Private Lives

by Karen Young

  “That could take years!”

  Megan looked at her, then spoke quietly. “She has a right to acknowledge you as her sister or not, Lindsay. Accept it and move on.”

  “I’d really like to have a conversation with her about Judge Walker.” Lindsay was off the stool now and pacing. “She might be able to shed some light on the case, point me in a direction that was overlooked by the police. But if she—”

  “Wait just a minute.” Megan abruptly shut off the water at the sink. “I’m beginning to get it now. This isn’t about Elizabeth at all, is it? It’s about digging up info on the judge, right?”

  “Not totally.” Lindsay shrugged. “And what’s the harm if there’s nothing there as you suspect?”

  “And the reason you want to find something irregular about the judge’s death is because it may possibly interest Jack Bigelow, who will then—possibly—let you do a feature on ‘Evening Magazine.”’ Megan was shaking her head. “It took a while, but I’m finally getting it. You’re right. I should eat more sensibly. My brain was really slow on the uptake on this one.”

  “Oh, c’mon.” Lindsay flopped back down on the huge floor cushion. “It’s not that reprehensible. You make me sound like a sleazy opportunist.”

  Megan gave her a knowing look and said nothing.

  “Well, just acknowledge this and I’ll shut up…for now.” Resuming a new yoga position, Lindsay stuck her leg straight up in the air with ease and rotated her foot at the ankle. “Judge Matthew Walker’s death was surely advantageous to a few people who had cases on the docket at the time. What if one of those cases turns out to have some really suspicious elements? What if there’s a deep mystery just waiting to be solved? What if he really was murdered?”

  Megan tossed a wet sponge into the sink and turned off the kitchen light. “Yeah, and what if pigs could fly?”

  Ten

  Elizabeth muttered something vile as the telephone rang. Resigned to quitting for the day, she saved the text in the current document and closed down. The ringer for the phone on her desk was turned off, but she could hear the sound when other extensions rang. More irritating, she could hear the messages as callers spoke. Like now.

  “Hi, Elizabeth. It’s me again. Lindsay. Just reminding you to check your e-mail today. I’d love to firm up a lunch date. There’s something important I want to talk to you about. I’ve uncovered some really interesting facts about the fire the night that Judge Walker died. Let’s see…” Brief pause. “I’ll be at this number until five. Will you call me? Thanks. Talk to you soon.”

  Elizabeth stood staring at the phone. Ignoring Lindsay clearly wasn’t working. She was going to have to send her a stern e-mail to end the harassment, that is, if she wanted to maintain some distance between herself and her sisters. But since learning they never even knew about her, she was struggling with whether or not to open up a dialogue, at least. Maybe they could have lunch, possibly include Megan. Elizabeth admitted to a curiosity about her sisters. When she was still young and feeling the crushing pain of losing them, she’d fantasized meeting them in a grocery store. Or at the mall. Or in the library. Her imagination had taken her only so far. She couldn’t remember how she’d planned to react if they had chanced upon one another. And now that the door was cracked when it had been firmly closed against the possibility of a relationship with her sisters, she was finding it difficult to ignore what might be behind it. Rubbing her forehead, she pressed a button to hear other calls.

  “Gina. Austin.” The tone was abrupt, harsh with irritation. “We need to talk, so pick up.” Long pause. “Goddamn it, Gina! This is the third time I’ve tried to reach you. What’s the problem? Is Liz monitoring your calls?” He paused again, then muttered an obscenity. “I thought this whole thing was about you taking control of your life, but if Liz is advising you, that’s hardly a declaration of independence.” He waited again, two, three, four seconds. “You’re gonna have to talk to me sooner or later, Gina. I’ll be in my office the rest of the day. Call.” He slammed the phone down.

  Elizabeth stood, debating whether or not to delete the message. But shielding Gina from Austin’s bullying would be validating his accusations, wouldn’t it?

  “Go ahead, zap it. I’ve already heard it.”

  Gina appeared from the vicinity of the kitchen, drying her hands on a dish towel. Lately, she’d been taking over the chore of cooking and cleaning, insisting on doing something to pay for room and board for herself and Jesse. “I should have deleted it myself. I don’t want to talk to him, but you know how he is. He’ll keep on pestering me until I simply give in.”

  Elizabeth punched the delete button. “You don’t have to give in, Gina, and you don’t have to tolerate any harassment. Have Maude call him and lay down the law. That’s what lawyers are for.”

  “I guess I should do that.”

  “Are you comfortable with the judge’s ruling?”

  “Of course. I never expected to get what I petitioned for, let alone that it would be doubled. I’d be crazy to change anything. It’s just that…” She went to the window where Jesse and Cody played while Louie looked on from his favorite spot in the gazebo. The kids were trying to teach Archie, the dog, to retrieve a Frisbee. New at the game, Archie simply ran from one child to the other, barking and wagging his tail wildly, while basically ignoring the Frisbee. There was a lot of squealing and laughing.

  “So Jesse’s the reason you’re hesitating.”

  “I don’t like the idea of her being alone with Austin, Liz. I know what he’s like. He doesn’t want Jesse. He just wants out from under any financial burden. So, if I sign the agreement, I’m financially secure, but what about Jesse? Will she be safe in his care?”

  Since those were basically the same concerns Elizabeth had, she could think of nothing reassuring to say. She knew Gina’s fear was based on the reality of living with Austin. But what were the options? Nobody but Maude and Elizabeth believed Austin posed a threat. In hindsight, she realized it had been a mistake not to call Ryan Paxton after Austin manhandled Gina the day of the hearing. Paxton was the type of man who went with the evidence of his eyes. He wouldn’t have been able to defend Austin if he’d seen those bruises on Gina’s face. Too late now. The bruises had faded in the two weeks since it happened.

  The phone still blinked, signaling one more message. With a sigh, Elizabeth pushed the button to hear it.

  “Elizabeth, Ryan Paxton here. I’ve been trying to reach you for a couple of weeks now. Didn’t want to leave a message. I’d rather talk to you personally than to rely on voice mail. Remember our discussion at the coffee shop? We need to get together to try to work something out between Gina and Austin. I know you’ve got some concerns about the whole thing, but I think for Jesse’s sake we could work something out.”

  Somehow she’d missed hearing that one. Elizabeth quickly deleted it, resisting the instant leap of her pulse at hearing his voice. “What he’d like to work out,” she said, fiddling with the notepad beside the phone, “is a way to get Austin off the hook financially.”

  She opened a drawer and dropped the notepad inside. “But sooner or later this has to be settled, Gina. Austin’s going to appear and demand his visitation rights with Jesse. And you won’t have a leg to stand on.”

  Jesse burst through the door just then with Archie galloping beside her, his tongue lolling in an ecstatic smile. She was grimy from head to toe after only an hour outside. One pink sneaker was untied, shoestrings trailing, limp and dirty. How she avoided tripping over them was a mystery to Elizabeth.

  “Aunt Lizzie, somebody’s coming and they’re almost to the front door right now.” With both her arms wrapped around the dog’s neck, Jesse strained to avoid being licked in the face. “It’s a man and he has somebody with him who looks like Britney Spears!”

  Elizabeth gave Jesse’s nose a playful tweak as the doorbell rang. “Well, it’s not Britney Spears, you can take my word for that, sweetie.”

  Jesse’s smile fa
ded as she was struck by a new thought. “It’s not somebody wanting us to leave, is it? So they can live with you and not us.”

  “Of course not, Jesse.” Elizabeth ruffled her hair as they headed to the door. It always gave her a pang when Jesse voiced her fear of more upheaval. Surely, if Austin realized how anxious his daughter had become, he’d know how vital it was to quickly resolve the issues between himself and Gina and hopefully give Jesse some peace of mind. “You’ll be staying here with me as long as you want to, Jesse.”

  With the little girl beside her, she checked the peephole to see who was at the door. Her heart bumped against her ribs as she recognized Ryan Paxton. Pausing a moment, she took a breath and reached for the handle.

  “Hi, Elizabeth,” Ryan Paxton said, flashing a grin. When she didn’t reply, he gave a boyish shrug, “Hey, we were in the neighborhood.” Elizabeth’s gaze moved to the teenager beside him. “My daughter, Jennifer,” he said, still exuding good humor. “As I said, we were in the neighborhood and I hoped I might catch you at home.” His gaze dropped to the small face tucked close to Elizabeth’s legs. “Hi there, I bet you’re Jesse.”

  “Uh-huh.” Jesse ventured out a little farther to get a better look at Jennifer. “Do you know Britney Spears?” she asked, wide-eyed.

  Jennifer rolled her eyes and made a huffy sound. “No.”

  “Jennifer,” Ryan said with a note of warning in his tone, “say hello to Jesse.”

  “Hello.”

  “O—ka-a-y…” Ryan’s smile now had a slight edge. “If you could spare a minute, Elizabeth, maybe we could have a conversation about the…ah, situation.” His glance went briefly to Jesse.

  “Mr. Paxton—”

  “Ryan.”

  Elizabeth sighed. “Ryan. I don’t think—”

  “Hello, Ryan,” Gina said, materializing at Elizabeth’s shoulder.

  Another flashy grin. “Gina. How you doin’?”

  “Okay. Thanks.”

  “I was just saying to Elizabeth that, being in the neighborhood, I thought I’d pop by and see if I might bum a cup of coffee.” He glanced down at Jesse. “Or something.”

  Gina smiled. “Guess what? You’re in luck. I was just thinking of making a fresh pot.” She took Jesse’s hand. “And I’ve still got some of those chocolate chip cookies left from yesterday.” She smiled at the teenager. “Jennifer, if you don’t know Britney Spears, I bet you know a lot about her and Jesse would be your slave forever if you’d be willing to share a few tidbits.”

  Jennifer hesitated, not thrilled about munching cookies and talking with a five-year-old.

  “Jen loves chocolate chip cookies and Britney Spears,” her father said in a tone that left no room for argument. “Fifteen minutes, hon.”

  “Whatever,” Jennifer said with a toss of her head, but she stepped around Ryan, giving him a last dark look before following Gina and Jesse down the hall toward the kitchen.

  Still standing outside the door, Ryan’s grin now had a rueful tilt as he watched her go. “I’m in for it when we get back in the car,” he said to Elizabeth. “She’s been mad at me ever since the accident.”

  “How serious were the biker’s injuries?”

  “Not too bad, fortunately. He’s young and healthy. He’ll be good as new in a couple of weeks.” He stared for a moment at his feet, then looked up at her. “Look, I know this was pushy and you’ve done everything except rent an airplane with a sign saying you don’t want to talk to me, but I really believe it’s in the best interest of that little girl to try to work something out before it’s left to us lawyers to screw things up.”

  She stepped back and motioned him into the house. “We can talk in here.” Heading for her office, she waited until he stepped inside and then closed the door. He looked around with interest, noted the classics side by side with popular fiction in her crammed bookcase, walked closer to examine a wall with framed citations, various photographs, her college diploma and the Newbery. “Very impressive,” he said, motioning to the crowded wall. “Only one thing surprises me, or maybe I should say, only one thing puzzles me.”

  She moved past him to get behind her desk. Somehow she felt safer with something substantial separating them. “And that is?”

  “Why you keep such a low profile.” He looked about, choosing a chair. “May I?”

  “Of course.”

  “But we’ve already talked about that, even though I’m still trying to figure it out.”

  Elizabeth eased gingerly onto the edge of her chair, all too aware of the size of him in her clearly feminine lair. He was so…male. “You wanted to talk about Gina, not me,” she reminded him. “How do you think we can do anything? And before you start, I want to tell you what happened that day after the hearing when Gina left with Austin in his car. They were gone for hours. I know, I know, it was her choice,” she said, stopping him with an upheld hand. “She came home very late, looking upset. She’d found the courage to refuse when he wanted her to disregard what the judge recommended and allow him to deal with the issue of child support as he saw fit. He wants no formal agreement of any kind. You and I know that would leave her up a creek and him in a much more advantageous position regarding child support or anything else. Anyway, when he realized she was actually going to defy him, he attacked her. Her arms were black and blue from his grip and there was a mark on her neck. That was what I saw for myself. I don’t know if there was anything else.”

  “You’re saying he tried to choke her?”

  “No.” She hesitated, frowning. “Actually, I don’t know. Gina wasn’t willing to tell me very much. I wanted to call you then, to show you that we weren’t lying about Austin.”

  “Why didn’t you?”

  “Gina worried that the firm wouldn’t give her a recommendation to get another job if she made waves. And I didn’t push it because I knew you’d just learned about your daughter’s hit and run and you’d be preoccupied with that. Besides, I thought he’d fired you.” She looked at him. “What happened? Did he change his mind?”

  “Yeah.” Ryan stood up, clamped a hand on the back of his neck and took a few restless paces around the room. “This is a helluva mess.”

  “Then you believe me?”

  He looked at the wall, at a bulletin board with several childishly written letters pinned to it, at snapshots of her fans. “Let’s just say I don’t disbelieve you.”

  She was surprised at the satisfaction that gave her. It wasn’t just that Ryan’s opinion boosted Gina’s chances to be dealt with fairly. It was more personal. She actually wanted him to believe her. Exactly why that should be, she wasn’t quite sure. “Then what can we do?” she asked him. “Austin isn’t going to just give up and write monthly checks to Gina, regardless of the fact that if he doesn’t, his own child will do without.”

  “With all due respect, he knows that won’t happen,” Ryan said. “He knows you’ll take care of her.”

  She opened her mouth to dispute that, but it was true. She would never let Gina or Jesse get into dire straits.

  He went to an antique library table crowded with framed photos. Bending close, he picked up one of Jesse and Louie. “Who is this?”

  “It’s Jesse.”

  “I know that. Who’s the elderly gent? He looks familiar.”

  “Louie Christian.” She watched him studying the photo. “You have his deposition as one of Gina’s character witnesses.”

  Ryan snapped his fingers. “Oh, yeah. I remember now. I gather he’s a close friend.”

  “He lives next door. He’s the only grandfather figure in Jesse’s life. Austin’s parents just can’t be bothered.”

  Ryan gave a short laugh. “Curtiss Leggett isn’t exactly the grandfatherly type, is he?”

  “I’ve never met him.”

  He replaced the photo, then turned to look at her. “I guess you don’t remember much about your parents.”

  “No.”

  “What were you, four, five years old when they died?”r />
  “Five. Actually, my mother died in childbirth. It was a year later that my father died.” She laced her fingers together tightly and rested them on top of the desk, wondering why she was telling him this when she always avoided any reminders of that time. First the reporter from the newspaper, then Lindsay, now Ryan Paxton, all probing painful memories. She’d gone for more than two decades when no one cared enough to mention that time, even casually. Why now? Why all the curiosity when a little publicity years ago might have been helpful in changing the circumstances of her childhood? And why this man, of all others?

  “We were talking about Gina,” she said to end the questions.

  “I know, but I lost my own parents at an early age and it’s pretty unusual, meeting someone who’s been there and done that.” Leaning close, he studied a certificate from the mayor with her father’s name on it. Without turning, he said, “Actually, we have more in common than the fact that we’re orphans. My dad was a judge, too.”

  “Here in Houston?”

  “Yeah. Right here.”

  “What happened, I mean, that you lost both parents? Was it an accident?”

  “Actually, my father committed suicide.”

  “Oh, I’m sorry.”

  “Yeah. And would you believe, it happened right about the time of Judge Walker’s death.”

  She frowned at the strange coincidence. “Twenty-five years ago,” she murmured in sympathy for the trauma he must have suffered.

  “Yeah, two judges in the same jurisdiction.”

  She was puzzled by something in his attitude. “They must have known each other.”

  “Must have.”

  She watched him reach up and straighten the framed certificate. Just a tiny nudge to align it with the other pictures on the wall. His touch was delicate, respectful. But there was something in the set of his shoulders, in the bleak silence. “And your mother?” she asked, still trying to pin down the reason for this odd underlying tension.