“Yeah, there.”

“Who’s that?”

“Galen Broadhurst. He’s like this mega-deal guy. But seriously, what kind of name is that? Galen Broadhurst?”

The name had come up in conversation earlier in the day, but I realized it wasn’t the very first time I’d heard it. From what I’d seen on the news, it had been Broadhurst’s car Jeremy had been driving when he ran down that girl. Maybe I’d know even more about him if I read the Wall Street Journal or the business section of the New York Times. So, he was a big-deal businessman. If you were born with a name like Galen Broadhurst, I suspected you were destined to be rich and powerful. You didn’t meet a lot of guys at the Wendy’s drive-through window with names like that.

“I watched the news about the trial,” I said, “but I don’t know all the details. You want to fill me in, or is it something you’d rather not talk about?”

“I sat in court for weeks listening to all of it over and over again. You really think I want to shoot the shit with you about it?”

“What I figured,” I said. I couldn’t blame him.

“Anyway,” Jeremy said, “Mom likes Bob because he can give her all the things my dad never could.”

“What’s his story?”

“Who? Bob? Or my real dad?”

“Your real dad.”

“He’s . . . he’s kind of got his own life. He’s okay. He wanted to help. You know, when I got in trouble, but my mom said no. Not that he’s got lots of money or anything.”

“What’s he do?”

“He’s a high-school teacher.”

“Okay,” I said. “So an expensive lawyer may be a little beyond his budget.”

“Yeah, but he wanted to help other ways, like, just being supportive, you know? But Mom told him no.”

“Why?”

Jeremy looked out the window. “She just did, that’s all.”

I decided not to push.

“And Bob?”

“He’s got money. I mean, he’s not super-loaded, not yet, anyway.”

“What do you mean?”

“He’s done a deal with Mr. Broadhurst. Bob’s gonna be a multi-millionaire when it’s over.”

“Well,” I said. “Good for him.”

Jeremy shrugged. “He still seems like kind of a douche to me,” he said.

“Does anyone not seem like a douche to you?”

Jeremy slowly turned his head my way. “It’s just that I think he paid for the lawyer only because he was doing it for my mom, you know? It wasn’t like he did it because he thinks I could be the world’s greatest future stepson. Because, let’s face it, I’ll never be that.”

“The fact is, he paid for your defense, regardless of his motivation.”

“I guess.” He watched the traffic going the other way. “So what are you going to do? Lock me up someplace to keep me safe? Because I might as well be in jail if you do.”

I gave him a smile. “Tempting, but I think we’ll have to come up with something else.”