“You two don’t owe me anything. You paid your bills in full,” David said with humbleness.
“A humble attorney. They do exist,” Ted said.
Everyone chuckled.
“The balance?” David asked cautiously.
“That’s between me and Mr. Jacobs, young man,” Mrs. Hinkle said. She was sitting on the couch with a cane next to her.
“I see,” David said.
“Don’t you want to see the rest of it?” Trish asked.
“There’s more?” David asked.
“Well, you didn’t think I’d do the front office and not yours did you?” Trish asked and pointed an open palm towards his office.
David slowly walked to his office door. He turned the knob and walked in. “Holy mackerel,” he mumbled.
His eyes focused on his new desk. Trish walked around David and stood in front of it. She turned to face him and hopped up on it. “It was delivered in three pieces. I know it’s large, but I thought you could use the space. I noticed that you spread papers on the floor when you’re working on a case or doing research.”
Everyone else came into the room.
“That’s not a desk, that’s a boat,” Ted joked. “Trish got you a boat, man, say something.”
Everyone laughed.
David’s lips turned up, and his perfectly straight teeth glowed. “It’s great,” he said and walked around the other side of it. “You replaced my chair, too?”
“Yes, it is supposed to be ergonomic friendly. If you don’t find it comfortable the old one is-.”
“No, I hated that chair.” David plopped down in his new office chair.
“King of the world,” Ted said.
“What about the wall color? It’s called deep blue sea,” Trish said as she turned her body towards him.
“It’s fine,” David said as he kept staring at his new desk.
Trish couldn’t help but laugh. “You didn’t even look at it.”
“It’s beautiful. You did a great job, Trish. You too, Charles and Mrs. Charmin,” Ted complimented.
Trish turned around to face Ted. “Darlene helped me pick out some things. She has a good eye.”
Darlene looked down at her boots. “Oh, I just interjected here and there.”
“Well, your recommendations were excellent,” Ted said.
Darlene blushed and turned her head.
“That’s not all. We’re treating you to dinner tonight, David. At our house,” Mr. Jacobs said.
“Oh, no. You already-.”
“We’re not taking no for an answer. Everyone is invited,” Mr. Jacobs said.
“If you insist, sir,” David said with a small smile.
“I didn’t know you were planning a dinner,” Trish said.
“Just thought of it,” Mr. Jacobs said. “It’s December 1st. It’s Christmas time. The time of good cheer. A time you spend with family and friends.”
“Well, I better get home and get started on dinner then,” Darlene said, and everyone chuckled.
“Come by around 6:30. Will that give you enough time, honey?” Mr. Jacobs said.
“Make it seven,” Darlene said.
“Seven o’clock, everyone,” Mr. Jacobs announced.
“Yes, sir,” David said.
“We’ll go and let you enjoy your new office,” Mrs. Charmin said.
“See you tonight,” Mrs. Hinkle added.
“Goodbye, everyone, and thank you for all your help,” Trish said as everyone filed out the office and said their goodbyes.
David stood up and walked around to the front of the desk. “I’d like to talk to you.”
Trish was still sitting on the desk. She frowned. “You really hate the office, don’t you?”
“No, no. It’s great.” He glanced down and looked back up at her. “I wanted to apologize for what happened today.” David leaned against the desk a few inches from her.
Trish looked down at her lap. “Oh.”
“I’m deeply sorry for getting so…amorous with you this morning and for treating you so despicably afterwards- at the courthouse. I’ve had a lot on my mind with this adoption case. That’s no excuse, though. I have no excuse. Please accept my heartfelt apology.”
Trish swallowed. She continued to look down at her lap. His head leaned in close to hers.
“And you know what? The snake incident really was an accident. I got so freaked out when I saw it crawling on my foot- I was just trying to get it off me. I didn’t mean to cause you all that distress,” he said in a deep voice.
Trish cleared her throat. Her cheeks warmed by his boyish charm.
“Will you forgive me? For everything.”
His warm breath brushed her cheek. She closed her eyes. “It depends,” she whispered.
“On what?”
“Will you forgive me for pulling your hair and scratching you all those years ago?”
The side of his mouth turned up in a half smile. “You punched me a few times, too.”
“That, too?” she asked and opened her eyes to look into his.
“Yes.”
“I forgive you,” she shyly said.
David smiled.
“You better be careful. That’s the second time you’ve smiled today. Don’t want to make it a habit.”
David stood up straight. “Oh, no, we wouldn’t want that. Now that’s out of the way, please get off my desk, Ms. Truman, and get me the Anderson file.”
Trish kept looking at him. “Yes, sir,” she said softly and slid off his desk.
When she started walking out of the office, David added with a smirk, “After that go home for the day. I want to ensure you are making me a good home-cooked meal tonight.”
Trish turned and looked at him. “Chauvinist,” she said and turned around to walk away.
David kept smirking.
Chapter 11
Darlene was going through her closet as Trish relaxed on Darlene’s bed with her back against the backboard. She watched her friend search as she sat eating a bowl of grapes.
“What about this one?” Darlene asked as she held up the yellow dress.
“Looks like something you’d wear for Sunday brunch,” Trish said and popped a grape in her mouth.
Darlene put the dress back in her closet and pulled a black cocktail dress out. “What about this?”
“That might be too much for an informal dinner party. Why are you so hyped up about what to wear?
“Because Teddy is coming,” she whispered.
“Oh yes, of course. If that’s the case, we need to find a color that doesn’t make your blushing noticeable.”
“I don’t-.”
“Please. Your cheeks turned so red this afternoon I thought you were going to faint. How about a blouse and a dark skirt?”
“You don’t think it will be too plain?”
“Not as long as you wear some jewelry with it,” Trish said as she ate another grape.
“You’re going to spoil your dinner.”
“I’m not attending. I’m going to spend the evening in my beautiful basement apartment eating grapes and reading a cozy mystery.”
“You can’t do that,” Darlene said with anxiety.
“Calm down, Darlene. It’s a dinner party not the state of the union. I baked a side dish and made dessert. I’ve done my co-hostess duties.”
“I’ll need your support tonight. You know I’ll get tongue-tied around Teddy. I’ll need your wit to bail me out.”
“Darlene, I’m exhausted. Do you know what kind of day I have had?”
“Oh please, you didn’t have to move the furniture and paint the walls in David’s office.”
“I…my day was very draining, okay.”
“I think it would be good for you and David to socialize in a more relaxed setting.”
“Why?”
“I think you two like each other more than you realize,” Darlene said as she laid out a black blouse and navy blue skirt.
Trish turned her nose up
. “What in the world makes you think that?”
“Remember, when we first went to his office?”
“How could I forget?”
“He paid you some pretty hefty compliments. On the sly,” Darlene said and sat down on the bed next to Trish.
“When?”
“Remember he said something was wrong with Robert’s situation? He said he didn’t care how much plastic surgery or how rich a fifty-five-year-old was, a man Robert’s age wouldn’t leave a pretty young wife like you.”
“I don’t think those were his exact words, but I do remember something to that effect.”
“Well…” Darlene said in a teasing voice.
“Well, you need to get out more. If the divorce is finalized with everything I asked for, David stands to get a pretty penny. He was just doing a little buttering up to make sure I would let him be my attorney - especially after he insulted me.”
“Okay, what about today?”
Trish’s mind flashed to what happened this morning. Trish’s guard went up. “What about today?”
“I swore I picked up on something. Even, Daddy said something to me on the way home about it.”
Trish took a deep breath. “Perhaps you two picked up on some awkwardness.”
“What? Tell me.”
“Okay, but you can’t tell anybody,” Trish said already regretting what she was about to tell her friend.
“I won’t. You know I keep your secrets. If you had any,” Darlene teased.
“Well, I got one now. This morning, before David went to court, I walked in his office to put some books away before the painters got there. They were just going to cover it up with plastic since it was wood and built into the wall.”
“Okay, so?”
“So, David…seemed like he snapped. He yelled at me, and then stared at me like…like I don’t know what. Then, he came towards me so fast, all I could do was brace myself. I didn’t know what he was going to do.”
“What did he do?”
“He kissed me. Hard. Next thing I know my turtleneck was pulled up.”
“Whoa!”
“Yeah, then…then he..,” Trish trailed off as she felt heat in her forehead and cheeks.
“Okay, I got the picture. What happened in the end?”
“The phone rang, and he answered it. Said the case been moved up, told me to call the client, and then he left. He just left me there like…nothing had happened. Then, he called and barked at me to bring a file folder to him at the courthouse. I did what he asked, but he seemed like he was annoyed with me.”
“Why that rascal,” Mr. Jacobs said from the door that was cracked an inch.
“Daddy! Stop eavesdropping!”
“Mr. Jacobs,” Trish scolded.
“I’m old, not deaf,” he replied.
“Daddy, go away,” Darlene said. “You don’t need to hear this kind of girl talk.”
“All right, pumpkin,” Mr. Jacobs said.
“Geez,” Darlene said with wide eyes.
“Anyway, we sprung the surprise on him.”
“Which was nice of you to arrange,” Darlene said.
“Thank you. After you guys left, he gave me a sincere apology about the whole thing. He apologized for this morning and his unkind behavior at the courthouse. He even apologized for the snake thing.”
“Awe, now you see. He’s not all that bad.”
“Darlene, he practically mauled me this morning.”
“Yeah, but it doesn’t sound like you were fighting him off,” Darlene said with a playful grin.
“You’re impossible,” Trish said and popped another grape in her mouth. She had to admit Darlene was right. She didn’t tell him to stop.
“Did you accept his apology?” Darlene asked with hope.
“He was so…sweet and charming about it. How could I say ‘No, David, you’re a complete ass’ and walk out?”
Darlene squealed. “I think he likes you,” she sang in a child’s voice.
“I think he does, too,” Mr. Jacobs said from the slight crack in the doorway.
“Daddy!”
“Oh, good grief,” Trish said with embarrassment.
“Daddy, start frying the chicken and stop eavesdropping. We’re not in high school anymore.”
Mr. Jacobs chuckled as he walked down the hall to the staircase.
“David said that he’s been under a lot of strain, which he has been. It was just a lapse in judgement like he said - on both our parts.” At least, she hoped it was a lapse in judgement. David was a complicated man. The last thing she needed was to get involved with someone as volatile as him.
“Either way, please come to dinner. Purdy please…please..,” Darlene begged.
“Oh, all right. If I’m doing dinner, I better get downstairs, freshen up, and change my clothes.”
“What are you going to wear?”
“A chastity belt.”
Chapter 12
Trish sipped white wine as she sat at the breakfast nook watching Darlene and Teddy. Darlene washed dishes as Teddy dried.
“That dessert was great, Trish,” Ted said.
“Thanks, but the macaroni and cheese was the best part of the meal. Darlene made that,” Trish said.
Teddy turned and looked at his dish partner. “Indeed it was.”
Darlene’s cheeks turned pink as she shied away from him. “Awe, it was okay.”
“It was more than okay. I love my macaroni and cheese as cheesy as possible,” Teddy said.
Darlene giggled.
Trish stood up.
“Where are you going?” Darlene asked nervously.
“To the living room with the rest of our guests. You two have everything in hand, and you’re almost done.”
“Don’t rush off,” Darlene said with a little begging in her voice.
“Go, Trish, we got it handled. Don’t we, Dee?” Ted asked.
Darlene smiled and looked down in the soapy water.
Trish took that as a cue to leave them alone. She quickly walked out of the kitchen, letting out a sigh of relief as she left the awkward situation. She had felt like a third wheel. The whole evening was awkward. Trish could have sworn she caught David looking at her a few times from across the table, but she wasn’t sure, and she didn’t want to find out. Her plan was to say her goodnights to the guests and head directly to the basement. All she wanted to do was curl up between the sheets and fall asleep as she read a book.
“There she is,” Mr. Jacobs said as he raised his glass of brandy towards Trish. Judging by his glossy eyes and cheesy grin, he had had one brandy too many.
“Hey. It’s just the two of you?” Trish asked. David and Mr. Jacobs sat in armchairs a few feet away from the fireplace. The fire blazed between four logs.
“Yes, everyone else went home. It started snowing,” David answered.
“Really?” Trish said with surprise.
“The wind is blowing really hard, too,” Mr. Jacobs said and took a sip of brandy.
“As soon as Ted finishes helping Darlene, we’re going home before the weather gets too rough.”
“Have a safe trip home. I’m going to bed.”
“It’s still early,” Mr. Jacobs said.
“Not for me. As you know, I woke up at 5 a.m. this morning. I’ve had a very busy day,” Trish said.
Mr. Jacobs chuckled. “Yes, that I remember,” he said and chuckled again as he glared at David.
David’s eyebrow cocked up.
Trish was about to grab the glass of brandy out of Mr. Jacobs hand when the room went dark.
“Great,” David mumbled.
“Powers out!” Mr. Jacobs yelled into the darkness. The sound of keys jingled, and then a small white light shined around the room. “Good thing I keep this on me,” Mr. Jacobs said. “Trish, look in the desk drawer next to the stairs. There’s a flashlight in there,” he said as he shined the light in that direction.
Trish felt around in the desk drawer. She grabbed the flashlight an
d turned it on. Another light came from the doorway. Darlene and Ted were carrying candles.
“Let’s get out of here, Ted, before the roads get bad,” David said and stood up.
“They’re probably already bad if the power is out,” Darlene said.
“Don’t worry. Nothing has been able to take the Shaw brothers out, yet,” Teddy said proudly.
“I heard sleet on the roof before Trish came in here,” Mr. Jacobs said.
“Slippery streets. The power is out, and that means the street lights are out of order. It’s dangerous out there,” Darlene said.
“We don’t have to drive that far,” David said.
“Across town usually isn’t that far, but it is in weather like this,” Mr. Jacobs said.
“Daddy’s right. Why take the risk? Spend the night here,” Darlene said.
“Really, we’ll be fine,” David protested.
“I insist. Most accidents happen just a few miles away from a driver’s home,” Darlene said.
“How do you know that?” Trish asked.
“I just know,” Darlene said.
“You’re welcome to stay,” Mr. Jacobs stated.
“Um,” David stuttered.
“You’re staying. No more discussion,” Darlene said.
Teddy chuckled. “You’re a bit bossy. All right, Ms. Jacobs, we’ll stay. Good thing I’m prepared for anything. I keep extra clothes in the four runner. I’ll go out and get my bag.”
Mr. Jacobs hopped up and walked to the closet next to the front door with his keychain flashlight.
“Daddy, what are you doing?” Darlene asked as she walked over to Trish.
Trish shined the flashlight in the direction Mr. Jacobs was walking in.
Mr. Jacobs opened the closet door and pulled out a shotgun.
“Whoa!” David exclaimed.
“No offense, boys. Like I said, you are welcome to spend the night, but I also have two daughters.”
Trish couldn’t help but smile at the reference that Mr. Jacobs thought of her as his daughter.
“With that being said, you boys are sleeping in my room. I have a small kerosene heater in there. The girls will sleep in the basement, and I’m sleeping right here,” Mr. Jacobs said as he plopped down on the sofa.
“Okay, Daddy. Let me get you a blanket and a pillow,” Darlene said sweetly.
The Lawyer Page 5