“A lawyer, Jacob? Really? Before she left here, she told me she wanted to be a fairy.” She sighed.
“A lot can change in two months, Shannon. Allie’s a kid. She changes her mind all the time.” She would’ve known this if she’d stuck around to raise our daughter, but she’d taken off just before Allie’s third birthday.
After that, she’d spent a little over a year without speaking to us. Eventually, she’d reached out, but by then, she was rebuilding her life in New York City and had no intentions of moving back to Georgia.
As such, she couldn’t see Allie much more often than she did. That month or two in the summer and for special holidays was it. It didn’t cause any friction between us since I adored Allie and would’ve fought Shannon tooth and nail for custody anyway, but it did test my patience when she made comments like the one she just had.
“Could you maybe ask her if she wants to go as a fairy when you go trick or treating tomorrow?” she asked after a long pause. “I bought her a beautiful pair of wings when she was here. I’d love to see her in them.”
“She’s not sure if she wants to go trick or treating. I convinced her to go this morning, but we’ll have to see if she actually does it. I’ll ask about the fairy thing if we do go, okay?”
“Okay,” she said. Our split hadn’t been amicable, and our relationship had been turbulent for years before it, but we managed to mostly stay civil with each other now. “Are you still doing Thanksgiving dinner this year?”
“Of course, I am.” I dragged my highlighter across a sentence in the Wolney file that had triggered another idea for a line of defense. “Is there anything else? I really need to get back to work.”
“Sure, I know. One last thing. Am I still invited to the Thanksgiving dinner?”
I wished I could say no. I wished I didn’t have to invite her in the first place. Just because we managed to keep things civil didn’t mean seeing each other was pleasant. The atmosphere between us was always tense, and there was nothing either one of us could do about it.
Ultimately though, Allie loved having both her parents with her on special occasions. No matter my feelings toward Shannon—or hers toward me—Allie was the only person who really mattered, so we both made an effort.
“Of course, you’re still invited. You’re Allie’s mom. You’ll always be invited.”
“Thank you, darling. I’m always so nervous that you’re going to back out of our plans. You’re the absolute best.”
I rolled my eyes. If I was the absolute best, she probably wouldn’t have run off with her yoga instructor. But sure. I’m the best.
“I’m bringing a plus-one this year,” she added after a beat. “I hope you don’t mind.”
“Not at all. That’s great.” I sighed and screwed my eyes shut. “We’ll see you in a few weeks. Goodbye, Shannon.”
It hadn’t worked out with the yoga instructor. In the three years since she’d reappeared in our lives, she hadn’t seen anyone else.
If she was bringing this guy with her to Thanksgiving, I hoped she was serious about him. Allie had put up with enough from her over the years. My patience with and tolerance for her bullshit was close to depleted.
But somehow, I didn’t think she’d push her luck. I’d meet this guy, be nice, and hell, maybe I could even finally put the past to bed for good.
Chapter 5
Laurie
All I wanted to do as I drove to Eric’s office downtown was to go home and keep unpacking. It was an emotionally draining task, but it was also one I had to get done. I wanted to create a real home for Katie, and moping wasn’t going to turn that house into a home.
After everything that had happened this morning, it dawned on me as I drove that I didn’t want to live in limbo anymore. The move. The court case. I needed to be done with it all.
The delay in unpacking was on me. The delay in the finalization of the court case, however, was squarely on my lawyer’s shoulders. I needed to get my life back on track, and being able to get back to work would make a world of difference.
Determination rolled through me as I parked on the street outside his offices. They were situated in a super-modern building that was devoid of all character, but a friend in the writing industry had referred me to Eric.
Every time I walked in here, I wondered how much of a friend that friend really was. She’d highly recommended using Eric for this case, but I was starting to get the feeling that he either didn’t know what he was doing or he was just trying to suck every penny he could get out of me before kicking the case to the curb.
As I crossed the polished marble lobby, I mentally crossed my fingers and toes that he’d actually have something for me today. He was supposed to be helping me go after the jerks who took the plot of one of my books and made it into a movie.
It should’ve been great to be getting a highly anticipated movie made out of one of my books. If only I’d known about it, but I hadn’t.
I’d seen the first teaser trailer right along with the rest of the world almost a year ago. The storyline had seemed far too familiar, so I’d looked the movie up. It still hadn’t been released yet, but there was no doubt that it was based on my book.
The day I saw the trailer was the last day I’d been able to string together more than two words at a time. As it was, I’d only just been able to really get back into writing when it happened. It devastated me that someone would just steal my work like this, and my muse, who had only returned from an extended break a few months earlier, took right off again.
“I’m so sorry, Laurie,” Eric’s receptionist said when I reached her desk. “He’s running late. Just have a seat, and I’m sure he’ll be here just as soon as he can.”
“Really? Again?” It shouldn’t have come as a surprise that he wasn’t ready or even here to see me at the arranged time. He was always late.
The receptionist gave me a tight, insincere smile, and flicked a finger at their waiting area. “He’s a very busy man. I’m sure you understand.”
“I understand, all right,” I muttered under my breath as I strode over to the very same waiting room that I’d spent hours in thus far. “He’s too busy for his actual work.”
It wasn’t like he wasn’t getting paid either. I slammed my back against the padded chair and pulled out my phone. Maybe I could actually get something written while I waited this time.
Half an hour later, nothing had come to me. At least my screen lit up when the phone started ringing in my hand. “MOM” appeared in bold letters, and I smiled. She always seemed to know when I needed to hear her voice.
“Hi, sweetheart,” she said when I answered. “How’s my girl doing?”
“I’m okay. I’m at Eric Starkey’s office now. He’s late again. Surprise, surprise.” I saw the receptionist rolling her eyes at me, but I ignored her. “How are you?”
“Someone should buy that man a watch and attach a shock collar to it,” she said. “Just one of those ones that give you a little jolt that’ll remind him when he’s got an appointment.”