“Sweet talk you? I’d be a fool to try. You’d rather have a cup of vinegar than a pot full of sugar.”
“You’re damn straight. Now get your ass to Kansas City, and you better have things under control by the time I drive up there on Wednesday.”
Garrett had hoped his mother would give him an out. He was her golden child, particularly after his sister’s recent out-of-wedlock pregnancy. Never mind that Kelsey was thirty-one years old and an executive sales manager for a national cellular phone service, making a six-figure income. In his mother’s eyes—or more importantly, his Aunt Debra’s—Kelsey had tarnished the Lowry side of the family. Frankly, Garrett thought Kelsey had dodged a bullet by not marrying her on-again, off-again boyfriend, who seemed incapable of holding a steady job. But all either sister cared about was whether Kelsey’s loser ex had put a ring on it.
While Garrett found it irritating that his mother would let his backwoods aunt’s attitude sway her, he was opportunistic enough to take advantage of his mother’s current desire to keep him happy.
Of course, she’d denied him, insisting that his inclusion in the wedding would be good for family unity.
“How will it be good for family unity? It’s only going to stir up more shit.”
“Language, Garrett,” she’d chastised. “You know your aunt can’t abide cursing.”
“See? All the more reason for me to stay away and not upset the carefully constructed apple cart.”
“If your nana wants you to be there, who are we to question it? She knows what she’s doing,” was all his mother would say.
His mother was up to something, all right, and it sure as hell wouldn’t help him play peacekeeper.
The only bright spot was that Neil was probably even more irritated about Garrett’s inclusion in the wedding party than he was.
Perhaps their mothers’ habitual animosity added fuel to the fire, but the cousins had never gotten along. While Garrett had always loved the two weeks a year he spent on his widowed grandmother’s acreage, spending it with Neil had added a partial dark cloud. Nana had taught both boys about the farm—from livestock to gardening—but while Garrett had soaked up the knowledge, reveling in it, Neil had whined so much, Nana had finally agreed to let him stay in the house with a book while she made the farm rounds with Garrett. But the annual visits had stopped in high school—which might have also coincided with Garrett playing a practical joke on his cousin involving horse dung. And while Garrett didn’t miss his mealy-mouthed cousin, he did miss his one-on-one time with Nana. So, while he technically could have told Nana Ruby no, he respected her so much, he would have done anything she asked of him. Not that he’d ever admit it. So he’d gone to work on Monday, told the senior partners he had a family emergency, and bought a late afternoon ticket to Kansas City.
Too bad Garrett had spilled the slightly amusing, slightly sad tale of what the emergency actually was, because as soon as he did, his boss decided to use it to his advantage.
Earlier that afternoon, Garrett had been packing his messenger bag when his boss walked into his office looking like he’d won the lottery.
“Since your emergency isn’t so emergent, you can do some work while you’re there.”
Garrett patted his bag. “That’s what I’m planning to do, Matt.”
Matt shook his head, his grin so wide it was a wonder his face didn’t split open. “Nope. Congratulations. You get to take the depositions on the Norfolk case.”
Garrett’s mouth dropped open. Could this trip get any worse? He shook his head in dismay. “No. Anything but that.”
His boss only laughed and dropped a huge file on Garrett’s desk. “Look at it this way. Now you don’t have to take vacation time.”
“I’ll take the week off without pay to get out of this.”
“Too late. It’s already been decided by the big guy upstairs.” He pointed his finger toward the ceiling. “He figures you’ll do a better job than Lopez has done. The client’s lost confidence in him, and you have a reputation of being a barracuda, so . . .”
Garrett groaned and picked up the file, flipping through the pages. “Dammit. I hear the attorney representing the wife is a real bitch.”
Matt laughed. “You don’t know the half of it.” He looked over his shoulder at the door, then turned back to Garrett and lowered his voice. “Rumor has it she made Lopez cry.”
Garrett started to laugh before realizing he was the one who had to fill Lopez’s shoes.
“Lopez’s assistant will email you more details about the case, but the file should be enough to get you up to speed. Your first deposition is tomorrow at ten and should get the week rolling.”
“First deposition?”
His boss laughed. “There are multiple people to depose in this case. The wife. The husband. The girlfriends. Plural.”
“I’m flying home on Sunday, Matt. And I supposedly have wedding activities on Thursday and Friday.”
Matt headed for the door and called over his shoulder, “Don’t come back until they’re all done.”
The wedding itself had begun to look like a cakewalk.
But now he was grounded in Phoenix for the night, and while he didn’t regret missing an early start to the wedding festivities, he didn’t want to delay the depositions. He had no desire to stay in Kansas City a minute longer than necessary, and he was pretty sure Nana wouldn’t see work as an excuse to get out of forced family fun.
But all thoughts went out the window when he ventured down to the bar at the hotel he’d booked. Because he recognized the woman sitting at the bar.
It was her, the woman who’d ruined all other women for him.
Blair Myers.
He blinked, certain his mind had given up and induced some type of psychosis, but the look of recognition in her own eyes proved she was real.
She was more beautiful than he remembered her. She still wore her blonde hair long, and it hung loose, though slightly mussed—totally unlike the put-together woman with whom he’d spent nearly a year. She wore a black skirt and a light gray silk blouse that clung to her breasts. Her four-inch black heels rested on the metal footrest attached to the bar. Her clear blue eyes were focused on him.
It took him a full three seconds to come to his senses and another couple to figure out what to do. Did he ignore her? Did he say hello? He knew what he wanted to do, but what did she want?
In the end, his feet made the decision for him. He found himself moving toward her, and he stopped only a few feet away, his pulse pounding in his head. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been this nervous, and from the way she was clutching the tumbler the bartender had just handed her, so was she.
What did he say? A half a dozen things popped into his head. I miss you. You look good. Are you happy? There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t regret what I did. But the only thing that came out of his mouth was “Hi.”
She continued to stare at him, her gaze slightly unfocused.
“Can I sit?” He motioned to the stool next to her.
His question snapped her out of her daze. She gave him a half shrug, then turned to face the bar. “I can’t stop you.”
He took the fact that she hadn’t kneed him in the balls as a good sign. He slid onto the leather stool as she leaned her elbows on the counter, swaying slightly. No one else would ever notice, but he’d spent the better part of a year studying her instead of his law books. The Blair he knew didn’t get drunk. “What are you doing in Phoenix?”