In Dog We Trust

by Beth Kendrick

  “Okay, but that was still four years ago,” Jocelyn pointed out. “If he really wanted her to be the custodial guardian of the dogs, he would’ve named her in the will instead of me.”

  “Apparently, he did name her as the custodial guardian in an earlier version of the will.”

  Jocelyn mouthed this information to Bree, who mouthed back: “I can’t read lips.”

  “But he changed his mind,” Jocelyn said to the lawyer. “So she’s SOL.”

  “Yes, well, Ms. Gunther’s opinion differs. She is alleging that Mr. Allardyce always intended for her to act as the dogs’ custodial guardian.”

  “Then why did he change the will?”

  “I believe her team intends to argue that he was mentally incompetent at the signing of the new will.”

  “Are you kidding me? This is like a damn soap opera.”

  Bree held out her hand and wriggled her fingers. “Give me the phone.”

  “Anyone who ever had any contact with that guy could tell you he was sharp as a tack and mean as a snake until the very end,” Jocelyn said. “He wasn’t just mentally competent, he was a mastermind.”

  Bree was still gesturing madly. “Give me the phone.”

  “Be that as it may.” Mr. Tumboldt cleared his throat. “You need to prepare yourself for a long and potentially messy custody battle.”

  “Messy?” Jocelyn put her hand on her hip. “What does ‘messy’ mean?”

  Bree physically wrestled the phone out of her hand. “Hello? Yes, hi, this is Jocelyn’s in-house legal counsel. What’s that? Yeah, I know, but I’ll be representing Ms. Hillier for the remainder of this conversation. Listen, counselor, let’s get to the bottom line. What does this woman want and what’s it gonna cost us to get her to go away?”

  Jocelyn watched in fascination as Bree grabbed a pen and started scribbling on a series of Post-its. “Uh-huh . . . uh-huh . . . uh-huh. And is there any precedent for this kind of maneuvering? Got it. And what’s the worst-case scenario? Okay. I’ll relay that to my client and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible. Thanks! Bye.”

  Bree hung up the phone and addressed Jocelyn, all business. “I’m going to ask you a question and I need you to be brutally, totally honest. Both with me and with yourself.”

  Jocelyn braced herself. “Shoot.”

  “How attached are you to these dogs?”

  “Very.”

  “Be more specific.”

  “You can’t quantify love,” Jocelyn protested.

  “In a court of law, you can and you must. Let me ask you this,” Bree said. “Would you be willing to part with one or two of them?”

  “Well, two or three of the puppies will go to new families, obviously. But no, the adults all need to stay together. We’re a family.”

  “So you wouldn’t be willing to throw one over to Lois? Just to shut her up?”

  “No!”

  “Would you be willing to pay her to shut up?”

  “How much are we talking?” Jocelyn asked.

  “I have no idea. But you better start thinking about how much is too much.”

  chapter 36

  “ Read it for yourself.” Jocelyn handed over the printed e-mail she held in her hands. She and Liam had arranged an emergency legal summit at the Jilted Café in downtown Black Dog Bay. “This is unbelievable. She’s saying that your father always meant for her to take care of the dogs. She’s accusing me of swooping in at the last second and, like, hoodwinking a senile old man.” She drummed her fingers on the table. “Which, now that I think about it, is pretty much what you accused me of the first time I met you.”

  Liam cleared his throat. “And again, I am sorry for that.”

  “Yes, well, we’ll revisit that later. Right now, we have to figure out how to fight this. She’s got nothing but a four-year-old e-mail and a vendetta. That’s not going to hold up in court.”

  “Are you sure?” Liam looked skeptical.

  “She’s not taking my dogs. I’ll do whatever I need to do to stop her.” Jocelyn held her fork up. “The good thing about the trust is that, at the end of the day, I can outspend her.”

  “Sorry, hang on one second.” Liam pulled out his phone as a text came in. “It’s Paul. I told him I’d meet with him when we finished up here.” He replied to the text.

  “Is Paul the one who derailed my date with his fancy European car?”

  “That’s the one.”

  “Don’t look so smug. It wasn’t going to work out between me and Otter, anyway.”

  “Yeah, because I would have stolen you away from him.” Liam put his phone away. “Want some more coffee?”

  “No thanks, I’m good.” Jocelyn finished the last few drops in the mug. “If I have any more caffeine they’ll have to peel me off the ceiling.”

  “No word from my mom in twenty-four hours,” Liam said. “Have you heard from yours?”

  “Yeah, she said they’re on their way back, and they have a surprise for us. I tried to get more details, but she wasn’t talking.”

  Liam covered his eyes with his hand. “It’s probably matching tattoos, the way they’re going.”

  “They’re having a good time. It’s way overdue. My mom has worked nonstop for the last twenty years.”

  “Mine, too.”

  “And I don’t know about your mom, but mine doesn’t have a lot of girlfriends. So let them go to Connecticut and have their fun. They’re grown women. How much trouble could they really get into?” Dozens of possibilities immediately sprang to mind. “Don’t answer that.”

  They discussed Lois’s e-mail and the legal implications for a few more minutes until Paul walked in. The keychain for his fancy European sports car jingled in his hand.

  “Hey!” His face lit up when he spotted Jocelyn. “It’s the lovely lady who introduced me to my new business partner.”

  “The one and only. How’s that whole venture going, by the way?”

  “Fantastic. We’ve picked out a location and started spreading the word in the car-collecting circles. We’ve got our first two months booked out already, and we haven’t even opened the doors yet!”

  “Good for you.” Jocelyn was delighted on behalf of her erstwhile date. “Sounds like a perfect match. You’re a lucky guy.”

  “Yeah, he’s a real find, that Otter.” Paul took a seat next to Liam. “It’s nice to have a new opportunity on the horizon. I’ve had it with real estate.”

  Liam looked surprised. “Yeah?”

  “It’s not worth the hassle these days, what with all the lawsuits.”

  Jocelyn leaned forward. “You have lawsuits, too?”

  “Six of them going right now.”

  Liam shifted in his seat. “I thought you were at four.”

  “The seller’s insurance company and the inspector got involved, and then a couple of the subpoenaed witnesses lied on the stand, so now we’re up to six.”

  “But how?” Jocelyn felt like a camper listening to the scariest ghost story at the campfire.

  Paul exhaled with exasperation. “I bought a house that I knew better than to buy. My gut told me no, but it was such a good deal that I went ahead. Turns out it had black mold, the sellers knew and didn’t disclose. I say I have proof, they say I don’t, and here we are. Lawsuits flying left and right.”

  “Yeah, but six?” Liam looked as horrified as Jocelyn felt.

  “They multiply like cockroaches in the dark, man.”

  “Suddenly, our one little lawsuit doesn’t sound that bad,” Jocelyn said.

  Paul regarded her with great pity. “You’ve got one, eh?”

  “Yeah. Liam dropped his, and another one came out of nowhere.”

  “Like cockroaches.” Paul smiled grimly. “I’m telling you.”

  “How much are you spending on legal fees?” Lia
m asked.

  “I’m hemorrhaging money,” Paul replied. “But it’s not just the money, it’s the time and the energy. Every waking moment is taken up with phone calls and depositions and subpoenas. Lawsuits are my full-time job now.” He pointed at Jocelyn. “My advice to you is to get out now. Settle. Concede. Fake your own death. Do whatever you have to do to, but get out.”

  “But it’s totally without grounds,” Jocelyn protested.

  “Doesn’t matter. The time and expense it’s going to take to prove that in court is unimaginable. You think you can imagine it right now, but trust me, you can’t.”

  Jocelyn closed her eyes and tried to envision battling six Liams and Loises at once.

  “If there’s one thing I can tell you for sure about the legal system, it’s that they don’t care about common sense. It’s all about who has what in writing.”

  Jocelyn’s eyes snapped open and she glanced at the e-mail Mr. Allardyce had sent to Lois. “Hmmm.”

  “You still have the power to stop at one lawsuit. Don’t be like me.” Paul took off his hat and started kneading the brim. “Talking about this gets me so worked up I need a cruller.”

  “Try the bear claws,” Jocelyn advised. “They’re really good here.”

  “And remember,” Liam advised, “you’ve always got the vintage car business.”

  “Yeah, until somebody’s brakes fail two months after we install them and they decide to sue us.” Paul slumped in his chair.

  “Don’t worry about that,” Jocelyn said. “Otter does excellent work.”

  Liam gave her a side eye. “How do you know?”

  “I have it on high authority.” Jocelyn remembered Bree’s ringing endorsement. “Why? Are you jealous?”

  He sipped his coffee. “I don’t need to be jealous.”

  “Look at you two.” Paul’s voice was tinged with both despair and disgust. “So happy. So hopeful. You know what’s going to ruin this beautiful life you’re sharing?”

  “Lawsuits?” Liam and Jocelyn said in unison.

  He nodded. “Mark my words.”

  Jocelyn braced her forearms on the tabletop and leaned toward him. “I’m picking up what you’re putting down here. But it’s not that simple. How would you go about putting a stop to a lawsuit before it starts?”

  “I’d arrange a sit-down with the other party.”

  “Sounds mafia,” Liam said.

  “I’d meet them wherever they felt comfortable,” Paul said. “Their favorite coffee shop, dive bar, tattoo parlor. Wherever they could let their guard down. Attorney’s offices are not warm, reassuring environments.”

  “No kidding,” Jocelyn muttered.

  “And then I’d ask what they wanted, explain what I wanted, and get them to hammer out an agreement right then and there.”

  “But that’s the hard part,” Jocelyn objected. “How would you get them to agree to come to an agreement?”

  “If you’d asked me that question six lawsuits ago, I wouldn’t have an answer for you.” Paul straightened up as the server approached. He ordered a bear claw, which seemed to cheer him up. “But now that I’ve been to court a zillion times and read a kajillion books on psychology and litigation, I can tell you: What you do is say to the other person, ‘We need to work this out today.’ And when they ask why, you say, ‘Because we need to work it out today.’”

  Liam and Jocelyn exchanged a look. “But that doesn’t answer their question.”

  “It does. It’s not a good answer, but it’s an answer, and that’s all that ninety-five percent of people need to come to the table.”

  “Hmm,” was all Jocelyn said.

  “Just try it.” Paul lifted his palm as though preparing to testify under oath. “Call bullshit on me now, thank me later.”

  Jocelyn looked back at Liam, who shrugged. “Worth a shot.”

  Paul’s eyes lit up as the server approached with the bear claw. “I’ll bet you a lobster dinner that it’ll work on your lawsuit opponent. If you can get them alone in a place they feel at home.”

  “You’re on.” Liam extended his hand so Paul could shake it.

  “I can already taste my lobster.” Paul ripped into his pastry. “With lemon butter dipping sauce. I’ll spare no expense.”

  “I wouldn’t tie your lobster bib on just yet,” Liam said. “We’d have to figure out where this woman—what’s her name again?”

  “Lois,” Jocelyn supplied.

  “Where she feels comfortable and goes on a regular basis.” He looked horrified. “Oh God, we’re going to have to go surveilling again, aren’t we?”

  Paul stopped chewing his bear claw. “You’re going to have to do what, now?”

  “No need,” Jocelyn said. “I know exactly where we’re going.”

  chapter 37

  “I’ve never seen so many dogs in one place,” Liam marveled as he and Jocelyn entered the huge convention center, which had been turned into a dog show. “And they’re all so well-behaved.”

  “That’s because Curtis isn’t here,” Jocelyn said. She led Liam through the booths selling beds and bones and organic dog treats. “Let’s see, we have to find show ring nine.”

  “Hold up.” Liam placed his hand on her arm as they passed a booth with two employees handing out brochures on procuring and storing frozen dog sperm. “That’s a real thing?”

  “It’s a multimillion-dollar business,” Jocelyn replied. “Remind me to tell you about Carmen sometime.”

  “I have so many questions, but I’m scared to find out the answers.”

  “Grab a pamphlet and let’s go,” Jocelyn ordered. “Time is of the essence.”

  Liam bypassed the table without taking a pamphlet. “I’m better off living in ignorance.”

  They located ring nine just as the judge arrived to evaluate a group of gorgeous cocker spaniels, all of them groomed to perfection. Lois was handling a small tricolor spaniel with soulful eyes and silky curls on his ears.

  “How do you get out of these shows without getting a new dog each time?” Liam asked.

  “Well, they cost thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars apiece, so that helps.”

  Lois put her dog through his paces with practiced expertise. They trotted around the ring and posed like models on the catwalk.

  “The dog looks like he’s having a good time.” Liam sounded surprised.

  “He is. Most of them really enjoy it. They know they’re the center of attention, and they love it. The best ones, like Carmen, are super competitive. They’re in it to win it every time.”

  “But Carmen’s so nice,” Liam said.

  “Not in the ring. In the ring, she’s a backstabbing, throat-slitting, side-eyeing diva who will accept nothing less than best in breed.”

  “She’s the one who’s in love with a mutt from the pound, right?”

  “Yep.”

  Liam nodded. “Makes sense.”

  They watched Lois do what she did best, and politely applauded along with the crowd when Lois’s charge was pronounced best in breed. When the officials announced that the spaniels had to clear out to make way for some black and tan coonhounds, Jocelyn turned to the man who had sworn to be her partner and protector in avoiding frivolous litigation.

  “Ready?”

  “Ready.” He took her hand and together they stepped forward. But before they could make their presence known, Lois was swarmed with congratulatory owners and handlers who gushed over the spaniel and exclaimed about Lois’s finesse. Lois beamed and feigned modesty.

  “I’m getting a contact high just looking at her,” Jocelyn said.

  “This was a great idea,” Liam said. “Look at her—this is her comfort zone. Nothing we say or do will threaten her right now.”

  “Well, then, let’s go close this deal.” Jocelyn waved to catch Lois’s attent
ion and tried to look surprised. “Lois! Hi! Fancy meeting you here!”

  Lois, understandably, was suspicious. Her smile vanished as Liam and Jocelyn approached.

  “Here.” She handed the cocker spaniel’s leash to its owner. “I’ll catch up with you in a minute.” She stood her ground as Jocelyn approached. “What are you doing here?”

  “Honing my dog-training skills, same as you,” Jocelyn said.

  “I’m getting paid to win,” Lois pointed out. “My skills are already honed, thank you very much.”

  Jocelyn took her hand out of Liam’s and presented him to the dour older lady. “Lois, this is Liam.”

  “How are you?” Liam turned his charm up to eleven. “I’ve heard great things.”

  “Oh really? Have you heard that I’m going to be rescuing Mr. Allardyce’s poor dogs from your girlfriend?”

  Liam’s eyebrows shot up and he took a breath to reply. Jocelyn jumped in with, “I’m so glad you brought that up. I’ve been wanting to talk to you.”

  “I bet you have.” Lois smirked. “But I have nothing to say. Everything goes through my attorney and Fran—sorry, I mean, Ms. Jarvinen.”

  Jocelyn narrowed her eyes. “How do you know Ms. Jarvinen?”

  Lois’s smile was laced with satisfaction as she said, “Fran came to all of Curtis and Hester’s shows in Virginia. She’s seen my love for the dogs firsthand.”

  That was when Jocelyn figured out why Frances Jarvinen sounded so familiar. She’d heard the name when Mr. Allardyce was forcing her to sit through a minute-by-minute account of his dogs’ latest victory. Frances Jarvinen was lined up right next to Mr. Allardyce and Lois Gunther in several of the best-in-show photos.

  “Hang on a second.” Jocelyn excused herself to the ladies’ room, where she scoured Lois Gunther’s social media accounts as quickly as she could. While there was nothing relevant posted since Mr. Allardyce’s death, she managed to find several photos of Frances and Lois palling around at dog shows and discussing where they should all go for a celebratory dinner afterward.

  Jocelyn turned her face heavenward and addressed Mr. Allardyce’s spirit. “I should have known you wouldn’t let me live in peace that easily.”