Pushing the Limits (Pushing the Limits, #1)(84)

I plastered a smile on my face and turned. “Hi, Bridget.”

Bridget’s blue eyes widened. Her sleek midnight-black hair hung to her shoulders and angled her face. At six feet tall, she towered over me. As I always remembered her, she wore a chic black business suit. “Echo. My God, you’ve grown.”

“It happens.” I shifted from one foot to the next. “Do you have a few minutes?”

“For you, always. Would you like some water?”

“Sure.” She led the way to her office.

“What can I do for you?”

Now or never. “I’m hoping you can help me with two things.”

She handed me a bottled water and twisted the top off of hers. “Tell me number one.”

“You told me once that if I was ever interested in selling my paintings you wanted me to call you first. Does that offer still stand?”

Bridget licked her lips and sat. “Your mom showed me your sketches for years. I’ve been dying for this day. Did you bring anything for me to look at?”

I shook my head.

“Pick out your five favorite paintings and bring a full sketch pad for me to peruse tomorrow.” She narrowed her eyes. “You’re still in school, right?”

“I graduate next month.”

“Brilliant.” Her eyes glittered as if her mind had gone to a far-off place. She blinked back to life. “Two?”

“I want to find my mom.”

She lost the glitter and her smile fell. “Cassie doesn’t work here anymore. You know that.”

“Yeah, I do, but you were her best friend. I’m hoping you could at least tell me where she ended up. Maybe if she found another job, who hired her, or at least who called for references.”

Bridget took a long drink from her water. “Your mom was in a bad place for a very long time, Echo. What happened to you is a tragedy and she feels nothing but remorse.”

My heart beat faster. “You know what happened to me?”

“Yes.” Her long fingernails ripped at the label on the bottle. “And she said that you don’t.”

Adrenaline poured into my body. My foot tapped against the floor. “You still talk with her?”

“Yes.” The sound of the label tearing filled the silence.

I reached around and pulled an envelope from my back pocket. “Please just give this to her. She can decide how to proceed. Okay?”

She stared at my outstretched hand. “I know your dad liked to keep you in a glass ball so maybe you’re not aware of the restraining order.”

“I’m not interested in sending her to jail. I just want to see her.” I shook the letter in my hand and tried Mrs. Collins’s puppy dog eyes. “Please, Bridget.”

Bridget accepted the envelope. “I’m not promising anything. Do you understand?”

I nodded, too worked up to speak. Either I’d solved all my problems or I’d created a whole new set of them. It didn’t matter. I was done living like a coward. It was time to be strong.





NOAH


“How are you, Noah?” Mrs. Collins smiled when I waltzed into her office and sank into the chair.

“I’ve been better.”

That got her attention. “At least you’re being honest today. What brought that on?”

I shook my head, not able to answer. I’d heard a rumor that Luke had broken up with his girl of the week with the intention of asking Echo to prom. The bastard barely waited three weeks before going after my girl.

Shifting in my seat, I tried to erase the thought of Echo as my girl. We’d broken up and Isaiah was right, I’d done nothing to stop it. I wanted Echo to be happy and there was no way she could with a boyfriend who was busy raising two little boys. Isaiah said I should have made it her choice and to try talking with Echo again. I wanted Echo in my life, but in the end her life would be better without me.

Beth promised to ask around and find out whether Echo accepted Luke’s offer. Part of me hoped she said yes. I’d f*cked up her Valentine’s Dance. She deserved a good prom.

“You’ll be happy to know the drug test the judge ordered came back negative.”

I shrugged. I hadn’t touched weed in months. “You expected a different result?”

She laughed. “I’ve met Beth.”

I laughed along with her. At least she called a spade a spade. For the past couple of weeks, Mrs. Collins had tried to dig at me, but I kept our topics of conversation stuck on my brothers. Sometimes we discussed the possibility of a future in college I’d never have.

“How are things going with Jacob?” After my visit to Legal Aid, Carrie and Joe found a cutthroat lawyer and rescinded my visitation privileges. Some bullshit about me using drugs and partying and being a bad influence on my brothers. Hence the drug test. Smart move on their part. Before Echo their claim wasn’t bullshit, but since her, it was.

“You know I can’t discuss private details, but I can tell you a story about this wonderful child named Jack who had night terrors for three years.”

My lips twitched. Mrs. Collins wasn’t so bad after all. “So how’s Jack?”

“Jack slept through an entire night without a nightmare this past week.”

The air caught in my chest, making it a little hard to breathe. “Thanks.”