“You’re just like your mother,” Davis called out after him. “Running out on a conversation if it gets too tense. Well, I’ll tell you what I always told her: I’ll be here tomorrow, too. I got nowhere else to be.”
Julianne looked up from her desk in response to the soft whoosh signifying that the reception door had opened.
“I’ll be right with you,” she called out, completing the note on the pad of sticky notes before her.
“It’s just me, Miss Bartlett … Phoebe?”
“Oh, good!” she said as she peeled off the note and stuck it to the frame of her computer monitor with a dozen others in multiple pastel colors. “Come on in.”
Phoebe stepped timidly into the office and greeted her with a warm smile. “I came a little early in case there was anything you needed from me,” she said. “Paperwork to fill out. Coffee to be made.”
“That’s fine,” Julianne acknowledged. “You’re off to a great start. I’m so happy Pastor Dean recommended you!”
In her work as a public defender, Julianne had shared a secretary with six other attorneys in the office for the first years of her career. She’d been dreaming of her very own assistant for all that time, and Phoebe would fit the framework of that dream just fine.
“There are insurance forms on your desk,” Julianne said as she rounded her own and led Phoebe out to the reception area. “You’ll want to fill those out first, and fax them over to our agent. The number is on the sticky, here, on the monitor. And then Will has set up your email at your computer. Your password to get in is Reception. Will likes to make things easy.”
“Okay,” the girl said and nodded, pushing her wavy brown hair away from her face to reveal lovely golden-brown eyes that Julianne hadn’t really noticed on their first meeting.
“I’ve made up a list of your general duties,” she continued. “Sort of like a job description. And I’ve emailed that to you, so you can pick it up when you’re through with the insurance forms. Your official title is executive assistant. After you’ve had a chance to look everything over, why don’t you come into my office and we’ll have a chat.”
“All right.”
“The restroom is down the hall that way, and the coffee is in the conference room. There’s diet Coke and ginger ale in the fridge. If you like something else, just go ahead and order it.”
The ringing phone interrupted Julianne’s thought process, and Phoebe grinned excitedly before she picked it up for the first time.
“Law offices of Hanes and Bartlett,” she said in a businesslike tone. “How may I help you?”
Julianne raised both thumbs and grinned.
“Yes, sir, let me check on that for you,” Phoebe replied. She put the caller on hold and turned to Julianne. “Did you call about placing a classified ad?”
“Oh, yes!” Julianne cried, and she hurried to retrieve the torn piece of paper from the corner of her desk and delivered it into Phoebe’s hand. “I want this to run in tomorrow’s paper. Will you take care of that for me? Oh, and … could you put it on Craigslist too?”
“Certainly, Miss Bartlett.”
“And Phoebe?” she added. “When no one else is in the office, we’re just Will and Julianne, okay? You can save the titles for when we’re in the company of clients.”
“Thank you,” she said, clumsily adding, “Julianne.”
“You’re welcome, Phoebe.”
As their new executive assistant set about placing the ad that was going to bring Prince Charming home to her, Julianne sauntered casually into her office and closed the door. Once behind it, she suppressed the excited squeal, settling instead for a quick little happy dance around the corner of her desk.
“I’m a real attorney now, Father God!” she whispered in the form of a song as she danced toward her chair. “I got an of-fice … and a de-esk … and a Phoe-a-ee-ee-bee!”
She attempted an ultimately unsatisfying high five in the direction of Jonah’s fishbowl before settling into the enormous leather chair behind the carved oak desk. Looking around her office once more with glee, she sighed and returned to the unfinished task before her.
Less than half an hour later, commotion from the other side of her office door snagged her attention.
“I’m sorry,” Julianne heard Phoebe call out in a loud tone of voice. “Can I tell Miss Bartlett who would like to see her? If she has the time, I’m certain she would—”
Before poor Phoebe could finish the thought, Julianne’s office door burst open and Lacey James floated through it on a cloud of Chanel and peroxide.
Oh, great.
“Well, lookie hee-ah,” she sang in her thickest Southern Belle. “I guess it’s ta-rue. Almost anybody can rent themself an office and call themself an attorney these days.”
Kind of like how anyone can take on a Southern drawl and call themselves a Southerner, huh? … Sorry, Lord. That slipped.
She’d been razzing Lacey about concocting her heritage ever since they’d first met a few years ago at the Bar Association gala, and Lacey retaliated by attacking Julianne’s forever-single status at every possible opportunity. These zingers had become the nature of their relationship; without them, Julianne realized there would be no relationship at all.
“I’m so sorry, Miss Bartlett,” Phoebe offered genuinely. “I tried to—”
“It’s fine,” she replied.
“C-can I get you anything then?”
“Nothing, thank you. Miss James won’t be staying.”
Phoebe retreated, wisely leaving the door standing open wide to enable the intruder’s quick departure.
“To what do I owe your swooping in?” Julianne asked Lacey.
“Careful now,” Lacey warned her with the outstretched tip of one of her sharp red nails pointing right at her. “You’re going to hurt my feelings.”
Julianne resisted the urge to question the existence of feelings in Lacey, and she said a quick prayer for self-control.
“Well, I imagine you’re on a reconnaissance mission,” Julianne stated. “Checking out the new digs?”
“Yes, and to congratulate you and William.”
Ah. William, Julianne repeated internally. Now we get to the point.
“And where is William this afternoon?”
“William had a deposition to conduct,” she supplied with a knowing smile. “But I’ll be sure and tell him you stopped by.”
Lacey masked the disappointment quickly with a smile that seemed to crack her face right in two. “You don’t mind if I just take a quick little look-see around, do you now?”
“Don’t believe me?” Julianne replied, but Lacey was off on her private tour of the offices before she could complete the thought.
“Oh, don’t be silly,” she said upon return. “I just wanted to see the new place, Julie. It’s just lovely. It really is. Could use a woman’s touch though, couldn’t it?”
Pausing a moment to clench the words between her teeth with crocodile persistence, Julianne decided to let the insinuation pass.
“A plant or two, or some flowers?” she went on. “Oh, but I’m sure the new secretary can help with that.”
“If that’s all I can do for you,” she said so courteously that it nearly choked her, “I’ll let Phoebe see you out. We’re doing a little something here we like to call practicing law.”
“Isn’t that just like you, Julie. Sturdy and rock-solid. Always knee-deep in the grunt work.”
Dear Lord, give me strength.
“I’ll leave you to it then.”
Julianne followed her out to the reception area with the thought of asking Phoebe to prevent similar situations at all cost in the future, but her heart nearly leapt into her throat as she glanced through the beveled glass panel to the side of the office doors. She’d recognize that shadow anywhere! It was Will, heading up the hall toward the office.
“Wait!” she called suddenly, taking Lacey firmly by the elbow and whirling her around until she nearly smacked right into her. “You
didn’t see my view!”
Will flung open the reception door and started inside at just that moment, and Julianne frantically mimed a slashing motion to him as she practically dragged Lacey back toward the door to her office.
“You have to check this out!” she cried, waving one arm toward the window, cautiously using the other to direct Will toward his office, and quickly! “You can see all the way across the river, into Kentucky.”
“Yes. It’s nice,” she managed, and Julianne sensed the irritation in her tone.
Suddenly, Lacey softened. “Oh, you poor dear. I understand. This is really all you have in your life, isn’t it? Well, yes. Yes,” she said as she glanced out the window with a patronizing nod. “It’s just lovely. I’m glad you shared it with me, Julie.”
Next time, Will’s on his own.
“But I really do have to be on my way. You’ll give my best to William, won’t you?”
“You know it.”
Once Lacey left the office, Will rounded the corner from behind his door and leaned on the frame.
“She drives me batty, Will!”
“And she knows it. Don’t let her get to you. Besides, if you didn’t have someone like Lacey in your life, how would you—”
“Learn to love the unlovable,” she joined him, in unison.
“Right.”
Phoebe stifled a giggle, and Will shot her a quick wave.
“Welcome to our law office, Phoebe.” He reached across the desk to shake her hand. “Good to meet you.”
“Thank you.”
“Never again, Phoebe!” Julianne called before heading into her office. “Do you understand?”
“Yes, ma’am, I understand. Never again.”
“I wish you’d have contacted me before you made the big leap,” Judd said, and Will shrugged at the phone.
“Well, if you returned a guy’s calls every now and then, that wouldn’t be an issue, would it?”
Judd’s laugh rumbled through the speakerphone. “Look, I know it might be too late for you to give it any consideration, Will, but we’d love to have you down here. Just think it over.”
“It’s not even a matter of just opening the law office here with Julianne,” he told his old friend. “I’ve got my dad to think about. He’s been diagnosed with Parkinson’s. In fact, I’ve sold my place and moved in with him to help with his care. I can’t uproot him, and I certainly can’t leave him.”
“You know, we’ve got a center here in Lexington that specializes in clinical trials and advancements in neurological diseases like Parkinson’s, bro. It would be a great place for him. Just think about it.”
Will agreed to think it over, but only to appease his old friend from law school. He had no real intention of making a move two hours south, especially at this point. He and Julianne were hardly out of the gate yet with the practice, and his father had lived in that house on Winlake Drive for twenty years.
The better part of the afternoon had been spent making notes for Greg Rush, the guy from Will’s former practice who would handle the arbitration hearing scheduled later in the week. He closed the file and leaned back in the chair for a good stretch.
The sun left the marks of a rainy day across a sky splotched in rose and faint purple outside the window of his new office. There were no words to express the relief of freeing himself from exclusive attachments to commercial transactions, business loopholes, and federal regulations. With the last of his loose ends all tied up, he could now handle anything that came his way, and he could hardly wait to see what that would be. He hoped for a good criminal defense, or even a hairy accident settlement in which to sink his teeth. Anything other than the exclusive and dry Sahara of corporate law.
He squinted at the clock on the wall to make sure he hadn’t misread it.
Can it really be after six?
Phoebe had already gone for the day. He heard Julianne turning pages in the conference room and noticed the yellowish beam of light glowing from her general direction.
Will crossed the lobby and stood in the doorway observing her for a few moments. Chewing on a lock of honey blonde hair, Julianne sat hunched over one of several law books spread out on the table before her. She tapped the fingers of her right hand as she read, and Will watched them as they drummed against the varnished oak tabletop. Her fingers were long, with short, manicured nails lightly frosted with pale pink polish. The thin circle of silver she always wore on her right thumb glistened as it caught a reflection of light. He’d bought it for her a couple of years back when the group from church went to Mexico to help rebuild an orphanage, he recalled.
They hadn’t been allowed much R & R time while there, but how beautiful she had looked that singular afternoon when the group had gone to the beach. She’d been wearing a modest bathing suit, and the deep purple of the suit had blended with the silky floral sarong she wore tied in a knot just above one hip. He remembered thinking, as the setting orange sun reflected off her sun-kissed hair, that she was the most radiant beauty he’d ever seen.
Of course, he also remembered that she’d burst into a fit of laughter at just the moment when he’d been about to tell her so.
“What in the world are you thinking about?” she’d teased him as she nibbled on the wedge of lemon balancing on the rim of her glass of iced tea. “You look like you’re just about to declare your undying love or something.”
“Too many taquitos,” he’d commented quickly. And it had become a private joke between them after that.
Julianne didn’t look up as he crossed the conference room to the miniature fridge tucked into the corner of the counter and yanked out a small bottle of ginger ale. She finally noticed him at the hiss of the opened bottle.
“What’s this?” she asked as he filled two paper cups and walked toward her.
“A toast,” he replied. “To the end of our first day in our new offices.”
Julianne smiled as she accepted one of the cups, and she tapped it against the side of the one still in his hand.
“There’s nobody I’d rather partner with.” She smiled up at him and took a sip.
But only in law, he thought. Partnered in practice, but not in life. That’s never even crossed your mind, has it, Julianne?
Will fell deep into his own thoughts, and he jumped as she waved her hand playfully in front of his face.
“He—lloooooo?”
He blinked several times, hard. “I’m sorry. What?”
“Where were you just then?”
“Forever-Everland, I guess.”
“Hey, that’s my hometown, not yours.”
Will managed a smile, but it didn’t quite make it up to his eyes.
“I heard that.”
Will’s heart began to race.
“Pardon?” he asked her.
“Your thoughts. I can hear them.”
He could feel the thunderous pounding as it pushed against his chest.
“Oh, really?” he asked casually.
“Yep. I can hear your thoughts, Will Hanes!”
Will’s mind clouded over with visions from a regrettable movie he’d seen as a teen. Some poor guy’s stomach had burst suddenly open, and the monster within exploded out for everyone to see.
“You don’t believe me?” Julianne asked him, stepping back and looking him squarely in the eye. “You think I would lie?”
“No,” he finally replied, and his own voice sounded as frozen as a couple pounds of chicken legs tucked into the back of the freezer at home.
“Want me to prove it?”
All Will could manage was a slight shrug and an awkward smile.
“All right then,” she said confidently, and she crossed her arms as she glared at him. “You’re thinking how lucky you are to have a best friend like me.”
When the corner of her mouth twitched in amusement, Will snickered, more out of relief than amusement.
“And you’re thinking that this ginger ale is good, but not as good as a fruit punch and a plate
of citrus shrimp from Vandella’s will be.”
The inward sigh of emancipation would have thundered overhead and rattled the windows had he released it.
“Jules the Magnificent,” he said with a nod. “You really are remarkable. Like the prophets of old.”
“Pastor Dean is treating the volunteers to a night out, remember? Let’s walk over, and I’ll be your date!”
“I’ll get my jacket.”
Several tables were pushed together, the only two seats available at opposite ends. Vandella’s had become a favorite for church fellowship. Tabletops vividly painted with renditions of various landmarks exclusive to the Cincinnati area displayed truly appetizing food on brightly colored platters. It was situated conveniently right near Fountain Square at the center of town. As everyone exchanged greetings, Will walked Julianne over to the far side and held out the empty chair next to Maureen Alden, the pastor’s wife. Once Julianne settled down into it, he made his way to the other end and sat between the pastor and Jimmy Rudd.
“You two look like you’ve been together all your lives,” Maureen said to Julianne as she offered a basket of warm tortilla chips.
“We almost have,” Julianne giggled, popping one into her mouth. “Will was my first crush back in grade school.”
“Have you ever dated?” Maureen asked curiously.
“For about a minute in high school,” she replied. “But we were always best friends. Nothing more.”
“What a shame,” Maureen commented softly, and Julianne wondered for a moment what she meant. There was no shame in what she and Will had settled into. Their friendship was one of the most valuable relationships of her life.
“Hey, everyone!” Jimmy Rudd announced from the other end of the table. “Will and Julianne have opened their law office.”
“Yep. We’re all moved in to the brand-new digs,” Will told them, and he cast a quick smile at Julianne.
“Well then,” Maureen said sincerely, raising her glass of raspberry tea. “Here’s to a long and lucrative partnership.” Leaning toward Julianne, she whispered, “If only in the practice of law.”
The evening was great fun, just as they all were when this group of men and women got together. Julianne adored her pastor, and she enjoyed watching his interactions with others. Pastor Dean Alden, one of those very unusual combinations of true wisdom and absolute humor, always seemed to exude love and understanding, no matter what the challenge or situation.
If the Shoe Fits Page 3