Chapter Seven
Today was the day they were selecting their presiding judge for the next two years.
Tess was a few minutes late to the meeting in the courthouse conference room, and while she’d like to blame it on her busy schedule, she knew she’d been dragging her feet.
Not simply because she didn’t want to sit and make polite conversation with her fellow judges, and not because of today’s election agenda—the outcome would undoubtedly be Huffington as a shoo-in for the presiding judge, and the assistant presiding judge position would likely go to whoever was willing.
No, Tess’s hesitation was because she’d undoubtedly see Bree here.
It was highly unlikely that the newest judge would miss her first judicial meeting and the vote.
Tess hadn’t seen her since their coffee last week.
Admittedly, her heart was all in for seeing Bree, but her common sense told her it would only hurt.
Simon Huffington sat at the head of the table as he prepared to run the meeting.
Tess couldn’t bring herself to think of him as just Simon—his overbearing demeanor had implanted him with an added requisite Huffington in her mind a long time ago, so fitting.
His surname as her silent mental default for him had fallen into place as she realized he was self-absorbed and petty and forever huffing about one thing or another.
Of course, she maintained her characteristic cordial demeanor with him, and on the rare occasion when it was necessary to address him, she politely referred to him as Judge Huffington or Simon Huffington… but never just Simon.
As she headed on through the door, Tess took a quick glance around.
Her colleagues were chatting as they waited.
The court’s executive officer, an impeccably dressed, older gray-haired woman, Helene Chase, was the only one in the room who was not a judge.
She sat against the wall with an iPad, behind Huffington.
Vera, Callie, and Eric sat in the seats on one side, and Alan and Bree sat in the seats on the other side of the table.
“There you are. Good to see you, Tess,” Callie greeted her, and the others agreed.
“Glad you could make it.” Huffington’s tone lacked sincerity.
“Thanks. Sorry I’m late.” Tess nodded and avoided making eye contact with Bree.
She quickly assessed whether to sit in the open place next to Bree or take the empty seat at the end of the table opposite where Huffington sat.
Neither one was Tess’s position of choice because sitting too close to Bree would only feed what was completely off the agenda, and taking the end seat could be interpreted as a direct challenge to Huffington. After hesitating, she sat next to Bree.
Bree’s leg bumped hers under the table, and Tess wasn’t sure if it was an accident.
She wasn’t even sure whether she wanted it to be an accident.
She kept her attention on Huffington and his frown.
At least her outward attention was on him because there was no way she didn’t smell the floral notes of Bree’s perfume, didn’t see the smooth skin on Bree’s jawline as they both looked toward Huffington, and didn’t feel the tingle created by the pressure of Bree’s leg travel from her knee to her thigh to that area Bree seemed to so easily ignite.
Maybe she should have taken that other empty seat, so she wouldn’t be so distracted.
“I’d like to welcome our newest colleague, Judge Brianna O’Brian.
” Huffington nodded at Bree, and then continued.
“We’ve put this off until Gerry’s seat was filled, and now we have everyone back from vacation—today we’re here to cast a vote for the presiding judge for the next two years.
But before we get to that, let me say what an honor it’s been to serve you, to put in the time to perfect my performance of the duties, to help make this an excellent and efficient courthouse.
And I would be extremely happy to continue.
” He cleared his throat and looked around the table, locking eyes with one judge at a time.
There was an undercurrent in his tone that was intimidating, if not threatening.
“Our protocol allows for anyone to throw their own hat in the ring, or any of you can nominate someone else. To save time and because we all know I’m up to the challenge, I’ll submit my name. ”
The table was silent as Huffington sat back.
Tess acknowledged this was going to proceed in the manner he’d orchestrated.
She wasn’t surprised. When this meeting was put on her calendar, Tess’s first thought had been that this would be another perfunctory exercise in extending Huffington’s tenure as their chief.
Huffington waited about ten seconds and then said, “I guess that closes the nominations, so let’s cast the official secret ballots so we’ve adhered to the process, and Helene can count them.”
Tess felt Bree shift in her seat before emitting a quiet sigh. She gave herself credit for not chuckling at Bree’s realization that this was an undertaking with a predetermined outcome.
But it was Callie Baldwin who pushed her chair back a few inches and shocked Tess. “I nominate Theresa Fairchild.”
Tess did her best to show no reaction, but internally her stomach had just dropped. She suspected she could do the job, but she’d never aspired to the attention it would undoubtedly garner, along with an increase in interpersonal interactions which she’d always avoided.
“What the devil does Fairchild know about managing the court, overseeing the docket, the budget, issues that arise…” Huffington growled, not even looking at her.
Then he glared around the table before stopping for a long moment on Callie.
It was obvious he’d never considered this development. Tess hadn’t either.
When no further nominations were made, Helene rose from her seat behind Huffington to take over the administrative duties and handed out slips of paper to each judge. Tess’s breathing became a bit more labored. Bree’s leg drifted back into hers.
As soon as everyone had taken a moment to write a name on their paper, fold it, and place it in the box Helene used to collect them, the room fell silent.
She sat and quietly unfolded each slip and looked at the writing on each.
Helene hadn’t become the court executive officer without having mastered the art of being the professional that she was.
When she was done, she asked, “Are you ready for the results?”
Tess watched the room full of judges nod as they waited for the verdict to be read.
It crossed her mind that this was likely as significant a verdict to them all as any they’d heard in their courtrooms. She knew that her job had just taken a major shift—if she lost, Huffington would not forget and she’d suffer along with others in the room, and if she won, she’d be wading into a challenge she never would have chosen to pursue.
“The next presiding judge of the Corazon County Superior Court is…” Helene stopped and looked at Huffington, and then at Tess before she made the announcement. “With a majority count of four—the presiding judge will be Theresa Fairchild.”
Tess felt her life make a tectonic shift as Huffington threw his pen against the wall, shoved his chair back from the table, and stormed out of the room.
“Holy shit,” Callie said with a nod of her head. “That was a surprise.” Tess almost chuckled, but she knew that Callie didn’t mean Huffington’s tantrum. She meant the unexpected vote result that had just dramatically thrown Tess into this additional courthouse role.
Helene paused a moment before she continued.
Tess couldn’t blame her. She had no idea how Tess would do in the role, as what was essentially her new boss.
Tess wondered the same thing. She’d never aspired to be anyone’s boss, and God only knew how Helene perceived her.
Probably a case of the devil you knew versus the devil you didn’t know.
“You still need to designate an assistant presiding judge today. If you have nominations, I’ll count the votes,” Helene said.
“I nominate Callie,” Eric said.
Callie sighed and nodded. Nobody else appeared interested, and the vote count came in with six votes for her, so it didn’t matter that Huffington was absent. The meeting was concluded.
Eric and Alan left soon after, and Vera stayed and made idle chit-chat for a few minutes, then also left. Tess walked out the door behind Bree and Callie. She reflected on how much her life had changed since she’d walked through that portal half an hour ago.
Bree knew that Tess had been back in her chambers for less than fifteen minutes when she knocked on her door and then entered on Tess’s, “Come in.”
She might have planned to maintain a safe distance from Tess, but with this recent turn of events, Bree decided that it was a legitimate part of a professional relationship with the new presiding judge to congratulate Tess.
She’d just have to try to ignore that surge of pleasure at what she’d decided was the professional justification for more time with Tess.
They’d agreed to be friendly. Her renegade hormones, maybe even her mutinous heart, might be spouting off, but she was not going to allow any obvious happy dancing.
“Congratulations, from the novice judge to the new presiding judge.” Bree thought that greeting maintained distance and sounded professional.
There wouldn’t have been the sincerity in her tone if she’d had to force herself to congratulate Huffington instead, but there was nothing wrong with sincerity.
This shift in power was a good thing for the courthouse.