Free So This Is Love by Barbara Freethy Page A

any more of it." He glanced at Max. "I can't imagine anyone will want to hire me with my record."
    "It won't be easy," Max agreed. "But you'll find something. You're smart and well-educated."
    "And a murderer. Who's going to trust me? People will probably cross the street when they see me coming."
    "You can't think of yourself that way. The worst is behind you, Spence. You're a free man, and you're starting a new chapter in your life."
    "A new chapter?" he asked, doubt in his eyes. "I'm a thirty-six-year-old man living in his mother's house. I have no money, no car, and no job prospects."
    "That's all temporary." He hated to see Spencer getting bogged down in the negative, but he doubted there was anything he could say to change that. Spencer would have to find his own way forward.
    "Where do you live?" Spencer asked.
    "An apartment a couple of miles from here. It's a one bedroom," he added.
    "Don't worry. I wasn't going to ask if I could move in."
    He was happy to hear that. "Mom isn't around that much. She works nine to five at the insurance company. You'll have time to yourself during the day."
    "Yeah." Silence fell between them for a few moments, then Spencer said, "Do you know what happened to her?"
    His body stiffened at the question he'd hoped he'd never hear. "Are you talking about Stephanie?"
    "Who else would I be asking about?"
    "Does it matter what happened to her? She let you down at the trial, Spencer. Her testimony was half-hearted and vague. She couldn't remember things she'd told you. She had text messages she couldn't explain. She's the reason the jury didn't believe you."
    "I didn't ask for a rehash; I asked if you knew what happened to her," Spencer said, an edge to his voice now.
    "You have to forget about her. You can never see her again. This is your second chance, and you cannot let her mess it up for you."
    "Is she married?"
    He let out a sigh, knowing that he was only postponing the inevitable. If he didn't give Spencer answers, his brother would go looking for them, and that would be even worse. "Yes, she's married. And she has a kid."
    "How old?"
    "Around two, I think."
    "You kept tabs on her."
    He had kept an eye on Stephanie because he'd always believed she'd been hiding something, and during the course of appeals, he'd hoped she'd reveal the truth. But she never had.
    "Is it a boy or a girl?" Spencer asked.
    "Boy."
    "She had a son," Spencer said, drawing a shaky breath. "We talked about having a child together."
    "How can you have an ounce of feeling for her?" he asked harshly.
    Spencer looked at him with agony in his eyes. "I loved her more than I've ever loved anyone in my life."
    He knew he was being harsh and not at all understanding, but he couldn't support this part of Spencer's re-entry into the world. "You paid for your love. She's moved on, and you need to do the same."
    Spencer stood up. "Don't worry about me, Max. I know exactly what I need to do."

    * * *

    After the Callaway family dinner, Emma went upstairs to her bedroom, grabbed her laptop computer and sat down on her bed. She'd been thinking about Max all evening, wondering how his reunion was going with his mother and brother. While he'd told her the basics, she wanted to know the whole story.
    She opened her search engine and typed in Spencer Harrison, then waited for the results. It didn't take long to find a series of news articles about his trial. The first one was from the San Francisco Chronicle and gave the basics of the case.
    Spencer Harrison, age twenty-nine, a rising commodities trader at Harrington and Stowe, was arrested after a fight outside his girlfriend's apartment building that resulted in the death of Kurt Halstead, age twenty-seven. Harrison claimed that Halstead was stalking his girlfriend, Stephanie Porter. But Halstead's attorneys stated that Harrison had a jealous temper and had mistaken a friendship between the two for something more.
    Emma pulled up another article, this one discussing the deceased Kurt