Chapter Thirty-Four
Trig
The call comes in the evening. Wes tells me the hearing is the following morning – Maggie’s first day of summer school. It can’t be helped. They’d tried to call her cell number, but the phone was swept away with the van. If the judge wants to see us, we’ll be there. I’m ready. More than ready. I decide against telling her until the next morning. I knew she’d panic.
She steps out of the bathroom, wearing my bathrobe, her hair wrapped in a towel.
“We have an appointment with Judge Fentress at eight-thirty, downtown, Maggie.”
Her eyes widen and the blood drains from her face. I cradle her face and kiss her. I hold her in a soft kiss, causing the towel to tumble from her head.
“It’s okay,” I tell her. “I won’t let anything happen.”
Without a word, she gets dressed in a somber grey skirt and matching jacket. She fixes her hair in a knot at the base of her neck. Damn. She looks like a lawyer. A very hot lawyer.
I wear a suit too. Walking her out to the truck, I carry a file folder with some things I’ve gathered for this meeting. A few items that I hope will help her case.
All the way downtown she’s quiet as a mouse. She sits ramrod. Stares ahead with a look of pure terror. I hold her hand while we walk up to the courthouse and only let go when she has to pass through the metal detector.
Gwen calls a few minutes before the meeting. She can’t come on such short notice and is trying to get the meeting delayed to this afternoon. A few moments later she calls back, furious because they won’t give her time to get there.
Wes and Jane have already called a dozen times, both of them frantic that they can’t get their till nine. By then we’ll probably be done.
Maggie and I are shown into an office. Not what I expected. I’d imagined we’d stand before the judge in the courtroom. It doesn’t really matter.
Dark wood panels the walls and framed diplomas hang around the room. Each gold frame has its own light illuminating the credentials. The judge is a woman. She’s mid-fifties, black hair slicked back to a bun just like Maggie has. Her face is pretty, or would be if she cracked a smile.
She doesn’t.
“I see the charges have been dropped, but that still leaves the matter of your citizenship.”
Maggie nods. “Yes, ma’am.”
The woman steeples her fingers, ignores me but scrutinizes Maggie. “What do you do?”
“I’m a student at Stowe.”
I want Maggie to tell her about her grades and her early admission and scholarship but she’s petrified. Clearly, she’s not going to offer any extra information. Gripping the armrests, her knuckles are white.
“What are you studying, Miss Callaghan?”
“Her last name is Kendal, not Callaghan,” I tell the judge. “She’s married to me.”
I open the file and push the marriage license across the desk.
Judge Fentress doesn’t even bother looking at it. She jerks her head to glower at Maggie. “You realize you’re breaking the law?”
I watch as Maggie wilts under the Judge’s angry gaze.
“By getting married?” I ask.
“Trig…” Maggie says softly. “It’s okay.”
She doesn’t want me to get mad at the judge, I guess. But I won’t sit here and let her intimidate my wife. The woman turns her icy gaze on me.
“Obviously not, Mr. Kendal. But if you’ve married to try and help Margaret stay in the country, I’ll find out and throw her out so fast your head will spin.”
“That’s okay if you do.” I shrug. “Go ahead.”
Maggie whips around to face the judge. “I’m a handful, Your Honor. He’s probably just realizing that.“
“If you throw her out, I’ll go with her.”
Maggie makes a noise that sounds like a yelp.
The judge tilts her head and glares at me. “Really…”
“Really.”
Judge Fentress leans back in her chair and smiles at me. Not a friendly smile. “What do you do Mr. Kendal?”
“I’m a mechanic. I own Kendal Garage.”
I half-expect her to say something shitty about being a mechanic. Doesn’t bother me. I don’t want her to frighten Maggie but she can say whatever she likes to me.
She nods. “Kendal Garage has been around a while, hasn’t it?”
“Yes, Your Honor. My father started it in 1972. He had two men working for him. I’ve expanded it and employ eight mechanics and a clerk.”
“And you’d be able to walk away from that?”
I slide the other papers towards her. “The top sheet is a bill of sale to Melvin Nichols. It’s contingent on my actually wanting to sell and I’ll retain ten percent ownership as well as the property. The sale would be for one-point-five-million.”
The judge sets the bill of sale aside.
“The next is a copy of my application for Irish citizenship. All that needs doing is an interview in Dallas.”
Maggie’s staring at me while Judge Fentress sifts through the papers.
“I love Maggie. I lost my parents and younger sister in a car wreck when I was seventeen. The only blood relative I have left is my brother. He lives here. My preference is to stay. But Maggie is my family now and I won’t be parted from her.”
The judge sighs and glances at Maggie’s left hand. “That’s quite a ring, Mr. Kendal. Is it real?”
I blink a few times and grit my teeth. Maggie has a pleading expression in her eyes. Like she doesn’t want me to get mad. She’s worried I’m going to lose it, like respond with a What the fuck do you think? Would I be willing to walk away from every fucking thing I know to follow my wife across the ocean, yet buy her a fucking fake ring?
I smile at Maggie, clench my jaw and turn to Judge Fentress. “Yes, Your Honor. It’s the real deal.”
Her brows lift. “You must be doing all right for yourself.”
“Now that I have Maggie, I am.”
The judge gathers the papers and hands them back to me. “This has certainly been a great deal different than most immigration hearings. I’ll write up my report and have the clerk mail you a copy. Mrs. Kendall you’re free to remain in the country. If your marriage dissolves in the next seven months, you’ll need to appear before me to revisit the issue of residency and citizenship.”
She dismisses us, but not before insisting on seeing Maggie’s ring. She says a few words about the cut of the diamond, gives me an approving look and we escape her office. Well. Fuck. If I ever needed a Hail Mary Pass, it was now.