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without witness testimony concerning the earlier abuse. Your father will not be charged for those crimes.”
    “I know. It doesn’t matter. It was enough that I got to tell the truth to somebody.”
    He clicked off the portable recording device. He stowed away the pen and the pad. He leaned down as close as he could. He whispered so the doctor couldn’t hear. “I believe you Sunny. I’m going to make sure your brother and mother can’t hurt you. I’ll make sure your daddy never sees the outside of that prison he’s going to. And I’ll do everything within my power to see that you get your friend’s baby. I’ll be honest, you’ve got a long, hard row to hoe. But you’ve got the grit to see it through.”
    “Thank you,” she whispered back to him. It was then that she noticed he wasn’t so very old. And his eyes were an amazing shade of blue.
    He squeezed the hand that lay dead by her side. He turned to address the doctor. “I’m finished with Miss Murphy.”
    Together the men walked out of the room. Sunny wondered just what she’d gotten herself into. She surely wasn’t going to be using that acceptance letter to the Gulf Coast Ballet. She had very little money, a mountain of medical debt, and the prospect of raising a child all by herself.
     
    Three Weeks Later
     
    Sunny watched the clock on the waiting room’s beige wall with a laser-like intensity. It was fifteen minutes to midnight. Any time now, a nurse would come out and invite selected members of a patient’s family to go back and see their loved ones. Willie didn’t have any family. She only had Sunny.
    The honey-haired girl had kept a daily vigil in this drab waiting room for the last several weeks. She’d gotten to know all the nurses and staff. They’d gone out of their way to make her comfortable. Pillows, snacks, and coffee regularly found their way to the young woman.
    Sunny went home after the midnight visit every day. And home had become a much more comfortable environment. The café was closed. Her father was tried and sentenced in record time. If poor Willie died, he’d probably be tried again, this time on a murder charge. Chances were good he would die in prison.
    Sunny couldn’t say she was sorry for that outcome. He’d earned his cell. And he’d earned his time. She would be happy never to see him again. Her mother had decided to take an extended trip to visit her relatives out west. Sunny didn’t expect her to ever return to Murphy’s Point. They’d spent a few awkward days together right after Sunny was released from the hospital. Martha hadn’t found the wherewithal to offer her daughter an apology for denying the sheriff’s request to testify against her husband. Mrs. Murphy most likely thought none was needed, as her mother was quick to let Sunny know she was the sole cause of all the family’s troubles.  The older woman had not proffered an explanation as to why she’d failed to protect her daughter over the years. She’d just stoically packed her bags, signed the deed to the house and the café over to Sunny, and driven off in the family’s one old rattletrap truck.
    Sheriff Dunn had proved good to his word. The fact that Sunny was now a woman of property helped. The judge had been sympathetic. She’d named Sunny as Willie’s legal guardian and the guardian of the unborn child. It helped that the police could not establish any next of kin for Willie.
    As far as Lee was concerned, Sunny’s brother had simply vanished. Dunn did a routine search of her home, with Sunny’s permission. Apparently Lee was running a business selling illegal substances. A ledger was discovered under his bed that detailed his buyers. If Lee ever returned, he’d be facing a court trial. Sunny would never welcome him back into her life, her house, or her café.
    Sunny looked up at the clock one more time. She was anxious to see Willie. The doctors were easing her friend off the drugs that kept her asleep. They wanted her awake, at