Chapter Twenty-Six

Evelyn

 

My office was a sanctuary for my tortured mind. I slumped into my seat, turned on my laptop, but didn’t even bother looking at the screen after typing in my password.

James was on my mind, and I couldn’t shake him. I knew I’d fallen for him, hard. What I didn’t know, was what I was going to do about it. Times like these, not that there were many like this before, were times when I wished for a close girlfriend, someone to listen to me rattle about my feelings, and offer me advice.

My hand clenched around my phone as I dialed my mother, the only woman that I had in my life, not that we were that close. Our views differed on many topics, but as the phone rang once, twice, three times, I hoped that on love, maybe we’d see eye-to-eye.

“What an unexpected surprise,” my mother’s sour voice fell to my ear.

“I know. I should’ve called after your trip,” I hesitated.

“I’ve grown accustomed to your unorganized lifestyle,” she hissed.

Why did I call?

“Again, I’m sorry,” I chanted without thought. It was what I did. I apologized, for nothing.

“I’m just glad to hear from you, dear. Is everything okay?” she asked, her voice suddenly filled with hope.

I knew she wanted me to say ‘no, it’s horrible, I want to come home’ but, that wasn’t what I wanted. Ugh. I didn’t know what I wanted.

“It’s great. I’ve run into a couple snags on the estate case I was telling you about over dinner,” I explained.

“Oh?” she questioned.

“Yes. The kids have been corrupting the case with their influences,” I sighed, not really interested in talking about the kids at all. The snag…was James.

“I’m sure you can see your way through their deceptions,” my mother boasted.

“Yes. That’s not exactly what I called,” I admitted.

“I didn’t for one moment believe that you’d call for help,” my mother chuckled.

One thing I could always count on was my parents believing in me, at least when it came to my work. I smiled as my mother sighed into the phone. It was one of her happy sighs, when she was proud of herself, proud of me, or both. In this instance, I believed it was both.

“I’ve…” I paused.

“Evelyn, your hesitation is making me quite nervous,” mother pushed.

“I think I’ve developed feelings for the man I’m representing,” I blurted, squinting my eyes as I waited for her reaction.

“The farmer?” she whispered as if someone nearby might hear. Oh, the horror, Virginia Pierce’s daughter was dating a man beneath her paygrade, her bloodline, her worth.

“He’s a rancher,” I corrected.

“Evelyn, not only is that a bad decision for your career, but it’s a horrible one for your future,” she scowled.

I gritted my teeth as I let my mother’s expected words roll down my back.

“I don’t see how it could hurt my future?” I gasped.

“A farmer’s wife, really, Evelyn, you don’t see how that could hurt your future?” she scolded.

“No, and he’s a rancher,” I continued to correct her, not that I really knew the difference myself.

“Evelyn, you’re in your forties; do you really want to waste what little you have of your looks on a man of his caliber? He may be fun now, but what happens when you decide to really settle down, to find a successful man?” she scoffed.

My eyes were burning as I fought back tears. I didn’t know why I called. I knew she wouldn’t understand, but I’d hoped.

“Wouldn’t the fact that I am in my forties be just cause for following my heart?” I argued.

A sigh sounded from the other end of the phone. It wasn’t a Virginia Pierce happy sigh that time. It reminded me of my childhood, if you could call it that. When I’d ask to go to a school football game, or to a party I’d rarely be invited to, that sigh was the first response from Virginia Pierce. “Why must you insist on wasting time on such things?” she’d snort.

I’d always given in, given up, but not this time. James was more important than a simple football game, having friends in high school, or even the senior prom. I wasn’t giving in this time.

“I don’t suppose I need your blessing. I just thought, since I was no longer a child, that we could talk like girlfriends,” I declared.

“Evelyn, I’m your mother, not your girlfriend,” she responded.

“I’ve got court. Good talk,” I lied to rush from the phone.

Without setting my phone down, I called Axel. We were always closer than cousins. Who said a girlfriend had to be a girl anyway?

After revealing the same feelings to Axel as I had my mother, I started to feel more relaxed. He told me to follow my heart, that James was an amazing guy, and that all he wanted was for me to be happy. Wow, what a difference from my mother’s perspective. Not once did she mention my happiness.

An urgent e-mail popped into my inbox, pulling me from the uplifting conversation with Axel.

“I’ve gotta’ go,” I gasped, quickly hanging up the phone.

“Mother-frackin, nukin’ futs,” I roared like a vagrant strolling an alleyway.

I dialed James, hoping he wasn’t already deep in the fields without his phone. My heart raced as I listened to rings, one after another. “Pick up the flippin’ phone,” I growled as the ringing stopped.

“Whoa,” James chuckled.

“Sorry,” I sighed.

“What’s the emergency?” he asked.

“I just got a flippin’ e-mail from the judge. We have a meeting in two hours,” I panicked.

“Okay, relax,” James replied calmly.

“This is bull spit,” I slurred.

“I agree. But, at least it’s a meeting,” James reminded me.

“You’re right. Can you make it?” I asked.

“I can. I’ll meet you at the courthouse,” he responded.

“Thank you,” I sighed.

“You sure you didn’t just miss me, and you’re making all this up?” he teased.

“I wish,” I laughed.

As we said our goodbyes, I started to relax, but the feeling immediately faded once my mind started churning with reasons for the changed meeting date. I picked up the phone and called the judge’s chambers, getting only the voicemail. I gathered all my paperwork and tried to tell myself that the meeting was a good thing; that maybe it was to work things out without fighting in court, but a large part of me knew better than to get too comfortable. Those damn kids were out for blood, and they’d proven they would do whatever it took to win.

I left a message for the judge and waited until time to leave for a response. Nothing. What the hell is going on?

Inside the courthouse, people wandered in and out of the main courtroom. I peeked inside at a court magistrate perched at the bench. Axel hadn’t received any information about the judge after his accident, and as far as his nurse informant was concerned, he’d been discharged from the hospital. It was peculiar that he wasn’t posted at his bench, handling his own cases.

The clickety-clack of heels echoed through the large room as women rushed back and forth, some lawyers, some clerks, and some defendants. I watched the front doors anxiously for any sign of James, the Jasper kids, or their attorney.

Finally, James emerged from the crowd, moving towards me with his proud swagger. A smile spread across his face as he took a seat beside me. I knew I was blushing when I smiled back. I tried not to picture him naked as I filled him in on the kid’s absence, the magistrate in the courtroom, and my suspicion that something just wasn’t right.

A clerk with cat glasses and a sour expression approached us, her lips puckering like an asshole on her face.

“The judge will see you now,” she smirked, motioning us towards the door marked ‘private.’

“See, that’s why there’s a magistrate; he’s busy with us,” James whispered as I opened the door.

John, Jill, and Eliza sat at the large walnut table with their attorney. The judge, not the regular judge, sat across from them. He was a large man, his hair grayed, a beard that was nicely trimmed on his round face, and his eyes lacking any sign of an invitation to join the meeting already in progress without us.

“Evelyn Pierce and James Laurie,” the clerk introduced us and abruptly rushed from the room.

The judge looked up as the door slammed shut, his eyes cold and uninterested.

“Take a seat,” he ordered.

I nodded, biting back what I wanted to say, swallowed it, and slid into the empty seat on the opposite side of the Jasper kids and their attorney. James took the seat next to me, immediately rubbing my clenched fist under the table.

“Why has the date been changed?” I questioned.

“It’s not been changed. I just thought it was imperative to have mediation beforehand,” the judge spoke with a raspy smoker’s voice.

“Mediation, on such a simple case?” I questioned.

“It’s not so simple,” the judge grimaced.

“Honestly, how could it not be simple? We have a signed will, notarized statements from his nurse, several employees, and even the chief of police that his mind was sharp, and he was in no way incapable of making his own decisions,” I argued.

“He was scammed from day one,” John grumbled under his breath.

I reached under the table for James’s hand, squeezing it lightly as it clenched into a fist on his leg.

“We have documentation that proves the relationship between my client and Martin Jasper was mutual, respectful, and most importantly, father-son like, more so than he shared with his own children,” I spoke directly to the judge.

“Father-son like relationships are not the same as real father-child relationships,” the judge snapped.

The comment he made was so inappropriate that it left me speechless. I wanted to stand up, push away from the table, and scold each and every one that sat across from me, especially the judge.

“I find it reprehensible that you’re passing judgment in such a way,” I exalted.

“How so?” the judge glared.

“You’re stating that the relationship between my client and Martin Jasper was less than the ones he experienced with his children who now sit here and demand that his last wishes not be carried out,” I explained.

“They have rights,” the judge replied.

“As does my client, and as does Martin Jasper,” I insisted.

“You brainwashed my dad,” John scolded James with a pointed finger.

“You didn’t even know your dad,” James stood, pushing his chair back so abruptly that it fell onto the floor.

A screaming match evolved quickly between John, James, and Jill. Eliza slunk into her seat; a look of exhaustion took her over, one shared by the attorney on the case. I thought the judge would intervene, but he let it continue for far longer than expected. When he finally stood, slamming his gavel onto the table to quiet the group, James was fuming, his body shaking with rage, John and Jill were red-faced and looked as if they were ready to fight. I was confused, completely in awe of the chaos that took place, and how uninterested the judge appeared in creating any type of resolution.

“We’ll see you Wednesday,” Jill snorted, ripping Eliza by the arm and pulling her from the room.

Eliza looked over her shoulder towards James and I as she was hauled off by her sister. She looked like she wanted to apologize, but she didn’t say a word.

“I guess we need to prepare for a battle,” I sighed, staring into James’s rage-filled eyes.

“This is bullshit,” he growled as we walked towards the court’s front doors.

I nodded, unable to say anything to soothe him due to my own rage.

“Will I see you tonight?” he asked.

“I’m afraid I’ll need all the time I can get to prepare. This isn’t going to be simple, even though it should’ve been,” I sighed.

I wanted to fall into James’s arms, but I couldn’t. In the parking lot, he walked me to my car, stood there with pouty lips and sensuous eyes for what felt like an eternity. I wanted to kiss him, to comfort him in some way, but the Jasper kids stood no more than twenty feet away with their attorney, both Jill and John glaring in our direction.

“I’ll have everything ready Wednesday,” I assured him, touching his arm gently before sliding into the driver’s seat.

I watched him in my rearview mirror as I pulled out onto the road. My heart ached at the thought I may have gotten in over my head, with him, and his case.