Swann's Revenge

by Shira Anthony

  “Why not?”

  She shrugged.

  “You’re meeting me,” Graham pointed out.

  “That’s different,” she explained.

  “Why is it different?” He was smiling in spite of himself.

  “You’re nice.” She nodded for emphasis and her braids bobbed.

  “Thank you. You’re nice too.”

  She pulled on a braid again.

  “Want to know a secret?” he asked.

  She nodded.

  “I don’t like meeting people either.” He chuckled and shook his head.

  “Why not?”

  “It makes me nervous,” he admitted.

  “Me too.” She laughed. “My dad likes it, though.”

  “He does?”

  She nodded again. “He says people are nice and it’s fun.”

  “I guess it can be. There are people I like.”

  “Lacey!” a male voice called.

  She sighed theatrically. “I have to go meet more people.”

  “But you get to ride the train afterward. Sounds like a pretty good deal.”

  “I guess so.”

  “Lacey?” This time the voice came from behind them.

  Graham got to his feet. “You should get going.” He offered her his hand. “You don’t want your dad to worry about you.”

  She took his hand.

  “Lacey.”

  Graham turned. The last person he expected to see was Dan Parker.

  “Daddy! Can we go on the train now?” Lacey let go of Graham’s hand and skipped over to Dan.

  Dan looked just as taken aback as Graham felt. “That’s your dad?” he asked Lacey, who nodded.

  Dan smiled and kneeled so Lacey could hop onto his back. He looked too damn good in his faded jeans and a light blue T-shirt that made his eyes glow. “Guilty as charged.”

  “Good to see you, Dan,” Graham said, keenly aware of how awkward he sounded. “I didn’t realize you had a daughter.” Dan had a wife or girlfriend, so why wouldn’t he have a kid? It doesn’t matter if he does.

  Dan held Lacey’s legs and she wreathed her arms around his neck. “I hope she hasn’t been bothering you.” He looked up at Lacey, who grinned back at him.

  “Not at all. We were talking about ducks,” Graham said.

  “And people,” Lacey corrected.

  “Sounds like an interesting conversation.” Dan’s smile was too cheerful. Too charming. Just like when they’d been boys and Graham had been compelled to talk to him. Or at the bar….

  Graham felt suddenly small. Epically awkward. The tension in his shoulders returned with a vengeance as he forced the mask back into place. “I’d better be going,” Graham said. “Besides, I’m sure your Lacey’s mother is looking for her too.” Dealing with Dan in the office, he could handle. But involving himself in Dan’s personal life beyond the hope of a one-night stand—something now entirely out of the question—was beyond the pale.

  “Mother? No. Lacey doesn’t have a mother.” Dan frowned. “Wait a minute… You thought…”

  Shit. He’d certainly stepped into it with that one. Of course, that didn’t mean there wasn’t a girlfriend waiting in the wings. “I should really be getting back.” Just pretend you didn’t just stick your foot in your mouth and slink away quietly.

  “Can he ride the train with us?” Lacey bounced up and down.

  “Sure.” Dan’s eyes were bright and inviting, even if he did still look a bit confused. Graham wished he’d forget about the previous topic of conversation.

  “I really don’t—” Graham began.

  “You need to ride the train,” Lacey said, as if it was totally obvious. Why the hell was he even considering it? He should be turning tail and escaping.

  “Lacey, Mr. Swann’s a busy man. We should let him—”

  “I need to ride the train.” The instant the words were out of his mouth, Graham wondered who had spoken them.

  He was trying to come up with a way to take them back when Dan chuckled and said, “I think that makes three of us.” A perfectly matched set of dimples appeared.

  Lacey bounced again.

  “Lacey, you’re going to break my back,” Dan said as they walked over to the ticket booth. Lacey began to sing something about a choo-choo train while continuing to bounce. “Why do I get the feeling I’ll miss this when she’s in high school?”

  Graham laughed in spite of himself. “I’m sure by then she’ll be hitting you up to borrow the car instead.”

  “Probably. I guess I should enjoy what I’ve got.” For an instant Dan’s smile flagged. He looked tired. Sad, even. But then Lacey started up with another round of the choo-choo song and Dan began to sing along.

  Chapter Nine

  DAN’S knees pressed against the back of the metal seat in front of them. Graham, who was several inches taller, managed the tight space with surprising grace, although Dan guessed he was far more uncomfortable.

  He’d seen hints of something beneath the imperturbable exterior when they’d worked together over the past few weeks. He’d also briefly experienced Graham’s self-confidence when it came to picking up a man. But this Graham was an entirely different animal. Gone was the cold mask. Instead, he seemed carefree and even happy. And judging by the way Lacey was giggling and insisting on sitting between them—“Lacey sandwich!”—she was head over heels with this particular version of the man. As was half the staff, if the longing glances Graham engendered were any indication.

  Now if I can only figure out which Graham is the real one….

  And what was that about Lacey’s mother? Did Graham really think he’d pick a man up when he had a wife at home? Probably. Not that he had any intention of trying that particular move on Graham again. So why did it bother him that Graham thought so little of him?

  “Look, Mr. Graham!” Lacey shouted happily as the train chugged past the pond. “More ducks!” She flapped her arms and made loud quacking sounds, then fell back against Graham’s shoulder and giggled some more.

  Graham didn’t seem to mind. The smile on his face reminded Dan of Lacey’s—carefree and childlike. Even the way Graham held himself changed. The marble sculpture had become human. Before, Graham had been a good-looking man, someone to admire from a distance. Did Graham have any inkling of how charming he was now?

  Bad idea crushing on the boss.

  Dan glanced at Graham and found him looking back. Bad idea, remember?

  “I rode the Blue Ridge Railway with my stepdad,” Graham said as they exited the train a few minutes later. “I’d never been on a train before.”

  “I used to build model trains.” Dan smiled at the memory. “Now they’re gathering dust in my parents’ attic.” He glanced at Lacey and added, “Maybe the next time we visit, I’ll bring them back with us.”

  “Trains! Trains!” Lacey danced around them.

  Dan scooped Lacey up into his arms, then pulled her over his head. “Should we head back?”

  Graham laughed, cheeks coloring. “Terri’s going to kill me.” He looked relaxed. Happy. Dan’s chest tightened.

  Lacey stared at him.

  “He’s joking, Lacey,” Dan said. “No one’s going to hurt him.”

  “Oh.” She looked relieved.

  The moment Graham stepped back under the picnic shelter, it was as though someone had closed the door to his heart. The bright expression vanished, replaced by the familiar impenetrable mask. Graham moved more deliberately, chin high, full lips revealing nothing but calm control.

  “Can we go home, Daddy?” Lacey asked.

  “Already? But they’ve got hot dogs and—”

  “Meeting peoples is scary,” Lacey whispered in Dan’s ear. “Mr. Graham thinks so too.”

  Dan glanced back at Graham. What a strange contradiction he was, with his outward confidence and strength that hid an awkward, almost shy personality. “Sometimes it is,” he agreed. “Sometimes it is.”

  Chapter Ten

  “THANK you, Couns
elor,” Judge Winston said as Brad Muldoon finished his argument. The judge looked to Dan. “Counsel? I’m assuming you’d like to respond.”

  “Yes, Your Honor,” Dan said.

  Graham slid Dan a note: Kick his slimy little ass. The words seemed so out of character that Dan had to cough to keep from losing his poker face. Knowing Graham, the note was also a test. Just about everything Dan had done since he’d started with the firm seemed like some sort of macho trial by fire. He wasn’t sure if he was supposed to be walking on hot coals or walking on water.

  Until the picnic, he’d been sure he was completely screwed. He’d even made an appointment with a headhunter to see what other jobs were available in the Triangle. But ever since he saw Graham with Lacey, he’d been second-guessing himself. Graham’s expression when they’d ridden the train didn’t jibe with what Dan had experienced when he’d started work, but since then, Graham had been more approachable. More… human.

  Dan nodded to Graham and stood. “Good morning, Your Honor. Daniel Parker of the Wake County Bar. I represent the plaintiff in this matter, Petra Carter.”

  “Please go ahead, Counselor.”

  “Thank you.”

  By the time Dan took his seat thirty minutes later, the judge’s expression told him he’d won. A hint of a grin danced on Graham’s lips as the judge said, “Thank you, Mr. Parker. Mr. Muldoon, would you like to respond?”

  “Of course, Your Honor.” Muldoon smiled and glanced over at the table where Graham and Dan sat. Dan heard Graham inhale a long breath, but otherwise Graham showed no outward sign of emotion.

  “My esteemed colleague Mr. Parker has done an admirable job of setting out the facts for you. He’s quite learned, I hear. Graduated at the top of his class from Yale Law. Impressive. Quite impressive.”

  “Mr. Muldoon, might I ask what Mr. Parker’s education has to do with this case?” the judge said, eyebrows raised over his glasses.

  “I just want to commend him, is all. But with all his experience in New York”—Muldoon dragged out the or in York so it came out yawk—“I don’t think he’s quite captured the nuance of North Carolina law. Reciprocity aside, of course. I wouldn’t dream of suggesting he isn’t licensed to practice in North—”

  “Mr. Muldoon, please get to the point.” The judge frowned.

  “I only mean to point out that for all his pretty northern words, he doesn’t yet know how we understand the law here.” Muldoon drew out the last word into two syllables: hee-yah. “We do things differently. That’s why Your Honor must rule in my client’s favor. Thank you.”

  The judge looked once again to Dan. “Mr. Parker, I’ll allow you to respond. Please, go ahead.”

  “Thank you.” Dan glanced at Graham, who watched him with obvious interest and, Dan realized, amusement. “And thank you, Mr. Muldoon, for your kindness,” he said, drawing out the i in kindness so it sounded more like ah. He hadn’t spoken in his native western North Carolina accent in years, but he wasn’t above playing the same game. “I’m sure that mountain folk like me don’t know all of the things y’all do in the big city. For that, I beg your pardon. Growin’ up in Carletonville, I had to learn a few things the hard way. But I’m sure about one thing: the law in North Carolina is quite clear on when Your Honor can grant injunctive relief.

  “Whether I studied up North, as my esteemed colleague correctly pointed out, or whether I studied here, the law is the same: Mr. Muldoon’s client delayed in asking for injunctive relief and, as I’ve explained, should not be permitted to prevail on the underlying claim, since the noncompete contract is overly broad in both time and scope. Thank you.” Dan sat and Graham nodded his approval. He hadn’t taken his eyes off Dan the entire time.

  The judge pressed his lips together, and Dan felt quite sure he was doing his best not to smile. Muldoon, on the other hand, openly glared at Dan.

  “Gentlemen,” the judge said as he closed the court file he’d been referring to throughout the argument, “I thank you for your time. Mr. Parker?”

  Dan stood. “Yes, Your Honor?”

  “Since I’m ruling in your favor, please draft the order.”

  “Yes, Your Honor. Thank you.” Dan sat back down and caught Graham’s eye. Victory was even better when you had someone to share it with.

  “Mr. Muldoon?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “I find it more than slightly troubling that your client waited a month before seeking a TRO,” the judge said. “As Mr. Parker said, North Carolina law is quite clear on when a party can seek injunctive relief. This, however, is not the time.” The judge tapped his gavel.

  Muldoon left the courtroom without speaking to Dan or Graham. After the bailiff and court reporter had left, Graham turned to Dan and said, “I don’t think I’ll ever forget the look on that bastard’s face when he realized he’d missed a key point in your biography. Not that this judge would have ruled differently, but it’s always a pleasure to give a crook like that a taste of his medicine. Great job.”

  “Thanks. Although I hope this isn’t typical fare for state court.”

  “It isn’t, although this is why I prefer federal court,” Graham said. “It’s less chaotic, and a deadline is truly a deadline.”

  Dan finished gathering his papers. He didn’t tell Graham he preferred the seat-of-your-pants practice of state court. It kept you on your toes. “Kara’s got an order drafted. I’ll tweak it a bit and get it filed today. Would you like me to let the client know the outcome?”

  “If you don’t mind.”

  “Not at all.” Dan glanced at his watch. It was nearly noon. “Care to join me for lunch?”

  Graham appeared to hesitate, then finally said, “I’ve got a dispositive motion I need to finish. But thank you.”

  Dan repressed a sigh. Two steps forward….

  Chapter Eleven

  GRAHAM rubbed the bridge of his nose and leaned back against his chair. The clock on his desk read 7:30. For nearly ten hours, he and Dan had been going through piles of discovery documents the interns had flagged for them. “I didn’t realize how late it was,” he said. “Why don’t we call it a night?”

  He imagined Lacey’s smiling face and felt a momentary pang of guilt. Over the past month, Dan had raced out of the office at six thirty every evening without fail. “Don’t you need to pick Lacey up?”

  “Lacey’s staying over at a friend’s place tonight,” Dan said, relief obvious in his voice. “Carver’s her best friend in preschool.”

  “Oh. That’s good, isn’t it?”

  “It’s great,” Dan confirmed with a broad smile. “Carver’s family lives in our neighborhood. His mom, Carmine, and I’ve been going to the neighborhood pool on the weekends. Lacey stayed over last Friday, and Carmine offered when she heard my schedule’s been a bit tight.”

  “That’s fortunate.” Why did hearing about Dan going to the pool with some random child’s mother irritate him?

  “Want to grab a bite?” Dan asked. “I’ve been meaning to check out the Laotian place over on Moore Square ever since Terri told me about it.”

  This was the second time Dan had asked him to grab a bite and the second time Graham found himself hesitating. Things with Dan were comfortable as they were. Graham didn’t need to know more about him or Lacey. But as always, when it came to Dan, he found himself wanting to know more. “I’m not sure this is a great idea.”

  Dan nodded. “I understand. Would it help if I said this has nothing to do with what happened in Wilmington? I’m not going to lie and say I wouldn’t like to pick up where we left off, but I’m fine if you want to keep this about business.”

  Graham considered this. The last thing he wanted was a relationship, and a one-nighter with Dan was off the table. “If we’re both clear that this is just business,” he said, “then the answer is yes.” The knowledge that Dan still wanted him made his pulse race.

  “Of course.” Dan gathered his notes and shoved them in his briefcase while Graham straightened up the re
st of the documents and returned them to their Redweld folders.

  THE restaurant was nearly full by the time they arrived. They found a free table by the window with a view of the square beyond. A bar trolley rolled down the street carrying a dozen tipsy customers, all pedaling and singing loudly to a Spice Girls song.

  “Reminds me of Manhattan,” Dan quipped as the server placed their meals on the table. “Loud and crowded.” His hair, tousled in the wind, made him look like the boy Graham had crushed on so many years before. Now he’d made the connection to Dan’s past, it was impossible not to compare them.

  “It’s always like this downtown in summer. Live concerts on Fayetteville Street, the bars are busy until they close at two in the morning, and people drive their cars around with the windows down and speakers blaring.”

  “Terri mentioned you have a place in the same building as the firm.”

  Graham nodded. “I bought the place because it was convenient and at the time, the real estate market had pretty much bottomed out. The deal was too good to pass up, and the view’s incredible.”

  “I thought about renting down here,” Dan explained. “In the end, I realized that would have been more for me than Lacey and decided on the house. I can’t lie, though. I’m jealous.”

  “I’m glad Lacey’s settling in,” Graham said and sipped his drink.

  “Me too.” Dan smiled. “She’s liking it here so far. And now that she’s making friends, I get to relax a little too.”

  “Moving is always a hassle.” A straightforward, neutral topic. Familiar territory. So why did the hair on his arms rise with the comfortable small talk? They’d sat together many times at the office, but this felt closer.

  Dan nodded. “Other than the boxes piled floor to ceiling in the extra bedroom, we’re getting there. I’d hoped to have it all unpacked by the time Lacey started pre-kindergarten.” He shrugged. “Best-laid plans….”

  “Are you planning on taking her to see your family before school starts?”

  “I’m hoping to drop her off at my folks’ for a week in August, maybe take my motorcycle out for a long ride in the mountains.” Dan’s entire demeanor changed as he spoke. “It’s been way too long.”