Chapter 2

She noticed him walking up and turned, giving him a quick glimpse of her profile—still perfect at thirty-five. Then he was looking into those big green eyes again, so close he could see the tiny flecks of gold. He'd always liked that she was tall so he could study those amazing colors in her eyes. He had been about to launch into his big planned speech... and the moment was over before it began. She hadn't listened to a word he said. New Hez, old Hez—it was all the same to her.

It didn't matter if he had changed—the past hadn't. And Savannah still blamed him. Of course she did.

He took a deep breath and blew it out slowly. Maybe it was time for him to move on too.

"Can I help you?" a reedy voice said.

"I was just visiting someone, but I'm done now." He walked out past the guard, who trailed him until he left the building.

He sat down and surveyed his surroundings. Despite Savannah's assurances, Tupelo Grove University looked more threadbare than he remembered. The dead limbs on the towering oaks in the quad needed trimming. Weeds and grass sprouted from the brick paths. Legare Hall, the grandiose marble administration building Savannah's father started twenty years ago when he was university president, still wasn't finished. Even from Hez's vantage point over a hundred yards away, it was clear that construction stopped a long time ago and the half-built hall was slowly decaying into the perfect setting for a Stephen King story. Tupelo Grove certainly wasn't "Harvard on the Bayou" anymore. Much of its five hundred acres was still swampland and planted fields for the agricultural department.

"How'd the hearing go?"

Hez smiled at his boss's impatience. "We won."

"Yes!" Hez could almost see Jimmy punching the air. "Tell me all about it."

Hez gave a blow-by-blow description, which took twice as long thanks to Jimmy's frequent interjections and questions.

"Are you on the road back to Birmingham?" Jimmy asked when Hez finished his story. "I'll buy you dinner at Highlands."

"Oh." Jimmy paused. "That's pretty close to Tupelo Grove, right?"

"Yeah. I'm actually at TGU right now."

"Are you there about the Justice Chamber?" Jimmy's voice was wary now. He knew the Justice Chamber was Hez's dream. After a couple of long conversations, Jimmy had reluctantly agreed that Hez could have six months of paid leave to start the clinic someday—but he also clearly hoped someday never came.

Hez sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "Yeah, but it doesn't look like it'll work out."

"I'm sorry, man." Jimmy's tone conveyed the exact opposite of his words.

"It's fine. It was a mistake for me to come down here."

***

A bead of sweat runs down my temple. I've been here too long already, but I can't leave until my search is done.

I take a deep breath and blow it out through my nose. Maybe I need to take the Hez situation into my own hands.

Time to go. I skim my gaze over the office one last time, skipping the wedding picture. Then I slip out, close the door behind me, and hurry down the back stairwell. A quick check of my phone shows Savannah walking around the pond. Good.