CHAPTER 18
Viveka
“Will the defendant rise and face the court?” the judge says.
I twist my neck to the left to watch as the man stands up from his chair and glares defiantly at Judge Barefoot. Melanie Case, the assistant district attorney who I’m sharing the counsel table with, leans toward me and mutters, “The defendant is such a dick.”
I look past her to the man I helped Melanie prosecute. Totally a dick.
“Mr. Kramer,” Judge Barefoot says in a gruff voice. “I hereby find you guilty of animal cruelty and neglect, and sentence you to four months in county jail with credit for time served, one hundred hours of community service, and restitution for the veterinarian bills.”
“That’s bullshit,” Curtis Kramer says, and his attorney puts a restraining hand on his shoulder. “That dog was my property, and I can treat it as I see fit.”
Judge Barefoot isn’t impressed by this outburst. “The law says differently, Mr. Kramer. And I’m going to tack on an additional thirty days in jail for contempt of court because you have seemingly forgotten your manners. If you open your mouth and say one more word, I’ll add on sixty days.”
The judge bangs his gavel and stands up. The bailiff says, “Court is adjourned.”
Melanie and I stand up from the table, and she turns to me to give me a hug. She usually associates with me on all of her animal cruelty and neglect cases. We’ve also become good friends over the years. “Thank you so much for your help, Viv.”
When I pull back, I smile at her. “My pleasure. You did a great job.”
I guarantee that the pit bull that we rescued from Mr. Kramer’s property thinks she did a fabulous job, too. He’s currently being fostered and hopefully will be adopted out very soon. Any man who stakes his animal on a two-foot chain by the neck outside without adequate food and water deserves to be in jail as far as I’m concerned.
Snagging my briefcase off the table, I turn to walk out of the gallery area. I come up short when I see Leary sitting in the front row with her palms resting on top of her rounded belly. She’s wearing a dark blue dress that hugs her tummy with a matching jacket.
When she sees me coming, she leans to one side, places a palm to the wooden bench, and uses that to help haul herself up. When I reach her, she gives me a sheepish grin. “This belly is getting a little cumbersome. Can’t wait until I can see my feet again.”
“How much longer do you have?” I ask as she slides out of the row to meet me.
“Just about four weeks,” she mutters. “Or sooner if I can talk my doctor into inducing early so we can get this over with.”
“They can do that?” I ask in awe.
She shakes her head and grimaces. “Only in my dreams.”
We both laugh for a moment, but then I ask her. “What are you doing here?”
“I was over in the next courtroom arguing a motion. As I was leaving, I glanced in and saw you sitting there. Just thought I would say hello.”
“Well, that’s nice,” I say with a smile, and we both turn to start walking out of the courtroom. “I don’t get over here to criminal court very often. But I have to say, I do enjoy watching the bad guys get locked up for mistreating animals.”
Leary laughs. To my surprise, she hooks her arm through mine as we walk down the aisle as if we are the best of buds. “Hey… want to go grab some lunch?”
“You realize it’s just past ten thirty,” I tease.
“Shut up. I’m pregnant and I’m allowed to eat early lunch. Then I’m allowed to eat regular lunch.”
“Feel like a hot dog? I always hit up Snoopy’s when I’m downtown.”
“That sounds delicious.”
We leave the courthouse chatting about the case I had just helped to prosecute. While my dealings with Leary over the last few weeks have been extremely limited, I feel like I’ve known her forever and that’s because Ford talks about her a great deal.
Admittedly, when he first did it, I thought it was a little odd. I also felt jealous. But the more he talked about Leary and the more I really listened to what he was saying, I realized it was no different than how I talk about Frannie. I realized I had to move past the oddity of a man having a woman as a best friend. Once I did that, I tremendously enjoyed learning more about Leary. Believe it or not, it helped me learn more about Ford himself. Because there is nothing like a womanizer—hopefully reformed—having a female best friend to put him in his place when necessary. And by the stories Ford had told me, Leary did that quite a bit.
It’s a gorgeous late April day and despite Leary’s rotund belly, she insists we walk the three blocks to Snoopy’s.
Apparently, Leary’s idea to have lunch at ten thirty isn’t so strange, because there’s already a line of people waiting to get some dogs. After we get ours—both of us choosing chili and cheese—we walk across the street and find an empty bench to sit down on.
“How are things going with you and Ford?” Leary asks as we unwrap our hot dogs.
This question neither surprises nor offends me. Her tone of voice is light, easygoing, and filled with curiosity. I also detect a slight hint of happiness that she can actually ask a woman this question about her best friend.
Staring at the gooey mess I’m holding in a bun, I contemplate how I’m going to be able to eat it without getting chili and cheese all over me. But before I take that first bite, I answer Leary’s question. “The past two weeks have been… well, amazing, I guess.”
Leary looks triumphant as if she had suspected this all along. “I have to tell you, I have never ever seen Ford so taken with a woman before.”
“How so?” I ask, my chili dog completely forgotten because I would much rather get inside intel on what Ford is thinking. Even though for the past two weeks we have spent every night together but one, I still feel like at any moment he’s going to walk away from me.
It is what he’s known for doing, and that’s by his self-admission.
Leary has no hesitation in digging into her meal. She opens her mouth wide, shoves the hot dog in, and chomps down. Chili and cheese gather at the corners of her mouth and a big dollop starts to fall, but she expertly catches it with a napkin in her hand. She chews and grins at the same time, and when she swallows, she actually groans in ecstasy. “For some reason, this kid likes spicy food. It’s like my belly just had an orgasm.”
I wrinkle my nose. “That’s disgusting.”
Leary laughs and shakes her head. “Just wait until you get pregnant.”
Leary can somehow make eating a messy hot dog look both easy and classy at the same time, and I have to remind myself I used to walk the catwalk in Milan, Paris, and Rome. I can do this, too.
I open my mouth wide and take a big bite, trying to suppress a moan of pleasure as the spicy chili hits my tongue.
Leary takes another bite as well. For a few moments, we do nothing but chow down on our dogs.
After we manage to mop up our sticky fingers and mouths thanks to the bottled water we also bought, we finally to turn our attention back to Ford.
Leary throws an arm across the back of the bench and leans toward me. “You know I’m the one who made the donation to Justice for All Animals?”
“I figured,” I reply dryly. “But Ford gave you the money to do it.”
She neither confirms nor denies, but I don’t need her to do either. He cashed the check and that was all I cared about.
“I want you to know that is absolutely uncharacteristic of Ford to do something like that. He would never put his law license on the line like that for anyone. Even me.”
My body jerks, and tingles break out all over. She’s saying… well, I’m not sure what exactly she’s saying except the myriad of emotions coursing through me right now are unlike anything I’ve ever felt.
“I’m not sure why,” I manage to say past the lump in my throat. “We barely know each other.”
“It’s been my very personal experience that it’s quality and not quantity of time you spend together,” Leary says with a chuckle. “But really, I think that sometimes the universe just works in very mystical ways to bring soul mates together.”
“You think Ford and I are soul mates?” I whisper in disbelief. This conversation just got very deep and slightly weird.
Leary shrugs. “Look… I love Reeve. Fell for him hard and fast, and he did the same for me. Are we soul mates? Maybe, but who knows what that really means. All I can tell you is that he felt “right” from very early on. Sure, we continued to get to know each other as time went on, but the connection was instantaneous and deep. I can’t explain it. And I really don’t care about the reasons or the why’s. I accept it and I’m telling you, I think it’s happening with Ford.”
“Why exactly are you telling me this?” I ask hesitantly.
She studies me a moment, her eyes hardening slightly. She pulls no punches with me. “Because I can tell he’s really falling for you. I’ve never seen that from him, and I want to know how you feel because I don’t want him to get hurt. Ford won’t ask you this question. He’s the type of guy who is going to trust his gut and roll with it, but I’m not quite so carefree about the thought of my best friend getting hurt.”
I look away from Leary, staring across the green expanse of lawn with pockets of shade casting down from the large oak trees. There’s no denying our connection was instant, and we gave into it quickly. I also can’t ignore the fact there is something between us that’s just… natural. And effortless. And… right. It just seems so very right, and that is not something I’ve ever felt before.
I had suspected Ford giving money to Justice for All Animals was a really big deal. Not just a rogue maneuver he did because he likes playing dangerous games. He acted out of a natural instinct to help and protect me. He put his very livelihood on the line for me, and while I didn’t want to acknowledge what that really meant, I have to address it now for Leary.
“I’m falling for him, too,” I tell her quietly as my eyes come back to her. “I mean in a way that is really scary and yet, I wouldn’t change a thing about what’s happening to us.”
“I’m glad,” she says as her face relaxes with relief. She smiles and moves her hand over to touch my shoulder. “He’s a good man. He deserves to have a good woman.”
I’m relieved she thinks I’m a good woman. Let’s face it, outside of meeting his parents, Leary’s approval is probably required if Ford and I are going to go the distance.
Since I have what seems like her blessing, I decide to go ahead and get all nosy. “Ford told me about how you and Reeve met.”
She snickers. “You mean in the elevator?”
“Um… no,” I say with utter confusion. “He said y’all met on a case… just like us.”
Leary’s cheeks turn pink. “Oh, well… yes, that’s how we met.”
“Oh, no you don’t,” I say with wide eyes as I lean into her. “Tell me about the elevator.”
Because clearly that’s a really good story and Ford didn’t disclose it to me, so it must be all juicy and protected by best friend privilege.
Leary gives a sigh and says, “Well… you’re probably going to marry him and bear his children so I guess I can tell you.”
I rear back, aghast over her prediction. “Who said anything about marriage and children?”
“Do you want to hear about the elevator or not?” she says slyly.
I grin. “Oh, I absolutely want to hear about it.”
Leary then proceeds to tell me the most unbelievable story of how she “tested” Reeve in the elevator before their first hearing against each other. She knew who he was, but he had no clue she was opposing counsel. She did a strip tease in front of him to change out a stocking that had a run in it. She did it to totally discombobulate him when they met in the courtroom minutes later.
“I think you may be the best attorney I’ve ever met in my life,” I say in amazement.
“Ballsy,” she corrects me. “I’m ballsy.”
“Still, don’t you think it’s interesting that you and Reeve and Ford and I both met as opposing counsel on a pretty hot button issue case?”
“Yes, but you and Ford have a much better chance at this than Reeve and I ever did. I had a personal stake in the case, and you don’t. I took Reeve’s diligence to his job as a betrayal, and that was wrong. You and Ford seem to have a bit more perspective about this than I ever did.”
“But Midge has a personal stake in this,” I point out, a wave of worry hitting me. I’m still having a hard time accepting that while Ford may not care what happens to Drake Powell, he most definitely has concern for Midge’s stake in all this.
“You need to let that go,” Leary advises me, and I can tell by her tone of voice that she’s discussed this with Ford.
“I’m trying,” I assure her. “But I don’t want Ford to—”
“To what?” she challenges. “If he loses, it’s not going to hurt him personally. And Midge knows the risks. She’s aware of Ford’s feelings for you, and she’s fully aware of the conflict. She’s waived it. She’s told Ford not to think about it, and you should do the same. She’d say that to your face if she was here right now.”
“I’m glad she’s not,” I admit with shame. “She terrifies me.”
“Me too,” Leary admits with a laugh. “The bottom line… Ford is going to put all his effort into this case. You need to do the same. What happens will happen.”
I hesitate a moment before I say. “I’m going to lose. That’s why Ford and Midge aren’t worried about our ‘conflict’.”
Leary’s face softens, and she scoots a little closer to me on the bench. “I’m not going to make any wager on the outcome of this case, but you are right in that Midge is confident Ford will win and that’s why she’s not worried. She knows it’s going to come down to the experts, but you know that as well, so there are no surprises lurking in any corners.”
“Ford isn’t confident he’ll win, too?” I ask curiously.
Leary shakes her head. “He’s never too cocky to think a case is in the bag. He’ll be preparing as if he has the worst case in the world. He’s one of the best at what he does, and despite the experts, I hate to tell you this, Viv… but he’s probably going to kick your ass all over the courtroom.”
I snort and lift my chin. “Dream on. You put me on even playing field with money, and I’d totally win this case.”
Leary’s head falls back, and she laughs so hard she starts to hiccup. Still chuckling, she gives a shake of her head like she’s still in awe over this. “Ford’s a lucky guy. I can’t wait for this case to be over so you two can really go to town with each other.”
“Is that a figurative thing or a literal?” I ask slyly, because I’m pretty sure Ford has already gone to town on me physically.
Leary laughs again, this time snorting. She even wipes a tear out of her eye before saying, “I really, really like you, Viv.”
“Well, the feeling’s mutual,” I assure her.