If You Only Knew (And Then Came Love Book 1) Read Online Free Page A

She tried hard to be a good mother to her daughter and it was clear she loved her. Katrina tended to be easy to take advantage of. Her mother had stolen her social security check and used it for drugs. After she left, she married a man who sexually abused both her and her daughter. Child Protective Services removed Misty from Katrina's care. Liza wanted nothing more than to tell CPS Katrina was ready to regain custody, but it became clear Katrina needed help to parent.
    The visit went well and Liza dropped off Misty, before making her way to the house that served as both an office for the case managers and a place to hold visitations.
    Liza knew the meeting with Kate wouldn’t be good. She resigned herself to get through it the best she could.
    Liza pulled up to the house with ten minutes to spare. She blew out a breath of relief because Kate wasn’t there yet. What had Kate wanted her to do before the meeting? Oh right, she needed to sign the new case plan for Joanne, her last client of the day. The therapist made the case plan. She had to sign in agreement of visitations.  
    Liza rummaged through her purse trying to find a pen to sign the paper. Unable to find one she opened the glove compartment of the rental car, hoping to find a pen. A baggie fell out. She snatched up the bag, thinking it was something important. It appeared to be an herb. She inspected it a little closer, opened the bag, and gasped as the aroma hit her. Pot? In the glove compartment of a rental car?
    She’d only seen marijuana once, but she was pretty sure that’s what it was. Should she put it back? What if one of her clients got nosy?  No, she owed it to Julian to get rid of it, since he’d been so kind to her. She stuffed it into her purse, clutched her bag in front of her, and raced up to the house. No one else was there. She hurried inside and emptied the contents into the toilet. Flushing twice to make sure nothing came up. She hurried to stash the plastic bag in the garbage can pushing it down in the muck, and prayed the trash would mask the smell.
    Pumping soap onto her hands, she washed them and then pulled a bottle of perfume out of her bag. The last thing she needed was to smell like weed.
    Liza ate her lunch and threw the bag away, before Kate arrived.
    “Sorry, I’m late.” Kate climbed up the stairs to the landing. She sniffed the air. “Is that you?”
    “Umm – what?” Liza froze. Had her boss caught a whiff of the weed she had flushed?
    “The perfume? I like the fragrance. It’s citrusy and a little spicy. What is it?”
    “Oh, right.” Liza forced a smile. “It’s a cheap orange body spray I got from the drugstore.” She cringed at her choice of words. She had to call to Julian.
    “I’ll have to see if I can find it.” Kate nodded then changed gears on her. “Do you have Joanne’s plan?”
    “I need to sign it and my pen disappeared.”
    Kate handed Liza a pen and sat down at the table. She tugged a cell phone out of her bag and handed it to Liza. “Here’s your new phone. Give me yours I’ll give it to the main office and see if they can fix it.”
    “Thanks.” Liza handed her the pen. “What am I in trouble for?”
    “Well I was going to ask how you were feeling. Did everything go all right last night? Were you able to figure anything about getting a new vehicle?”
    Not sure, of the status of the car she shrugged. “Mine is in the shop. I’m borrowing the one I have. The women who hit me said her insurance would take care of everything.”
    “Well good.” Kate looked out the window at the car Liza had driven into work. “It’s a lot nicer than yours.”
    Liza forced a smile at Kate, why was she surprised about her lack of tact. Kate was stalling and she found out why when she peeked out the window. Her lunch rolled in her stomach as she saw Trina Harding climb out of her vehicle and came toward the house. Trina was the Clinical Director of the Yarrow Center.
    “You could have told me she was