by Francis Ray
Arriving at the red brick courthouse, Lilly stepped out on the brick pavement. Eleanor followed. A hush fell over the gathered crowd. Lilly knew that her white Armani suit (purchased at Adam’s and Eleanor’s insistence after a trip to Neiman Marcus Sunday afternoon) and the limo were going to cause speculation. She no longer cared.
She wanted Myron to know that no matter how the hearing went, he hadn’t beaten her down; he hadn’t won. Her life was better after leaving him, not worse.
She recognized several faces in the crowd. None of them returned her greeting or smile. A heaviness centered in her chest. “They act as if I’m a stranger.”
“Come on, Lilly; let’s go inside.” Eleanor took her arm and they had started up the walkway to the steps of the courthouse when she heard her name.
“Mrs. Crawford.”
She turned to see her lawyer, Kent Powell, rushing toward her. He wore a conservative three-piece blue suit with a striped silk tie and a pearl gray Stetson. In his hand was a leather briefcase. He looked young and inexperienced. Her flagging courage wavered.
“I almost didn’t recognize you,” he said, his gaze drifting to Eleanor.
“Mr. Powell, I’d like you to meet Eleanor Wakefield, a friend of mine.”
Eleanor inclined her head. “Mr. Powell.”
He quickly tipped his hat, his shrewd eyes taking in Eleanor’s tailored suit, the expensive but tasteful jewelry, the sophistication that came from years of wealth and privilege. “Mrs. Wakefield.”
Lilly could see the questions in his face. “Why don’t we go inside and talk?”
“Certainly.”
Inside the courtroom that had remained unchanged for the past fifty years, they took their seats on the hard, solid oak chairs in front of the scarred wooden table.
“If you don’t mind, I’d like to know how you know my client.”
Lilly told him everything.
“I’m glad you could come, Mrs. Wakefield. The story has been circulating that Mrs. Crawford ran off with a man.”
Lilly’s mouth thinned. “I guess we know who’s behind it.”
“Yes, but he has a lot of friends. They’re all set to testify at his behest,” the lawyer paused. “Perhaps you should reconsider changing the wording on your divorce decree. You could walk out of here today a free woman.”
“No. Myron took enough from me; he’s not winning this.”
“All right, but remember this could get messy.”
Lilly didn’t realize how accurate her lawyer’s words would be until Myron’s lawyer began calling witnesses to the stand. She listened as three men told how she had tried to seduce them. Her lawyer’s objections and the fact that they were fishing and hunting buddies of Myron didn’t matter.
Her lawyer’s cross examination did little to shake their story. Myron’s lawyer paraded witness after witness who sullied her reputation and depicted her as being as free with her body as her mother had been. Not one person spoke in her defense. She looked at the women who had stood shoulder to shoulder with her in her kitchen after Mother Crawford’s death. Each one turned away. Shayla’s testimony that Lilly had been uncaring and cold damaged Lilly’s case even more.
“Your Honor, I call Myron Crawford to the stand.”
Lilly closed her eyes. She wanted to run from the room. Instead she gripped Adam’s ring and opened her eyes. Myron might win in court, but she’d never cower before him again.
“Do you swear to tell the truth and nothing but the whole truth?”
“I do.”
“You may be seated.”
“Mr. Crawford, you’ve heard the witnesses in this courtroom say some pretty bad things about your wife. If they’re true, why didn’t you divorce her?” his lawyer asked.
Myron, in a black suit, looked handsome and tortured, the picture of a wronged husband. But he was a man whose good-looking face hid his evil heart. Briefly he hung his head. When he looked at Lilly, there were tears in his eyes. “I loved her. God help me, but I still do.”
The lawyer turned and stared hard at Lilly. “You love her? You love a woman who would make Jezebel look like a saint?”
“I object.” Kent Powell shot up from his chair.
“Objection sustained.”
Myron’s lawyer continued looking at Lilly. “I’ll rephrase the ques—”
A hush fell over the courtroom as a tall, broad-shouldered man entered. He looked neither to the right nor to the left as he made his way down the aisle.
On the stand Myron’s eyes widened, then narrowed with hatred.
Lilly knew that look of rage. When she looked behind her she knew the reason. She was up and on her feet in seconds. The young man’s arms closed securely around her. Conversations broke out over the room.
Judge Lowell’s gavel banged for the courtroom to be quiet. Kent Powell watched with a sinking heart as his case went down the drain. He’d actually believed her.
“Order. Order in the court,” the judge demanded, banging his gavel. “Mr. Powell, control the exuberance of your client and have her take a seat,” he said, his lips sneering.
“Mrs. Crawford, you and the man please sit down,” Mr. Powell pleaded.
Neither moved to obey him. “I heard you needed me as a witness to my father’s cruelty to Lilly,” the man said.
“Your father?” Powell looked from the strikingly handsome young man to Myron Crawford on the stand.
The body build was similar, but there the resemblance ended. The younger man’s features were softer, but the eyes were just as hard. He was dressed in freshly pressed jeans and a denim shirt and jacket. His hair was in a foot-long ponytail.
Myron came out of his chair. “He’s a liar! Just like she is!”
“And I suppose these are lies.” Rafe ripped off his T-shirt and shirt. Women and men gasped. Welts and loop marks made from belts and extension cords criss-crossed his muscled back.
“Bailiff, bring that man up here.”
Rafe was already moving. “You want to see what a loving father I had? Take a good look.”
“You were willful. A man’s got a right to chastise his child. It says so in the Bible.”
“Not beat,” Rafe told him. “Lilly tried to stop you once and you beat her. If it hadn’t been for Grandma, I would have killed you.”
“See!” Myron gestured toward his son. “See what a devil I had in my house!”
“Is she a devil, too, Myron? Lilly never did anything except try to be a good wife and mother,” Rafe said, his fists clenched. “But that wasn’t good enough for you. You treated her like a hired servant instead of a wife. Wives are supposed to be submissive to their husbands, you always said. You could quote the Bible when it suited you in your wrongdoing.”
“I based my life on the Bible.”
“You based your life on cruelty and deceit,” Rafe said contemptuously. “You hurt her in the cruelest way a man can hurt a woman, you bastard.”
Myron’s nostrils flared with fury. “That’s a lie! If I’d treated her so badly, she wouldn’t have stayed!”
“She stayed because she wanted to help me and Shayla, even though my sister was too selfish to realize it then and apparently that hasn’t changed.” He shot a glance at his sister, then turned back to Myron. “But Grandma did.”
With an enraged cry, Myron came out of the witness stand. The bailiff finally moved to stop him. The judge shook his head.
“You shut your mouth!”
“Grandma moved in with you to try and help. She told me so.”
“To help?” Lilly said.
Rafe whirled. “Didn’t you ever wonder why an independent woman like Grandma would move into another woman’s house?”
“She was sick,” Lilly reminded him.
“She wasn’t that sick, not at the beginning, but watching Myron’s hatred took its toll on her. There was a darkness in him that all her praying couldn’t eradicate.”
Tears pricked Lilly’s eyes. She thought she had sacrificed her hap
piness for Mother Crawford the past five years. It had been the other way around.
“You’re lying!” Myron yelled. “You weren’t even here for her funeral.”
Rafe faced his father. “Because I swore I’d kill you if you ever laid a hand on me again and I didn’t want Grandma’s funeral to be the place.”
His expression murderous, Myron stepped closer. “Well, you’re such a big man. Come on.”
“Gladly.”
“Bailiff!”
The uniformed guards moved swiftly to separate the two men before the blows started. It took two additional men from the court next door to accomplish the task. The judge banged his gavel although the courtroom was eerily quiet. “Everyone sit down. I’m ready to give my verdict. Young man, put your shirt back on. Take a seat, Mr. Crawford.”
Glaring at his son, Myron straightened the coat of his black suit and went to his seat. His lawyer refused to look at him when he did.
Lilly grabbed Rafe’s hand and pulled him down into the chair beside her. “No matter what, I’m glad you came.”
“In view of the testimony I’ve heard here today and in view of the fact that there are no assets to divide, I hereby grant Lilly Crawford the divorce from Myron Crawford on the grounds of mental cruelty.”
“What!” Myron surged from his seat.
“Sit down, Mr. Crawford, unless you want to be held in contempt of this court.” Judge Lowell stared at Myron until he sat down. “Let me say that although your son is a grown man, your treatment of him is reprehensible. To call yourself a Christian is a disgrace to God and fellow Christians. As for the three men who testified here today, if I find they lied they’ll be held for perjury. Case closed.” He banged his gavel.
Lilly hugged Rafe. “Thank you.”
“Thank you for taking care of Grandma.” Briefly he lowered his head. “I couldn’t take it.”
“She understood.”
He nodded and pulled out a white card and gave it to her. “If you ever need me, you can reach me at this address.”
Lilly clutched the card in her hand without looking at it. “I’m glad the investigator found you.”
“Me, too.” He glanced away briefly, then centered his gaze on her. “I never thanked you for taking care of me and Shayla.”
Her hand closed on his muscled forearm. “You didn’t have to. I wanted to.” Her eyes saddened. “I know it wasn’t easy coming back here. I appreciate it.”
“That’s what families are supposed to do. Help each other,” he said simply. “We got it right even if they didn’t.”
Lilly wasn’t sure if he meant his father or her mother, then realized it didn’t matter. “We certainly did.” Opening her purse, she took out pen and paper and wrote down her Shreveport address, then, after asking Eleanor, wrote down Adam’s Sausalito address and phone number and handed the slip of paper to Rafe. “You’ll be able to find me at one of those addresses.”
Rafe glanced at Eleanor, then back at Lilly. “I’m glad you found friends and happiness.”
The hint of sadness in his voice troubled her. “Rafe, don’t let your hatred of Myron ruin your life.”
There was a brief flicker of something in his dark eyes; then it was gone as quickly as it had come. “I won’t. Stay safe and be happy.” Kissing her on the cheek, he turned and walked from the courtroom.
“Good-bye, Rafe,” Lilly mumbled to his retreating back.
“He’s quite a young man,” Eleanor said, watching Rafe walk away.
“We would have lost without him,” Powell said, gathering his papers and putting them in his briefcase. “I don’t guess you’ll be staying on in Little Elm.”
“No. I realize now I could never be happy here. People and circumstances wouldn’t let me.” Lilly extended her hand. “I’m leaving, but there’s a couple of things I have to do first.”
Outside the courthouse, she ignored the whispers and stares and searched the crowd. Seeing Myron in the parking lot with the three men who had lied about her on the witness stand, she headed in that direction. The crowd parted as if they were the Red Sea.
“Lilly, don’t do this,” Eleanor pleaded, worry in her voice.
“I have to. Wait here. Please.”
Leaving Eleanor on the sidewalk, Lilly didn’t stop until she stood in front of the man who had made her life hell for six years, and she had been coward enough to let him. “Myron.”
He spun; contempt and hatred flared in his eyes. The three men who had testified against Lilly refused to meet her gaze and quickly scurried away.
“Come back here!” Myron yelled. The men practically ran to their cars. Motors roared as they sped away. Myron swung back around and glared at Lilly. “If it’s the last thing I do, you’ll pay for what you did today.”
“You did it to yourself.” She was unfazed by his anger or threats. “There’s over a hundred witnesses this time. Hit me again and you’ll go to jail. I guarantee it.”
His head jerked up and around. He glared at the watchful crowd, then brought his furious gaze back to her. “They won’t always be around.”
She refused to cower. She’d done that too many times. “You are a sneaky, vindictive coward, Myron. Mother Crawford knew it, Rafe knew it, and now the whole town and Shayla know it.”
Rage distorted his features. Shayla had always been his Achilles’ heel. He drew back his balled fist.
Eleanor screamed Lilly’s name.
People gasped.
Instead of raising her hands protectively over her face, Lilly did what she had always been afraid to do. She kneed Myron in the groin.
His eyes bugged in pain and surprise. Clutching himself between his legs, Myron moaned and fell to the ground, hurling curses at her from between clenched teeth.
“You’ll never hit me again, Myron,” she told him, her voice surprisingly calm. “I’m free of you and I’m going to be happy. Somehow I don’t think you will be, and you only have yourself to blame.” Turning, she started back to the limousine.
On the way out of town they stopped by a florist shop. At the cemetery Lilly laid the dozen deep red roses on Mother Crawford’s grave beside the dozen already there. Rafe.
“You won’t be forgotten. I promise. Thank you for looking after me.” Standing, she went back to the limousine where Eleanor waited.
Aboard the plane Eleanor had the stewardess open a bottle of champagne and toasted Lilly. After a couple of sips, Lilly put in a call to Adam. Disappointment slumped her shoulders when the housekeeper informed her that he wasn’t there. He and Kristen had gone out. No, she didn’t know when they planned to return.
Slowly, Lilly hung up the phone. She had so much to tell Adam. He’d be so proud of her.
“You love him, don’t you?” Eleanor asked quietly from beside her.
“Yes.” Lilly didn’t even think of lying.
“I’m glad.” Eleanor smiled warmly.
Surprise widened Lilly’s eyes. “You don’t mind?”
Eleanor’s smile widened. “Why should I mind that my son is loved by a wonderful, caring woman who makes him happy?”
Lilly was stunned…and overjoyed.
“Now that that’s settled, how about some more champagne?” Eleanor plucked the bottle from the ice bucket.
Grinning wildly, Lilly lifted her glass.
Arriving at Adam’s house a little after three that afternoon, Lilly was disappointed to learn that he and Kristen were still out. Since the housekeeper wasn’t sure when they’d return, Eleanor invited Lilly to go shopping with her to search for a wedding dress. Certain she’d worry and watch the clock if she stayed, Lilly accepted the invitation.
“Lilly, how about this one?” Eleanor asked two hours later.
Lilly glanced up from the chair in the fitting room of the couture salon in Neiman Marcus. Eleanor’s face glowed with happiness as she slowly pirouetted in a Valentino ivory suit with a long-sleeved, side-tie jacket and tea-length skirt. She looked beautiful and deliriously happy. Lilly couldn
’t help wondering if she’d ever get the chance to wear something so exquisite and feminine for Adam.
“Jonathan will be speechless,” she assured Eleanor, letting the joy she felt for her push aside any doubts about her own unsettled situation with Adam.
“I saw another suit in lilac, and if I’m not mistaken there’s the most darling hat you ever saw in Accessories that would match. The combination would be perfect for the garden wedding we plan.” Eleanor stepped off the platform and reached for the side tie. “I think I’ll just slip this off and try it on. Do you mind?”
Lilly stood and pushed the button for the saleslady. “Not at all.”
Darkness had settled over Sausalito when Eleanor opened Adam’s door. “Thank you for going shopping with me.”
Lilly’s gaze went up the stairs before she gave her attention to Eleanor. There had been no word from Adam since they returned to San Francisco. “Of course. I enjoyed it. Thanks for letting me tag along.”
Eleanor hugged her. “You’re welcome. I had fun.”
“I just hate you didn’t find anything,” Lilly said. “I think the problem was that you looked great in everything you tried on.”
Eleanor’s smile was quick. “Thanks for the compliment. I still have seven weeks. You sure you don’t want to go with me to the art council meeting?”
“No,” Lilly assured her. She preferred to wait for Adam. “I’ll be fine.”
“He and Kristen should be finished with their errands shortly. Good night.” Eleanor shoved the silver chain strap of her purse farther over on her shoulder, then turned toward the door, stopped abruptly, snapped her fingers. “I almost forgot. Adam left a list of books he wanted me to get on his night-stand. Do you mind getting it for me?”
“Of course not.” Lilly swiftly climbed the stairs. Her thoughts were on Adam when she opened the door and gasped.
“I take it you’re surprised?”
Lilly whirled sharply to see Adam merge from the shadows in the room filled with the mellow sounds of jazz and bathed with the soft, warm glow of flickering vanilla-scented candles. The effect teased the senses.