When Lightning Strikes Twice

by Barbara Boswell

  “Oh, yes, your aunt Eve is respected by everybody,” Dana was quick to agree. “I think she’s terrific.”

  “Everybody thinks she’s terrific. So why did Pedersen call Cormack’s firm instead of Saxon Associates, who’ve always represented him and the Car Shoppe?”

  “Because I’m a pension-paralegal-wunderkind?” Her smile invited him to share the joke on herself. When he didn’t, she sighed. “Look, Saxon, there is no big conspiracy. All I did was talk pension plans with Mr. Pedersen.”

  “Which you didn’t see fit to mention to me.”

  “No, I didn’t see fit to mention it to you.” She frowned at the accusation in his tone. “Don’t try to send me on a guilt trip over this, Saxon. I won’t go,” she warned.

  “Have no fear, Sheely. Guilt trips are journeys I do not take or send others on.”

  Wade was pleased that he sounded unconcerned, for he certainly wasn’t. To his consternation, he found himself more disturbed by her loyal silence to her employer than Pedersen’s possible defection from the Saxons’ firm to the Cormacks.

  “But you can hardly blame me for wanting to know more. For instance, did Pedersen talk to Quint, too? About things other than this new pension plan?” Wade feigned a nonchalant smile.

  So did Dana. “I believe I heard them discussing the Eagles’ quarterback controversy.”

  “You’re cute when you’re being evasive, Sheely. You know I mean legal things.” He managed to sound downright jovial, which he was also far from feeling. Wade leaned forward, his eyes holding hers. “Is Pedersen planning to dump our firm and go with Cormack because Quint won the lawsuit against the Car Shoppe? Kind of a ‘if-they-beat-me-they-must-be-great’ mentality at work?”

  “I honestly don’t know.” Dana broke their gaze, feeling guilty in spite of her vow not to. She wasn’t buying his air of insouciance. Any lawyer with half a brain would be bothered by the possibility of an important client taking his business elsewhere, and Wade Saxon had a very sharp mind.

  Though he rarely used it to full advantage, she mused. Wade had it all—looks, brains, charm, and money—but he was a classic underachieves Things had always come so easily to him that he’d never developed either the will or the skill to apply himself wholeheartedly to anything. Unlike herself, who doggedly used both to succeed.

  “How about taking an educated guess, Sheely? C’mon, spill. Is Pedersen going to bolt?”

  The waitress arrived with their beers. Grateful for the interruption, Dana took several big gulps.

  But the reprieve was only temporary.

  “You’re guzzling your beer, Sheely. A radical departure, since you’re an expert in the art of nursing a drink,” Wade said wryly. “And you keep dodging my questions. Makes me think that something really is up with Pedersen. Wait’ll Rachel hears that.” He wrapped his hands around his frosted beer mug, but left it in place on the table. “It won’t be a pretty scene. She’ll probably call for Cormack’s head on a spike.”

  Dana shuddered and took another long swallow of beer. “Gee, I’m hungry. I hope those nachos get here soon.”

  “Real subtle change of subject, Sheely.”

  “It’s the best I could do right now. No, wait, here’s something better.” She brightened a little. “Speaking of your cousin Rachel, you’ll never guess who she spent the afternoon with.”

  “You’re probably right, Sheely. I’ll never guess who Rachel spent the afternoon with.” To Dana’s relief, he allowed her diversion to proceed. “I only know she left the office this morning and never returned.”

  “My sister Sarah called around one with the news that Rachel was baby-sitting Brady, Quint’s baby boy. Rachel told Sarah she’d be glad to keep Brady for the rest of the day so Sarah took the afternoon off. She and Matt planned to drive down to the shore.”

  “I’m not even going to ask how Rachel ended up with Cormack’s kid,” Wade replied, deadpan.

  Dana was all ready to tell him. “It’s a long, convoluted story, involving a fire, a BB gun, and little Dustin Cormack and his dog being unaccounted for. He was thought to be inside the burning building, but was found eating cookies at an elderly widow’s house down the street. Turns out the kindly old lady is hard of hearing and keeps her shades drawn, so she had no idea of all the commotion outside. She and Dustin and the dog were having a lovely visit. Meanwhile—”

  “Sheely, have I ever told you that I hate long, convoluted stories, especially ones involving the Cormacks?”

  “But—”

  “Wow, look at that! Somebody actually got a hit in this game.” Wade’s attention was riveted to the TV screen, where a player was running to first base while the sparse crowd in the stands managed a few lackluster cheers. “It’s a miracle.”

  “I get the hint. You’d rather watch a brain-numbing game than listen to my long, convoluted story.”

  “Your powers of perception are truly amazing, Sheely.”

  The waitress arrived with their nachos. Wade dug in. Dana merely stared at the plate, despite her earlier claim of hunger. Twisting her paper napkin with her fingers, she watched him eat.

  “Sax, I—uh—have a little problem…. Well, I’m not sure if it’s a problem or not. Would you mind if I ran it by you?”

  His eyes never wavered from the ballgame. “If you feel you must.”

  “When Quint came back to the office shortly after two this afternoon I—didn’t mention Sarah’s call. I didn’t tell him that Rachel has Brady. He still doesn’t know.” She worriedly chewed on her lower lip. “Do you think I should’ve said something to him?”

  “Do I think you should’ve mentioned that his nanny dumped his kid on his worst enemy and then took off for the shore? That’s a no-brainer, Sheely.”

  “You’re no help at all, Saxon!”

  He leaned back in his chair and fixed his gaze on her. “Let me make it easy for you, Sheely. If Sarah wasn’t your little sister, would you have seen fit to mention it?”

  “It’s not like Rachel would hurt Brady or anything,” argued Dana. “In fact, Sarah raved about how smart and understanding and kind Rachel was at the fire today. She said it really helped having a sane presence among the crazed Cormacks.”

  “I agree that the Cormacks are crazed. Quint seems to be the only one who isn’t, but learning that Rachel—who always acts like a certified headcase around him herself—has his kid might activate a previously undetected lunatic gene. I predict trouble ahead, Sheely.”

  “Oh, shut up.” Dana snatched the plate and pulled it closer to her. “And stop hogging all the nachos.”

  They sat in silence for a while, one that differed greatly from their usual companionable silences.

  Dana was irritated that Wade had said exactly what she hadn’t wanted to hear—that she should have told Quint his little Brady was with Rachel Saxon. Even more annoying, he’d cited the precise reason why she hadn’t said a word—because Sarah was her sister who loved and needed her job as Brady Cormack’s nanny. And dumping your toddler charge on your employer’s enemy and then taking off for an afternoon at the shore was not stellar nanny behavior.

  Dana had a sickening feeling that Quint was going to be very angry, just like Wade predicted. She glared at him. Some friend! Instead of trying to alleviate her anxiety, he’d deliberately made it worse!

  Wade pretended to be watching the game on the oversize TV screen, but he kept casting furtive glances at his friend. Dana Sheely was one of his best friends. Or so he’d believed, amended that cynical lawyer’s voice inside his head. As one of her best friends, he’d had no reservations discussing every aspect of the Pedersen case with her last year, yet she hadn’t bothered to mention that John Pedersen had become a new client of Cormack and Son.

  He didn’t doubt for a moment that the Pedersens and their Car Shoppe were as good as gone as Saxon Associates’ clients. Seeking pension advice from Cormack’s firm would be the initial excuse; the notice that they were pulling the rest of their legal business from Saxon w
as the next inevitable step.

  The vanquished Pedersen was eager to join forces with the victorious Cormack. It made sense in an alpha dog sort of way. Didn’t everybody love a winner?

  But Rachel wasn’t going to see it that way. He was beginning to understand Rachel’s consuming aversion to Quinton Cormack, Wade decided fiercely. He was getting damn sick of hearing that name himself.

  And he heard it a lot these days, especially when in the company of any Sheely. Wade chugged his beer with all the finesse of a fraternity pledge determined to win a drinking contest. Hell, Cormack might as well be related to the Sheelys; he had certainly become an integral fixture in their lives. Dana was his paralegal, Sarah was his nanny, Shawn took care of his lawn, and Mr. and Mrs. Sheely—Bob and Mary Jean—revered the man who so gainfully employed so many of their offspring.

  Wade scowled. It was stupid, immature, and territorial, but he was jealous of Quinton Cormack’s intrusion into the Sheely family. He considered the Sheelys his surrogate family. He’d discovered them years ago, back in high school, through his friendship with Tim, when they had both joined the town’s soccer team league. Neither cared much for the game, but they’d become immediate, lasting buddies.

  Wade, the only son of bankers Hobart and Kathryn, whose house was quiet as a tomb and as orderly and well run as a bank, had been stunned by the constant activity and noise level at the Sheely home. They had ten kids! Everything about the family astonished him, fascinated him, and drew him in. He liked the hectic spirit of life in an impossibly large family, the sibling warfare and loyalty, the never-a-dull-moment madness.

  Tim, for his part, relished the privacy and quietude found in the Saxon home. He considered not having to share a bedroom to be earthly nirvana, he marveled that one could actually put an item down and still find it in place minutes, even hours or days later.

  As students, the two boys had been as different as their families. Wade coasted through Lakeview Academy, putting forth as little effort as possible. He was accepted at Carbury College—like they had a choice about admitting him, with his uncle Whit a tenured professor there!—and graduated after four fun-filled but academically undistinguished years, then went on to an unrenowned law school for three more years of student socializing. He’d passed the bar exam on his first try and then signed on with the family firm. As with Carbury College, his connections were everything. Aunt Eve and Rachel had no choice about taking him as a junior partner.

  Tim, on the other hand, that hardworking, super-achieving star of St. Philomena’s, graduated first in his class and then headed to the Naval Academy, where he finished at the top of his class. Right after graduation, Tim married Lisa, a bright pretty naval cadet, who completed her service requirements and was now a full-time mom to their two small children.

  Wade kept in contact with Tim, remaining friends over the years despite their disparate lifestyles. Tim was currently stationed at the U.S. Naval Submarine Base in New London, Connecticut, and Wade had visited him there. Naturally, Tim was a superlative officer, husband, and father.

  Not wanting to lose touch with the Sheely family, Wade’s friendship had gradually encompassed the other Sheely siblings, especially Dana. As adults, their personalities just clicked; for the past two years they’d been particularly good pals. There were times when Wade considered Dana more fun to be with than Tim ever had been, although he felt guilty for thinking that.

  Now, sitting here in Riggin’s, watching a dull Astros vs. Expos game, and reminiscing, Wade found himself longing for his old friend. Fun and laughs aside, he knew he could trust Tim completely. He slid another glance across the table. Until tonight, he probably would’ve said the same about Dana Sheely. But now, it seemed, her first priority was Quinton Cormack.

  He tried to stem the spark of anger from flaring into full blaze. He should be cool, he shouldn’t let it bother him. There was business and there was friendship, and it was ill-advised to confuse them, Wade reminded himself. She obviously had no difficulty keeping the two areas separate.

  “How much longer are you going to sit there and sulk, Saxon?” Dana’s voice shattered his frowning reverie. “Because it’s getting boring, and if you’re going to keep it up, I’m going home.”

  “I’m not sulking. And I’m sorry if you’re bored, Sheely.” Wade rallied with an evil grin. “It must be tough for you to hang out with ordinary mortals when you’re accustomed to the sparkling wit and lively conversation provided by your actuary boyfriend Rich Vicker.” Earnest, ever-serious Rich Vicker served as an endless source of entertainment to Wade. Making jokes about the guy was a surefire way to cheer himself up.

  As Dana well knew. “Don’t drag Rich into this,” she issued a halfhearted warning.

  “The thrills must be never-ending when he spouts those mortality table statistics.” Wade was just getting started. “I bet the sound of his voice droning those numbers can inspire you to orgiastic heights, huh, Sheely?”

  “Rich is very nice, very polite, and it’s unkind of you to make fun of him,” chided Dana. “After all, Saxon Associates uses him as an expert witness in cases, too.”

  “How long have you been dating Vicker, Sheely? A decade—or does it only seem that long? How do you stand it? I can barely make it through lunch with the guy without practically falling into a coma. And speaking of comas, have you been to bed with him yet?”

  “As if I’d tell you!” Dana’s cheeks flushed a soft pink. She hadn’t come close to going to bed with Rich Vicker in the six months they’d been dating. Actually, it was only when Wade teased her about it that she gave sex with Rich any thought at all. Which probably meant something but she didn’t care to ponder what.

  She felt her lips curve into a smile. Wade’s teasing was annoying but being one of ten kids, she knew how to take it and how to dish it out. And anything was better than his bout of sullen pouting.

  “Who’s your latest flame, Saxon? It’s been—what?—two weeks since you dumped the debutante in Haddonfield, along with the mall chick from Deptford. You must have a new target in your sites.”

  “She’s a former debutante, and it’s been over three months since Olivia and I mutually decided to end our relationship, Sheely. Oh, and Carolyn manages a Limited Express at the Deptford mall and hardly qualifies as mall chick. We also had a mutual parting of the ways about the same time Olivia and I split.”

  “Mutual? That’s not what I heard, Saxon. Word has it that both Olivia and Carolyn were ready to pick out china patterns and you tucked tail and ran.”

  “Can you blame me, Sheely? Think about it—china patterns! Does it get any worse than that?”

  “Lots worse. There’s not only china patterns, there are flatware and sheets and kitchen equipment. And then you have to register your choices in stores and look pleased when well-meaning friends give you that stuff as wedding gifts.”

  “God!” Wade shuddered. “Stop terrorizing me, Sheely.”

  “You’ll be twenty-nine on Christmas Day, Saxon. Coming smack up against the big three-oh, just the age for a premature midlife crisis.” Dana gave him a sweetly nasty smile. “My mom already sees it coming. She predicts it won’t be long before you decide to take that long walk down the aisle with Miss Right. Just the other day Mom was saying how ‘Wade would love to have a family of his own, like ours.’ ”

  “I love your mother dearly, Sheely, but she’s slightly off her rocker. Having ten kids will do that to you, I guess. Or maybe that’s how you end up with ten kids in the first place. No offense,” he added hastily.

  “None taken. I certainly don’t intend to have ten kids, neither do my sisters and brothers. And I happen to disagree with Mom on the possibility of you settling down soon. I don’t see it happening till deep into the next millennium.”

  “You know me so well.”

  “Well enough to know that, for you, three months between women is virtually unheard of. What gives, Saxon?”

  “I don’t know.” He shrugged and stared moodily i
nto his empty mug. “Lately, I just haven’t felt like putting a lot of effort into dating.”

  “Since when have you put any effort into dating? Your idea of a big night is renting a video and doing it on the couch. If she’s really special, you might throw in a pizza first.”

  Wade gaped at her, dumbfounded.

  “No, I haven’t been interviewing your dates, Saxon. Tim told me,” she confessed gleefully. “He knows you best of all, and I pumped him for information the last time he was home for a visit. It’s payback time for your relentless Rich Vicker remarks, Sax.”

  “Tim knew me when,” Wade retorted. “He doesn’t have a clue as to how I conduct my affairs as an adult.”

  “You’re trying to claim that you’ve become suave?” Dana laughed at the notion. “When was the last time you took a date to the theater or to the symphony in Philadelphia, Saxon? For that matter, when was the last time you took a date to a restaurant that requires a tie? Or even to a first-run movie?”

  “If a chick wants to do that stuff, she shouldn’t be dating me,” Wade growled.

  “Hmm, maybe your breakups with the post-deb and non-mall chick really were mutual. The futility of owning china must’ve finally dawned on them as they ate pizza on a paper plate, one from your warehouse package of five hundred.”

  “You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?” Wade stared at her laughing face, her sparkling blue eyes. All the Sheelys had blue eyes, but hers were bigger and a deeper shade of blue than the rest. Truly striking eyes. “Portraying me as a cheap, sex-crazed Neanderthal?”

  “Don’t worry, I won’t tell. Your next main squeeze can find out for herself. So who is she?”

  “I have a date night tomorrow with Jennifer Payne,” Wade admitted reluctantly. “She’s—”

  “I know who she is. Wow, Saxon! You’re not only pushing thirty, you’ve started to rob the cradle. How stereotypical, how pathetic!”