All for You by Jessica Scott Read Free Book Online Page B

surface. There was so much to do, so little time.
    She didn’t want to be here tonight but she’d promised Olivia she’d meet for drinks. Talarico’s was out on Lake Belton, a beautiful old building that had been redesigned with a Tuscan flavor and feel. The floor was polished concrete, the walls beautiful mixtures of warm bronze, gold, and yellows. Outside, there was a wide deck, illuminated by an outdoor fire pit and low-hanging lights.
    “You are looking far too serious with all these sexy Cav boys running around in their Stetsons.”
    Emily ordered her wine then glanced over at Olivia. “Sorry. Shitty week.”
    They’d crashed a Cavalry event and Emily couldn’t help but wonder if Olivia had an ulterior motive for dragging her out to Talarico’s on a Friday night. The men were lingering around the bar or outside on the deck, sporting their Stetsons, the traditional headgear of Army Cavalry units. There was something powerful about the men in that room.
    Olivia was nursing something pink and green, toying with the end of her straw. “You’re supposed to be having a good time.”
    Olivia’s black hair shined in the candlelight of the bar. Behind her wire-rimmed glasses, her green eyes glittered with the brightness of a little too much to drink.
    “I thought we were celebrating your latest case?” Emily asked.
    “I thought so too until I saw you over here sulking at the bar.” Olivia smiled. “I put another scumbag in jail today for life. I’m going to celebrate, damn it, and you’re going to join me.”
    Emily raised her glass. “To putting away scumbags,” she said with a smile.
    Olivia tinked her glass against Emily’s. “To putting away the bad guys.”
    Emily took a sip of her wine. “How do you know the difference?” she asked quietly.
    “The difference between what?” Olivia asked.
    “The good guys and the bad guys?”
    Olivia toyed with her straw. “I guess there isn’t a clear line,” she said. “Some things there is. Like there’s no one on the planet that could convince me someone who hurts a little kid sexually deserves a second chance. Other stuff? It’s more gray.” She took a sip of her drink. “Most of it’s gray,” she added.
    Emily was learning that. Her job would be so much easier if the medical records that came before her were clear-cut and easy to decide. But every single one danced in the grey areas. She made the best decision she could, case by case, based on the army’s guidelines.
    Always, she tried to remember that there was a soldier on the other side of that file, counting on her to get it right.
    She thought of Iaconelli’s words from the gym earlier in the week. Weakness he wouldn’t defend.
    The soldiers’ packets that came across her desk weren’t weak. They were broken, and there was a distinct difference in her world.
    They deserved her defense. They deserved someone to advocate for them but even then, sometimes, there were cases she simply couldn’t adjudicate in favor of the soldier. Sometimes, though, their problems were self-inflicted and she simply couldn’t just check the block.
    “You know what you should try,” Olivia said, interrupting her serious train of thought. “I should see if I can get one of these strapping Cavalry men to give you a ride home.”
    “I’ll pass, thanks,” Emily said with a laugh.
    “I thought you were giving up on your stuck-up Northeastern Old Money ways, Em,” Olivia said with a grin.
    “I am, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to run around screwing the first thing that winks my way. I’m trying to be more selective than a hamster in heat.”
    “A hamster in heat? Are you serious? Who has hamsters these days?” Olivia glanced over at a tall Cavalryman, her gaze going dark with longing and something else. A freedom that Emily envied. “There is something about that hat that does something to my insides,” Olivia said, lifting her beer toward one of the captains near the bar.
    Emily followed her