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.How could she not have called them? Did they know? Surely, someone had called them, right?Emotion swelled in her chest.“I… need to go,” she managed to say.“Take care of yourself.”Nikki stared at the phone.Jack’s parents had never been fond of her.They’d wanted Jack to marry well.In their opinion, a girl raised in a small house on the wrong side of the tracks by her grandmother—because her parents had abandoned their bastard child—didn’t exactly meet their expectations.And those had been Jack’s words, not Jack’s parents’ or her own.Of course, he’d laughed afterward and told her he’d been joking.When she didn’t seem to think it was funny, he’d told her he didn’t care what his parents thought of her.He’d married her, hadn’t he? It still had hurt.Maybe in part because she’d begun to question if their dislike of her wasn’t part of Jack’s attraction to her.A rich kid, rebelling against Mom and Dad.But their lack of affection, even Jack’s lack of tact, didn’t excuse Nikki’s behavior now.How in God’s name had she forgotten to contact them? Had Dallas’s brother been in touch with them? Surely, he’d contacted the next of kin, right? Or had he expected Nikki to do that?At the very least it was unforgivable for her not to offer her condolences.She’d been Jack’s wife, their daughter-in-law.She’d gone out to eat with them once a week on the mandatory parents’ night and she’d sat at their dining room table over three years of holiday dinners.She’d owed them the courtesy of a phone call and had fallen short.Knowing their number by heart, she dialed, and prayed the right words would come to her.“You!” A feminine shriek shook the line.“How dare you call!”“Mrs.Leon,” Nikki managed to say.“I’m sorry.I should have been the one to… tell you.”“Tell me what? That you murdered my boy? I hope that cop arrests you and you spend the rest of your life in prison!”“I didn’t—”“I told him.I told that O’Connor cop everything.I told him how you tried to get my boy to pay you alimony.”“I didn’t—”“I told him how I’d reminded my son that he needed to change his will.I’ll die before I let you get one cent.” She started sobbing.“He was my son.My only son.”“I’m so sorry,” Nikki said.“Sorry that you killed him?”“I didn’t—” Her breath caught in her chest, followed by a big ache.“You stay away from us!” Mrs.Leon snapped.“I told my boy you were nothing but white trash.”The phone went dead.Nikki sat in the middle of the floor and stared at her phone.The sobs came slowly at first and then began to gush out of her.Tony spotted LeAnn right off—sitting at a lunch table by herself, picking at a bag of potato chips.His gaze shot to the table where an empty saucer sat.No doubt it had held her dessert.Which, more times than not, she ate first.He recalled how hard it had been for her to eat healthy during her pregnancy.But she’d done it.If eating green crap is what I have to do, I’ll do it.And she had.He remembered the night she’d held her nose and ate broccoli because she’d read it was good for the baby.He’d told LeAnn she didn’t have to do everything the books said, but she wasn’t taking chances.He felt so sorry for her that every time she’d looked away, he’d snag a bite of broccoli and eat it himself.He hated the shit, but would have eaten every bite for her.Lunchroom noises brought him back to the moment.He watched LeAnn eat another chip.She hadn’t had a mom to push the five food groups on her.To LeAnn, cake and a bag of potato chips were the perfect meal.Walking over to the table, he longed to lean over and kiss her, to taste her lips.But instead, he pulled out a chair and snagged one of her chips.Shock filled her green eyes.She looked as tired as he felt.He forced a smile.“Hmm, chocolate and potato chips, you’ve covered both your essential food groups.”“Yeah.” She looked back at chips as if trying to collect her thoughts.“What are you doing here?”“I had to talk to a witness,” he said.She nodded, but didn’t look up.“I was thinking maybe we could go out on Sunday.A nice dinner.”“I…” She looked back at him.“I was going to give you this on Sunday, but since you’re here [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]