by Beth Orsoff
She frowned but went back to her desk. A minute later she sent him an instant message: No answer. I left word.
One crisis averted, if only temporarily.
Chapter 61
Samantha
I called the hospital’s main number and asked for Michael Solomon. I had his cell number but was afraid to use it. Whitney had never admitted to spying on Michael, but I knew she’d checked the texts and call logs of at least one ex-boyfriend, so I wasn’t taking any chances. I listened to a recording extolling the virtues of the health center on an endless loop until he finally picked up the line.
“Doctor Solomon,” he answered, sounding tired and harassed, which he probably was.
“It’s Samantha. Samantha Haller. Whitney’s sister.”
Michael laughed. “I know who you are, Samantha. We’re related, remember?”
I was glad he still thought so. It would make my job easier. “I was wondering if you were free for lunch today. Or dinner if that’s easier. I was hoping we could talk.”
“I just started a sixteen-hour shift, which means I’ll be here for at least twenty. Then I get to go home and sleep for a few hours and do it all over again tomorrow. Can it wait until my next day off?”
It could, but Whitney would likely want to spend his day off with him. “You have to eat, right? They don’t make you go twenty hours without food, do they?”
“No, I’m sure I’ll hit the cafeteria at some point today.”
“Then I’ll meet you.”
“You’re volunteering to eat hospital food?”
That’s how badly I wanted Jenna’s plan to work.
Michael called me when he had a lull, and I rushed to the hospital to meet him. I found him in the cafeteria contemplating the offerings in the refrigerated section. He grabbed a turkey wrap and a bag of chips, and I poured us two large coffees.
Michael led the way to an empty table next to the window, and I started chitchatting even before we’d sat down. “I don’t mean to be rude,” he interrupted me mid-sentence, “but I could be paged at any time, and I’m sure you didn’t drive all the way over here to talk about the weather.”
Blunt. I liked that. Perhaps my sister had chosen wisely after all. “It’s about Whitney.”
He swallowed his mouthful of turkey and nodded. “So I assumed.”
“Then I’ll get to the point. Do you want to stay married to her or not?”
He wiped his mouth with his napkin and smiled. “I always liked you, Samantha. For a lawyer, you’re okay.”
I got that qualification a lot. “Thanks, but I really need you to answer my question.”
He leaned back and folded his arms across his chest. “I honestly don’t know.”
“But you love her, right?”
“Yes, but … she makes it hard sometimes.”
I tried to hide my smile. I felt exactly the same. “She does. But her heart’s in the right place.” Usually.
He didn’t disagree. “What are you proposing?”
“You’re not going to know if you want to stay married to someone by living in separate houses. If you don’t want to live together—”
“Who said I didn’t want to live together?”
“I just assumed since you’re staying with Jake.”
He shook his head. “Your sister’s the one who cancelled the lease. She called the landlord from Hawaii and told him we weren’t moving in.”
Naturally Whitney had failed to mention that vital piece of information.
“I’ve been playing phone tag with him since I got back,” Michael continued. “We finally connected last week, and he said he rented the place to someone else, and no, we’re not getting our security deposit or our first month’s rent back.”
Ouch. I knew first-year residents didn’t make a lot of money. Then I remembered that Michael’s parents were loaded, and I stopped feeling sorry for him. He had The Bank of Mom and Dad on speed dial, where not only was repayment not required, it wasn’t even expected.
“You could rent another place.”
“Yes, if I had time to look for one, which I don’t.”
“Couldn’t Whitney look?” She had auditions some days, but not every day. Surely she could miss a Pilates session or an acting class to find them a new place to live, especially since she was the one who’d lost them the old one.
“She thinks we should just stay at my parents’ beach house.”
“That’s a great idea!” I could have her moved out by the end of the day!
“No, it’s a terrible idea. I get at most eight hours off a day, usually less. I’m not going to spend three of those hours driving back and forth to work. Wherever we live, it has to be close to the hospital. That’s why Jake’s place is so convenient.”
A short commute wasn’t an unreasonable demand, especially under the circumstances. “Have you asked around in Jake’s building? Maybe someone’s renting out their unit.”
He shook his head. “Even if someone was, I couldn’t afford it. The rents there are crazy. That’s why the guesthouse your sister found was so great. It was decent, not too far from the hospital, and cheap.”
Once again I wanted to kill Whitney. Even if she didn’t want to live there with Michael, one of them could’ve lived there alone. She was probably thinking no matter how inexpensive, it was still cheaper to live with me rent-free. Or more likely she wasn’t thinking at all. She only considered the consequences of her actions after she set fire to the room.
“But you can’t crash at Jake’s forever. Eventually you’ll have to find a place.”
“Yes, but if it’s just me, I don’t need my own apartment. I can double up with another resident. We’re never home anyway.”
I found myself nodding in agreement. Everything he said made sense. If I were in his shoes, I’d want to crash with Jake for as long as possible until I knew where I stood with Whitney too. But I was in my shoes. “What if I knew of a place? One you and Whitney could afford.”
“That’d be great. Where is it?” Then his phone emitted the loudest ringtone I’d ever heard, and Michael immediately started spouting medical jargon. I wasn’t surprised when he hung up and said, “I need to go.”
I was walking him to the elevator when he turned to me. “So I guess you’ve decided I’m not such a bad guy after all.”
“Michael, I don’t know what Whitney told you, but I never disliked you. I just thought you were moving too fast.”
“I had to move fast,” he said as he pushed the button for the elevator. “I knew once I started my residency I’d be working nonstop, and we both know your sister’s not the type to wait.”
It all made sense now. He was afraid if he didn’t marry her, he’d lose her. I almost felt sorry for him. He had no idea what he’d gotten himself into. “I know, Michael, it’s just, who meets the love of their life at a club?”
He shrugged. “You met Jake at a club. Maybe we’re starting a trend.”
My jaw slackened and I could barely hold on to my coffee. How the hell did Michael know that Jake and I had met at Lux? I had Jake convinced we’d met at the wedding. It had to be Whitney. I was going to kill my sister—for real this time! Then the panic set in. What if he told Jake? What if Jake had known this whole time that I’d been lying to him?
Michael punched the elevator call button again and turned around. “Are you okay? You’re very pale all of a sudden.”
“I’m fine,” I said and dumped my cup in the trash can so he wouldn’t see that my hands were shaking. Get it together, Samantha. “So, um, did you ever talk about this with Jake?”
“Talk about what? How Whitney and I met? I think everyone knows, don’t they? Didn’t Mark make a joke about it at the wedding?”
“No, about how Jake and I met.”
He shook his head. “No. Why?” Then the elevator doors opened and Michael said, “I need to run.”
But when he stepped inside, I followed him. “I’ll take a ride.”
He pu
shed the button for the tenth floor and stared at me. “This isn’t about me and Whitney, is it?”
Chapter 62
Jake
He felt like he’d worked an eighty-hour week, and it was only Monday. Then he reminded himself that he liked driving a Porsche and living in a penthouse, both of which were only possible because of the stressful job and its high-maintenance clients. It was a tradeoff he was willing to make.
He was stopped at a red light when his phone rang. The readout on his navigation system told him it was his mother. She wasn’t part of the tradeoff. But she was still his mother. He sighed and punched the answer button. “Hi, Mom.”
“Did you know I’ve been trying to reach you all day?”
“Yes, Mom, Caroline gave me all of your messages. I’ve been busy. What’s up?”
“That Caroline is so sweet. You should really ask her on a date.”
The woman in the next car glanced over at him and smiled, and he smiled back. He knew he wouldn’t have gotten that look if he’d been driving a beat-up Toyota. “I can’t date her, Mom. She works for me.”
“That never stopped your father.”
And neither did being married. “The rules have changed in the last thirty years.”
“That man never followed the rules anyway.”
Jake sighed, inaudibly, he hoped, and stepped on the accelerator. “So the reason you called?” he said as he weaved through traffic.
“I need a teensy-weensy favor.”
The teensy-weensy ones were always the worst. “What is it this time?”
“Don’t take that tone with me. Do you know how many hours I was in labor with you?”
How could he not know? She’d only told him a thousand times.
“And my uterus was never the same again. Not to mention my vagina.”
“Mom, can we please not talk about your vagina?” It was a wonder he wasn’t more screwed up than he already was.
“Honey, the human body is nothing to be ashamed of.”
He glanced up and realized that the light he’d thought was yellow had just turned red. He slammed on the brakes and squealed to a stop.
“Was that you?” she asked.
“No, the car next to me.”
“Don’t lie to me, Jake. I can always tell.”
She couldn’t always tell. There were all those times in high school when he’d “borrowed” the car without her knowing it. But he wasn’t going to come clean now just to prove a point. “Sorry, Mom, I just didn’t want you to worry.”
“You’re a good boy, Jakey. Not too much like your father.”
Grrrr. He had no love for the man either, but he didn’t complain about him all the time. He would’ve thought after being divorced for over twenty years she would’ve moved on already. “So about that favor.”
“Right. Remember the man I told you about? Bruce, from the tennis club.”
He had no recollection of Bruce or anyone else, but he often tuned out when his mother spoke. “Yes.”
“Well, he’s taking me on an around-the-world cruise! It’s not actually the whole world, just five continents, but we’ll be gone for three months. Doesn’t that sound fabulous?”
Three months trapped on a cruise ship with his mother? It sounded like hell on the high seas. His father was a shit, but he understood why he’d wanted out. What he couldn’t forgive him for was leaving his son behind. “Yeah, Mom, that sounds great. You’ll have to send me a postcard.”
“A postcard? Do people still write those? I’ll email you. All the ships have Wi-Fi now.”
As long as they didn’t have cell phone service. She kept talking but he tuned out. He was debating whether to order Thai or Indian for dinner when he heard, “You don’t mind, do you?”
He knew that one required a response. “Sorry, Mom, I lost the signal for a moment. What did you say?”
“You don’t mind house-sitting for Bruce for a few months, do you?”
This light was definitely yellow. He could’ve made it through, but he still slammed on the brakes. “I’m not house-sitting for your boyfriend.”
“Sweetheart, at my age we don’t have boyfriends. Or at least we don’t call them that. We’re traveling together as companions.”
“I don’t care if you’re traveling together as husband and wife, I’m not house-sitting for the man.”
“Why not?”
He shook his head. She was too much. Last month she’d wanted to borrow fifty thousand dollars and wouldn’t tell him why (for this trip, perhaps?), the month before, she’d wanted him to drive down to San Diego for the day so he could help her rearrange her furniture (he had Caroline hire her a moving service so all he had to do was pay), and now this. “How about because I have my own house?”
“An apartment,” she corrected.
“Yes, a condo that I own and I’m not leaving sitting empty for three months so I can house-sit for your companion.” It wouldn’t be empty since he had a houseguest, but she didn’t need to know that.
“You wouldn’t need to stay there every night. Maybe just a couple of nights a week. Enough to feed the cat and keep an eye on the place, and deal with the workmen if there’s a problem.”
“What workmen?”
“I told you, Bruce is having the kitchen remodeled while he’s away.”
“Why would he do that when he’s out of the country?”
“He wouldn’t want to do it when he’s staying there. It’s a huge mess. You can’t use the kitchen for weeks.”
“But you want me to stay there?”
“You don’t cook anyway. What’s the difference?”
“I still eat!”
“So get yourself a mini-fridge like you used to have in college. I’ll have Bruce send you a check.”
“You really think I can’t afford to buy my own mini-refrigerator?”
“Okay, Mr. Big Shot, pay for it yourself.”
He hadn’t even realized the light had turned green until the honking behind him rose to a fever pitch. He punched the accelerator and his call waiting beeped. It was Samantha on the other line.
“Mom, I need to go. I’ve got another call.”
“Sure, sweetie, I’ll mail you the keys.”
“Do not mail me the keys!” But she’d already hung up.
Chapter 63
Samantha
“Is this a bad time? You sound stressed.” Actually, he sounded really angry.
“No,” Jake said. “I’m fine. What’s up?”
“I wanted to give you an update on Selena.” The excuse I’d come up with to talk to him. A good one, I thought.
“Shoot.”
“The paperwork’s ready but she needs to sign before I can file. I left her a message”—ten minutes ago, but he didn’t need to know that—“but I haven’t heard back. Any idea how I can reach her?”
“Selena’s on the road, but Caroline knows her schedule. Give her a call in the morning. I’m sure wherever she’s staying has a business center with a printer and fax.”
“I need an original signature to file with the court.”
“Call Caroline. She’ll know where to overnight the documents.”
Caroline, Caroline, Caroline. I knew if Jenna were here, she’d tell me to stop taking it personally. I could hear her in my head: “Of course he’s telling you to call his assistant. You think he handles the grunt work himself? If it were anyone but Jake, you’d have passed it off to your assistant too.” And she’d be right.
“Will do.” Be brave, Samantha. Just ask him. The worst he can say is no. “So have you eaten dinner yet?” The real reason for my call.
“No, I was just debating whether to pick up Thai or Indian.”
“I love Thai food. I know a great place not far from your apartment.” I didn’t, actually, but I was sure with the help of Google I could find one.
Silence.
Apparently there was something worse than no, and it was silence. At least with no, you knew where you stood. I
wanted to hang up, but I’d promised myself I’d do this. I had to see it through to the end, even if that ending was mortification. “Just friends, Jake. I promise to keep my hands to myself this time.”
“I don’t know, Haller. I seem to remember a pinky swear the last time.”
Yes! I was glad this wasn’t a video chat so he couldn’t see my arm pump and happy face. “Surely you must know pinky swears are notoriously unreliable. But a promise is a promise. Trust me, Jake, I’m a lawyer, I know these things.”
“And when a lawyer says, ‘trust me,’ you know you’re in trouble.”
We both laughed.
“But I think I’m willing to risk it,” he said. “I can always arm-wrestle you to the ground if it comes to that.”
A prospect I thought he’d enjoy. I know I would! But tonight I was going to be Good Girl Samantha, which was all-the-time Samantha until I’d met Jake.
He continued, “Why don’t you meet me at my apartment. The Thai place is only a couple of blocks away. We can walk over.”
Double arm pump!
Chapter 64
Jake
He unlocked the door and found a dark and silent apartment. Damn. He’d been hoping Michael would be home tonight. Normally he liked that Michael worked round the clock and was rarely there; it made him the perfect houseguest. But tonight he would’ve preferred company. He knew Samantha would keep her promise; it was himself he didn’t trust. A chaperone would’ve been useful.
He tossed his jacket onto a chair and loosened his tie, then went to the kitchen for a beer. He’d just gotten comfortable on the couch with his feet up on the coffee table when Samantha buzzed from downstairs. He decided to meet her in the lobby. No sense tempting his libido.
When he stepped out of the elevator, he found Buttoned-Up Lawyer Samantha loitering next to the mailboxes. Dark skirt suit, hair pulled back, she was even wearing little rectangular frame glasses. He smiled thinking about all those X-rated movies featuring a prim librarian/schoolteacher/fill-in-the-blank conservative profession who was really a seductress underneath. Down, boy.