“I love this room. It’s not what I expected.”
“It used to be the living room when this was somebody’s house. I wanted to keep the feel of the place because it’s got a history and it’s part of the feel of this downtown area. In the winter, I like to light a fire in the old stone fireplace and sit in here working. That’s why I have the couch and coffee table here in front and the conference table by the windows. This is sometimes a good place to sit and talk with clients. It’s more casual and less intimidating, especially if the case involves something traumatic.”
“You’ve got a lot of books. Are they all law books?”
He glanced over at the three towering bookcases that stretched floor to ceiling. “Most of them are current. I like to collect old law books. You never know when some obscure law that’s still on the books, but no one really knows about, will come in handy.”
“Smart.”
Settling in to the casual conversation, he waited for her to sit on the sofa. He took the seat next to her and stayed close. The heat and pull between them drew him in and made him wish they were at his place or hers, alone, with no opportunity for anyone to catch them in a compromising position. He’d already taken a chance, kissing her when anyone could walk into the office. Janine left to give him some privacy for lunch, but that didn’t mean a client wouldn’t stop by, or someone else looking to hire a lawyer.
“I try my best to do everything I can for my clients.” He didn’t want to talk about work, so he changed the subject. “What did you bring for lunch? This looks great.”
He liked the way she’d packed the rectangular basket. White dishes and linen napkins sat next to a pair of glasses and a bottle of chilled raspberry Italian soda. Two sandwiches were wrapped in white butcher paper. Two bags of his favorite potato chips. One of her amazing desserts hid in the Styrofoam container. He smelled chocolate and berries.
She took one of the plates and opened a sandwich, arranging it on the plate just so before she handed it to him with one of the napkins.
“I’m so glad it’s not one of those tea sandwiches with cucumbers.”
She laughed. The sound made his gut go tight.
“Those are for tea parties. This is for feeding a hungry man lunch.”
Things between them seemed so easy and comfortable, so he reached out and wrapped his arm around her back, pulling her close. He kissed the side of her head. “You remembered I like roast beef with cheddar on sourdough.”
“With pepperoncini’s.”
He took one from the sandwich and popped it into his mouth. “So good.”
She giggled again and his gut did that thing and everything inside him settled.
“What are you having?”
“Turkey club on sourdough. No peppers.”
“No, you’ve got those sprout things. Chick food.”
“You got man food, I’ll stick with this.”
He rubbed his hand up and down her back. She gave him a smile over her shoulder, her hair falling down over his hand and arm. He grabbed a handful and gave it a playful tug. He loved the softness of it and wanted to feel it draped over his bare chest when they made love.
“You’re the best.” He meant it. He appreciated how much thought she’d put into lunch, making it personal and nice with all the added extra stuff. He leaned back into the sofa with his plate, draped his napkin over his shirt and tie, and settled in to eat and spend time with her.
“How was last night? Did you sleep well?” he asked.
“Not really. Why? Do I look that bad?”
“You don’t need me to tell you how beautiful you are, but I will again if it makes you happy.”
He thought she’d smile or laugh, but instead she turned serious.
“The alarm system helped ease the worst of my fears. I did get a few hours’ sleep. I really appreciate that you did that for me.”
“The police will find Dale and you won’t have to worry. How are your feet and head?”
“Better. No headache and the stitched cuts don’t hurt anymore. They look better. My hip still aches.”
“How’s the shoulder?”
“Still sore. I’ve got more range of motion today. Working it out while I mix up batter for the baked goods helps.”
“Good.”
“So, how has your morning been? What kind of cases are you working on today?”
“I’m helping a client with some business contracts, and I have two upcoming divorce cases.”
“Are there any happy divorces?”
“None that I’ve seen, unless you count the person who gets the most. They seem to think they’re happy, but really they’re just alone again with a bunch of stuff.”
“Not your favorite part of the job.”
“No. That’s why I don’t handle very many of them. I mostly do it for clients I work with on other matters.”
“So, Shannon was already a client.”
“No. She and I went to high school together. I didn’t know her well back then, but when things with Dale got really bad, she asked if I’d help get him out of jail. Instead, I convinced her she deserved better.”
“She wanted you to help him after he hurt her.”
“I’ll never understand the psychology behind women who defend and go back to the men who hurt them. I’m happy Shannon decided to leave him. I just hope they find Dale soon and put him back behind bars where he belongs.”
In need of a change of subject, he asked, “What are you doing this weekend?”
“Working.”
“Don’t you ever get time off?”
“The shop is closed Sunday and Monday. Tuesday Gayle and Mary Ann work.”
“Mary Ann?”
“She’s a stay-at-home mom. She comes in a few hours a couple of days a week to help out while her two boys are in preschool. It gets her out of the house and gives her family some extra income.”
“So you have Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday off.”
“Most of the time. Since I own the shop, I usually take that time to catch up on paperwork and inventory.”
“So if I want to see you on the weekend, it has to be Saturday evening or Sunday. Darn, I wanted you to come to the softball game on Saturday afternoon.”
“What time?”
“Eleven.”
“At the sports park or the school?”
“The park. Will you come?”
“Sure. I’ll ask Gayle to cover the shop for a couple of hours.”
“I’ll pick you up.”
Finished with their sandwiches, she pulled the dessert carton out of the basket and opened the lid. He leaned forward to get a look.
“Chocolate raspberry torte. One of my favorites.”
“You have it with the girls at your tea parties.”
“I like to get them all hopped up on sugar and send them home to Rain. It’s fun being the uncle.”
She laughed. “I don’t know if Rain appreciates that.”
“She does. I get the girls out of her hair for a few hours and she gets some peace and quiet.”
“Until you bring them home on a sugar high.”
“It’s not a perfect system, but it works for me.” They shared a laugh at Owen’s selfish behavior.
Owen took the fork from the basket and cut a piece of the cake and held it up for her to take a bite, since she’d only brought one piece.
She took the fork in her mouth and pulled back to scoop the cake off. Their eyes met and held for an intense second, both of them aware of the other and wanting something more than dessert.
“Owen.”
He nearly dropped the fork when the woman’s voice intruded on the intimate moment he shared with Claire. They both jumped and the spell broke.
He looked up, surprised to see Shannon staring at them from the library entrance, a frown on her face.
“Shannon. What are you doing here? Is everything okay?” He stood and drew her attention from Claire and walked over to her. She looked up at him and smiled
warmly.
“I needed to see you. I’m sorry to interrupt your lunch meeting.”
He didn’t correct her outright, but wanted to make it clear this was his personal time. “Claire is a friend of mine. We were just finishing lunch. Did you and I have an appointment today?”
They didn’t, which begged the question of why she showed up unannounced at his office. Again.
“Dale called me at work today. I hung up on him, but he keeps calling back. My boss is really mad. Dale keeps swearing and making threats if I don’t talk to him. I don’t know what to do, so I came to tell you.”
“Did Dale say where he is?”
“No. As soon as I heard his voice, I hung up just like you told me to do. We’re not married anymore. He doesn’t have any reason to contact me. That’s what you said.” She wrapped her arms around her middle in a defensive gesture that told him how much Dale’s threats scared her.
He reached for her and rubbed his hands up and down her arms by her shoulders to reassure her. “Yes. That’s right. You don’t need to talk to him.”
She took a step closer, but he gently held her away. One thing to console a client. Quite another to make them think you were personally involved.
“We’ll contact the police and let them know what’s happened. If he calls again, maybe you can get him to tell you where he is, so the police can pick him up. The sooner, the better. I don’t want him to come back and hurt you. You’re being extra careful, right?”
She beamed him a smile. “Yes. My boss walks me to my car after work. When I get home, I make sure to lock everything up and set the alarm.”
“Good. Keep your eyes open. If you even think you see something strange when you get home, don’t get out of the car. Use your cell phone to call the police. Have them come and check the house for you.”
“I just want this to be over.”
“I know you do. So do I. In fact, I had an alarm system put in Claire’s house, too, to be sure she’s safe.”
“Why?” The question sounded more like a demand for an answer.
“Claire is the woman Dale attacked the other night.”
“Oh, so that’s why she’s here.”
Claire frowned and looked to him to correct Shannon’s assumption that this was a business lunch. He wasn’t about to explain his personal life to a client. “The police need your help to find Dale. You’re the only one he contacts. I don’t want to scare you, but he’s not going to stop until he has you back, or the police put him behind bars again.”
“I’m not going back to him. Not this time. I did in the past, but I want something better.” She bit her bottom lip and hugged herself close. Her words came out fast and shaky. “You helped me see that I can have something better.” She touched his arm, and he took her hand and gave it a pat to reassure her again.
“Yes, you can, but we need to stop Dale.”
Claire walked up beside him, her basket packed with the dishes and lunch wrappers. He immediately dropped Shannon’s hand and turned to her.
“Where are you going?”
“Back to work. You need to take care of this.”
“Give me a couple of minutes, and I’ll walk you out to your car.”
“No need. I walked over.”
“Claire, if Dale is still intent on hurting you, it’s not safe for you to be out walking alone.”
“I’m not going to live my life hiding. It’s a public street with lots of traffic. My shop is only four blocks down. I’ll be fine.”
“No. I’ll walk you back.”
“We need to contact the police,” Shannon interrupted.
Claire touched his arm much the same way Shannon had moments ago. He’d brushed aside Shannon’s gesture, but with Claire he couldn’t ignore the immediate and intense need to touch her back.
“I’ll be fine. You’ve got work to do.”
He took her hand in his and held firm. He didn’t want her to leave like this.
“We didn’t finish our dessert.”
“I left it for you on the coffee table.” She gave his hand a squeeze and pulled free. “Bye.”
He wanted to call her back, but Shannon grabbed his arm to get his attention and pull him back from taking another step in Claire’s direction. He hadn’t realized he’d moved to go after her.
Claire opened the door to leave and Janine walked in. They exchanged hellos and goodbyes with a smile, but Janine’s smile faded when she spotted Owen with Shannon.
Janine drew closer and wrapped an arm around Shannon’s shoulders. “Shannon, dear, you look upset. Let go of Owen before you wrinkle him all up. I’ll get you a cup of tea.”
“Dale called,” Shannon explained her presence in his office.
Janine pulled Shannon down the hallway toward the kitchen. “Well, you’ll report him to the police.”
Their voices faded down the hall, but Owen didn’t move. His gaze remained locked on the closed front door through which Claire had exited. He had a strange feeling they’d taken a step back in their relationship. He’d felt so close to her, sitting in the library, sharing a meal and conversation and just being together. Now, he felt a barrier between them, and he didn’t like it one bit.
Owen wanted to go after Claire, but he turned down the hallway and went to the kitchen. Janine sat across from Shannon facing him. The soft look in her eyes told him she regretted his date ending this way. He didn’t like it himself, but duty called. If he could get Shannon to calm down and maybe help them find Dale, the threat against both women would be over. He wanted Claire safe.
Shannon sat with her back to him and a mug of hot tea between her hands. She turned when Janine looked up at him and jumped up, nearly toppling the chair. She threw her arms around him and held tight. “You have to make him stop. He won’t leave me alone. I’m so scared he’s going to come after me again.” Tears made her words come out stilted.
Stuck with her wrapped around him, he didn’t know quite what to do but give her a pat on the back. She wiped her eyes but didn’t let him go. She tipped her head up and her sad, tear-filled eyes made him cave. He didn’t know what to do with a crying woman, so he hugged her close, pat her on the back some more, and reassured her. “It’s going to be okay.”
Janine stood and took Shannon by both shoulders and pulled her away from him and helped her back into the chair.
“Drink your tea, dear, while Owen goes to his office and contacts the police to report what’s happened.”
Owen mouthed, “Thank you,” and took the opportunity to retreat.
A shy, sweet girl, Shannon hung out with the unpopular kids in high school who were most likely to become the geeks who ruled the world of electronics and science and put all the jocks and most of the popular kids to shame by the ten-year reunion. How she ended up married to Dale mystified him.
Maybe it came down to the attention Shannon so obviously needed. Even with him, she wanted his attention on her. He’d seen the stunned look on her face when she saw him with Claire. From what she’d told him about her marriage to Dale, he’d showered her with affection when they first got married, and she loved him for it. They had some hard times, Dale started drinking, lost one job after another, and affection turned into fights about money and his drinking. Some of those fights brought the police out to their house for domestic disturbances. Eventually, Dale turned on Shannon when she got a job and started supporting them. A real blow to Dale’s ego, which resulted in several trips to the emergency room for Shannon. Dale hated that Shannon earned the money in the family and sometimes forgot herself and let him know she could buy what she wanted, since she’d earned the money, and that didn’t include keeping him in booze. Owen agreed with Shannon, but Dale took exception, using it as yet another excuse to hurt Shannon and convince her to do as he said.
Owen shook his head and fell into his chair at his desk and grabbed the phone and called the sheriff’s office and left a message for Dylan. Nothing more he could do. He still didn’t know where to fi
nd Dale.
Frustrated they still didn’t have a lead on Dale’s whereabouts and that his date with Claire ended so abruptly, he stared out his window and wondered what to do next. He needed to make things up to Claire. He also didn’t like that she’d walked back to her shop alone.
He grabbed his cell phone and hit the screen for his “favorite” list and pushed Claire’s name. She answered on the first ring, making him smile for the first time since she left.
“Hi, Owen.”
He loved hearing his name from her. “Hi. You made it back to the shop without incident.”
“It was a lovely walk back.”
“I’d have made it better.”
“Oh yeah? How?”
“I’d have kissed you goodbye.”
“Then I’m sorry we got interrupted. I’d have liked you to walk me back.”
“I wanted to, but Shannon . . .”
“Has a crazy ex-husband and a lawyer who cares about her feelings.”
“Not more than I care about yours. I hate that our date got ruined.”
She sighed, making him wonder if she’d changed her mind about seeing him again this Saturday for the softball game.
“Up until the end, I had a great time.”
“But?”
“I wasn’t ready for it to end,” she admitted, her voice soft and earnest.
“I don’t want it to end. I want to see you again.”
“You will. We have a date this weekend.”
“What about lunch every day for a year? You promised.”
She laughed, making his gut unknot and his nerves unravel. “Are you really going to hold me to that?”
“Unfortunately, I have back to back meetings tomorrow and court, and I probably won’t eat lunch at all. I even have a dinner with a client, and all I want to do is cancel everything and take you out for a quiet evening—just the two of us alone. No interruptions or distractions.”
“I’d like that. We’ll do it next week.”
“Why does that seem so far away?”
“You’ll see me Saturday at the game. I’ll get to check out your mad softball skills.”
“I’m coaching, not playing.”
“Too bad. I bet you’re something on a field.”
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