The Best Man (14 page)

Kate fell against the back of her chair. The shudders she had held back under Joel’s onslaught shook her body. What insurance was he talking about?

Her father had kept up with what she and Luke were doing, but she didn’t think he had ever stooped to checking on their phone conversations. Was this something new? Joel’s influence over Laurel, no doubt, but still, Kate hated that Joel could keep track of her so easily.

She stood, ready to rush to Luke…but she reconsidered. She had assured him she could take care of herself. If she couldn’t manage the office staff, then she had been fooling herself.

Kate pushed the button on the phone. “Laurel, would you come to my office, please?”

“Sorry, Kate, I’m helping Joel—”

Kate darted across the office and flung the door wide. Joel was leaning over Laurel’s shoulder as if he were about to kiss her. They both jumped at the sound of Kate’s door banging the wall. Kate crossed her arms and stared at them for long seconds. “Laurel? Can you come in here a moment, please?”

Laurel darted a look from Kate’s stern posture to Joel, standing at her elbow, and started to rise.

Kate caught movement out of the corner of her eye and bit her lip. The last thing she wanted was for Luke to step in now. This was her battle. She intended to set the rules.

She held the door and waved Laurel through. Then followed her inside, closing the door with a sharp click. She walked toward the desk, motioned the secretary to take a seat, and stood behind the desk. “Laurel, how long have you worked with this firm?”

“Since Mr. M—your father opened the office ten years ago.”

Kate settled in the desk chair, taking time to choose her words. “You like working here? I know you’re good at your job. But are you happy here?”

Laurel’s face flushed. “Thanks, Kate. You know I love working here. We talked about it lots of times. I never wanted a degree or a fancy title. I’m good with people and a fast typist. I fit in here.” Laurel’s brow wrinkled as she met Kate’s solemn stare. “W-why do you ask?”

“Just wondering. I know you said at one time, you were happy with your job.” Kate crossed her hands on the desk. “I wanted to make sure you still feel that way.”

“Oh, yes. I love working with—”

Laurel’s face turned a bright red. She swallowed.

Kate almost took pity on her. But at the last moment, she lifted her chin and clamped her lips in a firm line. This woman along with her so called husband had marked her off for dead. Their actions had delayed her discovery and return. She’d been struggling to get enough to eat to survive while they had gone on with their lives.

But that was another story. Kate forced her personal feelings back and slammed a mental door on them. This issue was about the law firm her father had devoted his life to building, not her bruised ego.

Truth was, if she were totally honest, this was about her inability to connect with the man who’d devoted his entire attention to this firm. But she wanted to put all that behind her. She had one legacy left to her by her father, his life’s work in the firm. She intended assure the firm survived.

By doing so, she could prove she was as good an attorney as her father had been.

Quelling those thoughts, focused on the issue at hand, she assumed the stern expression her father frequently used on her, and firmed her confrontation with Laurel.

“Yes? You were saying?”

Laurel’s eyes burned bright as she squared her shoulders. “I love working here.”

“With Joel,” Kate said, managing to curb the urge to snort. She kept her focus on the issue. “Are you willing to keep your private life separate from work?”

“Yes, I think so.” Laurel squeaked as she gripped the arms of the chair.

“Good, because we would hate to replace you after all this time, and sharing information about private phone calls would be grounds for dismissal.” Kate paused to let her words sink in. “Are we clear on this issue, Laurel?”

“Yes,” Laurel nodded. “I-I understand.”

Kate fought to keep her shoulders from sagging. “Good, well, let’s get back to work.”

***

“She can’t do that!” Joel turned from saying to Luke and jerked to face Kate across the expanse of her desk. “You can’t do that.”

Kate leaned back in the chair and sent him what she hoped would pass for a bored look. Since she’d moved into her father’s office, she’d learned to appreciate his use of intimidation by the size of his desk.

“Do what, exactly?” She asked as if she didn’t know he was referring to her talk with Laurel fifteen minutes ago. She had to hand it to Joel. He’d taken longer to sooth Laurel’s feelings than she expected. Longer than he’d ever spent easing her tension. Maybe he really did love her.

Joel turned a furious glare on Luke. “Tell her, Luke. She can’t run this firm as if she is the controlling partner.”

Luke leaned one hip against the desk as he studied the shorter man. “What’s this all about, Joel?”

Joel’s jaw worked as his face turned a deep red. “Kate threatened to fire Laurel if she brought her personal life into the office.” He turned a furious glare on Kate. “You know I’m Laurel’s personal life. You just can’t let go, can you.”

“Stop right there.” Luke’s low voice startled Joel into attention. “This is a law firm, not a playground. The bickering has to stop.”

Joel’s jaw clenched. “There’s no bickering. But you need to get her under control.”

Kate lifted her chin and met Joel’s glare. “I simply reminded Laurel of her priorities.”

“You threatened to sack her.”

“If personal issues interfered with her work.”

“You—”

“Joel!” Luke’s stern tone cut through the furious comments. “You are out of line.”

“I’m out of line?” Joel’s fury rose with each heave of his chest. “You think the two of you can gang up on me and run this firm, don’t you?” He contempt glared in their direction. “Well, I have news for you.” His throat recoiled in a lump under his chin. “I’ll see this firm destroyed before I’ll let you control my life. Do you hear me?”

“Everyone in a city block heard you.” Kate snapped her lips shut, realizing she was adding fuel to his anger. “Look, all I did was remind an employee to keep her personal life separate from her job and to stop sharing information about partners’ phone calls. Was that so bad?”

Joel’s breathing slowed. His fists unclenched. “That’s not the point. You know I’m in a relationship with Laurel. That makes this a personal attack.”

“It wasn’t an attack.” Kate straightened, her chin angled. “It was an attempt to put this behind us, To move on for the good of the firm, and protect attorney client privilege.”

“So you say,” Joel growled, throwing himself into a chair. “It looks like you refuse to accept the end of our marriage.”

“Our personal life has nothing to do with this issue.” Kate glanced at Luke’s clenched jaw. “For your information, our attempt at marriage failed long before we left on that trip. So, I don’t hold you responsible, okay.”

“Look, Joel, we’re all adjusting to a new reality, here. Tension is running high.”

Joel turned a long look on Luke. “Yeah, I know.” He shifted in his chair. “But it seems as if you two are ganging up on me.”

“You think we’re ganging up because I asked our secretary to act professionally and not share private information?” Kate arched a brow.

Joel lunged forward in his seat. “You’re changing everything, taking on all this pro-bono work, letting long time clients go.”

Luke crossed his arms. “We aren’t collaborating against you, Joel. Number one, we didn’t let any clients go.” Luke dropped his arms and sat down in the other chair. “The last clients to leave the firm were your clients, Joel.”

“Yeah, yeah…okay, so I’m having trouble adjusting after the disast—”

“That excuse is worn out, don’t you think?” Kate stated calmly. He returned three days after the tsunami, unlike her. He should have been back to normal by now. “It’s time we let the past go and looked to the future.”

Joel’s face crumpled in a sneer. “You can do that?”

“I’m trying. I think you are too. You started over in your personal life. Why can’t you do the same professionally?” Kate leveled a calm look at the man she had once thought she loved.

Love!

She’d spent her life chasing that one elusive sentiment. Would it haunt her forever? Her father hadn’t loved her, neither had Joel. And now…she was afraid she wasn’t good enough for anyone to love.

“That’s pretty hard to do when your partner is giving away profits by working for free.”

“I want to—”

“This isn’t about what you want, Kate.” Joel shifted in his chair, glancing at Luke before turning back to her. “This is about holding the firm together. It’s like you told Laurel, you need to keep your personal life separate.” Joel’s stare bored into Kate.

Luke stood up. “Most law firms do a certain amount of pro bono work in the community, Joel.”

Joel shoved to his feet. “Do they dedicate one person full time?” He waved a hand toward Kate. “I know we have a personal history. And I screwed up when I let things get out of hand with Laurel. But we need to focus on what we want for the firm. The rest comes later.”

Luke watched Joel leave the office with a sense of impending disaster. If Kate couldn’t meet Joel’s demands, she might decide to leave. And this volunteer work was important to her. He hadn’t worked out why, but she was determined to pursue the issue.

He didn’t like her volunteer work any more than Joel, but for different reasons. He worried about her personal safety. If she stayed with the firm, at least he could keep an eye out for her. He settled back in the visitor’s chair.

“Joel has some points that make sense.”

Kate squinted. “You mean give up the volunteer work?”

“No,” Luke’s tone was firm as he met her glare, “but we need to keep it in prospective.”

“You aren’t worried about profits, Luke. So what’s the deal?”

Luke thought of all the things he could name, danger from the abusive spouse cases, living in a less safe area of the city, taking on needy cases that drained her emotionally. He could list all those points and more. But would she listen? He wanted to protect her. Kate wanted to protect others.

In that instant, Luke understood. He realized why this volunteer works was such an issue with Kate. She wanted to show the world that she’d survived and others could too. But at what cost to her personally, he wondered? If he didn’t object to her plans, she would put in even more time. If he did object, she would think he was uncaring, and rank him right up there with Joel as a hardhearted
sonofabitch
.

“What if I said I’m worried about you?” He heard her quick intake of breath and rushed on. “You’ve been through a lot in the past year and a half. I’m worried you’ll overextend yourself.”

“I can take care of myself, Luke. You know that.”

He knew he needed to protect her at all cost. He couldn’t sleep, couldn’t breath, unless Kate was safe. The past eighteen months had almost killed him. For his own sanity, he needed Kate to be safe.

“Actually, I was thinking more about our need to get you back up to speed on the career front.” It was as much truth as a lie. The firm needed her skills, needed her back to her previous level. If she believed he cared more for the firm than her safety, she might...just...reconsider.

Kate frowned, not won over by his argument, but willing to listen. “What do you have in mind?”

Luke braced his elbows on the chair and brought his fingers together in a steeple at his chin. “What happens when you get these Crisis cases ready for court? Any idea how long that will take?”

Frowning, Kate shrugged. “Two to three months, maybe longer. Why?”

Luke sent up a silent pray for the right words. “I think you need to get in some practice in court before that time.”

“I don’t—”

“Kate!” Luke kept his tone level. “Why go to all the trouble of convincing these women to take their case to court, and lose because you’re out of practice in courtroom procedure?”

“I—”

“Are you doing all this work, just to turn the case over to some trial lawyer…Joel, maybe?”

“No!”

“Then, don’t you think you should get in some practice with cases that aren’t life and death situations before you put those needy women’s lives on the line?”

Kate’s loud sigh filled the room.

Luke’s tension drained. Finally, she’d seen his point. He’d talked her around, without revealing the true level of his interest. Talk about leaving personal issues out of the office, and he’d be fried!
He knew it. Worse, Joel knew it. And if he didn’t use his head, Kate would know it.

He didn’t want to lose her again. “We should work together on some cases, and give you a chance to get back into the courtroom routine.”

Kate studied him for long seconds, her eyes wide in her pale face. This was her fear. He’d sugarcoated in the nicest possible way, but still a fact. Luke didn’t think she was good enough. It didn’t matter that he was talking about legal experience. What was she, if not an attorney? And Luke thought she didn’t measure up.