to the jail and ask David what he was thinking. Maybe he was one of those prisoners who didn’t know how to function in the outside world, who would commit a new crime soon after being released because the real world was too scary. Hellish or not, prison routine was familiar and if you kept your head down, didn’t cross the wrong people, you could survive. You’d have three squares a day and a roof over your head, courtesy of the state.
    The boy Callie had known had possessed powerful ambitions, would have found such a life anathema.
    But, as she’d realized many times since returning, that boy was not this David.
     
    “A RE YOU GOING to get him out of there?” Jessie Lee demanded that evening as she watered the garden and Callie took a stab at weeding, kneeling on the ground in her new too-stiff jeans.
    “What?”
    “David. Miss Margaret told me you’re a lawyer. You can fix this.”
    The child’s blithe assurance took her aback. “I’m not—I don’t do that kind of work. I can’t legally represent him.” She faltered. The girl didn’t understand the nuances of the situation.
    “People are awful to him, and that’s not right.” The girl’s riot of curls bounced with her indignation.
    “It’s complicated.”
    “I know he’s been in jail before.” Guileless blue eyeswatched her. “But he’s always nice to me, and he helps Granny lots of times, but he won’t let her tell anyone.”
    Curiouser and curiouser. “Helps her how?”
    “He fixes things at our house, and he won’t ever let her pay him. About all he’ll accept is a meal now and then. He drives her to bingo when her knee is acting up. Picks up groceries for us, too.”
    Callie mulled over the inconsistencies.
    “Miss Margaret would want you to help him.”
    “Why?” She’d been thinking the same, but she wanted to hear the girl’s reasoning.
    “He did stuff for her, too. And she always told me everybody deserves a second chance.” Earnest eyes watched hers. “Don’t you believe that?”
    Had she once? Callie could barely remember that naive girl, after years of contact with society’s dregs. “It’s not that simple.” When Jessie Lee’s chin jutted, Callie tamped down her impatience. “Sometimes people get on a path that—They take a wrong step and—” Normally so smooth at arguing before a jury, she couldn’t seem to find her rhythm.
    This jury wasn’t buying her case. “Who will help him if you don’t?”
    He doesn’t want my help, Callie started to protest. Everyone is sure he’s guilty. Her visit with the sheriff earlier that day had been more dismaying than the one with David’s lawyer. The lost promise of Ned Compton’s plans for Oak Hollow was still etched into the minds of its citizens.
    She couldn’t believe a child was calling her out. She’dbeen so zealous in her search for the truth once, so positive it could be found…when had she quit looking? When had she ever relied on the opinions of others?
    Had she lost all her courage at the end of her ill-fated case?
    Something didn’t fit here. First, a wooden angel, then this story of good deeds kept secret. Both were more like the David she’d once known than the villain people whispered about. The stony, silent man who trusted no one.
    “All right,” Callie said. When Jessie Lee’s head rose abruptly, Callie held up a hand. “I still can’t take action on his behalf, not without associated counsel, and—” Whatever she might have said was cut off by a skinny little body crashing into hers.
    “You can do it, I know you can. Thank you.”
    Callie tried to think when she’d last been hugged by anyone not angling for sex. Awkwardly she patted the girl’s back. “I might not be able to do anything—oof!” Thin arms squeezed more tightly, and Callie gave up the battle, joining the embrace for a precious second