As they walked out of the courthouse together, Maria's mind was reeling. The Judge had made it pretty clear that without Ritchie's intervention, Joey would have been on his way to a juvenile detention center.

He'd talked to a judge about Tito, too. But in that case, his words had been more along the lines of lock him up and throw away the key. Tito had no college degree, no job experience, and a felony criminal record. When he finally got out of prison, who would hire him? His future had been destroyed. Destroyed by the man who couldn't see – or hadn't bothered to try to see – that Tito was different from the gang members he'd associated with.

She'd hated Ritchie Perez for seven years without even knowing his name. Hated him because he wouldn't give Tito a chance. And she'd be indebted to him forever because he did get Joey that chance. They were outside on the courthouse steps now, and Joey was staring up at him as if was a god. What was she supposed to say?

"I – I want to thank you for coming here today, Ritchie," she said. "I don't know how we'll ever repay you." She knew her words sounded stiff and formal, and she saw his eyes narrow.

"You don't need to 'repay' anything, Maria," he said.

God, her hands were shaking. She had to get out of here. Get Joey out of here. Go someplace where she could think.

"So," she faltered, "I guess we'll be going home now. Thank you, again. I'll– "

"Not so fast, Maria," Ritchie said, putting a hand on her arm."We're going to go someplace right now and discuss this."

Oh, God, did he know he was the one who put her brother away? Did he realize that she now knew? Tito must have been just one of so many nameless, faceless defendants he'd processed through the system, she realized. That was probably how he looked at it. He wouldn't even remember Tito's name.

She shook his hand off and turned to face him.

"There's nothing to discuss." Her words sounded sharper than she'd intended.

Ritchie raised his eyebrows, giving her a sardonic look that made him look like a dark angel.

"Oh, so it's drop everything, Ritchie and come save us, after a month of not bothering to return my phone calls. Then it's thanks and goodbye, on the courthouse steps, before we even have a chance to discuss what happens next with Joey."

"No, I mean, I'm sorry, I didn't call you, but..."

He interrupted her. "Look, this isn't about you not calling me. I shouldn't even have said that. You don't want to see me again socially, that's fine. But you called me today to help Joey, and that's what I intend to do. And the first thing we need to discuss is Joey's living situation."

She felt her mouth drop open. "Our living situation is none of your business."

"The Judge just made it my business. When he put me in charge of overseeing Joey's conduct and made me personally responsible for keeping him out of trouble. For the next six months until this case is dismissed, it makes the most sense for Joey to live with me."

"I'm moving in with you?" Joey looked awestruck. "Cool. Do I get my own room?"

Maria turned to Joey. "You are not moving in with Ritchie. I'm your legal guardian, in case you've forgotten." She turned to look at Ritchie. "This is absolutely ridiculous."

"I'm offering to help you out, Maria. Look, I might as well be blunt. You saw how close the Judge was to bringing in Social Services. What do you think some caseworker would put in their report about a kid whose already been in trouble sleeping on the couch in a one-bedroom apartment while the only adult works two jobs and is hardly ever home?"

Marie felt herself bristling. "I do the best I can."

His voice softened. "I know you do, and I admire you for it. But you might have to face the fact that right now your best just isn't enough to give Joey the support he needs."

"Well, that's your opinion." Where did he get his nerve? Life was easy enough when you were a rich lawyer with your own business. He obviously had no concept of how regular people lived.

"Want to take any bets on what the opinion of the court would be?" Ritchie asked.

When she was silent, he continued. "Because I think we both know the answer to that."

"Joey's in school most of the time I'm at work at the restaurant."

"That's another thing we need to discuss," Ritchie said. "Putting aside for the moment the fact that Joey got drugs planted in his locker, that school has a low rating because the teachers spend more time with discipline issues and drug problems than they do teaching. It's not the best environment for your brother."

"I sold my house and moved to get Joey into that school because it's better than where he was."

"Sometimes better still isn't good enough," Ritchie said, and turned toward Joey again. "You're changing schools."

"No way," Joey said, but the way he said it made Maria think he wasn't posing any real objection.

Well, she was. "You can't just take over our lives like this. I won't have it," Maria said.

He turned that level gaze on her then. "Watch me."

* * *

Over lunch, Maria tried to marshal her arguments. Ritchie could all but see the wheels turning in her head. He was convinced Joey was a good kid – if he had to steamroll over Maria to do what was in the kid's best interests then he would. The fact that he was attracted to her as a woman was no reason to stand aside when a boy's future was on the line.

Too bad she had to fight him on every issue. It would be so much easier if she would just let go of her pride enough to see that everything he had suggested was in Joey's best interests. She was obviously too close to the situation to comprehend how much the kid was struggling, and how easily he could end up in serious trouble if some pretty drastic changes weren't made right now.

But no, she took every attempt to help as an insult, and dug her heels in. And even though he felt her tenacity was misplaced, he admired her for it. The more her temper flared, the more he wanted to channel all that energy into something that would give them both a lot more pleasure. He had to be crazy to try to pursue a relationship with her now that he'd realized he put her other brother behind bars. If she hadn't called him for help – if Joey hadn't gotten into trouble – he probably would never have seen her again. She hadn't returned his phone calls, and that would be that.

But fate had stepped in, and Ritchie wasn't one to ignore fate. If she knew already that he was the attorney who had prosecuted her brother, that explained her sudden resistance to every suggestion he made. If she didn't know, he'd have to tell her. And soon. Because, thanks to the Judge, he was going to be seeing a lot more of her.

They were sitting at an outside café on the waterfront. Joey seemed to have rebounded quickly and managed to eat two burgers and a massive quantity of cheese fries. As soon as he finished, Maria had given him some money to go down the street and get ice cream so she could talk things over with Ritchie.

The second he was gone, she started, apparently realizing she needed to shift tactics and take a softer approach. Ritchie wondered how long it would take until that temper of hers took over again.

"Listen, I don't want you to think I don't appreciate what you did for Joey – for both of us – this afternoon. But I can tell how much this has shaken Joey up. He's not going to be a problem from here on." She took a measured breath and continued.

"So, as much as I appreciate your offer to have Joey move in with you for six months, it's really not necessary. We couldn't disrupt your life that way."

She smiled at him, and he knew it must have cost her. Humble was not her style.

"It doesn't work that way, Maria," he said, and watched the smile fade from her pretty face.

"I don't know what you mean," she said.

"I mean, when you ask me to drop everything and run over to the courthouse and get Joey out of trouble, I'm happy to do that. And I was happy to take on responsibility for watching over him because that was what it took to keep the Judge from removing him and conducting a home study and dumping that kid into a system that's going to hurt him more than it would ever help him. But when I make a commitment to help, I'm all in. Don't expect me to put a temporary fix on this legal problem then step back and just wait for you to call me when the next crisis happens."

He leaned forward. "Because the way things are headed, there will be a next crisis. And it won't be as easy to make a deal with the prosecutor and the court next time."

"I think you're overstating it. This was a wake-up call for Joey. He'll stay out of trouble from now on," she said.

"Why not make it easier for him to do that? I like you, Maria. And I like Joey. He's a good kid, and I want to help. But I don't have time to run back and forth between your apartment and his school checking up on him."

"I'm not asking you to do that."

"That apartment isn't big enough, and you know it. That's why the best solution is for him to move into my house, where he has his own room. I can make sure he's home when he's supposed to be, he's in the right school, and he's doing the right kind of activities. You know he's interested in sports. I can get him in some great programs after school and on weekends. No more hanging out with his friends from the old neighborhood, and no more sitting around an empty apartment thinking up ways to get in trouble while you're at work."

"So you'll help him but only if it's your way." Her jaw was set stubbornly, and she narrowed her eyes, still holding onto her temper but clearly by a thin thread.

"That's right. If you want me to help him, you have to give me a chance to do it my way."

"And if I say no?"

"Then you might as well make a reservation for him to move into a cell with your brother Tito."

Author's Note:

Boom! What will Maria say now?

Music:  Kings of Leon - Use Somebody

I chose this song because Maria really does need somebody just like Ritchie, even though right now she'd be the last one to admit it.  And just maybe Ritchie needs somebody like her . . .