by J. K. Coi
He snorted. “Well, what do you think I should do in this case?”
Her mouth dropped open. “I’m sorry, what? Me?”
“Objection, Your Honor,” cried Nadia, looking horrified as she stepped out from behind the table. Leo remained in place. He leaned down and whispered something into Mr. Jones’s ear that made the man look up at Bria with a hopeful look on his face.
Justice Horner’s bushy eyebrows lifted. “Excuse me, Ms. Foster. Did you just object to my asking your colleague’s advice on this case? If you weren’t willing to rely on her, shouldn’t you have brought another associate with you today?”
Nadia had no choice but to back down. “My apologies, Justice Horner. Of course I trust my associate to act in the best interests of our client,” she said. “However, given the solicitor/client relationship, it may be improper to require that—”
“On the contrary, Ms. Foster,” the judge said. “I’ve always found Ms. Markham’s ability to help her clients reach an amicable and mutually agreeable resolution to be a refreshing change from the self-serving, cutthroat tendencies of most lawyers.”
Bria felt the blood rush to her cheeks.
She looked at Nadia, whose anger crackled in the air, and at Leo, who was careful not to show anyone what he thought about this turn of events, perhaps for fear of offending the judge.
She debated her options. If she came out in favor of a decision benefiting Nadia’s client solely, the judge and Leo were sure to object. But if she showed any partiality for the husband’s position, Nadia would file paperwork to have the ruling thrown out before the end of the day, which would cost Sylvia and her husband thousands more dollars. It wouldn’t help either of them find any closure, and it wouldn’t help their kids get any stability in their relationship with their father.
She finally glanced down at Sylvia, whose wide eyes expressed hope, fear, and sadness. She thought about what Sylvia had said about her husband being a good father and wondered if she regretted that they hadn’t tried harder. If she had known how hard and draining this process would be, would she have forgiven him for running away from their financial difficulties and all the stresses that had come with marriage and kids, and given him another chance?
“Ms. Markham?” Justice Horner prompted.
Bria swallowed and nodded, hoping to reassure Sylvia a little bit. “One moment, Your Honor,” she said, reaching for a file folder from the table to check and make sure she knew what she was talking about. Then she looked up and said, “Your Honor, with your permission I’d like to ask Mr. Jones’s parents to step forward.”
Everyone looked over their shoulders at the older couple, who’d remained quiet and inconspicuous up to that point. Slowly, they stood and came forward, giving Bria a wary glance and clasping each other’s hands.
“Where is this going, Ms. Markham?” Justice Horner asked with raised brows.
She hoped to God she wasn’t blushing. “I understand that Mr. Jones’s parents have also expressed a strong desire to have access to the children,” she said.
“And what are you proposing?” he asked, but she could see in his eyes that he’d just figured it out, and if she wasn’t imagining things, he approved.
With more confidence, she said, “Of course our client has no objection to an order granting Mr. Jones time with the children, as long as he can provide a safe and wholesome household where they will feel comfortable, as per the terms of the separation agreement. With that in mind, I suggest that Mr. Jones exercise his access to the children at his parents’ residence.”
“And why has this not been proposed before?” he asked.
Leo raised a hand. “My client’s parents live in Ridgewood, New Jersey, Your Honor, and Mr. Jones had wanted to remain in the city to be closer to his children.” He glanced down at his client and then at the parents, who nodded in response to his silent query. “However, if Ms. Foster’s client would be willing to agree to an arrangement whereby the children are delivered to Mr. and Mrs. Jones’s house for access periods, I confirm that my client is willing to do it this way as well.”
The judge looked directly at Sylvia. “Do you agree that your in-laws’ home would be safe enough for your peace of mind?”
Nadia interjected as Sylvia was smiling at Mr. and Mrs. Jones. To her credit, she didn’t look completely hostile at the turn of events. Bria let out a sigh of relief that she’d done the right thing.
“Yes, we agree to such an arrangement,” Nadia said.
“Do I have to impose an access schedule, or do you think, with Ms. Markham’s assistance here, that everyone can come up with an acceptable one on their own?”
Nadia’s jaw tightened. “No, Your Honor. I mean, yes, Your Honor, we will negotiate a schedule.”
Leo stepped up to Bria’s side and agreed as well. He thanked the judge.
With a nod, Justice Horner dismissed them from his court and got up to leave.
Bria’s shoulders relaxed, and she turned. Nadia’s expression was dark and stormy, but Sylvia grabbed her hand. “Thank you. That’s such a relief,” she said. She lowered her voice and added, “I was starting to worry that we would never find a way to move on from all of this.”
It was never a good idea bringing the law into a highly emotional situation, but people did it every day because they didn’t know how else to find the closure they needed to start their lives over. In cases like this, couples looked at the separation and divorce process as a battle that had to be won and thought that would make them feel better in the end…but it usually made things worse.
Bria caught Leo clapping his client on the shoulder and the relieved glances of the man’s parents, and she squeezed Sylvia’s hand. “Sometimes it’s hard to accept for everyone involved, but this process is supposed to be about achieving equality. That means you have to take all the hurt feelings out of the equation and think about what’s really required to balance the scales so that each of you can start over with a clean slate.”
Beside her, Nadia snorted. Bria knew her outlook on the profession was rare, especially for a lawyer trying to make a name for herself, trying to make partner in a competitive firm. She knew it, and she’d tried telling herself she could still make it all work, but unfortunately, equality wasn’t good for business. Greed and revenge were what made money.
Her heart sank and she grabbed her bag. “I’m sure Nadia can finalize the details between you and your husband. Thank you for letting me assist today.”
She left the courtroom alone, avoiding Leo and Nadia. She didn’t want to get into it with either of them and assumed she was on her own getting back to the office anyway. She’d had two chances now to prove herself since starting this new job, and she’d blown it both times.
It had definitely been one of those days. She found herself wishing she could just go home, and there’d be a glass of wine waiting for her, and her husband, and she could tell him everything like she used to. But she couldn’t talk to Leo about this problem, and not only because he still refused to talk to her about their problems. Whenever she needed to be hard and aggressive, he was the perfect confidant because he would immediately come up with a plan of attack. But in this case, she wasn’t sure that’s what she needed.
Suddenly, she stopped, realizing that she didn’t know how many blocks she’d walked, and that she wasn’t pointed in the direction of Bergmanis Dorfman. She turned and looked at the street signs at the corner. She was on her way home. The sun was low in the sky behind the tall buildings, casting dark shadows on the pavement. The late-afternoon rush was in full swing, and people swarmed the sidewalks.
She heard the faint sound of her phone buzzing. She didn’t want to look. The only news she was expecting at this point was bad news, especially if Nadia had already rushed back and gone to the partners about her. They might be calling to ask her to clean out her office.
She sighed and reached in her purse anyway, pulling out her cell.
R U ok?
It was Leo.
After three days of silence, his concern felt like pity. Had he played her back in that courtroom today? Had he known as soon as he saw that she would be second chair exactly what position she was going to take? If it had been his idea for her to come up with a solution, she would have said yes to being manipulated, but Justice Horner had been the one to suggest her involvement.
She didn’t answer Leo’s text. She kept walking. Her mind raced with too many conflicting thoughts, but with each step, she pushed a little more of it away, and by the time she climbed the steps to her front door, she was empty, her mind quiet. It was a trick she’d learned at the hospital, the only thing that had made it possible to get out of that bed and go back home.
But as soon as she opened the door and saw Leo waiting for her, the first crack reappeared.
That was always the problem. Without him, she could do it, keep her mind and heart on track. But he made it impossible. He put hopes and dreams back into the mix…the kind that were deadly.
He stood in the foyer, his coat still on. He must have arrived only moments before her. “What are you doing here?” she asked. “Were you hoping to grab the rest of your stuff before I got back?”
He frowned. “Is that what you think I’ve been doing?”
She shrugged. “I guess it’s probably easier than going through it all together like we agreed,” she admitted.
Part of her wanted to ask where he’d been sleeping, but the rest of her couldn’t bear to hear out loud that she’d finally succeeded in driving him into another woman’s arms.
“Julie’s fiancé. He was taken off life support. I’ve been doing the night shift at the hospital with her the last few days so that Aiden and Mac could go home and get some sleep.”
Her stomach clenched. “Why didn’t anyone tell me?” She hadn’t known Julie and her brothers as long as Leo, but when she’d become a part of his life, they’d become a part of hers, too, just like Mr. Russo.
Leo apologized. “I was going to talk to you about it yesterday, but it’s not something I wanted to do over the phone, and when I came by in the morning, you were already gone.”
Relief that he hadn’t been shacking up with someone made her flush with embarrassment. “Has he…” The rest of the words got stuck in her throat.
“Actually, the doctors are pretty surprised. So far, he’s still hanging in there. I guess his body is strong and doesn’t want to give up, even though there’s been little change in his brain activity.”
She pressed a fist to her chest to stem the ball of ache sitting there. “I’m so sorry.”
He hesitated.
“What is it?” she asked.
“I thought maybe you could come with me tonight. I think Julie would really appreciate the extra support. Dez’s family hasn’t been real accommodating about letting her see him, and all she’s got is us dudes to lend a shoulder—her brothers and me. Despite what’s happening between us right now, you’re her friend, and—”
Bria hissed. The idea of stepping foot in the hospital again made her mouth go dry and her stomach heave. “I don’t know…”
He nodded right away, understanding dawning on his face. “Never mind. I shouldn’t have asked.”
“No, I’ll go,” she said quickly, feeling like the worst sort of coward. “When do you want to leave?”
He ran a hand through his hair. “Give me an hour to take a power nap and get a shower?”
“Okay.”
She tried not to think about any part of that process as he turned to go up the stairs. Not the part where he would strip down and crawl into bed. Not the part where the steamy hot water and soap would run down his naked, hard body in rivulets that she could trace with her hands…if only she went to join him.
Her stomach grumbled. Thank God for distractions. When she’d first been released from the hospital, she’d been completely numb…and she’d liked it that way. But holding on to that safe cocoon of numbness had proved impossible. Every day, a little more of it flaked away. And now, every time Leo looked at her, spoke to her, or touched her, he forced her to admit that she didn’t want to let him go…but was too scared to hold on to him.
He was already halfway up the stairs. If they were going to spend all night in the hospital, maybe she should get something to eat. If she was making something for herself, the least she could do… “Do you want me to make you a sandwich?” she called after him.
He stopped just one step from the next level and smiled down at her with such gratitude that she winced. He obviously thought that her offer meant some kind of truce between them. Was he right?
“That would be amazing, thanks. You know what I like.”
You know what I like.
She did, didn’t she? She knew that he liked lots of mayo on his sandwich, but only with chicken or turkey breast. With ham or corned beef, he preferred spicy Dijon mustard, dill pickle, and tomato. And he always chose a thick, crusty bun over sliced bread.
She knew that Leo liked to wear bright colors, especially greens and yellows. He despised black and even avoided black suits, preferring navy or gray.
He liked music that you felt in your gut, and he called pop music—her style of music—“fairy dust” because he said it floated around your head instead of digging into your soul.
Leo liked to exercise—not because he wanted to stay in shape, but because he got tense and jittery if he wasn’t constantly moving. He stored energy like other people stored fat and had to burn it off just the same. And he liked boxing because it helped him feel closer to his father, despite the fact that his father had never been a boxer before he died. But he said that his father would have been proud of him for finding a way to keep his mother from crying, and boxing had been the way that he’d done that.
Yes, she knew what Leo liked.
He liked when she let him take control and do whatever he wanted to her body, but he also liked when she went on top, and her hair fell down across them both like a curtain. He liked to kiss her in front of the windows and joked that it was their duty to inspire all the unlucky couples in their neighborhood who’d fallen into a rut.
He liked the dip of her waist when they spooned in bed, and his hand would rest there all night long.
She made sandwiches on autopilot as her traitorous body called up all the memories she’d denied herself for weeks. She wrapped the food and packed a cooler bag with a jar of pickles, some apples, and a couple bottles of water.
She’d just finished cleaning up when Leo came back downstairs. She glanced over at the digital display on the microwave. He’d taken exactly one hour. His hair was still damp, curling a bit at the collar, but he looked revitalized. She envied him the ability to turn everything off and rest when he needed to rest. It was probably because he was so active every other moment of the day that when he finally laid his head on the pillow, there was nothing left to do but sleep. Bria could never just sleep. She tossed and turned, fighting the demons that always chose that time to torment her since she was too exhausted to keep holding them back.
Leo came forward and took the bag off the counter. He noted the weight of it and sent her a knowing grin. “You made dinner for everyone, didn’t you?”
She blushed and shrugged. “I figured that Julie probably hasn’t eaten much besides that horrible cafeteria food, and if Mac and Aiden are still at the hospital when we arrive, maybe they’ll want something, too.”
He looked like he wanted to say something, but when she started to edge back toward the counter, he wiped the soft expression from his face and simply smiled.
She cleared her throat. “Ready to go, then?” Not that she was eager to enter a hospital for any reason, and especially not in a situation like this, but the air between her and Leo had gotten warm, as if someone had come in and flipped on the oven without either of them noticing.
Leo carried the cooler bag and flagged down a taxi outside at the curb while she locked the front door. A cab would be much easier than driving thems
elves and trying to find parking at the hospital.
The evening was cold, as if ice crystals were forming in the air before her very eyes, just too tiny to see yet. Suddenly, Bria realized that in just a few more weeks, maybe only days, autumn would be over and winter would descend. A whole other season meant that time was passing. How could time be passing when her life was still so unsettled?
She climbed into the taxi while Leo held the door for her. When he got in beside her, she held her breath to brace for impact, but it didn’t help. The brush of his powerful legs and brawny forearm almost made her eyes roll back in her head, and she started to shift away into the corner, but something stopped her. An irrational, impetuous, insane part of her thrilled at his touch. It was a part that she’d happily shown the door to weeks ago, and she hadn’t thought that she’d ever be willing to welcome it back in. She did it now because she needed the distraction, or she’d start thinking about where they were going and why.
And yet…
And yet maybe that wasn’t the only reason. She was very close—breathlessly close—to tossing away all her painful decisions. Decisions that had been heartbreaking to make. Decisions that were best for the both of them, even if he couldn’t see it…even if she couldn’t always see it.
Leo’s presence was overwhelming, undeniable, irresistible. To remain in control of herself, she took careful, measured breaths the entire drive, right up to the moment they stopped at the curb in front of the hospital. She was so close to the breaking point by then that she flung the door open like the cab had caught fire and made a beeline for the main entrance without waiting for him to pay the driver. She even forgot the cooler with the sandwiches, but by the time she’d reached the information desk, he’d caught up, and he had it with him.
The hospital smell hit her first, but then her gaze locked onto a woman in a wheelchair, very pregnant and obviously in a lot of pain, and Bria spun away. Her breaths came short and quick, and her whole body cringed as she looked down the long corridor in front of her.
“We can leave,” Leo murmured low into her ear. “Right now, we’ll go.”