Southern Men: Ballad of a Texas Rose by Carla Kane Page A

will have to argue that in a moment. I’m ordering a short recess. We’ll reconvene in half an hour and you will have your chance then. Though I suspect this case is all but over as it is.’
    He banged his gavel and stood up to walk away. The courtroom rose to their feet until he was out of the room and Clara looked over her shoulder, smiling widely at Mary Booka the Prudence community representative. She looked like she couldn’t believe it either. The audience started filing out of the courtroom and Clara sat back down to gather her documents, before leaving herself too.
    Outside, the lobby was a hive of activity. This was one of the busiest courtrooms in San Antonio and there was always a smorgasbord of different faces hanging around. She heard a voice call her name.
    ‘Clara!’ it was Mary. The older woman hurried to her side. ‘Wow,’ she said, ‘I can’t believe it, it’s actually coming to an end.’
    ‘It would take a miracle to save Ace Cooper now,’ Clara smiled, ‘Nothing short of an alien invasion will get him off this one.’
    ‘It serves him right,’ Mary said, ‘that evil, evil man. Look at him over there.’
    Clara followed Mary’s line of sight over to Ace Cooper and his team. The oil baron was admonishing his team as vociferously as he could, without actually speaking loud enough to be heard by the passersby in the big marble lobby. Clara laughed. It looked like the guy was having a seriously bad day.
    She looked past him a little and the smile disappeared from her lips. Beside his father, the stoic figure of Bobby Cooper stood, his face expressionless and his posture slightly slumped forward, as if the weight of the world was on his shoulders. The poor guy had been torn between sticking by his father or doing what was right for everybody else. He’d made the right choice in the end, but he was still going to have to pay for it. The worst thing was that no one could ever know just what he’d done for them. It was the way he wanted it.
    ‘Sorry Mary,’ Clara said, ‘I’ve got a few things I need to go over. Could you give me a minute?’
    ‘Sure,’ Mary replied, ‘I’ll see you after the case. Good look in there.’
    The community representative made her way back to her people and Clara began sorting through her folder. She didn’t really have anything to look over, the case was as good as done now, but seeing Bobby Cooper over there, slowly crumpling inside as the first cracks in his father’s empire emerged – it kind of got to her.
    ‘Clara.’
    She knew the voice and it brought up some conflicting emotions. But she never expected to hear it here.
    ‘You did great in there. Really. That was amazing.’ It was him, Sheriff Harvey Klein, the whole reason she’d moved to this crazy state in the first place.
    ‘Harvey,’ she said, turning to face him, ‘my God, what are you doing here?’
    Harvey was as handsome as he ever was, all brawn and muscle with a boyishly handsome face beneath his wide-brimmed Stetson hat. He smiled at her, almost shyly. ‘I had to see you,’ he said, ‘I’ve been following your case in the news. It’s really something that you’re doing here.’
    ‘Yeah,’ Clara said, ‘it is. I’m sorry Harvey I have to get back.’
    ‘Wait!’
    Harvey reached out and put his hand on her shoulder. She turned back to him and was surprised by the emotion in his face. Harvey didn’t like to show emotion. That had been part of the problem.
    ‘I should have never let you walk out that door,’ he said, ‘I should have done something to stop you. Anything.’
    Clara snorted. ‘Yeah, well it wasn’t up to you, was it?’ she said. Jeez, all these guys down here acted like they were trapped at the start of the last century.
    ‘That’s not what I meant Clara,’ Harvey said, ‘I just… Damn it I don’t know what to say to you. I’ve missed you every single damned day you’ve been gone.’
    ‘Harvey,’ Clara said, ‘in case you haven’t noticed,