Take a Chance on Me(49)

And then there was the matter of Krista Brown and her first-offense possession of marijuana. Ivy offered Krista’s defense attorney a deal for his client: a fine and an agreement to seek treatment.

All that in between her five criminal traffic complaint arraignments, three initial appearances, one pretrial, and one sentencing. After lunch, she had three probation violation hearings, two omnibus hearings—all in traffic court—one contested omnibus hearing, and a review hearing.

Then came the CHIPS—children in need of protection or services—cases: two review hearings, an admit/deny hearing, and a number of permanency review hearings.

The docket repeated itself tomorrow.

By the end of the month, she’d probably know half the people in Deep Haven, at least the ones who drove without a license, sped through town, or were fighting to keep their children.

“That’s your third Diet Coke.” Diane Wolfe, the county social worker, slid onto a wire chair overlooking the harbor, holding her basket of fish-and-chips. A taller woman, she kept her dark curly hair short, wore little makeup, and had a no-nonsense way about her that suggested she looked at the facts—a good thing when dealing with the intricacies of families. Diane’s office was just down the hall, and she and Ivy spent the better part of these court days together. Daniel had always encouraged a positive relationship with local social workers and law enforcement. Hence why Ivy had also invited Mitch O’Conner, the probation officer, to join them for lunch.

Mitch sat facing the harbor, eating his batter-dipped french fries, letting the sun bathe his face. Or maybe dreaming of fishing. His office sported a number of mounted trophies.

Seagulls called over the water, the sun high and glorious. The lake seemed so blue, it could reach out and woo her into its cool waters. Ivy wore a pair of black dress pants and a pink sleeveless blouse, her hair up, but sweat still began to trickle down her back. The one nice thing about being trapped inside a courthouse all day—air-conditioning.

“I’m trying to keep my energy up,” Ivy said, attempting to balance the ingredients of her crab sandwich. “When I first arrived, I thought this might be a fluke, but no, it’s like this every week. A marathon of cases.”

“And the summer is just getting going,” Diane said.

“People keep saying that. It’s July.”

“Wait until August. It’s our high season.”

Ivy kept trying not to glance over to the lighthouse, not to let Darek tiptoe into her mind. He hadn’t called all weekend, and she’d spent the early part of the week working on cases, preparing for today, and hardly noticed.

Okay, she’d noticed.

But maybe, as it had with her, when they kissed, the smallest spark of fear had lit inside him, compelled him to step back, take a breath.

“Judge Magnusson certainly keeps the docket clipping along.”

“No wasting time with her,” Diane said. “She expects you to be prepared. Whenever she’s presiding, I spend the days before cramming like I am still in college, remembering specific incidents so I don’t look like a fool on the stand.”

“Don’t let her lie to you,” Mitch said, looking at Ivy through his aviator glasses. “She’d do that if Santa Claus was presiding.”

Diane wiped her mouth with a napkin. “It only took once for a defense attorney to tear me apart on the stand, and I never let that happen again.”

“The children of Deep Haven are fortunate to have you,” Ivy said.

“Agreed.” Mitch smiled, and Ivy instantly liked him.

“By the way, just a heads-up.” He looked at Ivy. “Jensen Atwood isn’t going to finish his community service. I think we’ll have to file a probation violation complaint.” He mopped ketchup with his fries while everything stilled inside Ivy.

Diane sat back in her chair, sipping her strawberry lemonade. “I can’t decide how I feel about that. I see him around town, working hard. And yet, I see Nan Holloway with Tiger, and my heart goes out to the entire family. I know Darek is probably doing his best, but he’s a single dad. I know it can’t be easy for him.”

Darek? Ivy set down her sandwich, trying to sort out their conversation. What did Darek have to do with Jensen’s probation violation?

“I can still remember that horrible night,” Diane said.

“What happened?” Ivy said, reaching for her glass. She knew some of it—that kind of story stuck in a person’s memory. But maybe they’d fill in the details.

“Oh, it’s a terrible story,” Diane said. “It was late at night, and Felicity Christiansen was out running on the highway north of town. Jensen came around the corner too fast, didn’t see her, and hit her.”