They were approaching the restaurant, which had half a dozen umbrella-covered tables set outside. She stopped and looked about, caught in full sunshine. Her hair was an incredible color, he thought, not red, but a dark auburn and shot through with rich fiery highlights. Thick and lustrous, it fell to her shoulders, wanting to curl in Houston’s humid air—going its own untamed way. He preferred her looking natural and feminine, as she did now in jeans and soft T-shirt. As for those green eyes…A man could learn to love the look of a woman like Liz.

“Liz—” He stopped her as she started inside. She turned, giving him a questioning look. “After this is over, would you have dinner with me? Could we get to know each other better without all the complications of Austin…and everything else?”

“I…don’t know.” She frowned.

“Are you seeing somebody?”

“No. It’s just—” Shaking her head, she looked sort of frantically at the traffic. “I’m really not interested in…that.”

He smiled, a half tilt of his mouth, knowing the risk he took teasing her. “Don’t tell me Austin’s tacky accusations were right after all?”

“Austin’s—” She looked confused a second or two before she understood. “Oh, that Gina and I—” She stopped, giving a soft laugh. “No, his accusations were probably a fantasy in his own mind. He’s just that sick.” She glanced at the door. “Are we having lunch or not?”

She hadn’t promised to go out with him, but he hadn’t been completely shot down, either, he thought. He felt hopeful. “Want to sit outside?”

Also available from MIRA Books and KAREN YOUNG

FULL CIRCLE

GOOD GIRLS

IN CONFIDENCE

Private Lives
Karen Young

www.mirabooks.co.uk

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I’m grateful to several people for advice, information and moral support in the writing of this book. To Metsy Hingle for the idea and a long list of other favors. To Emilie Richards for being a sensitive and insightful sounding board when I needed it most. To my daughter, Alison Simmons, who is tireless and patient with me in avenues of my career that do not include sitting at my computer and writing. To Jon Salem for his canny grasp of the workings of the publishing world, and the world at large, and his willingness to share it with me. To my nephew, Mike Farris, for the boat stuff. And finally, to my editor, Valerie Gray, with thanks for her astute suggestions and attention to detail.

Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Three

Chapter Twenty-Four

Chapter Twenty-Five

Chapter Twenty-Six

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Chapter Thirty

One

“Lizzie. What’s wrong? You’re pale as a ghost.”

“I don’t believe this, Louie.” Elizabeth Walker’s attention was riveted on an article in the Sunday newspaper. Her picture was front and center in the article, but it was the content of the piece that dismayed her. “You remember that reporter from the Houston Chronicle who interviewed me a couple of weeks ago?”

“After a bit of pressure from your publisher?” Louie Christian broke a piece off his bagel and tossed it from the gazebo to his dog, Archie, who caught it with a quick snap of his teeth. “Is the article in the paper today?”

“It’s the front page feature in the ‘Lifestyle’ section.”

Louie leaned over to see for himself. “Nice photo. You look very professional sitting at your computer.”

Elizabeth’s response was a disgruntled snort. “I knew I shouldn’t have agreed. Listen to this.” She moved her coffee cup aside and spread the paper flat on the low table across from Louie. Grimacing, she read aloud, “‘Houston author Elizabeth Walker, winner of the prestigious Newbery Award for children’s books, leads an almost reclusive life. Repeated attempts to interview her were unsuccessful. It was only after her publisher intervened that Walker, an auburn-haired beauty who looks more like a runway model than an author of sensitive stories for children, reluctantly agreed to the interview at her home in the exclusive Memorial area. Consequently, her reluctance had this reporter’s nose aquiver. Deeper research revealed a very interesting history quite apart from her life as a writer. Walker, it seems, is the daughter of Matthew Scurlock Walker, a judge who was once a powerful political figure in Houston legal circles. After his death in a mysterious house fire twenty-five years ago, Walker left behind three daughters. Elizabeth, the eldest, was five years old at the time. Having no other relatives, her two younger siblings were adopted, but Elizabeth landed in the care of the state of Texas, then spent the remainder of her childhood in and out of various foster homes.”’

Elizabeth stood up abruptly and began to pace. “What possible relevance does any of this have on my career, Louie?”

“None, specifically, but you’ll have to admit it adds spice to the reporter’s article.”

Bending, she swept up the article. “I suppose this part is also titillating,” she said, snapping out the page smartly. “‘According to sources, Walker has had no relationship with her siblings since their adoption. She has not seen them since the night of the fire.’ How does he know that, Louie?”

“Deeper research, I suppose.”

She muttered something unintelligible and tossed the paper aside. Moving to the steps of the gazebo, she looked out, tears blurring her vision. “What’s missing from the reporter’s story is that my sisters’ adoptive parents never made the slightest effort to contact me.”

Behind her, Louie picked up the paper and scanned the article. “You can’t let something like this upset you, Lizzie. Your success makes you an interesting person to the public at large. The reporter struck it lucky when he researched a little deeper and discovered your past to be a bit extraordinary.”

“I feel violated, Louie. It’s almost like…rape.” She closed her eyes and took a deep, unsteady breath.

Louie sighed, knowing her well enough to leave it alone for now.

But Elizabeth wasn’t ready to leave it. “It’s no wonder the media is suffering from a reputation only slightly better than used car salesmen,” she said bitterly, turning to face him. “I’m amazed at my own naiveté, Louie. The questions he asked were so benign, such as, ‘How do you get your ideas?’ and ‘How difficult was it to get published?’ and ‘What made you choose to write books for children rather than adult fiction?’ And I actually thought that was what the article would be about.”

“He appears to cover that, too,” Louie said, still reading.

She turned and looked at him, then after a beat, she managed a short laugh. “I’m overreacting, right?”

Louie put the paper down. “I wouldn’t say that, since he’s opened your life to the world, but your editor and your agent would probably remind you that any publicity, favorable or otherwise, is good.”

She made a disgusted sound and picked up her cup. She could always trust Louie to spin even the most awful experience in a positive light. She knew that he understood her reaction to the reporter’s insensitive exposé of her history, knew that to her it was like pouring salt in a wound that had never quite healed. Still knowing all that, he wouldn’t let her wallow in self-pity. She studied him over the rim of her cup with affection. At seventy-one, his white beard gave him a distinguished air even though she’d noticed he’d begun to stoop a bit. She wondered if she could persuade him to have a full physical.

Louie had been her neighbor for about five years, but they hadn’t become friends right away. Her fault, not his. Those years in foster care had shaped her well. She’d learned early the hazards of trusting too soon. But Louie had patiently persevered. Elderly and lonely himself, he’d finally breached her shy defenses with a variety of neighborly gestures: offering tomatoes and cucumbers from his garden, bringing her newspaper to the door on rainy days, returning her trash can to the garage after the garbage was picked up. And, best of all, assuming a vital role in Jesse’s life.

A sharp shriek from across the lawn brought her to her feet. But it was joy, not distress making Jesse squeal. The little girl and her best friend, Cody, were in wild pursuit of Archie who now had not a bagel, but something dark blue and crushable in his teeth. There was no likelihood that the big golden retriever would be overtaken, but both kids were giving the race their personal best.

“Is that something valuable in his mouth?” Louie asked, moving up behind her.

“Cody’s cherished Texans ball cap? Priceless.” Elizabeth smiled, watching Jesse try to outsmart the dog by circling behind while Cody stood out in front and yelled as a distraction. Squealing, Jesse leaped on the playful retriever from behind and Cody dived gleefully into the tangle of little girl and big dog. Amazingly, Cody emerged from the fray with his cap. Archie got up, too, shaking himself vigorously, tongue dangling in a doggie grin.

“Maybe we’d better go check for broken limbs,” Louie said dryly as the two five-year-olds sprawled on the lawn, winded and giggling.

“Whose, Archie’s or the kids?”

“Good point.”

Smiling, they watched as the children tore off in another direction, Archie between them, barking joyously. Elizabeth felt a rush of love. Jesse was a delightful mix of tomboy and sprightly femininity. And a constant delight, despite the fact that lately her welfare was a constant concern.

And on that thought, Elizabeth’s smile faded. Gina D’Angelo, Jesse’s mother, was living with Elizabeth now after her longtime lover, Austin Leggett, had finally broken off their relationship. Elizabeth was holding her breath praying the affair was truly over this time. It wouldn’t be the first time she’d opened her home to Gina and Jesse after one of Austin’s tirades, but in the past he would soon apologize, Gina would forgive all, and the whole dysfunctional cycle would begin again. It was frustrating and painful to Elizabeth to see that Jesse was forced to live in an atmosphere of fear and violence. Gina was an adult and free to make her own choices, but Jesse, the child of their stormy relationship, was without options. Maybe this time the split would be permanent, as Gina had confessed that she suspected Austin was having an affair. She had no wish to see Gina hurt, but she knew the relationship would end only when Austin decided to end it. For Jesse’s sake, she hoped the time had come. The fact that Gina had hired an attorney and a law suit was filed regarding Jesse’s custody gave Elizabeth hope. On the other hand, she worried about Jesse’s fate if the breakup turned ugly. As the little girl’s father, Austin Leggett would have considerable standing in the eyes of the court.

“Is Gina sleeping in this morning?” Louie asked, his eyes still on the kids.

“She has a lot on her mind lately.” Elizabeth knew what he was thinking. It should be Gina out here watching her daughter, not Liz. But Gina hadn’t come home last night until after eleven. In spite of the fact that she was forced to move on with her life, she was devastated by Austin’s rejection and stressed out over the upcoming custody hearing. Seeing that she felt cooped up after weeks in the house, Elizabeth had suggested she take in a movie. But hours after the movie was over, when she still had not come home, Jesse had been worried. Elizabeth was sympathetic over Gina’s situation, but she didn’t—couldn’t—condone Gina’s occasional lapses in parental responsibility.

Finally, Gina had called, apologetic and contrite over waiting so late to check in. She’d taken in a movie and then decided to browse in the Galleria, she told Elizabeth. Next, she’d bumped into a friend who was a paralegal in the law firm where Gina no longer worked, thanks to Austin, and simply lost track of the time. Was Jesse okay, she’d asked. What if she weren’t, Elizabeth had thought with some irritation, but she’d reassured her and agreed to give the little girl her bath and put her to bed.

“One more book, Aunt Lizzie, pul-eeezze,” Jesse had begged later when Elizabeth was trying to coax her into settling down for the night. Sleepy-eyed, her tattered Barney clutched tight to her chest, she was doggedly determined to wait for her missing mommy. Elizabeth closed Miss Spider’s Wedding and tucked an equally tattered blanket snugly around her.

“Three’s the limit, Jesse-girl,” she said, letting her touch linger on the child’s cheek. “It’s way, way past your bedtime. You know how hard it is to wake up in the mornings when you go to bed too late.” Elizabeth rose from the side of the bed, but Jesse caught her hand, stopping her.

“Will you stay beside me until I go to sleep, Aunt Lizzie?”

It had been weeks since Gina had arrived in the middle of the night with Jesse, pale and frightened and clinging to her mother’s jeans, but the ordeal was far from forgotten by the child. Jesse played hard during the day and even seemed okay at kindergarten, but at bedtime her anxieties surfaced.

Elizabeth was sympathetic to Gina’s plight, but her first thought had been for Jesse that night when she’d opened the door and the little girl had flung herself into her Aunt Lizzie’s arms. There was no telling what the child had witnessed in that final scene between Gina and Austin, as Gina had never quite revealed all the ugly details. But tension—and worse—between the child’s parents had taken a toll whether Gina allowed herself to see it or not.

“I think I will just have a seat in this old rocking chair,” Elizabeth had said in a reassuring tone as she pulled the antique close to Jesse’s bed. “I’ll rock awhile and you can count sheep.”

“Don’t turn off the light, Aunt Lizzie.”

“I won’t.”

“And don’t close the door.”

“No way. G’night, sweetheart.”

Jesse’s eyes darted to the window. “Does my daddy have a key to this house, Aunt Lizzie?”

“No, darling. Only your mommy and I have a key.”

“She might give it to Daddy.”

“She won’t. She promised. It’s just for her.”

“Good.” Jesse paused a beat or two. “Could he get in the window, do you think?”

“No, sweetheart. I have a security system, remember? When a door is opened or a window is raised, it goes off and the police hurry over here.”

“Police are good. They help people.” Reassured somewhat, Jesse yawned widely, eyes heavy at last, wanting to close. “We learned that in school.”

“Yes, police help people.” Elizabeth had reached over and rubbed the child’s back, her own throat tight with emotion. It wasn’t fair for a child to have these fears! “Don’t worry, Jesse. You’re safe here with me. Always.”

“Is my mommy safe?”

“I’m sure she is, but she’s probably stuck in traffic, sweetheart. She’ll be home soon.”

“I’m glad you’re not stuck somewhere, Aunt Lizzie. I need you to be here…with…me.” Words had slurred into silence then. And with a last flutter of lashes, Jesse had finally surrendered to sleep.

Elizabeth had actually felt the tension easing from the child’s body. Recalling it now, Elizabeth wrestled with conflicting feelings of loyalty to Gina and her love for Jesse. With a sigh, she rested her hands on the railing of the gazebo and felt frustration and not a little fear. Jesse was safe now, and yet Elizabeth knew how tenuous that security was. She was unable to control the other forces threatening this child of her heart. How many lectures had she given Gina about her responsibility to Jesse? And how little did anything she said matter when Gina’s obsession with Austin was so much stronger? It mystified Elizabeth how Gina could choose the brutal, unsafe existence she had with her lover over other options. And to subject Jesse to it defied understanding.

The truth was, no matter how Elizabeth wished it otherwise, Gina was basically flawed as a parent. She was a less-than-perfect mother. Of course, Elizabeth would never tell her that, or anyone else. She, above all others, understood Gina, knew where she came from. Her personality had been set in their early years as they’d been shuffled from one foster home after another, both longing for permanency and parents of their own. Knowing firsthand the damage that was done when children were denied the stability of a good home, why didn’t Gina do the right thing? It was this failure on Gina’s part to protect Jesse from the damage they’d suffered that confounded Elizabeth most.

Watching Jesse now, Elizabeth knew the bittersweet pain of loving someone else’s child. If Jesse were hers, she’d never be subjected to the terror of feuding adults. If Jesse were hers, she’d treasure the child as a gift from God. If Jesse were hers, it would be a second chance for her and she’d be a good mother the second time around. And this time, she’d never let go.

Two

Elizabeth received an e-mail the day after the article appeared in the newspaper, and her first reaction was total surprise. The address on the screen was unfamiliar, but the subject grabbed her instantly, which was exactly what the writer intended, she decided later. Usually, she went through her messages and deleted anything she didn’t recognize, as well as annoying advertisements and worse. How she’d managed to get on some of those lists, she hadn’t a clue. But the highlighted e-mail wasn’t an advertisement or a pitch to draw her into a porn site.

“Daughters of Judge Matthew S. Walker,” she read. The sender was somebody named Blackstone at a local television station. The name meant nothing to Elizabeth. She decided it was probably something to do with the article in the newspaper yesterday. Unlike Elizabeth, her editor had been pleased over the publicity. She’d probably dance a jig at the possibility of a live TV spot in a market as large as Houston. Still…

“Daughters of Judge Matthew S. Walker,” she read again, her hand hovering on the mouse. Being only human, curiosity got the best of her and she opened the e-mail.

Hi, Elizabeth.

You don’t know me yet, but it’s my hope that you will want to. I’m Lindsay Blackstone. You may have seen my show on WBYH-TV, “Lindsay’s Hour,” which is now canceled, I’m sorry to say. Anyway, I read the article about you in the Sunday Chronicle and, guess what? My sister Megan and I are your sisters! After Judge Walker’s death twenty-five years ago, we were adopted by Joseph and Emily Blackstone and now we would like, more than anything, to meet you.

Elizabeth’s heart was beating wildly in her chest now. Her sisters’ good fortune had been hard for the five-year-old Elizabeth to accept. While they’d been basking in the attention and care of two loving parents, she’d been surviving the trauma of numerous foster homes. Everything about that time was so painful that she never—absolutely never—allowed it to surface in her mind.

Megan is doing her residency at Hermann Hospital and hardly has a life at all, but she’ll make time to meet you. She’s as eager to know you as I am. Also, I was telling my producer here at Channel 6 about you being my sister. He saw the article, too, but as he has small children, he already knew about you and that you’d won the Newbery. Oh, by the way, congratulations on that! He said he hoped I had inherited some of that talent. He’s always trying to one-up me, but this time I have to agree. However, I hardly think my gift of gab is in a class with your awesome talent as a writer. Which brings me to this: When can we get together, Elizabeth? Just name the time and place. It’ll be wonderful to reconnect, don’t you think? Please call.

Elizabeth stared at a string of numbers, three for Lindsay, her office phone, her cell phone and her home, as well as numbers for Megan. There was even a number for the Blackstones at home. She’d signed the e-mail, “Love, Lindsay.”

She sat looking at that salutation for a long time. Rejecting it. Disbelieving it. Drumming up some kind of relationship with her biological sisters was the last thing she wanted or needed now.

Her throat was tight and her hands, resting on the keyboard, were unsteady. First, the article exposing facts from the past that she’d worked so hard to forget, and now this. She had known when she won the Newbery Medal that some of her cherished privacy would be compromised, but she hadn’t expected her whole life to become an open book. Hand on the mouse, Elizabeth deleted the e-mail.

She clicked the icon to bring up her word processing program and opened a new document to begin work, but thoughts of her sisters were not as easily zapped as an e-mail. Her peace of mind was destroyed. Her thoughts were in chaos. Lindsay’s interest was too late. Not wanted or welcomed now. After twenty-five years, they expected just to knock on her door and she’d open her heart and life to them? Even if she was somewhat curious about them, it wouldn’t happen. Couldn’t happen. She had all she needed in her life now and it didn’t include them. She had her career, she had Gina and Jesse, and yes, even Louie, although he’d probably react to that with an ironic twitch of his mustache considering how difficult it had been to become her friend. Another thought struck her. Lindsay’s sudden desire to “reconnect” now was probably a ruse to get an interview, not a genuine need to get to know a long-lost sister. More intrusive publicity. Nothing could be less appealing to Elizabeth. She had enough on her plate without reuniting with two people who were virtual strangers to her. And in Gina, she had a sister in the truest sense of the word. Together, they’d shared the hell of growing up as wards of the state and that was a bond far stronger than some distant blood connection with no memories attached.

She clicked on her file list and opened the document she’d been working on yesterday, determined to get back to work. The tension in her began to ease eventually as she immersed herself in a world that she controlled, a world of discovery and wonder, a child’s world. Something that Jesse had said last night had given Elizabeth an idea for a scene. Jesse, to her delight, proved a rich resource for her books. Focused again on her work, she had the scene almost completed when Gina rushed in.

“The hearing’s Friday morning at ten,” she said breathlessly. “Maude just called. She wants you to be a character witness. And Louie, too.”

Elizabeth saved the document before turning to look at Gina. “Did Maude say she wanted to talk to me or Louie about our testimony?”

Gina wrapped both arms around herself, looking anxious. “No. I mean, I don’t know. I didn’t think to ask. I just freaked out once I heard the hearing was actually scheduled. He’s going to steal her from me, Lizzie, wait and see!”

Elizabeth suspected the same thing herself and had been diligently trying to figure out how to counter whatever maneuver Austin had up his sleeve. Knowing if she revealed her fears, Gina would be even more panicked, Elizabeth rose from her chair and went over to a leather couch, patting a place beside her. “Try not to panic, Gee. Austin would have to produce very damaging evidence against you before a judge would rule in his favor.”

“He wouldn’t have to look very hard to find stuff,” Gina said, sitting gingerly. “I’m unemployed, I can’t afford an apartment for us on my own, I’ve got a mountain of debt on three maxed-out credit cards, I—”

“Those debts were incurred by both of you,” Elizabeth said, thinking there were worse things than debt and homelessness that would be unflattering to Gina as a mother if Austin’s lawyer chose to use them. “Besides, you wouldn’t be in such desperate circumstances if Austin hadn’t forced you out of the firm. This is probably just harassment on his part and he doesn’t want Jesse at all, Gee. Deep down, it’s your claim to a financial settlement that’s driving him.”

“Maybe so, but I know he’ll try to take Jesse.”

“And Maude will argue that he’s been a sorry excuse for a father.”

“Nothing will stick,” Gina said bitterly. “Trust me. Somehow his lawyer will make me out to be a…a slut or something. And probably unstable, too.”

Although Elizabeth believed that was a very real possibility, she wouldn’t say it. As it was, Gina was dangerously close to meltdown from the stress of the breakup. In spite of the fact that Austin was cruel, insensitive and violent, there was clearly something about him that drew Gina.

Eight years ago, Gina had been hired as a paralegal at the law firm where Austin’s father was a senior partner. Why he had fallen for her was understandable. Gina was beautiful, a dark-haired, vivacious person with a sharp wit and ready smile. She was good at her job, too. In fact, Elizabeth had tried to persuade her to go to law school, but that would have meant time away from Austin. Still, it wasn’t long before Austin’s controlling ways and ungovernable temper took some of the bloom off the romance and dashed Gina’s rosy expectations. He wouldn’t marry her, but he wanted her. Their life together was stormy and unpredictable, up one day, down the next. Crazy. Why she’d stayed in such a relationship still mystified Elizabeth. But now, because he was Jesse’s father, it made sense to tread carefully.

“Who is his lawyer?” Elizabeth asked.

“Wait’ll you hear,” Gina said gloomily. “It’s Ryan Paxton.”

“So? Who is he?”

“Just the best that Leggett, Jones and Brunson has when it comes to winning in court.” Gina got up to pace, rubbing her forehead and frowning. “I told myself it couldn’t be Ryan, at least I didn’t think he’d take on something like this. He’s not exactly a friend of Austin’s. In fact, I always got the feeling that he disliked Austin, or at least that he found him kind of…well, he didn’t have much respect for him. He knows Austin got into the firm through his father while everybody knows that Ryan is where he is because he’s smart, he works like a dog and he brings in a ton of clients.” She stopped and grabbed Elizabeth’s phone. “I’m calling Maude back. I need to warn her just how formidable Ryan can be in the courtroom.”

Elizabeth watched her dial, then listened as she spoke to Maude Kennedy. The conversation was brief and when she hung up, she knew by the look on Gina’s face that Maude had failed to reassure her.

“I’m in big trouble, Lizzie. Maude says she knows Ryan’s reputation and I’m right to be concerned. She wants me to think about what to say on the stand, but it’s hopeless. Ryan will wipe the floor with me.” Gina gave a choked cry. “The man’s a barracuda! He never loses.”

“Every lawyer loses once in a while.”

“Then for Ryan, it’s once in a very rare while. Frankly, I don’t recall him losing even once since he’s been with the firm.”

Elizabeth stood up. “Actually I see an advantage here, Gee.” She gave her a little push toward the door. It was time for lunch. Jesse had half a day at kindergarten and was now playing in the yard under Louie’s watchful eye, but she would be coming inside soon. She didn’t intend for the child to get wind of any stress, especially regarding her contemptible father. “If Paxton has been in the firm that long, then you’re hardly a stranger to him. No matter what gossip he hears, it’s facts he must present in court.”

Gina was still wringing her hands. “I can’t count on that. I was a paralegal, not a lawyer, and I worked exclusively for Austin. When it comes to taking the side of some lowly ex-employee at LJ and B over someone whose father is Curtiss Leggett himself, guess who’ll come out on top?”

“Austin forced your resignation from the firm, Gee. When he realized you planned to demand child support for Jesse, you had to go. Just as he forced you to move out of the house where the two of you have lived together for eight years. Maude will reveal all that in court. When this is over, you should file a civil suit against the firm. You have every right to bring your own case.”

“Hah! That’s all Austin is waiting for,” Gina said bitterly. “I can’t bear to think what he’ll do if I don’t just shut up and let him have his way.”

“Does that include handing Jesse over?” When Gina’s eyes filled with fresh tears, Elizabeth felt a pang of remorse. Gina knew what was at stake without being reminded. “I don’t think you need to worry too much about Paxton digging up dirt on you, Gee. He’ll be aware that you’ve been a conscientious employee. Knowing this, he’ll hardly go for your jugular.”

“You don’t know him.” Gina looked defeated. “Wait and see, he’ll destroy me.”

“I don’t care how you do it, just destroy her.”

Ryan Paxton placed his pen on the legal pad and leaned back in his chair, watching his fellow colleague stalk about the office, tight-lipped and furious. “That’s a pretty harsh statement, Austin.” Ryan glanced at the notes he’d taken. “Nothing you’ve said so far is going to give a judge sufficient cause to deny Gina compensation after a live-in arrangement that lasted eight years.”

“That’s why we have to destroy her.”

Ryan sighed with frustration. Austin Leggett was his client only because Curtiss Leggett, senior partner at Leggett, Jones and Brunson and Austin’s father, had approached Ryan and asked him to represent his son in “a delicate matter.” Curtiss wanted a quick, quiet and final resolution to a sticky situation without a hint of any unpleasantness to the firm. Ryan studied his notes. Making that happen was going to be tricky. Gina D’Angelo had been a paralegal at LJ and B and Austin had been shacking up with her for eight years. They had a child, a little girl, five years old. Now Austin wanted out of the relationship and he didn’t want any expensive consequences. Tuning out Austin’s ranting, he briefly considered telling Curtiss he wanted no part of Austin’s sleazy life. But as a partner in the firm, the reputation of LJ and B was as important to Ryan as it was to Curtiss. Too bad Austin didn’t have the same concern.

“I guess you didn’t consider the firm’s policy of non-fraternization when the two of you became lovers,” Ryan said to him now.

Austin shrugged. With his hands stuffed deep in his pockets, he looked like a petulant teenager being forced to discuss a misdemeanor. “We had some good times. In the beginning.”

“I hope it was worth a couple of thousand a month in palimony, buddy. Because that’s what I’d expect from you if I were her lawyer, plus child support.”

Austin was shaking his head, dismissing the possibility.

“Not a problem. The attorney she’s hired is some bleeding-heart female who specializes in family matters. You can run rings around her without half trying. Name’s Maude Kennedy.”

“I know Maude Kennedy. I’ve seen her in court where the only bleeding is from wounds inflicted by Maude herself. No, Austin, you’ve got to have something more than hostility and wishful thinking to get out of this one with your assets intact.” Ryan rested farther back in his chair, crossing his arms behind his head. “Frankly, it’s the kid that complicates everything.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, if you didn’t have the little girl…” He moved forward, paged back in his notes, found a name. “Jesse, is it? If you didn’t have Jesse, Gina’s case would be a lot weaker. Come on, Austin, she’s your flesh and blood. You want to do the decent thing for your daughter, don’t you? It’s Gina you’ve fallen out of love with, not Jesse, right?”

Scowling, Austin resumed pacing in the cramped office. Ryan had a tendency to stack material on any empty surface, including the floor. Case files littered the thick carpet along with reference books, computer printouts and—Ryan winced—the empty pizza box from last night’s take-out when he had been burning the midnight oil on a real case, and not some irritating domestic dispute between two former lovers who now hated each other. But if the clutter hampered Leggett, or if he even noticed, he gave no indication. He was too intent on coming up with a strategy to stiff Gina, even if it meant his own daughter’s quality of life suffered.

“What if I sued for custody of Jesse?”

Ryan felt a pang of sympathy for the little girl. “You’d have to prove Gina unfit, since she’ll probably put up a fight. Mothers are funny that way,” he added dryly, but Austin was busy thinking and missed the irony in his tone.

“She had a rough upbringing.”

“Gina?”

“Yeah, she was raised in foster care. Lived with a dozen families, the way she tells it. Then struck out on her own when she was about sixteen. She’s been around the block more than once.”

“No crime there.”

“It shouldn’t be difficult to prove she isn’t the best role model for a five-year-old girl.”

“Starting with…?”

“Hell, I don’t know.” He rubbed both hands over his face. “There’s gotta be something. Nobody’s perfect.”

“You’d be the best judge of that after observing her as a mother for five years. I’ll need specifics and so far, I haven’t heard any. I don’t know Gina personally. Except for an occasional encounter in the halls, I don’t think we’ve ever talked. But she seems pretty solid to me. She’s a damn good paralegal, according to my assistant, Jean Johnson.”

“Yeah, well, give me a day or two and I’ll compile a list that’ll guarantee she’s unfit to mother a stray cat, let alone my daughter.”

“It has to have the ring of truth, Austin. You go at it from the angle of proving her unfit with bogus charges and Maude Kennedy will hang us both out to dry.”

“Well, shit!” Austin flung himself into a chair.

“For starters, Maude will produce a couple of character witnesses. I don’t need to remind you that they say nice things.”

Austin looked up. “But we’ll diss the witnesses, right?”

Ryan shrugged. “Depends. You’ll need to cast doubt on their veracity. But…I’m warning you, you screw that up, it could do your case big-time harm.”

Austin grunted with irritation, rubbing the fingers of one hand along his jaw, thinking. “I bet I know who she’ll call.”

Ryan clicked his pen, ready to write.

“She’ll probably persuade that tight-assed bitch she’s moved in with to lie about her on the stand. Those two are disgusting when they get together. And they’re together permanently now, just the way Elizabeth has always wanted it. I’ve always known she had the hots for Gina. Talk about feminism gone rampant.”

“She’s living with a lesbian?” Ryan jotted a note on the pad and added a question mark. It paid to take Austin’s statements with some skepticism.

“Wait’ll you meet her…and that old goat they’ve practically adopted next door. He’ll be witness number two. I tell you, it’s like a sixties compound over there when they all get together. Elizabeth writes, if you consider books for kids real writing, and the old man doesn’t do much of anything, far as I can tell. Mostly acts the doting grandfather. Wait and see, between the two, they’ll pressure him into swearing they’re all saints.”

Ryan put his pen down. “Have you considered the fact that her friends might actually be decent people? And that Jesse might be better off with surrogates who really love her?”

“You think I don’t?”

“I think you’re so obsessed with putting an end to your relationship with Gina that you’re in danger of losing sight of what’s best for Jesse. You can bet the judge won’t. That’ll be uppermost in his mind. And in his ruling.”

“All I’m obsessed with is blocking Gina’s plan to take me to the cleaners. Jesse’ll be fine with me. I—”

Ryan lifted a hand to halt him as the phone rang. A glance at caller ID showed his daughter’s cell phone number. Jennifer had strict instructions not to disturb him short of an emergency, but lately she’d been stretching the definition of emergency. He reached for the phone. Almost everything was an emergency to a fifteen-year-old girl, he thought with a sigh.

“What’s up, Jen?”

“Dad, did you call Mom like I asked you to?” Without waiting for a reply, Jennifer rushed on in a whiney voice. “She’s so impossible, Dad. She’s treating me like I’m ten years old or something.” Her voice climbed several notes in distress. “I don’t know how much longer I can take this!”

Ryan spun his chair to face the skyline. “Take what, Jen? And make it quick as I’m with a client and you know—”

“Excuse me, but I hope I’m equal to a client,” she said frostily. “I’m your daughter. Do I have to make an appointment to talk to you on the phone?” She drew an impatient breath and regressed to teenager mode again. “And you didn’t answer me. Did you talk to Mom or didn’t you?”

“I haven’t made the call yet, Jen, and I’m not sure what you thought it would accomplish anyway. Your mother has rules that seem reasonable to me.”

“You promised, Dad!” she cried shrilly.

Ryan shifted the phone a bit from his ear. “And I will, Jen. I just haven’t managed to get a—”

“Oooh, this is so…so…not okay! If you had to live with her every day you’d see what I’m talking about.”

“What exactly is the problem, Jen? How is she treating you like a baby? Be specific.”

“That sounds so like a lawyer,” Jennifer said with disgust.

“I am a lawyer,” Ryan said dryly.

“Well, here’s the problem.” He heard the bounce as she flopped on her bed. He pictured her settling back, taking her time—and his client’s—to spin her side of the latest battle between her and his ex. “Jeff Landon invited me to this party and I saw these really neat boots, but Mom just acted so…so…as if we were on food stamps or something. She said no. Just a flat no, I couldn’t have them, they were too expensive. That I—”

“Maybe you didn’t need them, baby.”

“I did! They were too cool. Via Spigas. Perfect with my new outfit.” She took a breath, dropping her tone. “It’s not just the boots, Dad. It’s that she doesn’t have time for me anymore. She’s got this new guy friend. He’s gross. He’s bald, Dad.”

“Jennifer, is this about new boots or about your mom’s new friend? And remember, I’m working. If you were a client, I’d be billing you big bucks.”

“Oh, funny, Dad. In other words, you don’t have time for me either, right? Mom doesn’t have time, you don’t have time. I don’t have any friends anymore. Jeff will probably dump me if I have to wear something old! If it weren’t for Mocha, I’d be totally alone in the world. My whole life sucks!”

Mocha was Jennifer’s chocolate lab. The aging dog had been faithfully devoted to her since she was five years old. Ryan swung back around, removed his reading glasses and tossed them on the desk. “So far I haven’t heard anything from you that sounds so awful,” he said, rubbing a spot between his eyes. “And don’t swear. You know the rule. And it goes for me as well as Diane, damn it.”

“Do as I say, not as I do, right?” Jennifer said sarcastically. “That just figures.”

“Tell Diane that I’ll be calling,” he ordered, his patience exhausted. “Tonight, provided she’s staying in.”

“I won’t hold my breath for either one of you,” Jennifer muttered.

He clamped his teeth, struggling to hold his temper. “I said I’ll call her, Jennifer. And be there yourself. You hear me?”

He winced as the phone crashed in his ear. She’d hung up on him.

“Problems?” Austin asked with a cynical twist of his lips.

“Be careful what you wish for,” Ryan said. “Jesse will be a teenager one day.”

“I can handle it.” Austin moved to the window. “I was thinking as you talked. What about this?” He turned to look at Ryan. “My mother’s been making noises about Jesse visiting with her now that Gina and I are finished. This guy she’s married to now is okay with it, she says. As far as TLC is concerned, there’s plenty of it waiting for her with them.”

Ryan frowned, trying to shove the dilemma of his own daughter in the back of his mind. If Jennifer kept this up, she was going to wind up in trouble. What the hell was the problem with her and Diane? His ex had demanded primary custody after the divorce, then after about six months, she’d remarried and moved to Dallas. Incredibly, less than two years later, she was divorced again. He didn’t claim to be a perfect father, but at least he was more stable than Diane. Still, it was hard trying to do the right thing by Jen long-distance. If he wasn’t fielding complaints from her about her mother, he was trying to soothe Diane as she whined about Jen. He rubbed a hand over his eyes and put his glasses back on and brought his thoughts back to Austin’s domestic problems. “Where does your mother live? Nearby, I hope.”

“Actually, it’s Arizona. But so what?”

“That’s a long way from Houston. Judges try to keep kids within reasonable traveling distance of both parents. You heard what just transpired between me and my daughter. It’s difficult when parents can’t share the ups and downs of raising a kid. If you remove Jesse from Gina’s immediate orbit, you’ll have to shoulder most of the responsibility. It can get sticky, take it from me.”

“I can handle that, too.”

Ryan took in a long breath and tucked the yellow pad with his notes into the file. “I don’t know, Austin. Unless you can come up with specifics to taint Gina’s character or cast aspersions on her as a mother, this won’t be a cakewalk.”

“Don’t give me that bullshit, Ryan. You could build a case against Mother Teresa in a courtroom. As for Gina’s faults, she’s got a million. It’s your job to sniff them out.”

He had two options, Ryan decided, squinting beyond Leggett to the stunning view of Houston’s skyline visible in the floor-to-ceiling windows. He could tell this insensitive prick to get someone else to do his dirty work, or he could show up in court, take a fresh, personal look at Gina and decide in his own mind whether Jesse was better off with her and her unconventional live-in, or with Austin’s mom. In spite of the fact that he’d seen Gina in the office for several years, he knew very little about her. The judge might be someone who frowned on unmarried couples cohabiting, much less having children. But whether the judge would consider that a strike against her remained to be seen. Poor little kid. It was a foregone conclusion that Jesse wasn’t going to have a future with her daddy regardless of the ruling by the court. The sheets were barely cool in the bedroom he’d shared with Gina and Ryan suspected he was already on the scent of a new lover.

“I’ll put something together about Gina and the witnesses,” Austin said, rising to go. “You can take it from there.”

Ryan stood up. “Make it good.”

Ryan handled three more appointments that day before finding time to open the folder containing the material Austin had furnished about Gina. He spent an hour reading Austin’s descriptions of the woman’s behavior over the years. Finishing, he groaned and rubbed both hands over his face. He preferred to avoid cases like this because of the courtroom carnage that resulted when couples decided to part. And once their lawyers got into the act, people who once viewed themselves as fairly well-matched were suddenly accusing each other of being evil incarnate. It had happened to him and Diane when they divorced, and Jennifer had been the victim. In spite of his efforts to provide some stability for his daughter, it had been traumatic for her. She’d been nine at the time. As for Diane, he’d been beyond caring about her then. Discovering her infidelity had killed his love for her outright.

He fingered the notes he’d taken earlier. Skewed, of course, to Austin’s point of view. He was primed to play hardball and if the allegations he’d made to Ryan were true, there should be little difficulty painting Gina as unstable and unfit. On the other hand, was Austin telling the truth?

Ryan paged over to the character witnesses. Louis Christian. The folder contained only a single sheet. Retired business consultant, the facts of his career going back fifteen or so years. Property records showed Christian’s house had been purchased three years ago, but Austin hadn’t been successful in ferreting out more details, not even a former address. Also missing was anything potentially damaging that might taint his testimony. A note from Maude Kennedy was clipped to the page. Christian respectfully asked to be deposed rather than to appear in court. Health reasons. With a shrug, Ryan scribbled a note to his secretary to call Maude and agree. If, after reading the deposition he noted anything that sent up a red flag, he’d force the witness to appear in person.

Ryan set that folder aside and opened the next one with Elizabeth Walker’s name printed on it. He paused for a moment, trying to capture a fleeting memory, but whatever it was danced just out of reach. The top page was a photocopied author bio, courtesy of her publisher, Ryan noted. So she wasn’t just some hack writer playing at writing kids’ books as Austin said. She was multipublished and award-winning. He quickly scanned the basics: born in Houston, graduate of city public schools, a master’s degree from the University of Texas. Brainy and successful, he realized, noting the string of honors mentioned in the bio. Attached to the bio was a photo. Her face was a perfect oval with high, model-quality cheekbones and a mouth that was wide and softly appealing. Kissable. But it was her eyes that caught and held the viewer’s gaze. In the black-and-white photo, they appeared crystallike in clarity, wide apart, the brows naturally arched. The color would have to remain a mystery, but he found himself wondering…blue, gray, hazel? No mention of a husband, siblings, hobbies or other interests in her life. In fact, there was so little personal information that he was suddenly curious.

Settling back he studied the face of Elizabeth Walker. A woman with a face like that could use it to her advantage. He wondered if she was that kind of woman.

Turning the photo facedown, he picked up the next item, a newspaper clipping, again photocopied. And recent, too, he noticed, with a glance at the date. A feature article in the Sunday edition of the Chronicle. He didn’t recall reading it himself, but he often played golf on Sunday and sometimes only glanced at the features section of the paper. As he began reading, the vague familiarity he’d been unable to grasp earlier suddenly came into hard focus. He swore softly, reading more intently, his eyes now flying over the words. The publisher’s bio had skipped the juicy stuff, but the Chronicle reporter hadn’t. Ryan shuffled through the pages and came across another photo, one that had been used in the feature. She was pictured in her office sitting at her computer. Live plants with cascading greenery enhanced her work area. She was surrounded by bookcases, all volumes neatly shelved. Small art objects and mementos were tastefully placed around the room. He peered closely at her. This time, she smiled. Too fixed to be natural, he thought. Clearly it had been produced on demand by a photographer.

He closed the folder and sat back, his frown as dark as the twilight swiftly falling over the skyline. Old pain stirred in his chest. Old rage. According to the article, Elizabeth Walker was the daughter of Judge Matthew Walker, a high-profile figure in Houston politics who’d died in a house fire in the late seventies. But it wasn’t that that interested Ryan. What he recalled about Judge Walker was more personal—Matthew Walker was the man responsible for his father’s death more than twenty-five years ago.

Three

“Let’s see if I understand you, Ms. D’Angelo.” Ryan Paxton gave the judge a small smile, two men sharing a male moment. “You claim you were physically abused by my client, not once, but several times during your…relationship?”

“Yes, that’s right,” Gina said, her tone almost inaudible. Both hands were knotted together in her lap. Elizabeth, watching from the front row in the courtroom, felt Gina’s distress. She looked pale and frightened. If only there was a way she could go to her, put a hand on her shoulder, encourage her with a warm hug. Gina had been right. Ryan Paxton was a barracuda.

A very attractive, confident, skillful barracuda. Gina’s words, but they were an inadequate description. Elizabeth simply hadn’t been prepared for the force of Ryan Paxton in person. He was younger than the mental image she’d conjured up. Not yet forty, she decided, closer to mid-thirties. Very impressive for the level of his success. He was Texas born and bred, of course, she knew it just from the look of him and the lazy drawl in his voice, although there was nothing lazy about his rapier sharp mind. His legs were long, his body well toned. His suit probably cost a couple of thousand dollars. When he moved around the courtroom—which he did a lot—it was with the rangy ease of a man who might have been born in a saddle. Likely a total misinterpretation, she thought with a quiet little snort. He was probably a lot more at home in Houston’s trendy Sierra Grille than either hunting, fishing or riding in Texas’s hill country.

“Speak up, please,” the judge ordered sternly.

The judge was worrisome, too. It was Gina’s bad luck that Lawrence Hetherington was presiding. He was known in legal circles as Lock ’em up Larry, notorious for his hard-nosed rulings. Gina had fared well during Maude Kennedy’s questioning, but she was literally trembling with fear now and Paxton was taking skillful advantage of it.

“Ms. D’Angelo?” the judge prodded.

Gina cleared her throat before replying. “Yes. Austin was abusive. Frequently.”

“But not so frequently that you quit shacking up with him, right?” Ryan quizzed.

“Objection, Your Honor!” Maude Kennedy was on her feet.

“Sustained,” the judge intoned. “Mr. Paxton, watch yourself.”

Ryan strode to a table, flipped open a folder and took out a sheet of paper. “This is a list of every hospital and emergency room within a fifty-mile radius of the dwelling you shared with my client, Ms. D’Angelo. Nowhere is there a record of you ever being treated…for anything. How do you explain that?”

“I never went to a hospital,” Gina said, her tone faltering again.

“But you were badly injured?” Paxton was clearly skeptical. “More than once?”

“Yes.”

“Describe these injuries that you claimed in your testimony were crippling.”

“Well, there were bruises on my arms and legs and b-backside, you know, when he’d shove me and I’d fall against the furniture. Sometimes I’d be limping for days. Or…or he’d twist my hair in his fist, pulling it out by the roots. He’s struck me in my face, too. One time—”

“And your co-workers never noticed these bruises? Never inquired about a black eye? Never commented when you appeared on crutches at the firm?”

“I never needed crutches.”

“Oh…” Ryan nodded slowly, unconvinced. “And the bruises?”

“Well…” Gina licked her lips and glanced at Judge Hetherington. “He was always careful, Your Honor. Usually we’d be away from Houston, like at a weekend getaway or on vacation somewhere. So by the time we returned, the bruises had faded or I could cover them with makeup.”

“Direct your answers to Mr. Paxton, Ms. D’Angelo,” the judge instructed.

Nodding, Gina obediently turned to face Ryan.

“You took vacations together during the eight years of your relationship,” he said, looking at a sheet he’d pulled from the folder.

“Yes.”

“Often, according to my client. And this list.” Ryan waved the paper in the direction of the judge. “From it, I see you were in Saint Croix, then Hawaii—two times—Europe, Canada, Boston, San Francisco, Washington D.C., New York…hmmm, four, five, six. Six times you visited New York with my client. Like New York, do you?”

“Austin liked New York.”

“Were these trips business related?”

“We attended legal conferences, yes.”

“How often?”

Gina shrugged. “Three, four times. I’m not sure.”

“I’m counting over twenty very posh vacation spots. And, by the way, how often was Jesse allowed on these trips?”

“As often as I could persuade him to let her go,” Gina said, darting a quick glance at Austin, who was sprawled behind the defendant table looking bored. She had avoided meeting his eyes during her testimony.

“How many times, Ms. D’Angelo?” Ryan pressed.

Gina was shaking her head. “Three times,” she replied hesitantly.

“But being such a caring mother, you cheerfully waved goodbye to your little girl…let’s see, about seventeen times, it appears. Leaving her with…who?”

“Her godmother.” Gina met Elizabeth’s gaze across the courtroom. “Elizabeth Walker.”

“Your close friend.”

“My best friend,” Gina said.

Ryan turned abruptly to the judge. “I don’t see a pattern of abuse here by my client, Your Honor. On the contrary, my client took Ms. D’Angelo with him when he vacationed, he opened his home to her, she lived well beyond the means she would have been able to provide for herself while keeping company with my client. Furthermore, I believe Austin Leggett is well qualified to have full custody of the child, Jesse. He acknowledges paternity, he loves his daughter, he wants only the best for her.”

“Is this your summation, counselor?” the judge asked.

Ryan gave a short, charmingly sheepish grin. “Not yet, Your Honor. Sorry about that.” He turned again to Gina. “How do you propose to support Jesse, Ms. D’Angelo?”

“I’m a qualified paralegal. I should be able to get a job at one of the major law firms in the city.”

“But do you have a job now?”

“No.”

“Why is that?”

“I was only…I left Leggett, Jones and Brunson only a month ago. They paid me three-month’s severance and—”

“If you’re so good at your job, why were you terminated?”

Gina glanced warily at Austin. “I wasn’t terminated. I resigned.”

“Why, Ms. D’Angelo?”

“Austin…suggested it.” She turned again to the judge. “I know it makes me sound sort of irresponsible, Your Honor, but Austin made it intolerable for me. He—”

“Direct your answers to counsel, Ms. D’Angelo,” the judge repeated with some exasperation. “Don’t make me repeat myself again.”

Gina’s shoulders fell as she turned back, gazing not at Ryan, but at her hands. “He was going to accuse me of irregularities in the handling of some of his clients’ matters. He specializes in estate law. He handles millions of dollars in other peoples’ assets. It would be easy to manipulate funds here and there.”

“What exactly are you accusing my client of?”

“Nothing, no. Only the threat of doing it. If I didn’t leave peacefully.” Gina pressed trembling fingers to her mouth. “In his position, it’s easy to move money around from one client’s portfolio to another without actually—”

“Come on, Ms. D’Angelo. What you’re accusing my client of is a serious charge. In fact, some might call it slander.”

“It isn’t slander if it’s true.” Gina’s tone rose with her agitation. “Do you think I’d walk out of a job where I’d worked for almost nine years if I didn’t have a compelling reason? Knowing Austin wanted to dump me and I’d be without a place to live? Knowing there’d be no way I could support Jesse? I don’t think so, Mr. Paxton,” she added bitterly.

“But you do have a place to live,” Paxton argued. “Your best friend and Jesse’s godmother, Elizabeth Walker, has been only too eager to take you in. No, I think you orchestrated this whole scam, the abrupt resignation at LJ and B, the allegations of abuse and irregularities with the firm’s most valued clients, the threat of legal action against my client…all toward one end. You want a hefty financial settlement. You want a lot of money in return for walking out of his life.”

“No, I—”

“No more questions, Your Honor.” Ryan turned on his heel and strode to the table. Dropping into a chair, he didn’t look at Gina again, nor did he glance at his client. Instead, he flipped the folder shut, leaned back with his hand spread flat on the folder as if to guard the contents and gazed moodily out a window. If his goal had been to destroy Gina, Elizabeth thought, studying the set look of his features, he’d succeeded. But he didn’t look like a man who was pleased with his success.

“You may step down, Ms. D’Angelo,” the judge said. And as Gina rose unsteadily, Maude Kennedy stood up.

“I have one more question, if Your Honor would allow it?” She raised pencil-thin eyebrows in question. The judge nodded and motioned Gina back into the chair.

“How much money are you requesting from Austin Leggett, Gina?”

“Two thousand dollars a month,” Gina replied. “And for child support only, nothing more. Jesse will stay in the school where she’s presently enrolled in kindergarten. One thousand will pay her tuition and the other will be placed in trust for her to go to college.”

Maude Kennedy looked at the judge. “That’s all, Your Honor. Thank you.”

“Step down, Ms. D’Angelo,” the judge ordered. As Gina rose and left the witness box, he studied a paper in an open folder in front of him. “You want to call your first character witness, Ms. Kennedy?”

Still standing, Maude said, “There is only one witness, Your Honor. We have a deposition in lieu of testimony from the second witness, Louis Christian. He is presently at Elizabeth Walker’s residence taking care of Jesse. As you’ll see once you’ve read the deposition, Mr. Christian is not a blood relation to Jesse, but he could very well be her grandfather. He sees her daily. They’re very close.”

“Then call the witness who has shown up, counselor,” the judge replied. He removed his glasses and rubbed both eyes with thumb and forefinger as if his patience was at an end. Her face carefully blank, Maude nodded to the bailiff.

“Elizabeth Walker,” the bailiff intoned.

Elizabeth was already on her feet. She approached the gate in the bar separating spectators in the courtroom from the players and slipped through it, made her way past the two lawyers’ tables to the witness box and turned to take an oath to tell the truth. She was nervous. None of her experience in courtrooms had been pleasant, but this wasn’t about her, she told herself, taking her seat gingerly. It was about Jesse. Gina. Their future.

Maude seemed to sense her apprehension and gave her a reassuring smile as she asked her address and occupation. Then, “How long have you known Gina D’Angelo?”

“Since we were both five years old.”

“You’re not related?” Maude asked, knowing the answer.

Elizabeth smiled faintly. “Not by blood, no. But we sometimes feel as if we’re related. Sisters almost.” She took a small breath. “We were both wards of the state when we were orphaned at age five. As luck would have it, we were in the same foster homes off and on during our teenage years.”

“That explains your willingness to share your home with Gina now.”

“In a way, I guess. Actually, we’re no different from biological sisters who see a lot of each other,” Elizabeth said, feeling more at ease. Maybe this would be more positive than she had thought. “We live in the same city, we share holidays, lunch, we shop together, we share gossip and clothes. I was at Gina’s bedside when Jesse was born. In fact, I was her birthing coach. So now that she’s in difficulty, it’s very natural to have her move in with me until she’s on her feet again.”

“Why wasn’t Mr. Leggett Gina’s birthing coach?”

“He said he didn’t have time.”

“Where was he when Jesse was born?”

“In Europe. On one of the many excursions he took without Gina,” she added dryly.

“How would you characterize Gina? In a few words.”

“She’s loving, smart, honest, impulsive, funny. Jesse adores her. She’s everything a sister and best friend should be. My life would not be nearly as rich without Gina.”

“Thank you, Elizabeth.”

The moment she feared was upon her. She tried to blank the apprehension from her mind. And the utterly irrelevant thoughts she’d had about Ryan Paxton as he’d questioned Gina. It was her turn now and Jesse’s life was in the balance.

Ryan was speaking as he got up from his chair. “You’ve been very supportive to Gina for many years, haven’t you, Ms. Walker?”

“What do you mean?”

“You’ve bailed her out of trouble countless times.”

“She’s never been in serious trouble.”

“Did you co-sign for her to get a credit card when she couldn’t get one on her own?”

“Yes, but that was years ago.”

“Did you pay her tuition when she trained to become a paralegal?”

“Yes.”

“Were you her tutor in high school when she almost didn’t qualify to graduate?”

“She…she had some unpleasant experiences while we were in foster care.”

“Did you have some unpleasant experiences, too?”

“Foster care isn’t an ideal situation for anybody,” Elizabeth answered dryly.

“And yet you didn’t require a tutor?”

“Well…”

“And you weren’t in trouble with school authorities?”

“I—”

“Yes or no, please, Ms. Walker,” Ryan said.

“No.”

“Tell us more about yourself today, Ms. Walker. You’re an author?”

“Yes. I write books for children.”

“And very successfully, too, according to the recent article in the Chronicle.”

“I’ve been lucky.”

“I actually read one of your books last night, the award-winning book. I wouldn’t say it was luck that won you the Newbery, Ms. Walker. That book was very clever, whimsical and fun while delivering a very solid message.”

“A moral message. I try to do that in each of my books.”

“It was about a little girl’s difficulties with her school friends—what was her name?”

“Jasmine.”

“Jasmine. Because her mother had chosen an…ah, alternate lifestyle. The other kids found that odd and weren’t shy about saying so.”

“Children can be hurtful.”

“The main character—Sophia, was it?—befriended Jasmine. Came to her defense at school. Sort of fixed everything for Jasmine, but got in some hot water herself for doing it.”

“I tried to show how courageous behavior can be rewarding, but you may have to pay a price.”

“What price will you have to pay for your courage in defending your friend Gina today?”

“Price?” Elizabeth frowned. “I don’t understand.”

“The article about you in the Chronicle made clear your aversion to publicity, Ms. Walker. You’re almost a recluse. A hearing such as this is bound to stir up more unwelcome interest in you.”

“With all due respect, Mr. Paxton, I don’t think the media can have much interest in me.”

“I did a bit of research into your background after reading that article.”

Elizabeth felt her heart bump into a faster rhythm. Maude rose. “Objection, Your Honor. Ms. Walker isn’t on trial here today. If Mr. Paxton has a question, let him ask it.”

With eyes locked on Elizabeth’s, Ryan said, “No one’s on trial here today, Your Honor. I’m within safe legal grounds to question the credibility of Gina D’Angelo’s character witnesses.”

“Overruled,” the judge said. “But ask a question, counselor.”

“Are you comfortable knowing the media is in the courtroom, Ms. D’Angelo?”

Elizabeth glanced beyond him to the sparse gathering of people seated in the spectator area. Several onlookers met her eyes, three women and half a dozen men were scattered here and there. A group of twentysomethings looked on with interest, possibly law school students. “I have no interest in the media,” Elizabeth said quietly.

“Not even if someone were to question your lifestyle?”

“Question my lifestyle?” She frowned. “In what way?”

“You and Gina are very close. You said as much and so did Gina. Exactly how close are you, Ms. Walker? Would you describe your relationship as intimate?”

“Objection, Your Honor!” Maude said fiercely, surging to her feet.

“Sustained. Move on, Mr. Paxton,” the judge said, looking mildly irritated.

“How do you come up with ideas for your books, Ms. Walker?”

“As most authors,” Elizabeth began, struggling to control the angry tremor in her voice, “I’m an observer of human nature. I read newspapers. I watch television. I read.”

“The kid in your book is named Jasmine. That’s very close to Jesse. Was there some connection there?”

Again Maude Kennedy jumped to her feet. “Your honor, I object! Mr. Paxton’s insinuations are scurrilous and have no foundation in fact.”

“Withdrawn, Your Honor,” Ryan said, unfazed. Going to the defendant’s table, he picked up his notes. “December 24, 2000. Does that date mean anything to you?”

“Christmas Eve?” Elizabeth guessed, but, again, her heart was beating fast.

“A couple of years ago,” Ryan acknowledged, nodding. “Tell us what happened that night.”

“What happens to anyone on Christmas Eve,” Elizabeth replied. “It depends on your family traditions. My Christmases are usually very quiet.”

“But not that year, right? Didn’t the cops ring your doorbell sometime after midnight? You’d gone to bed, I believe.”

“Your honor,” Maude Kennedy said, “if Mr. Paxton has anything of substance to add to this hearing, would he please get on with it?”

Ryan faced the judge. “This is a hearing about Gina D’Angelo’s suitability to gain custody of a five-year-old child. The facts I’m about to elicit from this witness will cast grave doubt on Ms. D’Angelo’s character.”

“Again,” the judge intoned, “I want you to get on with it, Mr. Paxton. There’s no place in my courtroom for grandstanding.”

“Understood.” Ryan turned back to Elizabeth. “Where were we, Ms. Walker? Oh, yes. Midnight. Your front door. Cops ringing the doorbell. What was that all about?”

“Gina had been in an accident. She was—”

“Drunk?”

“It’s not the way you make it sound.” Elizabeth’s tone was soft, pained. “Gina and Austin had been at a party. They had a quarrel in front of the other guests. They’d both been drinking. Everybody at the party was drinking, but—”

“But nobody else stormed out into the night—by the way, it was raining. A downpour. To be more specific, one of our torrential Houston storms. But that didn’t deter Gina as she spun out into the street in Austin’s eighty-five thousand dollar Porsche, did it?”

“She knew if she got into the car with him he’d become violent,” Elizabeth said fiercely. “He’d done it before.”

“Well, we have only your speculation about that, don’t we?” Ryan said, giving the judge a droll look. “What we know happened was that she ran onto a neighbor’s curb, knocked down a mailbox, bogged down in a planting of sago palms and incurred substantial damage to the Porsche.”

“She had to swerve onto the curb to avoid hitting a cat that darted in front of the car!” Elizabeth cried.

“A cat. In the rain. In a neighborhood with stringent leash restrictions on all animals. Even cats.”

“Maybe it was a possum,” Elizabeth said, knowing she was being baited. Still, she was doggedly determined to defend Gina. “Maybe it was a raccoon. There’s a stream running behind those houses. Animals are common.”

“Critters, huh?”

“Was that a question, Your Honor?” Maude inquired with disgust.

Striding away, Ryan tossed the notes onto his table and sat down. “I’m finished with this witness, Judge.”

Elizabeth turned in her chair to look at the judge. “Austin would have hurt her that night, Your Honor. That’s why she took the car. And he would have hurt her even worse if she’d asked a guest at the party to help her. That would have revealed the trouble in their relationship. It would have made public Austin’s cruelty.”

“Your honor—” Ryan was on his feet.

“That’s enough, Ms. Walker. Step down, please.” The judge drew in a deep breath. “Let’s recess for lunch, folks. We’ll resume at two o’clock.” Banging his gavel, he rose impatiently, striding out of the courtroom in the billowing folds of his robe, slamming the door behind him.

It was a subdued trio who were seated for lunch in a restaurant near the courthouse half an hour later. “I’m sorry, Gina. I made a mess of that.” Elizabeth rubbed at her temples, eyes closed, but unable to banish Ryan Paxton’s smug expression from her mind. If only she’d been more clever, faster on the uptake on the stand. Instead, she’d been pathetically inept in Paxton’s skillful hands. “You were right about Paxton. He’s tough.”

“Worse yet, I think the judge is on Austin’s side,” Gina said, gazing morosely into a glass of iced tea. “His body language during the entire morning says it all.”

“Not all. The game isn’t over, ladies.” With reading glasses resting at half-mast on her aristocratic nose, Maude Kennedy studied the menu. “It’s never possible to predict a judge’s ruling. Has anyone tried the trout amandine?”

“How can you have an appetite, Maude?” Gina exclaimed. “I’m never going to eat again.”

“Of course, you are.” Maude looked at them both. “How about a cup of crab bisque and that old standby, a Caesar salad?”

“I’ll just have the bisque,” Elizabeth said, laying down her menu.

“Did you see the way he slammed the door of his chambers when he left?” Gina asked, clearly still focused on the judge.

“I repeat, judges are unpredictable.” Maude paused and motioned a waiter over. “And whether he may have seemed so or not, Judge Hetherington has a reputation for fairness. He’s tough, even a bit chauvinistic, but when it comes to the welfare of a child, he’ll be very careful.” She removed her glasses and looked at Elizabeth. “By the way, Elizabeth, you didn’t mess up on the stand. Your reputation and demeanor go far in adding credibility to your testimony. Judge Hetherington won’t dismiss lightly the fact that you’ve actually seen Gina bruised and hurting.”

“Even though he thinks we’re two lesbians?” Elizabeth said bitterly.

“That was below the belt,” Maude conceded. “I was surprised at Paxton.”

“A barracuda,” Gina repeated. “Didn’t I say it?”

“I have to think the lie originated with his client,” Maude said.

“Austin knows that’s pure garbage!” Gina said. “I knew he’d play dirty, but I didn’t expect him to go that far.” She crushed a roll in her fingers. “But the worst thing was dredging up that old drunk driving charge.”

“I believe Judge Hetherington heard Elizabeth’s explanation even though he had to silence her,” Maude said, taking a sip of water. “Let’s order, ladies. I’m famished.”

“I hope the worst is over.” Elizabeth leaned her head back against the leather padding in the restaurant booth and closed her eyes. They were due to return after lunch at two o’clock, but after being subjected to Ryan Paxton’s ruthlessness, she wanted nothing more than to go home, close up in her office and turn on her computer where she could enter a safe and idealistic world, a world he’d described as whimsical, somehow making the word sound weird.

“Remember, Ryan Paxton is used to winning,” Maude Kennedy said, “but there is enough substance in both your testimonies that I have hope the judge will not rule in Austin’s favor.”

After taking their orders, the waiter collected the menus and hurried away. “What was that about media?” Elizabeth asked, frowning. “Was the reporter who did that feature on me lurking around?”

“He wasn’t in the courtroom,” Gina said. “I looked.”

Maude broke open a roll and buttered it lavishly. “There are always reporters assigned to the courthouse beat, but they seldom have an interest in custody hearings unless the people involved are in the public eye. As much as Austin might fancy being in the public eye, he isn’t. No, I think Ryan was just trying to rattle your cage, Elizabeth. Trust me, you did very well up there. Your sincerity shone through.” She smiled at them both. “I, for one, find the friendship between you heartwarming.”

“Excuse me…” A woman, smiling slightly, stopped at the booth.

“Yes?” Maude said, her thinly penciled brows going up. But it wasn’t Maude the woman’s gazed fixed on. It was Elizabeth.

“I know this is so…well, pushy, but I told myself if I don’t grab the opportunity, I might not get another.” Her pretty face lit up in a wide, warm smile. “Hi, Elizabeth. I’m Lindsay.”

Elizabeth could think of absolutely nothing to say. After the fiasco of both her and Gina’s testimony, she’d thought the day couldn’t get any worse. She’d been mistaken.

“Lindsay,” she repeated.

Gina gave a little gasp, then covered her lips with her fingers. She glanced quickly at Elizabeth. “Is this—”

“Lindsay Blackstone.” Lindsay’s smile went even brighter, if possible. “And I’ve just sat in on your hearing so I know who you are.” She gave Elizabeth an imploring look. “Please don’t be offended, but I just wanted to introduce myself.” She stuck out her hand and her smile flashed again. “I don’t think you’d welcome a hug, would you?”

“Hello.” Elizabeth took her hand, gave it a brief squeeze. What else could she do? “This is my friend, Gina D’Angelo, and her lawyer, Maude Kennedy. Gina, Maude, this is Lindsay…” She paused, unable to bring herself to say the S word.

“I’m Elizabeth’s sister,” Lindsay said with a wide smile.

There was a moment of stunned silence at the table. “We’ve had some e-mail correspondence lately,” Elizabeth explained in the lull.

“I was aware that you had a sister,” Maude said, studying them both with frank interest. “And now that I’ve seen you together, the physical resemblance is definitely there.”

“I never made a connection with the Lindsay Blackstone on TV,” Gina said on a note of wonder. She gave Elizabeth a wide-eyed look. “This is the Lindsay you mentioned who sent you the e-mail? Your sister?”

“It seems so,” Elizabeth said dryly.

“You mean you didn’t go around bragging about me?” Lindsay teased with an amusing laugh. “I’m hurt.”

“Sorry.” Elizabeth was vaguely familiar with the canceled show—”Lindsay’s Hour”—but she hadn’t made a habit of watching it. Mornings were her peak writing time, so she didn’t watch much television at all during the day. She recalled seeing it, though, but had never guessed at any connection between herself and the woman who was the show’s star. The woman whose life seemed charmed.

Lindsay’s charm was now fully unleashed. “Well, as they say, pride goes before a fall. I guess that’ll show me.”

“I was a big fan,” Gina said.

“Thank you.”

“The similarities between you two are quite amazing,” Maude said, gazing from one to the other. “But you’re certainly different types as far as hair and eyes go.” Elizabeth’s dark auburn hair and clear green eyes were startlingly different from perky, blue-eyed and blond Lindsay.

“I’ve only figured it out recently,” Lindsay said, still smiling. “According to my adoptive parents, we were separated by some stupid mix-up in the courts. This happened when Megan, our other sister, and I were still infants. We never knew that Elizabeth existed, can you believe that? It all came out when she won the Newbery. I guess you could call our reaction a mix of delight and amazement and…well, we were furious and sad, too. You should have been there when we confronted our parents. They had a lot of explaining to do, I can tell you.”

Elizabeth drew a long breath. “Lindsay, I don’t think this is the time to discuss our personal circumstances.” But inside she was trying to take in the fact that her sisters hadn’t known about her until the newspaper article. Had Lindsay mentioned that in her e-mail? She’d zapped it after that first, fast read-through. Had she missed it?

Eyes wide, Lindsay put a hand against her cheek and looked somewhat apologetic. “You’re so right. Like I said, I’m pushy sometimes. Megan’s always telling me I talk first and think later. But how could I pass up this opportunity when it’s been so difficult trying to reach you?” She gave Elizabeth a cajoling smile. “Can we get together…please? It would mean so much to Megan and me.”

Their orders arrived just then and Elizabeth escaped having to reply. Not to be deterred, Lindsay shifted to one side, waiting while their plates were placed in front of them. Then she laid her card at Elizabeth’s place. “I’ll go now and let you enjoy your lunch, but please use my private number to call me…anytime. Or Megan. I’ve jotted hers down, too. She’s doing her residency. Presently it’s an ER rotation. I think that lasts six weeks, then it’s—” She stopped, smiled again in charming apology. “Okay, okay, I’m done. Call one of us, Elizabeth. Please? Now that we know you exist, we’ll have all the time in the world to get to know each other. After all, we’re family. What could be more natural?” Still smiling, she backed away.

“So that’s what a TV personality looks like in person,” Gina breathed as they watched Lindsay make her way through the lunch crowd, waving to first one then another of the seated diners. One man rose hastily, beckoning her over to an already full table. With a bright smile of recognition, she went over and stood talking.

“I wonder how it feels to have a face that everybody recognizes?” Gina mused.

“Not everybody,” Maude said, giving Elizabeth a smiling look. “I never saw her before. I take it she’s a local celebrity?”

Gina, not Elizabeth, answered. “Yeah, at least she is in Houston, I guess. She had her own talk show produced at WBYH, but it was canceled after—” She looked at Elizabeth. “It ran about a year, didn’t it, Liz?”

“I really don’t know.”

“Are you like me, Elizabeth, not much time for television?” Maude might not be a fan; nevertheless, she was intrigued. Her gaze was on Lindsay, still chatting across the room. “Why was the show canceled?”

Gina shrugged. “Ratings, I suppose. Isn’t that always the reason a show is axed?”

Maude smiled faintly. “Again, I plead ignorance.”

“But now that I’ve actually seen her,” Gina said, noting the buzz among the lunch crowd as they began to recognize the celebrity among them, “I’m surprised she didn’t make a go of it. She’s very charismatic, isn’t she? And talk about cogones, she’s got ’em! It took balls to approach Liz after she ignored the e-mail. I’ve seen Liz squash lesser individuals who tried to intrude on her privacy.” She gave Elizabeth a thoughtful look. “Are you telling me you never knew the Lindsay who sent that e-mail was one and the same as Lindsay Blackstone of television fame?” There was obvious admiration on Gina’s face.

“I guess I’m just not the starstruck type,” Elizabeth said with a shrug, knowing it was difficult to resist someone with Lindsay’s infectious personality. But she was honest enough to admit her reaction seemed less noble now that she’d learned her sisters never knew she existed. They hadn’t chosen to shut her out of their lives. They hadn’t known about her. She studied her soup without enthusiasm. Maybe sometime in the future she’d make an effort to get to know Lindsay and Megan, but for now, the time just wasn’t right.

Even though her appetite was gone, Elizabeth picked up her spoon. “Can we eat our lunch now?”

Four

“Hot damn, I think you did it, Ryan!” Slapping his hand on the tabletop, Austin grinned with glee as he watched Ryan collect papers and notes, a couple of pens and a scattering of paper clips, then toss them into his briefcase. “I knew you’d cream Gina on the stand, but it was really inspiring the way you rattled that bitch she’s living with now.” He rubbed his hands together. “Hell, you made it look easy. We’ve got ’em, haven’t we?”

Ryan closed the lid of his briefcase and snapped the locks shut. He preferred spending the lunch recess alone. He stayed focused that way, but Austin was like a pesky pup, dogging his tracks and peppering him with questions. He’d done his best to prepare him for his testimony this afternoon, but he didn’t have a good feeling about it. “It’s a mistake to count your chickens before they hatch, Austin.”

Something about the grim set of his features finally signaled to Austin that his lawyer’s behavior was something less than joyful. His glee morphed into impatience.

“It’s not chickens we’re dealing with here,” he snapped. “It’s a couple of dykes with an agenda. Which is to take me to the cleaners. So I repeat, do you think we’ve destroyed their case? Am I going to come out of this without writing a check that’ll make me very unhappy or not?”

Ryan was silent. He’d been pretty brutal to Gina and her friend and he wasn’t feeling particularly proud of himself. Elizabeth’s testimony had been especially powerful and he’d had to use strong tactics to make his point. Hell, it was natural she’d want to stick up for Gina. That’s what character witnesses did. Their mission was to paint a glowing picture of the person they’d mounted the stand to defend. Elizabeth had done that all right, big time. As a result, he’d crossed a line professionally grilling them both the way he did. He knew in his gut the women weren’t lesbians. And Elizabeth’s explanation about the New Year’s Eve party had the ring of truth. Whether both were telling the truth about Austin’s abuse was more difficult to judge, and that was troublesome. There were no hospital records, Gina had never called the police, she’d made no formal complaints anytime, anywhere. With no paper trail, it was Gina’s word—and her friend Elizabeth Walker’s—against a man Ryan himself had known for several years. On the other hand, his acquaintance with Austin was not personal, but almost exclusively professional. And very casual. Still, word of that kind of behavior got around, didn’t it? And although he had never heard a word about it, the gossip mill at LJ and B was alive and well. On the other hand, anyone gossiping about Curtiss Leggett’s son would be severely chastised at the firm. That, in itself, would keep a lid on gossip. So, the question remained, were the allegations of the two women manufactured to put the squeeze on his client, as Austin claimed? If so, that kind of mean-spirited, grasping behavior deserved the full brunt of his expertise to rebut it.

He paused with a sheaf of papers in his hand. All this soul-searching and second-guessing of himself was a useless exercise. His treatment of Elizabeth Walker on the stand had nothing to do with her connection to the man who’d driven his father to suicide, and everything to do with his client. That would have been over the line, and he didn’t consider himself petty.

“Hello? Counselor…anybody home?”

“Hmm? Oh, sorry, Austin. I was just practicing my closing statement,” Ryan lied. He picked up his briefcase from the table and fell into step with his client, both headed for the doors. “Why don’t you go grab yourself some lunch and I’ll meet you here when we reconvene?” He shot back a cuff to look at his watch. “In about an hour and a half.”

“You didn’t answer my question,” Austin said, ignoring the dismissal.

“I didn’t hear a question.”

“Is she going to be awarded big money?” he repeated in exasperation. “Jesus, Ryan, what else would I be asking about?”

“What about custody? Isn’t that what you’re most interested in?”

“Custody and the settlement amount go hand in hand,” Austin said, getting more agitated by the minute. On the steps of the courthouse now, he suddenly faced Ryan. “What’s going on here? Are you having doubts about the case? Are you starting to believe those two? Because if you are, I need to know about it. I can get another lawyer—”

Ryan stopped, fed up with the whole nasty situation. “Listen, Austin, if you don’t like the way I’m handling your case, there are thirty-five or forty other lawyers at LB and J who would jump to take my place. I didn’t ask for this job, I was put in a position by your father where it was flat-out suicide to refuse it. And now that I’m up to my ass in your life, I realize that Curtiss Leggett wasn’t particularly looking out for your welfare in ordering me to wrap the whole thing up neatly. What your father wants besides that is to shield the firm from any hint of scandal. Now, the question remains, Austin…why would he think there was a chance that the firm would be embarrassed?”

“I don’t know what he thinks.” Austin sounded like a surly teen.

“Maybe there’s some substance to those allegations Gina and Elizabeth Walker were making? Maybe your old man has picked up something from the office grapevine? Or maybe he has a more reliable source.”

“Meaning what?” Austin’s face was turned away, closed.

“Meaning he’s family, Austin. Your family. Families have secrets.”

“He doesn’t know my secrets,” Austin said sourly, his gaze on the lunch hour traffic. “There’s nothing for him to know. Gina’s lying. Liz is lying.”

“Everybody’s lying,” Ryan said evenly. “But not you.”

Austin turned and looked him squarely in the eye then. “No, not me.”

After a moment, Ryan began to walk again. “Then if you stick with that attitude on the stand this afternoon, you’ll be in good shape, depending on what you really want. If it’s to avoid writing a big check, maybe. Gina claims she doesn’t want much. But if it’s custody of your little girl, that’s more iffy.”

“You worry too much,” Austin said, his good humor restored by the prospect that he might not have to part with real money.

“Yeah, well, that’s my job,” Ryan said. Approaching his car, he opened the door and tossed his briefcase inside. What was really sticking in his craw was the custody issue. When it came to the little girl, Ryan had a bad feeling about handing her over to Austin. He’d felt these vague negative stirrings before in other cases…and it was always when he’d gone to the wire for a client who, when it was all over, turned out to be a liar.

Pity that little girl.

“Jesse, we’re home!” Gina tossed her purse on a chair, kicked off her shoes. “God, I feel like an ex-con getting out of prison. How do you stand being cooped up all day in front of that monitor, Liz? I’d go crazy. Louie! Jesse!” She pulled the comb from her hair and freed her thick, dark mane. Balancing on one leg, she reached for one of the staid, black pumps borrowed from Elizabeth for the hearing and took it off. She glanced into the den while massaging her cramped toes. “Where are they?”

Elizabeth tucked her purse into a drawer. “I’ll check my office.” Jesse had quickly learned to play simple computer games and she sometimes broke the rule not to open the machine when Elizabeth wasn’t there to supervise. “Not in here,” she told Gina. “They’re probably outside.”

“Probably.” Gina headed across the den to the patio doors. “If Louie would let her, Jesse would spend the whole day outside. She’s such a tomboy.” Gina sighed, savoring the cool wood floor on her bare feet. “My feet feel as if they’re out of prison, too,” she muttered, opening the French doors to a burst of enthusiastic barking in the area beyond the patio. “Louie! Jesse! Where are you?”

“Over here.” Louie’s voice came from the gazebo. He began to rise from an old-fashioned glider. There was no sign of Jesse. “How’d it go?”

“We’ll know tomorrow,” Elizabeth said. “The judge will give us his decision then.”

“Oh, shoot, I’ll ruin these panty hose if I go out there.” Stepping back, Gina lifted the hem of her skirt—also borrowed from Elizabeth—and wiggled out of the panty hose. Then, sighing with relief, she stepped barefoot onto the flagstone surface. “Where’s my honey?” she called, raising her voice in the singsong way that Jesse loved.

Jesse squealed, emerging from a pile of raked leaves that hadn’t been there when they’d left this morning. “Here I am, Mommy!” Laughing, she ran flat-out for her mother, arms open wide. The golden retriever raced by her side. Both outdistanced a tow-headed boy, who was just a fraction of an inch taller than Jesse. Gina laughed as thirty-five pounds of small female energy crashed into her legs and two short arms closed tight around her thighs. The dog leaped around them, grinning and barking ecstatically.

“Missed me, didn’t you, punkin?” Gina framed Jesse’s small face between her hands and gave her a kiss on the nose.

“You were gone a long time, Mommy.”

“It sure seemed like it to me, too, baby.” Gina plucked a few dead leaves from her daughter’s tangled mop. “But I came home as soon as I could. Hi, Cody,” she said to the little boy, who smiled shyly while hanging on to the dog’s collar.

“Was she a good girl, Louie?”

The aging man was dusting leaves and debris from his pants. “She’s always a good girl,” Louie Christian said, giving Jesse a wink.

“What is it with that wink?” Gina asked, pretending to frown.

“Don’t go in Papa Louie’s kitchen, Mommy,” Jesse warned. Beside her, Cody buried his face in the dog’s ruff.

“Why, what would I find in Papa Louie’s kitchen?” Gina asked.

“They wanted to make play dough,” Louie explained. “From scratch.”

“No, from flour and salt, Papa Louie,” Jesse said.

Louie gave Gina another wink. “My mistake.”

Gina’s hands went to her hips. “So you said absolutely not because a kitchen is no place for two five-year-olds, except for eating. And besides, fooling around with flour and salt and who-knows-what-all to make play dough is a project to be supervised by moms. That is what you said, isn’t it, Louie?”

Louie scratched his bearded cheek. “Well…”

Jesse was jumping up and down and Cody was grinning. “He let us do it because we knew how, Mommy! We learned at school, didn’t we, Cody?”

“Uh-huh.” Blond head bobbing.

“I’m afraid I didn’t realize exactly what was required to make play dough,” Louie said apologetically. “And then there seemed to be flour everywhere and Archie was going to track it back into the den, so I turned my back for a moment to put her outside, then Cody said he knew how much water it took, but apparently he overestimated a bit and then—” He was shaking his head. “Actually, it was the mixer that did most of the damage, I’m afraid.”

Gina reached up and flicked something white and sticky from Louie’s beard.

“Oops.” Jesse covered her mouth and her smile. “I thought we cleaned you all up, Papa Louie.”

“But did you clean up Papa Louie’s kitchen, young lady?” she asked sternly.

“Papa Louie said we’d better go outside while the gittin’ was good,” Jesse said. “So we did.”

“It was too overwhelming for them to clean up,” Louie said, looking pained. “And I couldn’t leave them outside without supervision. You wouldn’t want that, would you?”

“Oh, no, I wouldn’t want that.” Gina rolled her eyes. “Look, Louie, you’re going to have to be more forceful with them, Jesse especially. She can talk the tail off a tiger if you let her. Now, next time—”

“Next time I won’t let them in the kitchen,” Louie said, looking relieved to get only a lecture.

“No, next time you won’t let them talk you into beginning a project that even an experienced childcare worker would hesitate over.” After a moment, she gave a resigned sigh. “Okay, the damage is done, but we have to go over to Papa Louie’s house now and clean up.” She took Jesse’s hand and motioned for Cody to follow. When Louie made to join them, she shook her head. “Uh-uh, Louie. They did the mess, they’ll clean it up. You go back to the glider and let Elizabeth tell you about the hearing.”

“Good idea.” Elizabeth, smiling faintly over the situation, nudged Louie toward the gazebo.

“Is it good news?” Louie asked, not ready to sit.

“Tell him, Liz.” And with that, she picked up her pace, tugging Jesse along with Cody, and headed toward Louie’s house just visible through a thick hedge of oleander.

“Want some more iced tea?” Elizabeth asked, noticing the glass on the table beside the glider.

“No, no, I’m nearly floating now.” Instead of relaxing, Louie sat up straight on the edge of a cushion as Elizabeth took a seat in a white wicker chair. “I’m surprised the hearing’s over. I thought it would go into a second day. Did Austin do the decent thing and withdraw his motion?”

“Austin and decency is an oxymoron,” Elizabeth said with a grimace. “Gina and I testified this morning, then he took the stand after lunch. Judge Hetherington—”

“Old Lock-’em-up Larry,” Louie muttered as he tossed what was left of his drink into the grass.

“You know him?” Elizabeth asked.

“I’ve watched him preside in a couple of high-profile cases,” Louie said, “but that was years ago. I hope he’s mellowed in his old age.”

It always amazed her how informed Louie was for a man who seldom left his house except to stroll over to hers. He had an opinion about politics, about social problems, about current faces in the news. It shouldn’t surprise her that he recognized the names of locals in the legal community. Judge Hetherington had been on the bench in Houston for over thirty years. Where Louie Christian had been for most of that time was a mystery. He was vague about his past, which was fine with her. She wasn’t one to pry into anyone’s past. It was the present that mattered where Louie was concerned. For one thing, he was the nearest thing to a grandparent that Jesse had, since Austin’s father was a cold fish and his mother lived with her second husband in Phoenix, Arizona, and had never expressed any interest in spending time with the little girl. Louie had an endless supply of anecdotes about his boyhood that enchanted Jesse. Elizabeth herself was charmed by his tales, so much so that she’d used a couple to illustrate themes in her books.

“Let’s pray that he has mellowed,” Elizabeth said now, plucking a spent bloom from a camellia. She’d have to think about getting her yard man to put in some petunias soon. And possibly some daylilies. The lantana would return on its own, flourishing in Houston’s heat. One of the perks of the climate was that her yard was alive with color year-round.

“Exactly what happened today, Liz?”

“Ryan Paxton was brutal to both of us on the stand. Then Austin lied outrageously when it was his turn. There’s no one to refute what goes on between two people in the privacy of their home, Louie, so he painted a picture of Gina that could have made even me wonder if she was an unfit mother. Maude did a good job trying to show that Austin was motivated by a self-serving need to give Gina nothing in the way of decent financial support, but what concerns me most is Austin’s claim that she is unstable.” She stared beyond the trees to the older man’s house, frowning. “She’ll be lucky to come out of this with equally shared custody, Louie. Even worse, it’ll be a miracle if she gets a pittance in the way of child support, too.”

“Hetherington will have to award her reasonable child support.”

“But what if he believes she’s unstable and primary custody goes to Austin?” she asked anxiously.

“Isn’t that what you think?”

She looked at him with surprise. “What?”

Louie was shaking his head. “You haven’t admitted it to yourself, have you? You’ve been Gina’s guardian angel since the two of you were prepubescent, Liz. You’ve watched her make crazy choices even as you begged her to be reasonable, you’ve stepped in to grease the way back when she’s been irresponsible, you’ve lectured and cajoled, you’ve sympathized and nagged. When are you going to insist that she grow up?”

Elizabeth was on her feet now, hugging her middle as if to arm herself against what he said. “That’s a little harsh, isn’t it? And somewhat judgmental.”

He muttered something she didn’t quite catch, then said, “But is it wrong?”

“Some people find it harder to overcome the hardships of childhood than others.”

“Yes, and she can thank the good Lord that you aren’t one of them. Pity poor Jesse-girl if both of you were as damaged as Gina. As it is, the child’s got you as a second mother figure and a stabilizing influence.” Louie gazed through the trees to the patio of his own house where the two children romped and squealed and Archie barked in joyful accompaniment. “The real fear here is that Austin might change his mind and renew their affair. She won’t be able to hold out if he does.”

The same thought was making Elizabeth’s nights long and sleepless. But it made her feel guilty and disloyal to discuss it. To be honest, it was Jesse’s welfare that concerned her more than Gina’s. After all, Gina was an adult, a fact she’d often reminded Elizabeth of when they got on the subject of her relationship with Austin.

Louie was looking at her keenly. “I don’t hear a denial, Lizzie.”

She rubbed her forehead with one hand. “Not this time, Louie. I think the possibility of getting back with Austin is hopeless. He’s tired of her at last and that’s the only way this whole miserable situation is ever going to end.”

“And now, all we have to worry about is what happens to Jesse.”

“Yes, that’s all.”

Seeing the enormity of her fear, Louie rubbed his chin and looked wise. “I wouldn’t be too worried about that, Liz. Frankly, I can’t see a man like Austin wanting the responsibility of a young child. That takes an emotional toll, not to mention time and energy. He’ll avoid all three like a bull avoiding a rattlesnake.”

“I know he’s not concerned about Jesse’s welfare. He never has been. If there had been any doubt about that, he proved otherwise when he tried to force Gina to put Jesse on the stand. He had no thought of how devastating that might be for a five-year-old child. He’s shameless!”

“And selfish.”

“Well, to Gina’s credit, she refused,” Elizabeth said. “What I worry about now is that he’s so vindictive that he’d separate Jesse from Gina and never even consider the heartbreak that would cause both of them.”

“And you.” Louie was looking at her with sympathy. “You have too much invested in this, Liz, and no control over the outcome. You need a husband and children yourself. You’d be a terrific mother, but you’ve invested so much emotionally in these two that you aren’t even open to the possibility of a family of your own.”

She had been once, she thought, watching a dragonfly settle on the back of a chair. And she’d believed herself so close to realizing that dream. Once. “I’m not past the age of possibilities yet, Louie,” she said dryly. “I’m thirty, not fifty. There’s still time for me to marry. In the meantime, I’m concentrating on doing everything I can to help find a happy ending for Jesse. And Gina, of course.”

“Hmm. Meanwhile, let’s be grateful that we’re finally seeing the end of that sorry relationship,” Louie said, adding in a wry tone, “if we’re lucky. And even though it’s Austin doing the walking. Hell, it’s years overdue, but now’s not the time to look a gift horse in the mouth.”

“It’s so frustrating.” Elizabeth watched the dragonfly lift off and fly away. “But the more I know about people in abusive relationships, the more I can see Gina conforming to type. I remember the first time I saw purple marks he left on both her arms. I insisted that she pack up, leave him and file an official report with the police. She didn’t have Jesse then. It would have been so much easier than now. You know what she said?” Louie still sat silent. Unable to stand still, Elizabeth began pacing. “She said she’d provoked him, that it was as much her fault as his. I couldn’t believe it. She was battered and bruised and I think he’d made a mark on her cheek that she’d tried to cover up with makeup, which meant he’d struck her in the face, for heaven sake.” Her arms were again tight around herself and her eyes had a suspicious brightness. “That was the beginning and it only got worse. Gina’s reaction was right out of a textbook. Sadly, you’re right that she’d go back today if Austin smiled and crooked his finger.”

“Well, we can hope that won’t happen,” Louie said, rising with a painful grunt. He’d hurt his back a few weeks ago while preparing his vegetable garden. Of course, he’d refused any help from Gina and Elizabeth even though he would share its bounty. Next season, he would use a motorized tiller if she had to purchase it herself. “And even if he does manage to get primary custody, he’ll soon be bored and more than willing to hand Jesse back to Gina.”

Elizabeth smiled thinly. “Yes, but until he gets bored, there will be nothing and no one to protect his victims.”

They were seated in the courtroom a few minutes before ten the next day. Judge Hetherington arrived precisely on time, seated himself with an air of importance, then peered over his reading glasses to locate Gina and Austin. With a curt nod of his head, he addressed them both.

“This was a very difficult case. When the facts are as murky and uncertain as I’ve found them to be herein, I can only adjudicate with what’s given to me in testimony or in deposition. Ms. D’Angelo, I believe you love your daughter and genuinely seek what’s best for her. I also believe—” he turned his gaze on Austin “—that you, Mr. Leggett, have demonstrated a fatherly concern for Jesse, although your time and attention as a parent differs from your…ah, ex-partner’s parenting behavior, as well it should.” He studied notes in front of him silently for a few moments. “The difficulty in deciding this case lies in the accusations made by each of you about the other. In essence, the court has only the word of each of you that you are being truthful. I believe Ms. Walker is sincere in defending your character, Ms. D’Angelo. But she was not present when you and Mr. Leggett were alone behind closed doors. Therefore, her testimony must be considered hearsay. I find the same to be true of the deposition of one…ah—” he turned over several pages of a yellow pad “—Louis Christian.” Looking up, he gazed sternly at Ryan. “It would have been helpful to have a character witness for your client, Mr. Paxton. I have read the deposition of one…Marilyn Leggett Bingham, but—”

“That would be my mother, Your Honor,” Austin said, “Jesse’s grandmother.” He had begun to rise from his chair, but was halted when Ryan jerked hard on his coattail.

The judge’s gaze became a glare. “You had your chance to respond when court was in session yesterday, Mr. Leggett.”

“Sorry,” Austin mumbled, subsiding.

The judge reviewed his notes again. “Mrs. Bingham’s deposition was very favorable, as one might expect from a mother, but I am forced to point out that she is not in residence nearby and hasn’t seen the child in more than a year. Her testimony was not helpful in that context. I repeat, I find myself in a difficult situation.”

Listening, Elizabeth held her breath. In front of her, Gina sat fidgeting and looking scared. And no wonder, Elizabeth thought. Judge Hetherington clearly wasn’t convinced that they’d told the truth about Austin. Was the man going to get away scot-free?

“I’m favorably impressed by Ms. D’Angelo’s modest financial demands,” the judge continued, “as well as her intention to set aside some of it for the child’s education later. I’m granting that amount. I’m also increasing it by two thousand dollars each month to apply to rent and day-care since Ms. D’Angelo has stated she needs to seek employment and it’s unreasonable to assume that she can enjoy her friend’s hospitality indefinitely. If she does indeed find suitable employment, I’ll take another look at her financial situation.”

Gina made a soft, incoherent sound, but was sternly quashed by one look from the judge. Focusing again on his yellow pad, he studied his notes in silence, then continued. “I’m also favorably impressed by Mr. Leggett’s generosity in providing for Ms. D’Angelo and the child for the entire duration of their relationship. Without hospital records or police statements to back up the allegations of abuse, I’m powerless by law to consider that an issue here today. Consequently…” He paused, finished with his notes, and began tidying up. When the pad and all documents were neatly stacked in front of him, he reached for his gavel. “I’m granting joint and equal custody of the minor child, Jesse Elizabeth Leggett, to you both, Gina D’Angelo and Austin Leggett, and directing that you work out an amicable arrangement for sharing the responsibilities of parenting her. There’s no such thing as equal custody, of course, but you both live in the same town and that is an advantage. Since Jesse attends kindergarten, I’m directing that she live with her mother during the week and that you have visitation rights as often as you wish, Mr. Leggett. I leave it to you both to work out weekend visitation, but I’m again directing that it be each and every weekend if you so desire, Mr. Leggett. Also, you are to take turns with holidays, Christmas, Thanksgiving, Labor Day, whatever. If you are unable to come to an agreement, then the court will appoint someone to do it for you.” Stern-faced, he leaned forward and pointed the gavel at them. “I strongly urge you both to work this out between yourselves. I’ll expect a document from your attorneys within thirty days as to the terms and conditions. I don’t need to point out the difficulties in dividing a child’s life into two equal parts, but if you care about Jesse as much as you’ve testified to me, then I’m confident you’ll both do the right thing. Now, this hearing is adjourned.”

Crack! His gavel banged and it was over.

Five

“Can we talk, Ms. Walker?”

Ryan Paxton spoke from behind Elizabeth as she stood in line at Starbucks waiting for the cappuccino she’d ordered. She turned, startled, and found herself looking into his eyes. They were a clear, almost silver, gray. He’d un-buttoned his shirt and pulled the knot of his tie loose. But it had done nothing to detract from the classy elegance of his suit, as expensive as yesterday’s. Would anything? Dangling from one hand was his briefcase. The other was anchored by a thumb in a pocket. She wasn’t fooled by his casual air. There had been nothing casual about the way he’d gone after her and Gina on the stand yesterday. And this close, he seemed taller and more intimidating than he’d been in the courtroom.

She resisted an urge to ease back and held her ground. “I don’t know what we could possibly have to say to each other, Mr. Paxton.”

“You heard the warning Judge Hetherington gave Austin and Gina. I thought you and I might help ward off the Third World War.”

“The way I heard it, the judge assigned that task to you and Maude Kennedy.” Elizabeth glanced toward the attendant who was brewing the cappuccino. With a hiss of the machine, he completed the creation and handed it over. She took it and began walking away. Ryan followed.

“I’d still like a minute to talk about it.” With a light touch on her arm, he steered her toward an empty table. Wishing she hadn’t indulged her craving for coffee, Elizabeth allowed him to pull out a chair for her. After the session in the courtroom, she’d left Gina and Maude to begin hammering out some kind of workable agreement with Austin and Ryan, telling Gina to meet her at the coffee bar in an hour. It surprised her that Ryan had left his client unprotected with Maude Kennedy. She hoped Maude was taking advantage of his lapse in judgment.

When she was seated, he took the chair opposite. “You must be feeling pretty good about the judge’s ruling,” he said.

“What makes you say that?”

“It’s obvious, isn’t it? Gina gets the kid, the money…two thousand bucks more than she asked for. Plus, you’re off the hook. She can get an apartment and you get your privacy back.”

“Do you practice being obnoxious, Mr. Paxton? Or were you simply born that way?”

“You mean you wouldn’t mind if Gina stayed with you indefinitely?”

“I mean exactly that. Gina and Jesse are family. I love them both. They’re welcome in my home as long as they want to be there.”

He slapped his briefcase into the empty chair at the table and dropped his head back, looking at the ceiling for a moment before straightening up. “I’m screwing this all up.”

“Screwing what up?”

“My peace mission. Trying to get your help on this whole stupid situation before it turns into something we’d all rather avoid.”

“Like what? Like Gina might get attacked again by that sadistic jerk? Or, worse yet, he might turn on Jesse? How would you like that, Mr. Paxton? How would you feel if he lost his temper when Jesse spills her milk or…or leaves a toy on the stairs or breaks something that he prizes? Children do that, you know. How would you like it if she landed in the ER with a broken arm? Or a concussion? Or worse!”

He was shaking his head. “Come on. You’re exaggerating. Nobody produced a scrap of evidence proving Gina was roughed up by Austin. And you’re not going to make me believe he’d hit that little girl.”

“I’m not going to be able to make you believe anything except what you want to believe,” Elizabeth said bitterly. “You’ve convinced yourself that Austin’s okay. Odd, since you probably don’t even particularly like him. At least, I didn’t see much evidence of strong male bonding between the two of you during the two days I’ve had to observe. Your attitude is so typical. You won’t let yourself think that a fellow lawyer, a well-educated contemporary from a privileged background could be a cruel, vindictive, violent creep, will you?”

“Not without something more than the word of two—”

“Lesbians?”

Again, he was shaking his head. “Ah, I don’t believe that.”

“Then why did you insinuate it to Judge Hetherington?”

“I’m a lawyer. I use whatever tactics I can to benefit my client.”

She stood up, nearly tipping the coffee over. “I never could understand why anybody would want to be a lawyer and you’ve reassured me about my instincts.”

Ryan touched her hand. “Wait, wait a minute, Ms. Walker.” The look she gave him was so furious that he fell back. “Look, I’m sorry. I didn’t approach you to stir things up worse than they are between Austin and Gina. Believe it or not, I’m trying to do some good here.”

“How, in God’s name, are you trying to do good?” she asked, genuinely baffled.

“I need your help in trying to get Gina and Austin to work something out for the sake of the kid…for Jesse’s sake. And I don’t think it’s going to happen if it’s left to them.”

“I can promise that Gina is more than willing to do whatever it takes to work out something for Jesse’s sake. She loves her child more than life itself.”

“And Austin doesn’t, is that what you’re saying?”

“If the shoe fits.” She wadded up her soaked napkin and tossed it and her unfinished cappuccino into the trash. “And now, if you’ll excuse me…”

He caught up with her just as she stepped outside into bright sunshine. “Don’t you even want to try?”

She put a hand up to shade her eyes and stared at him. “Excuse me, but it’s difficult for me to believe that you’re thinking of Jesse and Gina, Mr. Paxton. The only way this could have been worse is if Austin had been given full custody of Jesse. Then she really would have been lost to us. This way, Austin will still be in her life and in Gina’s, I’m sorry to say.”

“Ryan.”

She blinked. “What?”

“I’m Ryan, not Mr. Paxton.”

“Look,” she said, drawing a weary breath and digging for her car keys, “the only two people who are relevant in this…this agreement that the judge has decreed are Gina and Austin. And nothing you or I can do is going to affect that. I don’t quite understand why you felt comfortable leaving your client with Gina and Maude, but without you they may be able to work something out. Maude is smart and coolheaded and even Austin must respect her.”

“Yeah, and it would be nice if Maude was in there with them. Unfortunately, when they booted me out, they booted her out, too.”

Keys forgotten, Elizabeth stared at him. “What do you mean they booted her out?”

“Just what I said. She—” He stopped abruptly as a sporty BMW stopped at curbside, brakes squealing. The driver was a woman. “Damn it all,” Ryan muttered as she got out of the car and looked over the top of the car at him.

“Where the hell have you been?” she growled, snatching sunglasses from her face. “Why do you have that damn cell phone if you aren’t going to bother answering it?” She was halfway around the front of the car now. “I’ve been trying to reach you for hours, Ryan. Damn it! You’re impossible. You’re—you’re—”

“Excuse me a moment,” Ryan said to Elizabeth in a grim tone, adding, “Don’t go away. I still want to talk to you.” He intercepted the furious woman, catching her by the arm just as she stepped up on the sidewalk. But even though he turned to shield their conversation, the woman was oblivious to an audience.

“You’re taking her, Ryan. This time, I’ve simply had it. She can come live with you. I’m tired of fighting it. We’ll see how you cope if she’s with you 24/7.”

“Calm down, for God’s sake, Diane. The whole world can hear you!”

“It’s too damn bad you can’t hear me, Ryan.” She shoved her sunglasses back on her face and turned away, lips trembling. “Oh, hell, I know I’m wasting my time.” She drew in a shaky breath. “I’ve been trying to reach you since early this morning.”

“I’ve been in court. Which is why my cell phone was off. What’s going on?”

“It’s Jennifer, of course.”

Ryan looked at the ground as though taking a moment to count to ten. “What now, Diane?”

“She’s really done it this time, Ryan. She stole a car. Can you believe that?”

“What!”

“It gets worse. She had an accident.”

Ryan’s attitude went instantly from shock to concern. “Is she hurt?” He looked at the car as if expecting to see Jennifer. “Where is she?”

“She’s not hurt. She’s at your house. I dropped her there and told her I was going to find you.” She pressed a hand to her lips. “She’s in serious trouble, Ryan.”

“Are the police involved?”

“I haven’t called anybody yet.” She pushed her hair back and looked directly at him again. “She left the scene. She hit somebody who was biking in Hermann Park. There was no other car involved. And then she—she just drove off, Ryan.” Diane spread her hands in a gesture of pure bafflement.

“Jesus Christ.” He leaned against the car, then turned to see Elizabeth watching. Straightening, he caught Diane’s arm and moved out of earshot. “Go back to my house and wait for me there. I’ll clear up what I’ve got going here and be there within an hour. Don’t talk to anybody else about this. I’ll do that when I get home.”

“I called the hospitals to try to get some information about the—the victim,” Diane said hesitantly. Her face was tight with strain. “No luck. I—I didn’t call the police to see if he was—”

“I’ll handle it.” Ryan reached out and squeezed her shoulder. “Try not to worry, Di.” His jaw went rigid. “And tell Jennifer—” He stopped, waited a moment or two as if reconsidering. “Tell her to sit tight and we’ll talk when I get there.”

Diane’s face was bleak as she met his eyes. “I can’t believe she did this, Ryan.”

“Yeah, she’s out of control. We’ve both seen it coming.” He shook his head. “I don’t know what to tell you.”

“You’re going to have to take her. She needs a stronger hand, Ryan.” She pushed a hand through her hair wearily. “I’m just at the end of my rope.”

“It’s okay,” he said, nodding. “We’ll work something out. Go back now and stay with her. She shouldn’t be left alone too long under the circumstances.”

She nodded wordlessly, then as she stepped off the curb to go around her car, she glanced about and saw Elizabeth. “I’m sorry,” she murmured. “I guess your friend heard everything. Or is she a client?”

“Neither. Drive carefully now.”

He stood watching as she walked back to the BMW, got in and started it. He lifted a palm and waved her off, his face troubled. Finally, he turned where Elizabeth was waiting. “Sorry about that.”

She gave a small shrug and smiled sympathetically. “Looks like you’ll have your hands full for a while.”

“I’d like to keep this private, Elizabeth. My daughter seems to be going through a bad patch.”

“Certainly. Consider it forgotten.”

“Thanks.”

“You were saying that Gina dismissed Maude when you left. I can’t believe that.”

“See for yourself.” He looked beyond her as Austin’s Porsche pulled into a parking slot across the street from the coffee shop. Gina got out and even from this distance, Elizabeth could tell she was flushed and animated. At a signal from Austin, she waited for him to come around the car. He bent and said something in her ear. She nodded, not quite smiling, but she looked far less fragile than she’d been in the courtroom less than two hours ago. Tucking his hand beneath her elbow, they started across the street. There was no sign of Maude Kennedy.

“Hello,” Ryan murmured, watching them. “Looks as if they’re all made up.”

“Thanks to you,” Elizabeth said bitterly. “Once Austin got her alone, he would have wasted no time convincing her that they didn’t need anybody to help them work this out. So now he’s got a free hand to persuade her to anything he wants. Trust me, it won’t be to Gina’s advantage.”

Ryan looked down at her. “You really despise him, don’t you?”

“He’s a despicable human being.”

Both were silent as the couple approached. Gina’s smile, when she spotted them, was a little too bright. “Lizzie, I’m glad I caught you. Hi, Ryan. Are you two getting acquainted?”

“Mr. Paxton was just leaving,” Elizabeth said, then added coolly, “Hello, Austin.”

“Liz.” Austin’s pale eyes sliced over her.

“Austin and I are going to lunch, Liz. We’re going to talk this over ourselves, try to put something together without the…the lawyers.” She gave a quick, embarrassed half laugh. “No offense, Ryan. So, Liz, you needn’t wait around to give me a lift home as we’d planned.”

“What are you doing, Gina? You know why the judge directed you to work out an agreement with the help of your lawyers. These things are handled best with people who aren’t emotionally involved.” She gave Austin a quick glance, unmoved by the venom in his glare. She expected Austin to try an end run around the judge’s order, but why would Gina give him the opportunity after the abominable way he’d treated her? “If you go with Austin now, you give up any advantage you might have in negotiations. You know how he is, Gina.”

“Oh, Lizzie—”

“Yeah, Lizzie,” Austin said, with sarcasm, “however Gina decides to work this out is none of your business. And even if she wants advice from her lawyer, that’s Maude Kennedy, not you. So butt out. Now.”

Ignoring him, Elizabeth focused on Gina, but it was a struggle to keep the edge from her voice. “Does Maude know you’re going to handle this without her and does she approve, Gina?”

“She—she was a little reluctant, but—”

“C’mon, Gina. I’m ready for some fresh air.” With his arm around Gina’s waist, Austin’s razor-sharp smile included Ryan as well as Elizabeth. “That judge was so full of shit that it’ll take me and Gina a while to shovel through it and come up with a reasonable plan, but we can do it, can’t we, honey? And without the help of lawyers.”

He took a step or two, but stopped as another thought struck him. There was no smile on his face when he addressed Ryan. “Hey, Ryan, you’ll want to stick to criminal defense if your performance today is an example of what you can do in a civil suit. Luckily, Gina’s going to be reasonable about this and we’ll let you and that ball-buster who represented her know how it comes out.” Lifting his hand, he pushed Gina ahead a little more forcefully than she expected, but she quickly regained her balance and picked up her pace to match his as they headed toward the car.

“Seems in a hurry,” Ryan observed, watching as Gina was hustled into the Porsche.

“It’s necessary…before she changes her mind.”

Ryan shifted his briefcase to his left hand and urged Elizabeth into a walk. “I think I’ve just been dissed big-time,” he said dryly.

“I wouldn’t expect a bouquet of flowers tomorrow from your client if I were you,” Elizabeth said, still frowning at the Porsche that was peeling out into heavy traffic. But concern and disappointment were a thick knot in her throat. He’d done it again. He’d smiled and mouthed a few smarmy words and Gina had caved, just as she and Louie had feared.

“All I need now,” she said mostly to herself, “is to get back home and find a message that she’s decided to go back and live with him again.” She was barely aware that it was Austin’s lawyer beside her.

“I don’t think that’ll happen.”

“Oh, it could. She’s done it many times.”

“It might be difficult this time. Three’s a crowd and I’m not counting Jesse.”

She gave him a quick glance. “He has another woman already?”

He shrugged. “He hasn’t admitted it. I’m just repeating gossip.”

“Isn’t that a breach of ethics? The man’s your client.”

“As I said, it’s only gossip. Besides, Austin’s parting salvo makes me think he’ll be looking for fresh representation soon.”

She would have laughed, but she was simply too disheartened. “It won’t matter. He’s in damage control mode and we’ll only know how much damage he’s controlled when Gina gets home tonight.”

“I thought they were just having lunch,” Ryan said.

“Oh, they’ll have lunch all right…and then he’ll persuade her to spend the afternoon with him to give him more opportunity to get her to rethink her attitude. Then he’ll treat her to dinner in a great restaurant. It’ll be expensive and romantic, a place to remind her of all the perks that come from sleeping with the enemy.”

As they neared her car, Elizabeth fished her keys out of her purse and chirped the remote to unlock it. But before she climbed inside, Ryan stopped her.

“May I ask you a personal question?”

“Ask anything you want, but I certainly don’t promise to answer.”

“It’s about your friendship with Gina. Anyone can see that the two of you are nothing alike. From what I learned about her after I took on the case, Gina’s made some really bad choices. Granted, Austin’s not a very reliable source, but on the stand yesterday you said the two of you have been together as foster kids since you were five years old. Tell me, why is her personal life a wreck and yours almost the exact opposite?”

“Almost?”

“Well, nobody’s perfect. So, unless you’re going to tell me something bad, my comment stands. And my question.”

“I’m not going to tell you anything, Mr. Paxton. My personal life is just that, personal. And private.” She got into the car, but he caught the door before she could close it. “What?” she demanded. Both hands on the wheel, she looked straight ahead.

“You have a reputation for avoiding publicity, for reclusiveness. Don’t you know that the more mysterious you seem, the more intriguing you are to your fans? Avoiding them just adds to your mystery. Throw a few scraps out there and they’ll back off. And it’s Ryan, not Mr. Paxton.”

“Reporters don’t want scraps, they’re hunting red meat. I have a right to avoid anyone prying into my life. Thanks for the advice, but no thanks.” She put the keys into the ignition and started the car. Getting on a first name basis with Ryan Paxton was another thing she wanted to avoid. “And my fans won’t care—because they’re children.”

“How do you communicate with them, other than your books, of course? By e-mail on the Internet? Letters? What?”

“Letters mostly.” She could just drive off, but he’d unknowingly touched on something she was not reluctant to share. “And I answer them all, each and every one.” Her fan mail came from children, innocents who wrote from the heart. Elizabeth understood that need to communicate. She knew how it felt to write a letter when you still believed there was someone out there who would listen. And she knew how it felt to wait expectantly for a reply that never came.

“Kids send you letters,” he said, considering that with a half smile. “You must get some real cute stuff.”

She thought of the eight-year-old whose letter lay even now waiting for a reply in her in basket. The child’s younger sister needed a heart transplant. Would Elizabeth please tell the child’s parents that she would like to give her sister “half of her heart?” “Sometimes they aren’t very cute.”

He still blocked her leaving, standing with his weight on one hip, his left hand resting on the door frame of her car. She didn’t wait to hear what else he had to say about her career or her personality drawbacks. Instead, she reached for the handle of the door, forcing him to move back, and closed it smartly. “Goodbye, Mr. Paxton,” she muttered to his receding outline in her rearview mirror.

Ryan stood for a minute watching Elizabeth drive away. Okay, he’d satisfied his curiosity. He’d had a conversation with her out of the courtroom. Away from her pal and soul mate, Gina. He hadn’t made up the reason for seeking her out, not exactly. He knew, if left to his own devious devices, Austin would chew Gina up and spit her out, sans any financial settlement, no matter what the court decreed. And just to ease his conscience, he was going to give Curtiss Leggett an earful about his prick of a son. He might not be as black as the two women had painted him, but he wasn’t a boy scout either. So, Ryan’s motive in talking to Liz was honorable. Sort of. He also wanted to talk, one on one, with the daughter of the man who was responsible for John Paxton’s death.

He’d watched her for a few minutes at the coffee bar before approaching her. She was easy on the eyes, as gorgeous in person as her press photo. In fact, he’d had a hard time keeping his thoughts in line when he had her on the stand in the courtroom. He admired her loyalty, too. She was as fierce as a mama tiger defending Gina. Or possibly, it was the little girl, Jesse, who stirred the fires in her breast. Beautiful breasts. He’d had no trouble imagining the feel of them in his hands as he stood talking to her, even in that severe suit with the starched blouse underneath. But he didn’t intend to get caught up in any sexual fantasies about Elizabeth Walker. He had other, more compelling reasons for getting to know her better.

Her old man was dead, killed in a house fire just a day or two after his dad’s suicide. That much was public knowledge. But information beyond that about Judge Matthew Walker was extremely hard to come by. Maybe Elizabeth was a possible source. She’d been only five when he died, but she probably had his papers, his files, a record of the cases he’d been involved in at the time of his death. If she hadn’t destroyed them. Being a foster kid, her possessions might have been lost as she’d been palmed off to one anonymous family after another.

He felt a pang of sympathy, but for only a moment before shutting it off. Unlike Elizabeth, he’d had both parents until he was fifteen, two-thirds longer than she’d had anybody. Tough luck, but she’d managed. Pretty damned good, too. He admired her accomplishments. No, he wouldn’t waste sympathy on somebody who clearly didn’t need it.

Six

“Have you got a minute, Curtiss?”

Curtiss Leggett looked up from a seemingly vacant perusal of Houston’s skyline and motioned Ryan into his office. He swiveled in his chair so that he faced forward as Ryan quietly pulled the door closed behind them, ensuring privacy. “How’d it go?”

“Hetherington awarded joint custody to Austin and Gina. They’re to share holidays and vacations. They’re to work out an amicable plan together.”

Leggett grunted. “What about child support, palimony?”

“Her request was modest. Hetherington doubled it. Austin’s hit for about four thousand a month unless the two of them can come to an agreement for less.” Ryan frowned. “I thought he would have called you by now.”

Leggett’s laugh was brief and without humor. “He knows better than to bring up the subject of that woman with me. He should never have moved in with her. I know it’s the thing to live together now, but wouldn’t you think he’d choose someone of his own class? She’s trailer trash, that’s an apt description. I’ve been after him for years to send her packing.” He drew a disgusted breath. “I never could understand what he saw in her.”

“What about Jesse?”

Leggett turned his face, avoiding Ryan’s gaze. “Another mistake. Why the hell he didn’t make her abort is another mystery to me.” Shaking his head with more disgust, he said, “The whole thing has been distasteful to me from the beginning. I’m just glad to see the end of it. Of course, I’ll talk to Hetherington about reducing the money. Four thousand’s ridiculous. What does she expect, to be kept in the style of a real ex-wife? You’ve got to have a marriage for that. Steering clear of matrimony was Austin’s only smart decision.”

Ryan felt himself doing a slow burn. He’d felt no particular affection for Gina D’Angelo while representing her ex-lover, but she seemed a decent person. She’d made some bad choices in her life, but, hell, didn’t everybody once in a while? But she wasn’t trailer trash and she didn’t deserve the treatment Leggett father and son would no doubt cook up for her.

“Something else emerged during the hearing,” he said, wishing hard that he was on the golf course. He found he couldn’t sit down. He was too close to telling this bigoted old fart where to get off. “I know you were concerned about the firm’s reputation and any scandal that might grow out of the hearing…or out of Austin’s involvement with Gina.” He paused, giving Leggett a chance to be reminded that it wasn’t only Gina who was to blame for the situation. “There is some exposure, I think.”

Leggett was in the act of reaching for an elaborate humidor where he kept his stash of Cuban cigars. He stopped now, giving Ryan a keen look. “In what way?”

“Gina and her character witness, Elizabeth Walker, made some serious accusations about Austin. Do you have any knowledge of abuse in their relationship?”

“Abuse? Not sexual? Nothing about the little girl, eh?” He barked the questions out, like bullets.

“No.” Jesus, why would he even think that? Ryan watched him lift the lid of the humidor and select a cigar, taking his time. Did he know what was coming next? “They claimed Austin was often physically abusive, that he made a habit of beating up on her. That he had an ungovernable temper and when it went out of control, Gina was the victim.”

“Preposterous.” Leggett busied himself preparing his cigar. Looking at it, not Ryan, he meticulously clipped the end, moistened it by rolling it round and round in his mouth, then he picked up a sterling silver lighter. Now, holding the cigar in his teeth, he put the flame to it and puffed energetically until the immediate area around his head and shoulders was thick with smoke. Only then did he look up at Ryan, his eyes squinting against the acrid cloud. “What kind of evidence did they have for that?”

What kind of question was that? Ryan wanted to shoot the words back at him. It was as if Leggett accepted it for the truth, but lawyerlike was seeking a way out. “They didn’t produce any evidence,” Ryan told him. “That was the reason the judge went with the joint custody thing. If they’d had a hospital report or a police report, or if they managed to come up with an actual eye witness when Austin did what they claimed, it would have been much worse for him. As it is, only Elizabeth Walker, Gina’s friend and godmother to Jesse, claims to have seen bruises. She was a sort of way station when Gina would go into seclusion.”

“Bullshit.”

“Maybe.” Ryan was beginning to have grave doubts about the character of his client. “But if Austin’s smart—and there is some grain of truth to what both women claim—he’ll need to be very careful around Gina and his daughter in the future. It wasn’t a closed hearing, Curtiss. There were some students there, law school types from Rice, I think. And the usual courtroom junkies that hang around just to watch the legal system in play. But hear this. The person who really concerns me is Lindsay Blackstone, a television personality at WBYH-TV. She heard everything. My paralegal tells me that there was a series on her show last year about the escalating violence against women from husbands and lovers. I just hope she wasn’t there doing more research for a follow-up. I don’t think so, as there was no camera, but you never can tell.”

“Goddamn it!” Leggett rose abruptly from his chair, his frown thunderous. “Why didn’t you see to it the hearing was closed, Paxton? That’s why I chose you to handle this…mess.”

“If I’d suspected what Austin was going to be accused of, I would have,” Ryan said in an even tone. Did he have to remind the old coot that he’d walked into this case blind? And whose fault was that? The first rule in defense was to come clean with your lawyer.

Leggett grunted and puffed furiously on his cigar while he thought. He then gave Ryan a sharp look. “You think anything’ll come of it?”

“Only if Austin gets stupid and hits her again.”

Ryan was out of Leggett’s office and on his way to his car when he realized what he’d revealed in his parting remark to Austin’s old man. Leggett clearly was unsurprised to hear that his son was accused of beating up on a woman. That was disgusting enough, but what was just as disgusting was the absence of any shock and sympathy on Leggett’s part for the victim. The whole thing left a bad taste in Ryan’s mouth. He wished he’d never gotten involved.

Seven

Austin lifted his wineglass and smiled into Gina’s eyes. “To peace and harmony,” he said, his voice low and sexy. “To a better understanding, and especially to a history that can’t be wiped out by asshole lawyers.”

“Present company excluded, I assume,” Gina said dryly.

He touched her glass to his and grinned wickedly. “Damn right.”

Gina tasted the pinot grigio and found it fragrant and light. At one time she would have enjoyed it, as well as the hushed, intimate atmosphere of the restaurant. Anthony’s was pricey and the place to see and be seen in Houston, but considering that they’d spent the past two days in a bitter court fight, Austin’s motive in bringing her here was pretty obvious. She should have asked him to take her home after lunch, but he’d suggested they take in the new exhibit at the museum and then they’d stopped at happy hour at a bar he liked. And now…

When the menus were placed before them, he set his glass down and rubbed his hands together. “So, let’s see what’s wonderful tonight. I’ve heard the tomato tower is great. Let’s try it. What do you say?”

She ordered without much enthusiasm and sat back to wait for the meal while Austin chatted with ease about everything except the one subject that they should discuss. “So how’s your job search coming?” he asked as soon as their salads were served.

“I’ve had a couple of interviews.” She toyed with the garden greens. “I think I would have been hired by a small firm last week, but the personnel manager was spooked by the circumstances of my leaving LJ and B.”

“Not a problem.” He poured more wine for both of them. “Have them call me. I’ll give you a recommendation that won’t quit.” He lifted his glass. “Cheers, babe.”

“It’s too late, Austin. I needed the recommendation before they notified me that someone else had been selected.” Since that had been before the hearing, she didn’t need to be a rocket scientist to understand why there’d been blank silence from Austin.

“It’s their loss, sweetheart.” He reached over and touched her cheek. “Next time.”

In spite of her suspicions, she felt a quick, familiar warmth as his hand lingered, cradling her face. Austin in this mood was dangerously seductive. And the emotion he kindled wasn’t from the wine. No, it stemmed from some deep need in herself that Austin had always been skillful in tapping. Struggling to resist it, she glanced at her watch. “I really need to get back, Austin. Liz will be wondering what happened to me.”

The easy charm disappeared at the mention of Liz’s name. He dropped his hand and his voice went flat. “Liz knows you’re with me. Forget her.” He lifted his wineglass, but found it empty and set it down with a hard thump. Refilling his glass almost emptied the bottle. Looking about with irritation, he located the waiter and with a curt gesture ordered another.

“Austin, I’m serious.” Gina covered her glass with one hand. More wine would undermine her ability to resist him. “It’s not just Liz I’m concerned about, it’s Jesse.”

“She’s asleep, for Christ sake! Or she damn well should be at this hour.”

“She is, because Liz is so conscientious about everything to do with Jesse. But I’m responsible for her even so. I hadn’t planned on having dinner with you this evening. What if Liz had plans of her own?”

“She never has plans. She’s a goddamned recluse!”

“You make her sound weird or…or antisocial, or something. She isn’t any of that. She’s the best kind of friend a person could have, especially to Jesse and me. I honestly don’t know what I’d do without her.”

“We probably wouldn’t be in this mess without her,” he said in a biting tone, then added, “And don’t forget good ol’ Louie.”

She looked again at her watch as the waiter approached with a fresh bottle of wine. “I really have to go, Austin. Stay and enjoy your meal. I’ll get a taxi.”

He stood up with a short obscenity and pulled out his wallet. Sensing trouble, the waiter backed away and stood at a discreet distance as Austin peeled off several bills and tossed them on the table. The waiter wasn’t the only one who sensed trouble. Gina recognized the signs all too well. She quickly stood, grabbing her purse. On the ride home, Austin’s irritation would grow with every mile. He’d be tense and silent, seething with rage. But tonight, thank God, she wouldn’t be going home with him.

She stole a quick look at him and felt an odd regret. For several hours today when he was so utterly focused on her, when he’d turned on the full force of his appeal, she’d come dangerously close to forgetting who he was. What he was really like. Just a moment ago, in the heat of his gaze and his touch, she’d allowed her defenses to slip. Then she’d mentioned Liz’s name. That, coupled with her reluctance to stay until he decided it was time to go, was all it took. His good humor was gone in a flash. A dash of cold water couldn’t have brought her back to earth quicker.

With a weary sigh, Gina stood quietly beside Austin while the valet brought the Porsche around. The trip would be a harrowing experience. Austin drove like a maniac when he was ticked off. She’d lost count of the many instances in their long relationship that had ended this way. She’d say something, or do something that set him off and the fat would be in the fire. Tonight, knowing she was not going to be his victim, she could almost view his behavior with humor.

They were barely seated in the Porsche when he pulled away in a wild screech of tires. He was like a teenager, she thought, hiding a smile. In fact, a kid would probably have more self-control. Jesse certainly did. Apparently she hadn’t inherited her father’s black temper, another point for which to thank God tonight.

“What?” he growled.

“Nothing.” She cleared her throat and looked straight ahead. He was pretty mad at her right now, but if he guessed she was laughing at him, his temper would really explode. “Just thinking of something funny that Jesse said,” she lied.

“Liar, liar, pants on fire.”

She gave him a startled look and saw that he was smiling slightly. Austin…laughing at himself?

“Okay, I was an idiot back there. I apologize.”

She made some incoherent sound.

“Yeah, I apologize. You’re right. You can’t impose on somebody who’s furnishing free room and board, plus baby-sitting.”

“It’s okay,” she said faintly. Wow, a touch of gratitude. This was a new twist.

“I was just disappointed that we couldn’t stay and enjoy the atmosphere. And the company.” He winked and gave her a wicked smile. “Anthony’s is a place where you bring somebody you feel special about.”

“Don’t push it, Austin. You don’t feel special about me anymore.”

“I’ll always feel special about you, babe. We’ve got history, good history.”

“And some not-so-good history,” she said dryly.

“Yeah, but I can see the error of my ways. I hate for it to end this way, both of us with regrets and wishing it could have been different. I think we can still salvage something good out of all this.”

“We’ll definitely salvage something good. That’s Jesse.”

“Yeah, which is exactly what we need to focus on, babe. We need to think about Jesse. How all this is going to affect her. I mean, if Liz and Louie are always bad-mouthing me behind my back and you’re hounding me about palimony, how’s that going to look to Jesse? She needs to feel that we still care about each other.”

“I wasn’t hounding you, Austin. I asked for a reasonable amount of child support, a thousand dollars of which is going into trust for Jesse’s education. You can set it up at LJ and B if you want. It was the judge who increased the amount, not me. And Liz and Louie don’t ever mention you to Jesse. They wouldn’t do that. They know how that can confuse and hurt a child.”

“Now you’re saying they never mention me. Hell, that’s almost as bad.”

She gave an exasperated sigh. “Austin, listen to yourself! Just exactly what in all this would make you happy?”

“That’s easy.” He signaled to exit the Interstate. “Just you and me handling our business without anybody else interfering.”

Now they’d reached the neighborhood where Liz lived. Memorial was dense with tall trees, good landscaping and upscale residences. Much of Houston proper was hot and arid with an excess of stark, towering skyscrapers and roads frequently in a state of ongoing “improvement,” but the Memorial area was quiet and understated. Even as successful as Liz was, she couldn’t have afforded living here if it weren’t for the trust fund left for her by her father.

Suddenly, instead of driving the final mile to Liz’s house, Austin pulled into the parking area of a posh condominium complex. At this late hour, no one was stirring and Austin stopped the car near a thick hedge of oleanders. He killed the engine and lowered both her window and his own with a button, then turned so that he faced her.

“Nice night, huh? Quiet and peaceful in this neighborhood, too. Hell, if I didn’t need my health club and the convenience of living five minutes from the office, I might live in Memorial myself.”

For a bittersweet moment, Gina recalled the dreams she’d had during the years of their relationship. When she discovered she was pregnant with Jesse, she had fantasized about being married to Austin, buying a house in Memorial or the University area, having the kind of life she and Liz had planned as foster children. They’d both have super careers, meet and marry two great guys, have two and a half kids each and live in the same neighborhood. Turning away, she gazed from her window at the lush bank of oleanders. How many years had passed now and only a fraction of that dream had materialized, little of it for her. Liz, of course, had a great career and her house truly surpassed their girlish expectations. Gina idly fingered the strap of her purse. She, meanwhile, was still waiting and hoping and dreaming…

In daylight, the oleanders would be bright pink. She thought how much nicer a barrier the flowers made than a conventional fence, wood or stone. Somewhere nearby there must be night-blooming jasmine as its sweet, unique scent hung heavy on the air.

“We need to talk, sweetheart.” Her heart fluttered when he touched her shoulder. Then his fingers slipped beneath her hair and began gently rubbing the taut neck muscles. “I meant what I said a minute ago. We don’t need lawyers to work out whatever’s best for Jesse.” Deep, low, husky, his voice alone was almost a caress, more intimate than a kiss. His fingers moved in a soothing, hypnotic rhythm. “We don’t need people who call themselves friends to tell us what we should do. We’re the ones with the history. And we have the power to make our own decisions.”

Power. She knew what power was all about and it was hardly a two-way street with Austin. She knew how he wielded it, how he’d manipulated her almost from the first day they’d met so that she’d been happy to give him anything he wanted. Everything, if that was the price to be paid to realize her dreams. He leaned closer, finding a spot he knew well. Heat stirred in her belly. Her breath caught in her throat. Her eyes were closing. Thank God it was dark and he couldn’t see her. But he knew what she was feeling. He knew.

“Maude is going to tell you that we need our lives to be spelled out in a document.” Still low and husky, his voice was like the stroke of his hands, compelling and hypnotic. “You’ll call her tomorrow, won’t you? Tell her you don’t need her anymore.”

“Hmmm.”

His laugh was low and sexy, feathering over her ear, her hair. She’d always been susceptible to that laugh. “Is that a yes, babe?” His hand was still tangled in the hair at her nape, working magic on the muscles of her neck, the curve of her shoulder, finding the shell of her ear. His lips at her ear, he whispered, “I need to hear a promise, sweetheart.”

“Promise…”

“Ahh, that’s my girl.” He rewarded her with an erotic sweep of his tongue in her ear. In spite of herself, she moaned with the sweet rush of pleasure. It had been so long. So long. Her breasts ached to feel his mouth. Between her legs, she was wet and wanting. If he touched her anywhere, she would—

Oh, God. His hand slid along her inner thigh and found the ready softness. Ah, he knew so well what to do. What to touch. And how. She made a small sound, then bit down hard on her lip to silence herself. To keep him from knowing. But he did know. He did.

“Do you like that, Gee-gee? Is my sweetheart feeling good?” He was crooning in her ear now, his breath hot and exciting, his fingers busy, skillful, all-knowing. “Aren’t we something, sweetheart? This is so right, isn’t it, love? C’mon, now, come for me, c’mon, c’mon, babe…” Then his thumb found just the right spot. She felt the rush of heat consuming her. And need, so strong, so impossible to resist. And with a soft cry, part joy, part anguish, she gave in, shuddering with the force of her orgasm.

She was weak and still senseless with pleasure when he suddenly pushed away, got out and in half a dozen urgent strides was at her side of the car. He jerked the door open and hauled her up and out. Dazed and still in the grip of her orgasm, she didn’t resist as he stripped her of her skirt. Her knees were like rubber, lacking the strength to hold her up. But he had her buttocks clamped in both hands, guiding himself to the softness between her legs. She caught a glimpse of his face, dark and brutal. No love there, she thought in anguish as the glow of her orgasm faded. His hands were hard, cruelly so as they positioned her. Then, growling deep in his throat, he buried himself to the hilt in one hard thrust.

As always when aroused, he was rough. Caught now in the throes of his own need, he set a savage, mindless rhythm. It was not just sexual gratification he was seeking, she realized. He was punishing her for her transgressions. For having to restrain himself in the restaurant when she’d defied him. For her temerity in forcing their battle into the legal arena. For daring to reveal his violent attacks. For her audacity in taking the initiative in the welfare of their child. She pushed at him with a broken cry of self-loathing. But it was like pushing against a stone wall. Too late, too late, too late, she wailed inwardly, bearing the brutal assault in misery until finally, with a loud shout, he came.

A few minutes later, after he’d tossed her skirt to her, zipped up his pants and was again behind the wheel of the Porsche, he turned to her and said, “You won’t forget your promise, will you?”

Her gaze was fixed on the dark landscape at the side window. She was so bruised and miserable and angry that she couldn’t manage a reply at first. It was reckless to defy him in this mood, she knew. “What promise, Austin?” She was suddenly past caring.

There was black silence for the space of a heartbeat. Then, in burst of rage, he lunged at her, forcing her face up to his in a killing grip. “What the hell was this all about then?”

She could barely breathe and her heart raced, but fright and despair combined in a reckless cocktail. She was tired of him thinking all it took was a quick orgasm and she’d readily do his bidding. She caught at his hand and tried to free herself. “What’s this all about?” she repeated, her mouth twisting in disgust. “It is so totally obvious what this, as you call it, is about, Austin. It’s just more of your disgusting way of manipulating me with sex. You really must think I’m a complete idiot.”

He shoved away, releasing her, but still breathing hard with the force of his rage. “I didn’t notice any disgust when you were coming so hard I practically had to hold you down or the whole goddamned neighborhood would have heard you screaming.”

“I didn’t scream.”

He snorted something obscene. With shoulders hunched over the wheel, he looked straight ahead. “Next you’ll be saying you didn’t come.”

“No, I came. Thanks for that, I guess. I’m just disgusted with myself for getting in this situation. I knew what you were doing when I agreed to leave with you today and I did it anyway. I knew what you were doing when you came on to me just now and I did it anyway. It was weak of me. Sick, even. But having sex didn’t turn my brain to complete mush. Here’s the deal, Austin. I’m not agreeing to defy the judge, if that was your aim. I would be an idiot to do that. I’m going to call Maude and arrange another meeting with your lawyer.”

“If you mean Ryan, I fired his sorry ass!” he snarled.

“Then I imagine the judge will appoint someone to negotiate.”

He turned then to look at her. The power of that look was so explosive that it was nearly palpable in the car. “You’re not going to get away with this, Gina.” His voice was soft and deadly, so threatening that she felt a cold chill. He waited a few moments—for her, harrowing moments—then when she remained stonily silent, he started the Porsche and pulled out of the parking lot. She braced for a wild and reckless ride, but he drove the scant mile to Liz’s house at a moderate pace. It was so out of character that she was more unnerved than she would have been had he reverted to habit. Still, she sat with her arms wrapped around herself and her teeth clamped to keep them from chattering. Then, finally, Liz’s street. And escape. She was out of the car and hurrying away almost before he stopped. Once safely at Liz’s front door, she stole a wary glance back and saw that he was out and watching her from over the top of the Porsche. Just…watching.

If looks could kill.

Shivering, she slipped inside and quickly closed the door behind her.

Curtiss Leggett sat in the library of his splendid home in River Oaks waiting for Austin. He’d left messages on his son’s cell phone, his home phone and the pager he carried. No matter what the hour, he told Austin, he would expect to see him.

Women, the disgruntled lawyer thought, swirling the best brandy money could buy in a Baccarat snifter. How his life would have been eased without the complication of women, his ex-wife, his many mistresses, his daughter, now married to some itinerant artist out in some godforsaken corner of California. Even his mother, and he didn’t give a damn whether her soul rested peacefully or not. What a domineering tyrant she’d been. An occasional display of masculinity from his father would have shown her who was boss, but his father had buried himself in his professorial work and never noticed or cared about anything else. Including Curtiss.

That was not the way Curtiss Leggett had run his life.

At the sound of a key in the lock, he stirred in the deep leather chair, but didn’t get to his feet. He wouldn’t bother. As spineless as Austin was, the lecture and subsequent threat could be delivered as effectively in the comfort of his chair as otherwise. Thirty-six years old and Curtiss still had to wipe his ass for him. His son was a great disappointment to him. His daughter, Julia, should have been his heir. She was full of defiance, possibly as bright as Curtiss himself. Focused. An independent thinker. As God was his witness, he couldn’t see any strength in Austin.

Not the kind of strength evident in Ryan Paxton. Now, there was a real man, Texas born and bred, tough as nails, smart as a whip. Steel in his backbone, too. Leggett sighed, bringing the snifter up to his mouth. And look at his old man. Killed himself. No steel there. A weakling. Genes were odd things.

He heard the door open. Then close. “In here, boy!” he called, finishing off the brandy.

“How are you, Dad?” Austin entered the library, his smile wary, eyes cautious. He scanned the room, saw that his father was alone. “Sorry I couldn’t make it over until now, but I had an appointment that couldn’t be rescheduled.” He watched Curtiss set the snifter on the table at his elbow and then walked over to the sideboard to pour himself a brandy.

“Hold up there. You can drink after I’ve had my say.”

Austin put the glass back and slowly turned to face his father. “Is something wrong?”

“Wrong? Is something wrong, you ask?” Curtiss had planned to stay in his chair, but found he had to get up or, swear to God, he’d blow a gasket. “I don’t want to think you’re as stupid as it appears, Austin, but what I learned today makes me wonder.” He shot a beetle-browed look at his first born. “You finally had the balls to dump the trailer trash slut you’ve been shacked up with for more years than I want to think about, but now instead of a clean break, you get yourself called before Judge Hetherington and he hears that you’ve been knocking her around. Have I got it right, Austin?”

“She’s lying.”

“Ryan Paxton doesn’t think so.”

“You’ve seen Ryan? He’s talked to you about this?” Austin slammed a hand down on the sideboard. “Goddamn it! That’s a breach of client-attorney privilege. Did he come around whining to you about the judgment?”

“He came to bring me a report of the hearing because I asked for it.”

Austin made a dismissive sound. “Well, he sure isn’t the legal eagle you think he is, Dad. I could have represented myself and come out of this looking better.”

Curtiss Leggett simply stood looking at his son for a beat or two before turning in disgust. He stared at the dead ashes in his fireplace for another long moment before turning to face Austin. “I want the truth and I want it plain and simple. Don’t lie to me, I warn you. Have you been knocking that bitch around?”

“What kind of question is—”

“Did you hear me?” It was a roar and it stopped Austin in his tracks and killed whatever defense he might have attempted. Another moment passed while Curtiss calmed himself. “Have you been slapping her around?” he repeated, speaking each word precisely.

Austin cleared his throat, looked anywhere but into the knowing eyes of his father. “We have disagreements like most couples.”

“And you express yourself with your fists?”

“Do I hear outrage, Dad?” Austin’s tone was suddenly less subservient. When Curtiss didn’t reply, Austin was emboldened. “I didn’t think so.”

“Watch yourself, Austin.”

“Yeah, it’s me we’re talking about now, not you, eh, Dad?” Austin reached for a glass in defiance of his old man and recklessly poured brandy in it. Then eyeball to eyeball with Curtiss, he tossed most of it back in one gulp. “I don’t know why you’d be shocked,” he said, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. “It couldn’t come as a shock to you, a man handling a troublesome woman with a little show of force. I sure didn’t act shocked when you did it. I guess I thought everybody’s mom wore sunglasses in the house as a regular thing, night or day. Until I wised up.”

“I’m not shocked that you did it, Austin,” Curtiss said in disgust, not bothering to deny what was fact. Hell, it was years ago and Marilyn was long gone. Good riddance, too. “I’m pissed because you’ve brought it out like so much dirty family linen. You’re a reckless fool and I just hope to God Paxton can pluck your sorry ass out of the fire.”

“Speaking of asses, I fired his today.” He looked defiantly at Curtiss.

“You what?”

“I’m out four thousand bucks a month because of his incompetence,” Austin said, letting his fury loose. “So I fired him. I’ll work out something less with Gina, just the two of us, no lawyers. You’ll see.”

For a full minute, Curtiss just stared at him. “Austin, I’m only going to tell you this one time. And you better hear me good. Call Ryan Paxton ASAP, or better yet, go see him in person. Now. Tonight. Do whatever it takes to get him back on board in this miserable mess you’ve created. But don’t let the sun rise tomorrow without being able to tell me that he is still representing you. Now—” his tone went lower, more menacing “—do you read me?”

For a long moment, Austin seemed tempted to defy the order. But the moment passed. “Yes, sir,” he said, the response weak, but the look in his eyes was anything but. He finished off the brandy, set the snifter down with a thump and walked out.

As soon as she heard the car door, Elizabeth set her book aside and rose from the chair in the den. She’d been on edge the whole evening, reading with one ear cocked to listen for Austin’s Porsche. The hours had dragged by. It was crazy for Gina to be alone with him, especially tonight when his temper would be on a hair-trigger. Did she forget how dangerous Austin could be when thwarted? He was clearly enraged that she’d dared to air the facts of their relationship in a court of law. He’d made no secret of that from the moment he was served with the papers. And he would be furious with the judge’s ruling today, more so because, in his arrogance, he’d believed that he would prevail. Parting the blinds, she saw the Porsche pull away from the curb and felt deeply relieved that Gina was now home safe.

That idea died with her first glimpse of Gina’s face in the dimly lit foyer. She stood with her eyes closed, back against the door. By the look of her, breathing heavy with arms clamped around herself, she must have run from the car. Alarmed, Elizabeth reached for the light switch. “What happened?”

Gina turned her head slowly and looked at her without speaking. Overhead light caught the glint of unshed tears in her eyes. Elizabeth’s gaze narrowed at the sight of Gina’s face. With a shocked sound, she moved closer and touched Gina’s face, turning it gently to get a better look. Brutal marks on either side of her jaw clearly showed the imprint of fingers. They’d be purple bruises by morning. “My God, Gina, did he do this?”

Gina, still shaky and pale, glanced at herself in the mirror above the table. She lifted her hand and touched her face. “Don’t freak, Liz. He didn’t hit me. He just—I just refused to go along with what he wanted and he—”

“He retaliated by manhandling you, reminding you who was boss, right?” Angrily, Elizabeth tilted Gina’s face this way and that, examining the marks thoroughly. “He may not have actually punched you, but he left fingerprints. Wait’ll you see yourself tomorrow.” She turned away, shaking her head. “He’s an animal, Gee. It takes brute force to mark someone like that.”

“I shouldn’t have argued with him. It was really dumb of me, but I just got fed up.”

“Why not get fed up before you agreed to spend the day with him? Why did you do it, Gee? What were you thinking?”

“Actually, it wasn’t so bad…at least not at first,” she added under her breath. “He was trying to—to make a point. I honestly don’t think he realizes his own strength.”

“Gina, Gina, Gina…do you realize how screwed up that sounds? He knows his own strength, you can count on that. He uses it often enough. But no matter what his intent, you shouldn’t wind up bruised and hurting.”

“I know how to handle him, Liz. If I’d pretended to go along with him, he would have let it go. He lost it when I told him I was going to do what the judge instructed.”

She pushed her hair back from her face wearily. “Can we talk about this tomorrow, Liz? I’m beat.”

Liz’s gaze narrowed. She moved closer and saw another mark on Gina’s neck, one that didn’t look like a bruise. “What’s this?”

Gina put her hand up quickly, covering the mark. “It’s…nothing.”

Liz then stepped back. In her concern about Gina’s face, she hadn’t really taken in the disheveled look of her. Now she saw that the tail of her blouse was untucked in places. Two of the buttons were undone. Her skirt wasn’t quite straight and her hair was a mess. “No, Gina.” Disbelief flickered across Liz’s face. “Tell me you didn’t have sex with him.”

Turning away, Gina waved a mute hand and headed for the stairs.

“Gina…aaa…ah…” Liz played out the name with disapproval.

Gina stopped. “I don’t need a lecture, Liz. I know I’ve been a bad girl. Worse, I’ve been an idiot. In fact, I probably deserved what just happened,” she said bitterly. Then, with a foot on the first tread, she turned slowly to face Liz. “I know you don’t understand. Even if you were in dire straits, you would somehow find the strength to do the right thing. The smart thing. It’s like you always control your emotions while my emotions control me. I’m weak when it comes to Austin, Liz. It’s like a sickness. Honest to God, that’s the only way I can describe what happens when he…when we…are—” she spread her hands helplessly “—together.”

It hurt for Liz to hear herself portrayed as being bloodless. It was so completely wrong that she wanted to grab Gina and scream that she had loved with a passion so consuming that everything else in her life paled to nothingness. Had Gina forgotten that dark year of her life? Liz wished to God that she could bury the memory.

“I’m human, Gee, believe me. And I’ve been in love, or at least I thought it was love. But it’s not love that drives your relationship with Austin. I don’t know what to call it, but it isn’t love.”

“Oh, hell, that came out wrong, Liz. Of course, you’re human. But you’re good at keeping emotion at a distance. I’m not like that. Tonight, when Austin touched me, I knew what he was doing. I certainly know he doesn’t love me anymore…if he ever did. But it was just so…delicious and it had been such a long time, you know? Never mind that I was going to regret it. I wasn’t thinking about that. I wasn’t thinking anything except how good it felt. Then, somehow, I just let myself go with the feeling. Instead of doing what you would have done and run away from it, I gobbled it up. I wanted it so much that I was willing to take whatever consequences came from it.”

“Even if the consequences are another child?”

She turned her face away. “That won’t happen.”

“Are you sure? Did you remember to use protection?”

“You know how bad my endometriosis is. Having Jesse was a miracle. The doctor said I’ll never have another pregnancy. Besides, it’s a safe time in my cycle.”

“I certainly hope you’re right.” Still shaking her head, Liz dragged fingers through her hair. “It’s none of my business if you and Austin are intimate, Gee. I just hate to see—”

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