Bewitching the Beast

Chapter 23

Chapter 23

Ainsley

My leg bounces as Nathan and I wait with Mr. Cranford in the hallway of the courthouse. The hearing starts at ten and my stomach is doing jumping jacks. We have about ten minutes and Mr. Cranford has gone over what will happen.

We will go in and be sited before the judge comes in and they would be brought in. The judge will go over the guidelines and will evaluate the case. Then he will ask for the defense to state their claim which is pretty much why the Anderson brothers should be released. After that Mr. Cranford will go up and state his claim before calling me up so I can say what I have to say.   

  

I am wearing a navy blue flowy skirt that falls past my knees and I have on a white short-sleeve fitted peasant shirt. A tan thin belt around my waist and matching flats finish the outfit. Nathan is in a pair of fitted dark washed jeans and a black short-sleeve polo shirt. Good thing about southern courthouses are you don’t have to dress up fancy.

“Ainsley don’t worry, it will go fine and it will be over before you know it.” Nathan says to reinsure me.

Holding his hand tightly, I answer, “Thanks babe. I really hate waiting for anything.”

“They should call us in any minute now. Nathan it nice that you came down here to support Ainsley, but I can tell you get protective over the one’s you care about so if they do or say something that ticks you off, leave the room and I’ll handle it.” Mr. Cranford says and I smile at him.

One thing about Mr. Cranford that I love is that he takes his job serious and when he is in court, he is unstoppable.

“Yes sir.” Nathan replies and I try not to laugh at how he is actually listening to someone else’s orders.

Laying my head on his shoulder, I whisper, “Thank you for doing this; I don’t think I could do it if you weren’t here.”

“Anything for you love.” He whispers back and kisses my forehead.

“You all can come in now.” A woman says from a door a few feet away from us.

We follow her in and walk in your typical courtroom with wooden pews on both sides. Mr. Cranford walks towards the left side of the room where there is a table and he tells Nathan and I to sit in the front pew.

After we are sited, the door we just walked through opens to reveal Molly and Joseph. I stand when she comes to where Nathan and I are sitting and hug her tightly.

“What are y’all doing here? You should be on your honeymoon in the Bahamas.” I say when I let her go.

“I heard about the court hearing and there was no way in Hell was I leaving you here to face this alone.” She answers with a small smile.

Looking at her, I ask, “And how did you hear about the hearing?”