“That was pretty awesome of them to change the location for you.”
“Yeah, Barbados will have to wait for next year. They understood though. Besides, most of them haven’t been to Charleston before, and a few of them got married this year, so having something low key where we can get to know the wives will be a good thing. Are you worried about the house?”
“No. Why would I be?”
“It’s a lot of people. Plus, dogs.”
“We’ll hire someone to clean afterwards. It’s not a big deal.” She shook her head. “I can’t believe I just said that. I can clean my own house.”
Jamie chuckled. “No. We’ll hire someone. We need to. With any luck, Garrett will be living here next week.” He pulled her into an embrace. “Don’t be nervous. They’ll love you.”
He trailed kisses down her chin and neck. She tensed.
“I know a good remedy for nervousness.”
She laughed. “I’m sure you do.”
He slid his hand inside her robe and kissed her before she said anything else. She immediately reacted and pushed herself closer to him.
“Should we go upstairs?”
She grinned. “Most definitely.”
They didn’t make it very far. Jamie pressed her up against the front door and kissed her hard. Forget the bedroom.
The doorbell rang, and they sprang apart. Bethany squealed and hid behind him. Annabelle stood at the door with a scowl.
He cracked the door open. “Morning, Annabelle.”
“Well, this was not exactly a sight I expected to see,” Annabelle declared.
“You told us to act more like a married couple.”
“In public. I need to talk to you,” Annabelle said. She crossed her arms.
“Let me put some real clothes on, and then we’ll talk,” Jamie said.
Annabelle wouldn’t look at him when he walked past her. Bethany followed him upstairs.
“She seems angry,” Bethany said when they got to their room.
“That she does. I hope she’s not bringing bad news.”
He threw on a t-shirt and a pair of basketball shorts and took the steps two at a time on the way down.
Annabelle stared daggers at Bethany when they arrived in the kitchen. “I need to talk to you alone.”
Jamie was about to argue with her, but Bethany spoke up.
“No big deal. I wanted a shower anyway.” She kissed him quickly on the lips and went upstairs.
As soon as she disappeared, Jamie addressed Annabelle. “What’s this all about?”
“I can’t be your attorney anymore.”
Jamie’s stomach dropped. “What do you mean? The proceedings start on Tuesday. How can I do this without you?”
Annabelle snorted. “You seem to being doing fine with Bethany.”
“Beth’s not a lawyer.”
“I thought this marriage was temporary.”
Jamie was thoroughly confused. “Things changed. We fell in love. I don’t see why that means you can’t be my attorney.”
“Are you really that blind? I’ve been after you since freshman year. I thought we were going somewhere this time. Good luck, Jamie.”
She gathered her purse and raced out of the house before he could say anything else.
He walked upstairs ,still unsure of what happened. The reality of it hadn’t hit him yet. Bethany had told him Annabelle had feelings for him, but he didn’t think she’d let that ruin his chances for gaining custody of Garrett. That was unprofessional and uncalled for.
Bethany was rubbing a towel through her hair when he entered.
“What’s up?” she asked.
“Annabelle quit.”
“What? Why?”
“I’m not exactly sure. She said something about our marriage supposed to be fake, and that I was blind. Then she ran out.”
Bethany blinked. “I thought she was more professional than that.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” He already knew that, but he wondered what Bethany’s take on it was.
“She’s in love with you. We talked about this before.”
“You’re telling me she quit because she’s in love with me, and she’s mad she can’t have me.”
“Yep.”
Jamie leaned up against the counter. “What am I going to do now? There’s no way someone will be able to get up to speed by Tuesday. Especially since it’s a long holiday weekend. No one will be in the office for the rest of the week.”
“Maybe one of your friends will have a contact.”
“Maybe.” Jamie felt a weight in chest. This was the worst possible situation he could be in. How was he going to win anything without a good attorney? He felt his son slipping away from him already.
Bethany didn’t know how to help Jamie. He brooded all afternoon. But when the doorbell rang at four, he turned on his smile.
“The masses descend,” he said. It was as if nothing bad had happened at all. She couldn’t understand how quickly he turned everything off. She was horrible at that kind of stuff.
Two of Jamie’s friends would be staying at their house, and the others would be staying in two different houses they rented down the street. Everyone would be at her place by seven, enjoying drinks and a bonfire. She hoped she wouldn’t screw this up. Jamie never talked about his family, but he talked about his “brothers” all the time.
Bethany followed Jamie to the door. He opened it and embraced the man standing there.
“Bethany, this is Lukas and his wife.”
Lukas, a tall man with dark hair, smiled and introduced the very pregnant, very pretty woman standing next to him. “This is Tess.”
Jamie stood back and let them come in. Bethany smiled at them, but her social anxieties were all coming out, and she didn’t know what to say. Jamie directed them to their room, but before he could shut the door, a dog raced by that looked like Hexa.
Tess waited just outside the bedroom door, so Bethany brought her into the family room. Tess eased herself down on the couch. They watched the dogs wrestle for a moment. Bethany sat on a chair across from her and thought the dogs would be a safe conversation topic. “I don’t know how we are going to tell the difference between them all.”
Tess laughed. “I know. I’ve met Una, and when she and Dio were together, there was no difference.”
Okay, so this wasn’t so bad. Tess seemed pretty nice. The dogs flew out of the room, and Bethany hoped they weren’t destroying something.
“When are you due?” Bethany asked, because she didn’t know what else to say.
“September.”
“So soon. Congratulations.”
“Thanks. I’m starting to feel very big.” There was a slight awkward pause. Tess looked around the room, and Bethany listened for the doorbell to ring. After a few seconds, Tess spoke again. “You’ve got a lovely home.”
“Thanks. Where’s home for you?” Bethany craned her neck around for Jamie, but he and Lukas had yet to emerge.
“Michigan.”
Bethany laughed. “That sounds way too cold for me.”
“You have no idea. Until January, I lived in Florida.”
Dio and Hexa came running into the room, fighting over a rope toy.
They settled into an easy conversation, and Bethany knew that no matter what happened this weekend, she’d at least have a friend in Tess. She let out a breath of relief. This wouldn’t be so bad.
A few minutes later, another dog pranced into the room and both Hexa and Dio dropped their toy to greet him.
Jamie pulled a suitcase down the hall followed by another couple. Tess beamed when she saw them and pushed against the cushions to stand up.
“Don’t you dare get up,” the woman said.
She came around to Tess and gave her a big hug and collapsed next to her.
“This is Jessica,” said Tess. “She’s the reason Lukas and I are still together.”
“You two would’ve figured it out eventually. I just sped things alon
g.”
“Have either of you met the other guys?” Bethany asked.
Tess rubbed a hand over her stomach. “Lukas and I have only been together since February, so this is the first party I’ve been to. But Hayden’s parents live near our home so we see him from time to time.”
Jessica met Bethany’s eyes. She seemed like such a confident woman. “Conner and I were together last year, but I had a family emergency come up, and I couldn’t go to the party with him. I met Jamie and Blake though.”
Jamie’s laugh rang out across the room. “Do you remember what you said to me when we met?”
Jessica blushed. “I told you I had a boyfriend. You sat down next to me at the beach. How was I supposed to know you weren’t trying to pick me up?”
“Well, at least I don’t have to worry about you cheating on Conner.”
Bethany had never had so many people in her house. Though the more she thought about it, the more she realized that it wasn’t the number of people but that all of Jamie’s friends were tall and imposing. Between them and the ten dogs, they took up so much space.
Jamie smiled at her from across the room. Garrett sat at his feet with a rope toy in his lap. He burst into giggles every time one of the dogs tried to take it away from him. The dogs were all extremely well-behaved, and when Garrett screamed, “no”, they cowered and slunk away. But they would come back a few minutes later and try again.
Bethany escaped to the porch in search of Tess or Jessica. There was altogether too much testosterone in the living room. She saw Jessica and Conner headed to the beach and no sign of Tess. She sat in a chair on the porch and watched the water.
A few minutes later the back door opened again, and one of Jamie’s friends sat next to her.
“Do you mind if I sit here?” He was shorter than most of the others but had a strong jaw and smile that probably melted more than his fair share of hearts.
“Go ahead.”
“Too much for you in there?”
Bethany snorted. “It’s a lot of people.”
“It’s going to grow as we all start settling down. Just this year we grew by almost five people.”
“Almost?” Bethany asked.
“Tess counts as almost two.”
Bethany smiled at him. “I’m sorry, I don’t remember your name.”
He held out his hand. “I’m David.”
“And when do you think you’ll settle down?” She meant it as a joke, but he grimaced.
“I work too much. I’m guessing I’ll be last.”
“You know, earlier when Blake came in, he told me the same thing. Though his excuse was that he’s sworn off women after his girlfriend left him for some Italian guy.”
David grinned. “They’ll be back together in less than six months. Trust me. I know Debbie almost as well as I know Blake, and there’s a lot more to that story.”
“Oh, I do love gossip.”
He took a drink of his beer. “Nice try. I’m not a woman. Plus, I’m an attorney. I can keep a secret better than anyone.”
Bethany’s heart clenched. Attorney. This could be their solution. But it seemed odd that Jamie didn’t think of that.
“Can you practice law in South Carolina?”
David nodded. “Why? Do you have a brother in jail or something?”
“No. You know how Jamie is trying to secure custody of Garrett?”
“Yeah, that’s why we changed the venue. He has a court date on Tuesday, right?”
“Did he tell you his attorney quit yesterday?”
David frowned. “No. And I know what you’re thinking. But I’m a public defender. I practice criminal law. I hardly know anything about family law.”
“Except it’s a holiday weekend, and Jamie doesn’t have time to find anyone else.”
David whistled. “Why did she quit? Especially this late in the game?”
“She had a thing for Jamie, and he didn’t reciprocate. She got jealous and quit.”
He fiddled with his beer. “I knew she had a thing for him in college. I didn’t realize she still did. She’s gorgeous. Jamie must really like you.” He winked and gave her a grin.
“Can you help him? Please? He needs someone who understands how important this is to him.”
“Normally I wouldn’t, but considering the time crunch, I may be his only option. I’ll talk to him later. He’s lucky to have you. He knows that right?”
“I’m pretty sure he does.”
They sat in silence for a while. She hoped that this would be their solution. David was good friends with Jamie. He’d want to help. Maybe they had a chance after all.
On Monday, Jamie slid out of bed early and left Bethany to sleep. She had to be exhausted. The couples had left the night before, and most everyone else would be scattering today. David moved his stuff in late but he was already up in the kitchen.
“I feel entirely inadequate to help you. I’ve never done a family law case before.”
“I have faith in you. You know what the stakes are.” And Jamie did. David was a lifesaver.
“I do. I called Annabelle last night. I’m going to her office today to pick up her files. She said she’ll fill me in on the details as long as you aren’t there.”
Jamie rolled his eyes.
“What’d you do to her anyway?”
“She walked in on me and Beth making out in the entryway.”
David frowned. “So? You’re married. I hope you do more than just make out.”
“She thought our marriage was a fake and that after we won the case, her and I could get together.”
David creased his eyebrows. “Why did she think that?”
“Because originally that’s all it was. It was a way for me to appear better in court. Bethany needed money, and I needed a wife. It was the perfect opportunity. Annabelle drafted our pre-nup. But we fell in love. Good thing too because Garrett loves Bethany almost as much as I do.”
David whistled. “Man, you’re in deep. Anything else I should know about the case before Annabelle briefs me on it?”
“Only that a lot of the case is built on information my PI gathered for me. The judge basically said his evidence wasn’t allowed. Annabelle was appealing, but she wasn’t getting anywhere. Garrett can’t stay with Zoe. They don’t look out for him at all.”
David nodded. “Tell me about the judge.”
“What about her?”
“How old is she?”
“I don’t know, mid-fifties.”
“Do you know how she normally rules?”
“Annabelle said in her entire history of hearing family cases she’s only sided with the father twice, and those were extremely extenuating circumstances.”
“Why didn’t you stick with visitation?”
“I was going to. But I’m afraid he’s getting abused, and I don’t want him around that sleazy husband of hers.”
Over the last few months, he was more and more uneasy bringing Garrett to Zoe’s. He knew that he had to, but Garrett cried every time, and he knew Zoe wasn’t taking care of him. He couldn’t get Garrett to tell him anything though. He had to win this.
Bethany was a ball of nerves Tuesday morning. They sat outside the courtroom, and her palms were sweating. The court doors opened, and they entered. Zoe’s husband was missing again. In some ways, Bethany felt bad for her, but that wouldn’t last long. Every time the woman opened her mouth, she said something rude.
To Bethany’s surprise, the hearing was over before it even started. All the judge did was lay out what the week would be like. She wanted the case wrapped up by Friday. Before she dismissed them, she asked Jamie, David, and Bethany to meet her in her office.
“Explain why Annabelle is no longer your attorney.”
Bethany’s stomach fluttered, worried this would make things difficult for Jamie. Count against him somehow.
David spoke. “I don’t see how that is relevant to the case.”
“This isn’t a criminal case. Everything i
s relevant.”
“Annabelle had feelings for me,” Jamie said.
The judge grinned. “And you didn’t reciprocate those feelings.”
“Correct.”
“Very well. You may go. But I’d like to speak with David in private for a few minutes. See you tomorrow.”
Jamie held Bethany’s hand tightly as they waited for David. He came out a few minutes later.
“That went better than expected. Come on, we’ve got a lot of work to do before tomorrow.”
On Wednesday evening Garrett picked at his food.
“Hey, buddy, what’s up?” Bethany asked. “I know you love my spaghetti.”
He shrugged.
Jamie scooted his chair closer. “Can I get you something else?”
Garrett shook his head.
“Okay then, why don’t you go get your bag together so you can go back to your mom’s, and then we’ll have ice cream.”
Garrett slammed his little fists on the table. “I don’t want to go. Why are you making me?”
The torment in his eyes hit Bethany directly in the chest. She knew it was hard for him. She didn’t know all the details of his home life, but it was a home Bethany wouldn’t wish on any child.
Jamie rubbed Garrett’s shoulder. “She’s your mom. You have to go.”
Garrett scowled. “Can I take Hexa home with me?”
“No, your mom doesn’t like her.”
“But Hexa protects me.”
Bethany saw Jamie clench his fist. “What do you need protecting from?” Jamie asked.
David leaned forward, listening.
Garrett let out a sigh. “Nothing. I’ll go pack my bag.”
Bethany’s heart constricted as he walked to the stairs with his head hung.
“You know, this case would be easier to win if he talked about it.”
“But he won’t. Though he saw the judge today. I’m not sure what he told her. She wouldn’t let anyone else in the room with her.”
“For his sake, I hope you win. But, Jamie, it doesn’t look good.”
“I know. Maybe she’ll grant joint at least. Then we can get him out of that home as often as possible.”
David looked at his watch. “I’ve got plans. I’ll see you two later.”
Folly and Forever (Omega Mu Alpha Brothers Book 3) Page 15