Following Love (17 page)

The elevator doors closed and Gaylord stood there shaking his head. This situation was getting out of hand. For the last four years Adel denied the biological paternity of this child, now she wanted to reverse everything.

Gaylord went back into his office and sat down at his desk. Adel's unreasonable requests were getting outrageous and putting the firm in considerable danger. She had nothing to lose, of course. She wasn't even an attorney. But going before the legal review board with the possibility of expulsion or loss of license was too much of a risk for him. So whatever he came up with had to be more than plausible.

He opened the Dena Graham file and began going through her papers. All of which he'd seen a thousand times before, he'd even manufactured a few. There was nothing he could use to take away her child.

He flipped through her medical profile. She was physically healthy, no help there. He read through her psychological review. Of course the documentation had been exaggerated. He'd hired a professional psychiatrist to evaluate her years ago just after the accident. At the time she had been on standard suicide watch because of the horrific tragedy she'd witnessed.

The report stated that she was mentally fragile due to fatigue and mental exhaustion, she'd stopped eating and sleeping. She was prescribed sleeping pills and antidepressants. On one occasion she'd taken too many, got sick and was rushed to the hospital. They cautioned it as possible overdose, then changed the diagnosis after taking tests. That's when she learned of her pregnancy. Since then there was nothing.

Gaylord read through the psychological study again.

At the time they used that as a way of providing incompetence and denying her access to several of Forester's family insurance policies. The deception was found out and thrown out of court but maybe now he could use it to his advantage.

This time he needed to be more careful.

He needed to show that she was unstable and unable to care for her child. His livelihood and his career depended on it. He picked up the phone and made a call. He had less than a month to put something together.

“W
hoa, check it out. Look what the storm dragged in. What are you doing here?” Jordan said, carrying several shopping bags and putting them down on the kitchen counter. He saw Julian sitting out back on the covered deck with his feet up on the rail.

The light rain he'd driven through was now pouring hard and a swift breeze swirled around him as he sat out overlooking the coastline. The boat he and his brothers bought a few years ago was secured and tied up, moored in its slip at the end of the dock. “Last I heard, I'm part owner,” Julian said over his shoulder.

“Yeah, and the last time you were here was—” Jordan turned to Darius as he entered “—when was the last time he was here?”

“You got me,” Darius said, following, carrying another two shopping bags and setting them on the counter, too.

“Well, I'm here now,” Julian said.

“The question is why, what happened?” Jordan asked.

“Nothing happened.”

“It's woman trouble, that much is a given. I know it's not Stephanie. So who is it, Dena?” Darius said.

“Do you ever stop speculating?”

“I was a stockbroker in another life, that's what I do. I calculate the odds and reach a logical conclusion.”

“My money's on Dena, too. I really like her,” Jordan said.

“You don't even know her.”

“I know you slept with her.” Jordan shot out, purely joking. But Julian's shocked reaction confirmed it. Both Jordan and Darius began applauding.

“So what'd you do?” Darius asked, handing Jordan a hundred-dollar bill.

“I didn't do anything. She just went off on me.”

“Ha,” Jordan laughed once as he put his winnings into his jeans' pocket. “Stephanie, yes, definitely, I could see that, she's volatile. But Dena, no, she's too good-natured. Nope, you had to have done something.”

“Yeah, whatever,” Julian said, walking into the kitchen and seeing the bags lined up on the counter. “What's all this?”

“We're giving a party this evening,” Jordan said.

“A what?”

“You remember what a party is, food, drinks, fun, laughter, talking, women,” Jordan added sarcastically.

“Yeah, I know what a party is. But why tonight?”

“Because we planned it for tonight,” Darius said.

“Come on, I came down for a little quiet solitude.”

“Damn, it's worse than I thought,” Jordan joked.

“Have the party on the boat,” Julian offered.

“Can't, note the weather, the boat will be a bit rocky, mind you, that's not necessarily a bad thing at times,” Darius said.

“Particularly when you have the perfect woman there with you and she'd got—” Jordan started.

“Do you ever stop talking about women?” Julian interrupted them.

“Hey, just because you've landlocked yourself doesn't mean the rest of us have to put our sails away and go home, particularly when there's a lot of ocean out there,” Jordan said seriously.

“What the hell was that?” Darius asked Jordan, laughing.

Jordan joined his laughter. “I have no idea, but you get the point.”

“What point?” Darius asked, still laughing. “I have no idea if what you said even makes sense.”

Julian couldn't help but laugh and for the next few minutes the three brothers laughed hard and long, and it felt good.

A few hours later the party was just as expected. It appeared that half the cove had shown up. Music and laughter flowed as continuously as the food and drinks. Everyone was having a great time. Julian enjoyed himself for the most part but he was still thinking about Dena.

He sipped his drink and leaned on the rail. The peace he'd come expecting had yet to materialize. He'd spent the afternoon doing paperwork he'd brought with him and the early evening on the phone and Internet. Curiously he typed in Dena's name. Nothing of note appeared. Then he remembered that Jordan mentioned a law firm. He typed in a general law firm search then narrowed it to the immediate area. He scanned several.

When the firm Graham, Whitman & Morris came up, he paused remembering Jordan wondering if the Graham might be related to Dena. He clicked on the site then visited several links. He didn't find anything interesting and was ready to click to another law firm when he saw and clicked on the founder's page. Three portrait-like figures appeared with an extended bio beneath each.

All three deceased, Julian focused on Nelson Graham. Having recently passed, there was still a memorial dedicated to his life and his family. He was married to Adel and had two sons, Kirkland and Forester. Nelson and his two sons had died in a car accident just over four years ago.

The coincidence interested him. Maybe Kirkland or Forester was Dena's husband. Then he saw her name listed under a brief bio of Forester but there was no mention of a son named Dillon. Then it hit him. Dillon had said that he would be celebrating his fourth birthday soon. That made it impossible for Forester to be Dillon's father and Dena's claim that she hadn't been with anyone since her husband was mathematically impossible.

Julian wasn't sure what bothered him more, the fact that Dena lied to him or the fact that she was trying to pass another man's child off on her dead husband. Either way, he didn't like it. It hit too close to home.

He exited the site and turned off the computer, realizing that he was more tired than he thought and he'd had enough drama for one day. The morning with Dena, then Stephanie and then the long drive to the beach had drained him. He lay down on his bed and closed his eyes. Sleep came almost immediately.

A few hours later he awoke to loud music and laugher. Confused at first he looked around then realized the party must have started. He grabbed a quick shower, changed then went downstairs.

“Well it's about time you showed up,” Jordan said, handing him a drink. “Did you call Dena yet and apologize?”

“What's this?” Julian asked, looking into the plastic cup, ignoring Jordan's question about Dena.

“Ginger ale, Darius and I make it a practice never to drink alcohol when we're hosting a party. Something about having a clear head in case anything jumps off.”

Julian looked around at the mass of humanity around him. “Yeah, I can see how that could happen. Who are all these people?” He nearly shouted to be heard over the music blaring through the system.

“Beach friends, neighbors, whatever,” Jordan said, waving to a few people who'd just arrived. “Most of them rent houses on the beach and come down on the weekends only.”

Julian shook his head, amazed by the turnout. “How did they find out about the party? I thought you and Darius only decided to have this party this morning.”

“Yeah, that's right, but word of mouth travels fast in the cove,” Jordan said just as a woman shimmied up to him and began pulling him to dance with her in the center of the great room. “Hey, enjoy,” Jordan said as he followed obediently.

Julian laughed, seeing Jordan doing his hip-hop moves. He looked around for Darius, finding him on the side speaking with a few older people. He nodded when Darius turned to him. They each raised their cups up in a silent toast.

After about twenty minutes the party had begun to wear thin with Julian. There were too many people so he stepped outside onto the back deck. Several people were also scattered around outside but they seemed to be just talking quietly between themselves.

“Hi.”

Julian turned, seeing a beautiful too young woman dressed in a scant bikini top and low-slung sarong. Her long hair flowed easily in the breeze. “Hi,” he said.

“So, I hear you're Darius and Jordan's brother.” She smiled with genuine interest.

“Yes, I am.”

“Older or younger?” she asked.

“Both. I'm somewhere in the middle.”

She smiled brighter. “So Darius is the serious one and Jordan is the fun one. What does that make you?”

“Both, somewhere in the middle,” he repeated.

She laughed too loud and too hard. “I'm Toni,” she said happily.

“Hi, Toni. I'm Julian,” he answered briefly.

“I'm staying at the beach house a few doors down. I'm here with my office mates, we have the place for the next few weeks. How come I've never seen you down here before?”

“I've been busy.”

“Too busy to come to the beach and relax.”

“Yeah,” Julian said.

She inched close, allowing her small breasts to brush his arm, then looked out toward the dock pretending to be unaware of her close proximity. “That's a shame. Well, since you're here now why don't you show me your boat over there.”

Julian turned with his back to the rail. “I have a better idea, why don't I get you another drink?”

Toni smiled brightly. “Yeah, okay,” she said, handing him her empty plastic cup.

“What are you drinking?”

“Diet soda, I don't do the alcohol thing.”

“Good for you,” Julian said as he took the cup and went back inside.

“Toni, huh?” Darius said, seeing Julian toss the cup in the trash, then get another one and fill it with a diet beverage. They both turned and looked outside, seeing her refresh her lip gloss in a small mirror.

“I don't think so,” Julian said.

Darius nodded his agreement. “I'm glad to hear it. She's a bit young and needy. You, dear brother, need to be with someone more mature with a brain. Speaking of which, how's Dena, did you call her yet?”

“Why exactly are you and Jordan so worried about my love life, another bet?”

“Nah, we need a hobby. You're it.”

“Thanks, I'm truly honored,” he said dryly, then looked around the large great room. Half the women looked like they'd just come for a rap video taping and the other half looked like they were on their way to one. Skimpy outfits, fake hair, long nails, tons of makeup, it all seemed overdone. “I don't think I'll find the type of woman I'm looking for anytime soon.”

“You never know,” Darius said as he walked away.

His cell phone rang. He flipped it open to answer just as a young man walked by. Julian handed him the cup and pointed to the woman waiting outside on the deck. He took the cup, nodded and smiled.

“Hello?” he said.

“Julian?”

“Yeah. Hold on, I can't hear you.”

“Julian.”

“Hold on,” he repeated, barely hearing the other person's reply. The noise from the party and the bad connection made it impossible to tell who was calling. He walked away from the main area and went out the front door. The reception was even worse there. The line went dead.

He looked at the incoming number. It was Mrs. Payne's home phone number. “Dena.” He called back immediately.

She picked up. “Hello?”

“Dena, you called me.”

“Yes, I wanted to…” she began.

“Wait, I can barely hear you.” He quickly walked around to the back of the house then headed down the dock toward the water's edge. He usually got great reception there. “Okay, Dena, are you still there?”

“Thanks for the drink, baby,” a woman said behind him.

“Dena,” he called. She didn't answer. “Dena, hello?” The connection was lost.

“I don't appreciate being pawned off on someone else. If I wanted a pimp I'm sure I could find one for myself.”

Julian turned around, seeing Toni standing on the dock behind him. “That wasn't my intention, I assure you.” He was slightly aggravated by not reconnecting with Dena and now Toni was back after he'd tried to discreetly brush her off. “Excuse me,” he said, turning his back and taking a few steps away to redial. He waited, there was no answer. He closed the phone and turned. Toni hadn't moved an inch.

“I get lousy reception sometimes because of the weather,” she said, “plus there's another storm headed this way, everything's probably off.” He nodded and looked away, thinking of Dena. “Thanks for the drink, but you picked the one guy in this place I'm trying to avoid to bring it to me. He and I had a thing a few weeks back but I had to let him go.”

“Sorry to hear that.”

“Yeah, well, it happens. Anyway, I expected you to bring me my drink.”

“I got busy.”

“You get busy a lot, don't you?” He didn't answer. She smiled easily again. “Okay, you're forgiven. So this is yours, huh?” she said, looking over at the large boat in the slip beside them.

“My brothers and I own it, yes.”

“And the beach house, too, right?” He nodded. “One of my girls was telling me that you three own some kind of big company.” He nodded again. “Damn, you must have some serious deep pockets,” she said openly, nudging closer to him.