Текст книги "Avoiding Temptation"
Автор книги: K. A. Linde
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Текущая страница: 9 (всего у книги 27 страниц)
Lexi and Jack jumped to their feet and started clapping and cheering with the rest of the crowd. The lights careened around the room, dropping onto the stage briefly before flashing out toward the audience. After a couple of minutes, the lights returned to center stage, and she stared up at Kellan Kyle, who was no more than thirty feet away from her. Holy shit! He was about a thousand times more attractive in real life than he was on TV.
If she thought the crowd had been loud before, it was nothing compared to what it was now that the audience realized the guys were onstage. Kellan took the microphone in his hand like he owned it, the stage, and the audience. And he did.
“Good evening, Atlanta!”
The crowd managed to get louder, and Lexi just cheered along with them. When he raised his hand, she silenced and heard the cheers die down marginally. Kellan introduced the band, and then they moved right into their first song. Mesmerized, she watched his fingers fly across the guitar, and then his voice broke through the speakers.
Her heart fluttered. That, right there, was the sexiest singing voice she had ever heard. They were so much better live. She wasn’t even sure she was going to be able to articulate this experience when it was all said and done.
She felt Jack’s eyes on her, and she turned to face him with the biggest smile on her face. He wasn’t even watching the show as the D-Bags were killing it onstage. Lexi threw her arms around him and hugged him close. Jack hesitated with his hands out to his sides, like he wasn’t sure what he was supposed to do. She wondered if Ramsey’s warning was ringing in his ears. But then, his arms were around her waist, and something clicked together like a puzzle piece.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
“You’re welcome, Lex,” he said, his voice strained. He released her quickly with a faint smile before returning his attention to the stage as their favorite band played.
She tried not to give it any thought. Her heart hammered away to the tune of the music and the sway of Kellan’s vocals. They played through their set with the crowd singing along to almost all of the songs.
The first chord to the second to last song struck her to her core. They were going to play “Good-bye.” Oh my God! She thought she might faint. She thought she literally might faint. This was her favorite, Jack’s favorite, song. The band was good, but the way Kellan sang those lyrics made them great. It felt like he was singing directly to her, calling out to her, begging for her to feel. It was so emotional, and watching Kellan sing the lyrics brought tears to her eyes. She wet her lips and tried to hold back the tears that threatened to unleash. Breathing deeply, she sniffled and felt her throat tighten. She didn’t even know where these feeling were coming from or what her mind was remembering that made her want to cry, but Kellan managed to draw it out of her.
She felt Jack’s hand brush against her own, and then he was holding her hand, sharing her pain, allowing her to feel. She took another shuddering breath as the Good-bye song came to a close. She swallowed hard, wishing that all of these emotions could all just pass over her. Jack squeezed her hand again, and it felt like strength. She let it envelop her as the D-Bags moved into their final song.
They closed their set to deafening cheers, and Lexi watched Kellan’s amazing body leave the stage. The lights flickered back on as the stage crew worked on the setup for Sienna’s act, and Lexi hastily dropped Jack’s hand. In the light, everything came crashing back on her.
“Good-bye” song. Saying good-bye. Second…third…fourth…fifth chances. The ring. The wedding. Ramsey. She loved Ramsey.
She hadn’t even done anything with Jack. It might have been the most platonic moment they had ever lived through together, but still, a heat had pressed against the boundaries. She was sure the concert had something to do with it, but it was still there.
Jack and Lexi cheered through Sienna’s set even though neither of them was really all that interested in her. They only stayed for the end of the show to see the duet she sang with Kellan. It was unbelievably hot and catchy. Lexi heard it every time she turned on the radio. The tension between Sienna and Kellan onstage was palpable, and Lexi was starting to believe the rumors. She wouldn’t blame anyone for wanting to get with Kellan Kyle.
The concert ended in a haze. Lexi was shocked to see it was almost midnight. She felt like they had just gotten here, and then already, it was done. The crowd pressed against her on all sides, and she had to latch on to Jack’s shirt to not lose him. They made it up to the front, but she yanked on his shirt to get him to stop.
“Restroom,” she said, motioning in that direction.
He nodded and followed her in that direction. There was a pretty long line for the women’s restroom, but it was moving quickly. She did her business, washed her hands, and then ran them back through her unruly hair. She pulled the long tresses into a high ponytail to keep the strands off her neck, and then she turned to exit.
She passed the person washing her hands next to her, and she wondered why the girl looked familiar. Before she made it to the exit where a line of women waited to use the restroom, she realized who it was. Her heart beat furiously in her chest, and she felt her fingers tingling with anticipation. Should she say something? What point would there be?
But still…
“Stella?” Lexi asked in disbelief.
She couldn’t be sure that was who was standing before her. She hadn’t seen or heard from Stella since the night that Jack had slept with her in New York…the day he had left Lexi.
The girl turned around, her big green eyes wide with confusion. Then, they landed on Lexi’s face, and they widened even further with alarm.
“Lexi?” she asked like she didn’t believe it herself.
Stella was four or five inches taller than Lexi with platinum-blonde hair cut short, framing her angular face. Lexi noticed with self-satisfaction that it looked like Stella had gained some weight.
“What are you doing here?” Stella asked. “I mean, not the concert…Atlanta.”
“I’m from Atlanta.”
“Oh, right,” she said awkwardly. “I forgot.”
“What are you doing here?”
“My husband got relocated to Atlanta for his company,” she said softly.
Then, Lexi noticed the glittering ring on Stella’s finger. Lexi felt sick.
It wasn’t fair. It was stupid. This girl had ruined everything…and she still had married someone before Lexi. How could the universe allow this to happen? It just didn’t make sense!
“Congrats,” Lexi said through gritted teeth.
“Lexi,” she said, biting her lip, “I’m really sorry.”
“Really?”
“I never got to tell you, but I am really sorry about what I did. Jack was drunk, and I was so jealous of you two. You were perfect, and I…I was a thief. I wanted what you had, so I took it. I shouldn’t have seduced him that night. He said no like five thousand times—”
“Wait…what?” Lexi asked, scrunching her eyebrows together. Her body shivered at those words. “He said no?”
“Of course he did. Didn’t he tell you?”
“No,” she breathed. “No, he didn’t.”
“Now that I’m with the man I love, I can’t help but think back to that night and how stupid I was. If someone had done that to my husband, I would hunt her down and kill her. You have every right to hate me,” she murmured.
Lexi shook her head in a daze. Jack hadn’t wanted to sleep with Stella. It hadn’t just been some fluke. Stella had gone after him that night.
Lexi couldn’t process this. She couldn’t erase more than three years of assumptions in the blink of an eye.
Lexi spent the next month trying to keep a promise that she had never made to Ramsey. She gave Jack the information about the attorney, and then she took a giant step back. If he called to ask her something about it, she would always reroute him back to the attorney. She wanted to help and be there for him. But at what cost? Ramsey didn’t like the idea, and she was marrying him after all.
So, she spent her weekend hanging out with Chyna and Adam, celebrating her engagement and getting rip-roaring drunk. Chyna was basically the best friend Lexi could have in this situation. She was supremely supportive and anxious to already get started planning a bachelorette party.
Lexi hadn’t even thought of the details. She had been so wrapped up in work, Jack’s divorce, and telling everyone she was engaged that she hadn’t even considered—like she assumed most girls did—all of those minute details about planning the wedding. Where were they going to have the wedding? What kind of dress did she want? How many bridesmaids?
Her head spun with all the questions she had never even though about. Ramsey jokingly said they would just hire a wedding planner, and Lexi laughed it off.
She didn’t need a wedding planner. She could do this on her own. She had plenty of time.
When Ramsey came home from work a week later and told her he had booked a meeting with a wedding planner, Lexi blew up on him.
“Are you kidding me right now?” Lexi asked, jumping up from her seat and planting her hands on her hips. “You didn’t even consult with me about this. Do you think I can’t do this on my own?”
“Whoa!” he said, striding across the room. “I didn’t say anything like that.”
“But you didn’t even ask me about a wedding planner. What if I don’t want one?”
“Lexi, I’m not sure you know how much work has to go into this.”
“I don’t want it to be a big thing.”
Ramsey shook his head and closed the distance between them. He placed his hands on both of her shoulders. “Lexi, where is all of this coming from? I mentioned getting a planner when Chyna was in town. You didn’t seem to care then.”
“I didn’t think you were serious!”
“You have the Bryant case to finish up. I’m running the medical wing. Neither of us has the time to plan a wedding. I’m trying to make this easy for both of us. If you hate the planner and decide you want to do it all by yourself, we don’t have to hire her. Okay?” he asked, staring down into her big brown eyes.
Lexi took a deep breath as his words sank in. All of this wedding stuff put her on edge. It wouldn’t hurt to talk to someone else about it. “How much do wedding planners cost?”
He chuckled and shook his head. “You let me worry about the money, all right?”
“I don’t like the sound of that.”
“That’s because you don’t like spending money, and to have a wedding, you have to spend it. So, just ignore the dollar signs in your eyes. I’ll cover it. It’s your day. That’s all that matters,” he said with a smile.
Another week passed, and now, it was the big day, and she was a mess. She had been buried nose deep in the Bryant case, and she hadn’t even given the meeting with the wedding planner any thought. The damn meeting had just snuck up on her. What was she even supposed to wear to it? She blankly stared at her closet. She had nothing to wear.
“Hey, are you ready?” Ramsey asked, poking his head in a few minutes later.
She was still standing there in her bra and thong with a pile of dresses at her feet. “I don’t have anything to wear,” she whispered.
“You have a million things to wear.”
Lexi turned her head to the side and looked out the window. How could she explain this to him? She had to look nice—no, perfect. She had to look absolutely perfect. This was supposed to be the best time of her life, and she didn’t even have something to wear to it.
Ramsey checked his watch, which made her cringe. She was going to make them late—all because she couldn’t figure out what outfit to wear.
“How about purple?” Ramsey said. He walked through the closet and pulled out a deep purple dress and handed it to her.
It was a bit dressy, but he looked so cute, holding it up for her to take.
She just smiled and grabbed it. “This is perfect.”
His smile grew as she tossed the hanger to the ground and yanked the dress over her head. She slid her hands down her sides and held in her sigh. The material hugged her perfectly, but it wasn’t so tight that she felt like she would be better fit for the club. Ramsey certainly appreciated it.
Tugging on a pair of knee-high brown boots and grabbing her jacket, she followed Ramsey out of the house. They drove across town and into Buckhead. Lexi was already squirming. Ramsey might be covering the cost of this, but just the fact that the wedding planner’s office was in Buckhead meant it was going to be expensive.
They pulled up to a small boutique called Happily Ever After with its crisp, clear design work and nondescript entrance. So, this was it. Lexi took a deep breath and exited the car. Ramsey walked over to her side to walk with her inside.
The interior was gorgeous and modern, set in all blues with baby blue cushioned chairs and a navy blue coffee table. A receptionist sat behind a white desk, and a large spread display of the company’s work was on the wall behind her head.
“Welcome to Happily Ever After. I’m Eve. How can I help you?” she asked, placing her hands demurely in her lap and staring up at them.
“We have an appointment,” Ramsey said. “It’s under Bridges.”
“Ah, Mr. Bridges, of course. Let me contact Sherri,” the woman said before pressing a number on the phone and letting Sherri know that they were here.
A woman about Lexi’s height or maybe even shorter with insanely straight blonde hair to her shoulders and a soft look to all her features walked out of the back of the office. She wore a black pencil skirt with a pale blue blouse and all gold jewelry.
“Ramsey Bridges,” she said with a bright smile. “Pleasure to finally have you here.”
“Sherri,” he acknowledged, shaking her hand carefully, “it’s great to see you. I’ve heard such great things.”
She waved him aside. “Don’t flatter me. I’m just doing my job. Now, introduce me to your beautiful bride-to-be.”
Lexi stood stoically through the entire conversation. She had never wondered how Ramsey had selected the wedding planner. Did he know her personally? They sure seemed to know each other, but Lexi didn’t know how they were acquainted.
“Sherri, this is Lexi,” Ramsey said, drawing Lexi closer to him.
“Hello,” Lexi said politely. She extended her hand out, which Sherri took.
“So nice to meet you. You are positively stunning!”
“Thank you.”
Lexi could tell that Sheri was trying to assuage whatever nerves were floating around inside Lexi, but that wasn’t likely to happen.
“Please, come back into my office. I’m so excited to work with y’all on your special day,” she said.
They followed her down the hallway and into the back area of the boutique.
Sherri chatted away the entire time. “I don’t normally work with the grooms as well. It’s a real treat to have you along to help plan. You know I would do anything for the Bridges. After working on your sister’s lovely wedding, I am just thrilled that you contacted me for this.”
Lexi froze in place in the middle of the hallway. Bekah. Ramsey had selected Bekah’s wedding planner. That was how they knew each other because Ramsey had been in Bekah’s wedding—the wedding he had walked out of with Lexi.
Ramsey’s hand slid into hers, and he urged her to continue walking, but she stayed rooted in place. There were a million planners in the city, and he had chosen the one who had worked with Bekah.
“Why?” she whispered.
She could see in his eyes that he knew what she was asking.
“She’s the best. You deserve the best.”
“But Bekah…”
“That was two years ago, Lexi. Bekah can’t dictate our choices.”
“Yet, you selected her planner.”
“I’m having you meet with the planner that she used, yes. She’s so popular that she books out two years in advance. Just the fact that she is meeting us is out of her normal schedule. But she likes me, and she likes my family.”
“Why does it always have to be about who you know?” Lexi asked.
“Because that’s the world we live in. I can’t help that my name holds influence. It just does. I don’t think you deserve anything less than Bekah on your wedding day. In fact, you deserve much more than her. I’m simply asking you to try this…for us. Please.”
“Fine,” she said, only because he was pleading with her.
A part of her just wished that something had changed during those two years since she had agreed to get back together with Ramsey. They were better but still, he hadn’t told her about the planner. How hard would it have been to just tell her?
It was probably as hard as it had been for her to just tell Jack she had gotten engaged, yet she still hadn’t.
That thought sprang her into action, and she moved forward down the hallway. The wedding planner had stopped at her door, pretending not to listen during the exchange. Lexi wondered how many other women had breakdowns and freak-outs during the earliest stages of planning.
Sherri ushered them into her immaculately decorated office. The room had soft sand-colored accented in varying shades of green and supplemented with plants to make the room feel more natural and inviting. Lexi and Ramsey took the seats opposite Sherri, waiting for her cue.
After giving a lengthy introduction about the company, Sherri turned the spotlight on Lexi. “What is your vision for this, Lexi? I’d love to know what your dream wedding looks like. I’m in the business of making dreams come true,” she said with a big toothy smile.
Lexi just stared at her. What did she want her wedding to be like? She had no idea. She thought most weddings were the same. She had been in a few, and they had been all right, but most had been expensive and rather annoying. She knew she didn’t want their wedding to be anything like what her friends had done—and absolutely nothing like Bekah’s. Lexi wasn’t really sure how to articulate that though.
Sherri waited for Lexi to say something. When she didn’t, Sherri asked another question, “Do you see this as a big event, small event, beachside, or intimate night wedding? We can do whatever works best for you. I know with the Bridges, the guest list tends to get pretty long, so it might be good to think local. Of course, it’s your choice though. I’m here to make your wedding a reality.”
“I don’t know,” Lexi finally answered. “I haven’t thought about it.”
“How long have you been engaged?” Sherri asked, turning her attention to Ramsey.
“Almost a month,” he answered immediately.
Sherri clucked her tongue against the roof of her mouth and then stood. “I have another idea. If you’ll follow me,” she said.
They left Sherri’s office behind and tailed her into a large open room with an oval table taking up the center and several large bookshelves filled to the brim with magazines, booklets, and folders.
“Feel free to have a seat. I think it might be better just to show you what we have done in the past, so we can get a grasp for your tastes.”
Lexi plopped into a chair and stared at the massive collection of books. How many weddings had they done? How much work really went into them?
“The first things we really like to focus on with clients are the date, the color palette, the number of guests, and the venue,” she said, picking out a big three-ring binder for each thing she mentioned. “So much of our design work is captured online for your viewing at any time. I’ve handpicked some of the company’s favorites for us to glance through.”
“Okay,” Lexi said softly.
Her palms started to sweat, and she had no idea why. Her palms never sweat. When she had been in gymnastics, she had never had to use as much chalk as the other girls for that very reason.
“Now, the date—I’m sure you’ve already discussed when you would like the wedding to be. At least a year out is ideal, but a season would do.” Sherri flipped to a page with a picture of weddings in each of the four seasons.
Sherri looked at her, but Lexi turned to Ramsey. They hadn’t discussed this.
“Summer?” Lexi asked, biting down on her lip.
“Or fall,” he offered.
“Summer or fall next year then,” Sherri said. It was clear that she was glad they were making progress.
The rest of the session went in much the same fashion. Sherri pulled out everything from thousands of different color palettes, to swathes of garments, to images of large weddings and small weddings and beach weddings, to massive cakes…and the list went on.
Her opinion was asked over and over again, and Lexi frankly didn’t have an opinion on much of it. The longer she sat there, the more her hands became clammy. Then, it got worse. The back of her neck felt sticky with sweat. Her forehead beaded. She felt her throat begin to close up as if it were swollen. Her stomach twisted like she might be sick, and it took everything in her to sit through one more question about her taste on anything.
Lexi pushed her chair back abruptly and stood. “I, uh…need to use the restroom,” she said. She twirled her hair around her finger and then threaded it behind her ear.
Ramsey and Sherri looked at her with concern in their eyes as Lexi extricated herself from the stifling room and rushed down to the restroom. She thought she literally might be sick, but the farther she got away, the better she started to feel. It was like the time when she had walked with Bekah into the jewelry store in the mall. Her whole body had protested.
She splashed some water on her pale face and tried to get herself under control. It made no sense that she was this tense from looking at color palettes. She even liked Sherri. She was straightforward but determined to figure Lexi out, even when she gave Sherri practically nothing to work with. But how would Lexi be able to get through this process if sitting in a wedding planner’s office made her nauseated?
She rested her head in her hands and held back the tears. She felt ridiculous and wished she could make it all go away. Why did she have to make this all so difficult? Chyna had been so enthused. All of this would be better with her best friend here to hold her hand and walk her through her anxiety. Every time she looked at Ramsey when she felt like this just made it worse, like she was letting him down.
Taking a deep breath, she straightened out her hair and walked back down to the room. Sherri and Ramsey were chatting calmly as if Lexi hadn’t just stormed out. He was always so collected with other people. They had their moments, but country club born and bred made him eternally polite. He never said the wrong thing. Sometimes, he would go on and on and on while he was getting his thoughts together or when she threw him off guard, but still…he always said just the right thing.
She swallowed her pride, knowing that she would continue to say the wrong thing on a pretty regular occasion, and stepped into the conference room. “Thanks for waiting for me.”
“Of course, dear,” Sherri said, leaning her hip against the table. “We were just discussing costs and such. Nothing for you to worry about.”
Costs. Nothing for her to worry about. That was for Ramsey to deal with.
“I think we’ll take a few days to think about it, Sherri,” Ramsey said. He walked over to Lexi and put his arm around her shoulder.
“Of course. Half will be due when you decide, and I’ll need a date to make sure I don’t already have something booked,” she said with that same toothy smile.
“Thank you so much for your help,” Ramsey said.
“It was wonderful to see you again, Ramsey, and to meet you, Lexi.”
“Nice to meet you, too,” she said.
Ramsey steered her out of the office, down the hall, and out of the boutique.
She glanced over her shoulder and saw Sherri talking to Eve and laughing. Lexi wondered if they were talking about her…if they were wondering how long Lexi and Ramsey were going to last after Lexi’s freak-out. She didn’t want to think about that. It wasn’t healthy for her already fragile psyche.
Lexi remained silent on the drive back to their condo. She felt pretty foolish. She had been so worried about looking and acting the part that she had completely lost it. She knew that wedding planning wasn’t always easy, but they hadn’t even picked out a wedding date yet. The only things that she really knew were that Ramsey was the groom and Chyna was going to be her maid of honor. Lexi was going to need to get her stuff together if they wanted the wedding to be a reality.
Ramsey took an unexpected turn, and Lexi raised her eyebrows.
“Where are we going?”
“Just the long way home,” he said with a smirk that suggested he wasn’t telling the truth.
“Oh, really?” she asked. “This seems like really far out of the way.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
The way his eyes gleamed told her otherwise, but she decided to let it go and wait to see where he was taking her.
About fifteen minutes later, they pulled up in front of Morelli’s, and Lexi laughed.
“Ice cream?” she asked.
“You looked like you needed some,” he responded before getting out of his car.
Morelli’s was a local Atlanta ice cream shop that had opened relatively recently and won the hearts of everyone around. With an old-school style walk-up menu and over thirty flavors that changed daily, Morelli’s was the best place in town, and it had been rated best ice cream in Atlanta almost since its inception.
Even in the chilly October weather, the place was still packed, and they filed into line. Once they reached the front, Ramsey ordered a scoop of the butter pecan with a cone, and Lexi chose the coffee fudge almond.
Cones in hand, they walked over to a bench and sat down.
“So…what do you think?” Ramsey asked after a minute.
“I like her,” she admitted.
“You do?” He didn’t seem convinced.
She took a deep breath and stared down at her ice cream. Seriously, it was heavenly. “She seems nice and put-together. She knows what she’s doing, and she I think she’s genuinely interested in what I want…what we want. You’re very comfortable with her, and that means a lot, too.”
“I am. She’s very professional.”
“I know. I can tell. I was very worried that she would expect me to be Bekah, but she didn’t treat me that way at all. I won’t have time for everything she mentioned, and I don’t know two things about putting a wedding together,” she told him, finally looking up at him. “Plus, I don’t really want to sit through another one of those meetings again.”
Ramsey burst out laughing. “That’s my Alexa right there,” he said, leaning forward and kissing her lips. “I love you so much.”
“I love you, too,” she murmured softly.
“And you’re sure you want to hire her? I only want what’s best for you.”
“Yes,” she said, nodding slowly. “Let’s do it.”
Lexi yanked the door open to the courthouse and strode through the double doors. She had just gotten out of work, so she fit the lawyer profile that afternoon in a gray pencil skirt suit and cream blouse. She had left her jacket in the car, but her dark brown leather messenger bag was slung over her shoulder. The only thing that would identify her as out of sorts was she had pulled most of her dark brown hair into a messy bun at the back of her head earlier that day, and it had fallen out with loose tendrils framing her face.
She didn’t think anyone would recognize her where she was headed anyway. Her office worked on corporate matters, not family law.
Jack had frantically called the day of her meeting with the wedding planner to let her know that a temporary hearing had been set up to decide immediate circumstances before an official court date could be held. The court had expedited the case to be heard only three days from then. Lexi had been shocked that they had moved it up so quickly. That typically only happened in extreme cases when children or money were involved.
Lexi wondered if Bekah had bought off the judge. If that had happened already, this really wasn’t going to go well.
Jack had spoken to the attorney she had gotten for him, but Jack hadn’t called Lexi for advice. She had given him everything that she had on that front and then some. But the way he had spoken to her…the need in his voice…it had pierced her heart.
“I wasn’t lying when I said that I didn’t have anyone else. I’m living with Seth right now, but I can’t talk to him about this. What would he understand about a broken marriage? He and Sandy are the picture-perfect couple,” Jack had said.
“I’m just trying to stay out of it, Jack,” Lexi had tried to tell him.
She hadn’t told him that she was keeping a promise to Ramsey. Sure, she had never actually told Ramsey that she would stay out of it, but she had felt obligated to do so. It had been an unspoken agreement of sorts.
“I know. It’s just that this is the hardest thing I’ve ever gone through, and it feels like I have a transmittable disease or something. None of my friends want to get caught up in this, and I still have to go into work every day at Bridges. I don’t know why I thought you would understand that, Lex. You’ve just always understood me,” he had said softly.
“Jack,” she had groaned, “it’s not that I don’t understand.”
He had sighed heavily on the other end. “Forget I asked, all right? I know you have your own life. I doubt Ramsey wants you involved in this. If I know him, I’d bet he asked you to stay out of it.”
Lexi had remained silent.
“I see. And here I thought, we were past all of that.” He had sounded defeated…like he had hit rock bottom.
“Jack,” she had whispered. She had hated the desperation in his voice.
“I mean, I was there for you this summer when you had nowhere else to go. Chyna was in her own state of bliss and a thousand miles away. That’s what friends do for each other.”
She had swallowed at the memory that sometimes hit her again like a sucker punch. Just when she had grown complacent—no, not a good idea to think about that.
“All I’m asking is for you to be my friend now…when I need you,” he had said softly.
She had felt glad that she couldn’t see those pleading blue eyes again. She had almost told herself that she had imagined the way he had talked to her in her office when he had told her about the divorce. He hadn’t wanted her. He had only been relying on a friend—a friend he needed again now.
“They won’t let me in the courthouse, and it’s a terrible idea for me to be there anyway,” she had told him.
“Meet me after?”
So, that was how she had ended up walking into the courthouse directly after work. She turned down the hallway toward the family court area and took a seat outside. Jack should be out any minute. She was a bit surprised they weren’t already done. These things didn’t take that long. It was usually the mediation and actual trial that took the most time.
