He eased his arm off the back of the sofa, shifting away from her and closing himself off.
The tiniest twinge of hurt twisted inside her. “What kind of a place is it?”
“It’s not the Los Angeles dream house you always described.” He crossed his arms over his chest and eyed her. “The one with the glass doors that would fold into the wall to allow the ocean breeze inside and the infinity edge pool that was designed to reflect the sunset.”
“And don’t forget every room would have ocean views and there would be chaise lounges on the rooftop for star gazing.” She pictured her dream home—the one she’d imagined and perfected in her childhood daydreams.
Molly had spent her entire childhood moving from one apartment to another. One city to the next. Never staying longer than six months in any one place. Then her father had walked out. Molly’s mother had simply packed up their meager belongings, relocated to a new town and continued their nomadic lifestyle. Molly had always wanted a house. A permanent place to call home.
Now, she intended to give Hazel the home she herself had never had growing up.
“Did you ever buy your dream house on the beach?” he asked.
The hint of curiosity in Drew’s words pulled her back to the conversation.
“It never quite worked out like I had envisioned.” She shook her head and shifted her gaze toward the city skyline. “My ex, Hazel’s father, had a different plan.”
A plan that had included reconciling with his first wife and not building a life with Molly and Hazel.
“San Francisco has every type of house you can imagine,” Drew offered. “Ocean, city skyline or Golden Gate Bridge views. Your choice. Your dream.”
Could San Francisco be the home she’d always wanted? Perhaps. But she had a defense to present first. “I’ll have to start with a reasonable rental unit and move up from there.”
“My friends have a detached one-bedroom unit at their house. It has recently been renovated.” Drew’s voice dropped away as if he were reluctant to disclose any more details.
Molly homed in on his hesitation. “Why do I sense a but coming?”
“Not a but exactly. And it has nothing to do with the apartment.” Drew shifted on the sofa and faced her. “But I want to request that you refund my parents your retainer fee.”
“Why?” She studied him. His expression was calm and composed. His crossed arms were more casual than tense. She added, “Are you going to pay my retainer fee yourself?”
He never winced. Never flinched. “I believe I mentioned the other day that I have everything handled.”
“Yet you never mentioned that Judge Bartlett denied your request for a dismissal of charges earlier this week,” she countered.
Only his eyebrows flexed into his forehead. “Word travels fast.”
“The legal community is small.” She picked up her champagne flute and swirled the last of the bubbly liquid around the glass. “You’re a part of the community. We look after our own.”
“Really? Because that hasn’t been my experience so far. But is that what you’re doing?” Disapproval thinned his mouth. “Looking after me.”
“Is that so wrong?”
“It’s all rather convenient.” He shrugged. “Too convenient.”
She tilted her head, letting the censure in his words barely brush against her. Keeping her cool in the moment, she admitted, “Perhaps it is convenient. I won’t deny it’s a good opportunity for me and I never liked to let those slip by.”
“I can’t be your opportunity.” His face was set, his tone unyielding. “You can’t be my counsel, Molly.”
“Why not?” she pressed.
“Remember when Dr. Reynolds accused me of plagiarism over that history paper.” Drew straightened. His posture, his face and his voice serious. “Dr. Reynolds also warned you that if it was true, getting involved would reflect badly on you too.”
“I accepted that risk,” she argued. “I knew you’d written that paper. Someone needed to have your back.” That’s what they did. Had each other’s back.
“This isn’t a call to go to the dean’s office this time, Molly.” His deep voice dropped into the stilted space between them.
No, it wasn’t college, and this wasn’t some disputed paper. They were no longer students with lots of ambition and plenty of bravado. “I know exactly what this is, Drew.”
“My case...my case is serious, Molly. Everything I have, everything I’ve worked for is at risk.” Drew set his elbows on his knees and gripped his hands together. “And if I can’t produce the evidence, it could very well lead to your downfall. That’s something I won’t risk.”
She folded her arms over her chest, absorbed his refusal to let her represent him. Quickly and efficiently, she swept the hurt aside. Then she spoke unrushed. Unaffected. “I’m very good at what I do, Drew. Exceptionally good. And I can help you, but you have to get out of your own way first. Don’t let this be about your ego, Drew.”
He scratched his cheek as if her words had stung him. “Refund the retainer, Molly. I won’t be your client.”
She launched one more offer. “Why don’t you think about it?”
“I already have.” His words were succinct and sounded final.
Molly set her crystal champagne flute on the table and rose. At the open glass doors leading into the ballroom, she stopped and turned around.
Drew sat, his arms still at his sides. The baseball game played out on his phone beside him. Still, his gaze remained fixed on the city skyline. Car headlights streamed over the bridge spanning across the bay. Squares of light sprinkled across the high-rises looming around them. There was always activity in the city. Always life. Always movement.
Except for Drew. He was completely still aside from his jaw shifting. The barest of movements as if he were fighting back words.
This wasn’t the man she’d known. Her Drew always had words and opinions and counter arguments. Molly shook her head. “Drew.”
He looked at her.
The loneliness in his gaze spoke to her. How she could relate.
She took a step toward him and paused. He’d accuse her of playing on his emotions to get what she wanted. He might be right if she wanted him. Not as a client. Not as the next step on her path to success. But instead wanted him as a man.
He didn’t want her, she told herself. Not as a lawyer. Possibly not as a friend. If only she’d known this just as clearly where she’d once stood with her ex, she would’ve avoided the tears, the turmoil and the heartache. She should thank Drew for his candor.
She didn’t though.
She tipped her chin and settled her gaze on his. “Good luck. You’re going to need it.”
CHAPTER FIVE
“MILO, YOU DON’T seem to be finding anything useful either.” Drew picked up the silver tabby from the coffee table and the large senior cat released a rumbling purr. Milo’s brother, Felix, launched himself onto the coffee table and picked up where his brother had left off. The smoky-gray cat knocked several pages of the investigation file from the State Bar to the hardwood floor. Then he pounced proudly on the remaining papers, proving even senior cats had moves.
The State Bar had provided the investigation file to Drew after the charges of witness tampering against him had been released to the public. Drew had read and reread every page enough times to have the information memorized. Unfortunately the paperwork and his memory failed to provide the evidence he required to prove his innocence.
Milo nuzzled his head against Drew’s neck and his loud rumbling purr revved up as if the cat was offering Drew his personal brand of encouragement. Drew paced around his loft, stopped at the floor-to-ceiling windows, then moved into the kitchen. Examining the contents of the refrigerator, he considered last night’s cold pizza and the assortment of take-out containers from a variety of restaurants.
He’d failed to discover the needed answers for his case. But he had determined he seriously needed to start cooking again, if not for his arteries, then for the enjoyment it gave him.
For now, he was stuck when it came to his own case. And the solution he’d always relied on over the years was to find a different perspective. Approaching the situation from another direction.
Molly could offer a new viewpoint and an alternate approach. Drew held up Milo and looked into the cat’s clear blue eyes. “You’d like her. I like her. That’s why she can’t be involved.”
Milo yawned as if unimpressed by Drew’s argument.
“Molly has a daughter. A reputation she needs to rely on to grow her practice. She can’t afford to have an enemy, especially like mine, whoever that may be.” He returned to the living room and set Milo on the fluffy charcoal throw draped over the back of the sofa. “I have to do this alone.”
That meant he had to leave his flat. Go and search out a new perspective.
But he had no destination in mind. No specific place to go. It was Monday. A workday. His typical workday used to include jury selection, requests for evidentiary hearings, negotiating pleas and rendering decisions on charges.
It wasn’t a typical Monday. He checked his to-do list for inspiration. Only one item was listed: buy cat food.
Thanks to his sister-in-law, Drew was the proud owner of the two senior cats. Sophie owned a popular pet store and never could turn away any animal in need. Brad simply shook his head and called for reinforcements when Sophie’s pet store got too crowded with rescues. Drew was happy to oblige and volunteered at the pet store as often as he could.
He had a destination.
Felix scurried across the coffee table, swiping the last of the paperwork onto the floor. One long stretch and he rolled onto his back, covering the newly cleared table. Drew gathered the paperwork, offered Felix an approving rub under his chin and went into his bedroom for his running shoes.
He’d always lived alone until Milo and Felix had moved in. Now he couldn’t imagine not having the cats in his loft.
Twenty minutes later, Drew opened the front door of The Pampered Pooch. Chimes announced his arrival.
Evie appeared around an end cap in the center aisle and grinned. “Drew! What a nice surprise.”
“Just came for a quick visit. Running low on cat chow.” Drew hugged Evie and walked with her to the checkout counter.
“You look like you could use something sweet.” Evie leaned over and pushed a plastic container toward him. “Peanut butter. Just made this morning.”
Drew adored Evie, always had, ever since he’d been a kid. She was like Drew’s other mom. The mom that baked homemade cookies, remembered important dates and only offered advice when asked. Also, she always encouraged. However Evie’s real gift was listening.
Evie had the ability to pull a confession from Drew like no one else. Once, she’d needed no more than a warm-out-of-the-oven peanut butter cookie and a soft smile for Drew to admit he’d trampled her lilies to claim his baseball from her garden. Three cookies and he’d acknowledged he might have been the one who’d hit the baseball into her garage window and broke it in the first place.
Drew reached inside the container and grabbed a cookie. Sugar rushes might have loosened his tongue as a kid and had him revealing things to Evie he’d never intended to, but he had better control now. “You’re still my favorite lady.”
“Speaking of ladies, Molly McKinney is certainly a lovely woman.” Evie snapped the lid closed and tucked the container away.
He swallowed the bite of his cookie. The amusement in Evie’s gaze evaporated any happy cookie rush inside him. Uncertainty, not the peanut butter, made his words stick together. “Why are you talking about Molly?”
“Why not?” Evie rearranged the quick-sale items on the counter, sorting the plastic balls with bells inside by color. “I’d like to know more about her.”
Drew only knew the Molly from his past. But the Molly he’d run into at the courthouse, the one he’d been with at the gala and the mom he hadn’t known she was, intrigued him. He could want to get to know the woman Molly was now.
Learn why she still tucked her hair behind her left ear only. Why she always looked Hazel in the eyes when she spoke to her daughter. And how she always captured his full focus. As if she were—and had always been—the center of his world.
He blinked, cursed fate and bad timing, then stammered, “You should go to lunch with her. She likes spicy nachos the same as you.” At least he assumed Molly still liked spicy foods.
He knew what college student Molly had liked and disliked. Knew he had enjoyed being with Molly back then. And being with Molly now was both familiar and disorienting. Perhaps if he stopped reminiscing, he’d see Molly for who she had become. Then he’d realize his past, including his former feelings for a classmate, had no place in the present.
“Maybe I will ask Molly to lunch.” Evie chuckled. “What about you?”
Drew located Evie’s small thermos of her specially blended Irish cream coffee under the counter. “I’m off to spend time in the cat room.”
And not spend time with Molly. Nor getting to know Molly. Because spending time with Molly and getting to know her would not win him his freedom. Or help her build her new practice.
“People come into our lives for all different reasons, Drew. Some folks stay. Some leave.” Evie wiped off the counter. Her voice was knowing. “It’s when those people return that we need to pay attention.”
“Because they are up to no good.” Drew picked up a cup from the stack Evie always kept available.
“Don’t be so flippant.” Evie tapped him affectionately on the shoulder. “Sometimes people come back to change our worlds.”
Drew gripped the thermos and refused to admit the same sentiment had already whispered through him after his first run-in with Molly. But the charges against him were life-changing. World-flipping. That was more than enough to make him keep his distance.
“I’m not about to confess that Molly is a long-lost love. A soul mate. Or even a potential permanent part of my life.” He eyed Evie. “Molly is simply a part of my past,” he stated with conviction. Or what he hoped sounded like conviction.
“What about your future?” Evie’s eyebrows lifted over her glasses. Her gaze sparked. “What about love?”
Only a distracted, irrational fool fell in love when his entire life was on the line. Love would not save him. After all, there was no room for emotion in the court of law, only facts and reason. “Love can go find another unsuspecting victim.”
“Mark my words, Drew.” Evie’s voice lifted to follow him into the backroom. “Love will find you and you won’t be able to reason it away.”
But he could ignore it.
Drew walked through the kennel area reserved for the dogs and opened the door to the cat room. He released a litter of six kittens onto the floor, gathered the kitten toys around him and leaned back against the soft big pillows Sophie had decorated the room with. Ten minutes later, two pure white kittens with silver-tipped ears pounced on the laser beam light he swirled over the floor. A calico curled on his lap and slept. A tabby stretched out on its back against his leg. The two black-and-white tuxedos wrestled beside him. The kittens offered a quiet, calm sanctuary. And yet his mind wouldn’t stop searching for that new perspective. That missing piece in his case.
Sophie opened the door and peered at him. “Evie claims you stole her entire thermos of Irish cream coffee.”
Drew pointed to the thermos beside him. “I did. And I’m not even sorry.”
“Want to talk about it?” Sophie pressed her back against the wall and lowered herself to the floor next to Drew. Her hands cradled her stomach and the twins growing inside. “I will regret this later, so you have to promise to help get me off the floor.”
“I can’t giv
e you any coffee.” Drew set the thermos of whiskey-spiked coffee away from his very pregnant sister-in-law.
Sophie sighed. “Go figure. Today I really need it too.”
“It helps if you talk about it.” Drew considered Sophie a sister and even more, a good friend. Sophie and his brother had built a family and a home that swelled with love. Guests were family as soon as they walked inside. Strangers became instant friends inside their house.
Drew had never considered a home and a family for himself. He’d dedicated his life to his career. Hadn’t regretted it. Now he wondered...
He blamed Molly. Seeing her again had stirred up too many old wishes. He brushed his hand across his face, trying to push the past aside.
“You talk first.” Sophie nudged her shoulder against his. “You’re sitting in my cat room alone and drinking spiked coffee on a Monday afternoon.”
“It’s a good place to think.” Drew stroked his fingers over the calico’s back. “And the kittens don’t judge. They just keep purring.”
“Bad day working on your case?” Sophie asked and quickly added, “You’re wearing mismatched socks, an Angels T-shirt and Pioneer jogging pants. I’ve never seen you wear your workout clothes out of the house.”
“It’s nothing I can’t handle.” How many times had he repeated that tired line? Drew tugged his pants over his mismatched socks. “What about you?”
“It’s good to hear you’ve got things under control. Wish I could say the same.” Sophie picked up the tabby and cuddled the kitten against her chest. “I was asked to step down as the president of Paws and Bark. Auditors from the attorney general’s office are investigating my foundation.”
Drew scratched the back of his neck and the unease skimming over his skin. “For what?”
“Complaints have been filed against the foundation.” Sophie pressed her cheek against the kitten’s fur. Her voice wavered. “I don’t know why this is happening. We’ve always had professional independent audits. Filed all our paperwork to the state on time. No discrepancies or issues ever.”
Three Makes a Family--A Clean Romance Page 4