Chapter 6
CHAPTER SIX
Eden
I’ve been in New York City less than seventy-two hours, and I’ve already tipped my life upside down.
I knocked Dylan Colt’s life sideways.
That wasn’t planned.
None of this was planned.
My mission was simple. I came to Manhattan to help Kurt. He called me asking if I would be willing to spend a few weeks in the city taking over one of his most important cases.
Kurt Sufford has always been like an uncle to me. Three years ago, he gave me a job in the Buffalo office of Sufford, Lake & Chisholm.
This is the first time he’s requested I come to Manhattan to help him with a case.
“Eden?”
I glance over my shoulder to find Noelle Sufford standing in the doorway of my bedroom.
Technically, it’s her second bedroom. Noelle is letting me crash in her spare room while I work on her dad’s case.
I may be three years younger than her, but she’s one of my closest friends.
A frown settles over her lips. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost. Are you okay?”
“I’m fine, Dr. Sufford,” I shoot back with a smile.
I was there when Noelle graduated from medical school. At just thirty-five years old, she’s working toward her goal of setting up her own practice one day.
Noelle’s brother, Marcus, is one of the most respected pediatricians in Manhattan. Noelle didn’t follow in his footsteps. Plastic surgery is her passion.
“I didn’t expect you to be here.” She tucks a piece of her red hair behind her ear. “Dad said you two had a court date today.”
As soon as Judge Mycella called recess, Kurt was on his way out of the courthouse. In the Uber on the way back to the office, Kurt received a call from a potential character witness for Troy Alcester.
I offered to take the meeting.
That will happen twenty minutes from now in an apartment two blocks from here.
I misjudged the time it would take me to get across town, so I stopped in here for a refresh of my makeup and a glass of cold water.
Noelle takes a few steps closer to me. She’s dressed in a pair of black pants and a short sleeve sweater that’s the same shade as her green eyes.
“I’m on a break. Shouldn’t you be at work?” I question with a perk of my brow.
“I came home for an early lunch today.” She sighs.
Our schedules have kept us from spending much time together in person the last few years, but we’ve made up for it by FaceTiming.
I know worry on my friend’s face when I see it.
“You trust the doctor performing your dad’s surgery, don’t you?” I ask, narrowing the space between us with a few short steps.
“She’s a brilliant cardiologist.”
I squeeze her hand. “She’ll do her job. Your dad is the most stubborn person I know. He’s going to come out of this better than ever.”
“When did you get to be so wise?” Her gaze narrows. “There was a time when I was the one comforting you.”
Noelle never left my side during the worst time of my life.
I’ll do everything in my power to help guide her through this.
“It’s my turn to take care of you.” I wrap my arm around her shoulder.
“I’m here for you too.” She leans into me. “If you need an ear, I have two.”
Telling her about what happened between Dylan and me last night would help me sort through what I’m feeling, but I need to handle this on my own.
I’m the one who went home with him and got into his bed.
Now, I have to face the consequences of not confessing that I was the girl he knew in high school.
The same girl who thought she’d never see him again.
Two hours later, I step into the afternoon sunshine flooding the streets of Manhattan.
The meeting I just wrapped up couldn’t have gone any smoother. I spoke to a woman who is going to take the witness stand to sing the praises of Troy Alcester. She’s not my star witness, but her words will set the stage for the slam-dunk I intend to deliver before the judge makes her final decision.
When Kurt and I first sat down to go over the case, he may have neglected to mention that our opposing counsel is Dylan Colt, but he did drop a bombshell in my lap about his client.
Trudy Alcester’s closet isn’t just filled with designer handbags and shoes. The woman has some hidden secrets that I have every intention of uncovering.
Kurt’s private investigator discovered new information two days ago. The continuance we were granted today will give me enough time to prepare a case that will level the playing field between my client and his estranged wife.
Nothing is fair in love and divorce.
I realized that during the first case I handled after I started working at Sufford, Lake & Chisholm. I watched a couple who had been together more than twenty years go at each other in a courtroom in Buffalo like two rabid animals crossing paths in a dark alleyway.
I fish my phone out of my tote bag when it starts ringing.
I answer immediately when I realize it’s Kurt’s assistant calling.
“Ms. Conrad? Is that you?” she asks before I say a word.
“It’s me,” I answer with a smile. “How are you, Mrs. Burton?”
I don’t know her first name. I’m not sure Kurt does either. He told me that he’s called her Mrs. Burton since he hired her more than ten years ago.
“Stressed.” She lets out an exaggerated sigh. “The attorney representing Mrs. Alcester is looking for you. He came down here shortly before noon. I told him you were out of the office. He waited around for more than thirty minutes. He’s called three times since he left.”
I’m not entirely surprised, although I didn’t expect Dylan to make an in-person appearance at my office. “I see.”
“He’s persistent.” She emphasizes the last syllable. “I told him I couldn’t give out your cell number without your permission, regardless of how urgent he thinks the matter is.”
“I appreciate you not sharing my number.” I start down the sidewalk in the direction of Noelle’s apartment building.
“Of course,” she says curtly. “He said he had something to give you. I told him you were in a meeting and I wasn’t sure when you’d be back to the office. I didn’t know if you’d return at three or four or…”
“I won’t be back today,” I say in a rush. “I have another meeting.”
“You do?” Her tone shifts from frustration to curiosity. “I have your schedule in front of me and I don’t see anything.”
“This is Buffalo business. I have a Skype meeting in fifteen minutes with my team back home to go over our open cases.”
I resist the temptation to remind her that I told her about it this morning.
“I’ll be taking that out of the office.” I slow my pace. “If Mr. Colt calls again, tell him he can leave the item with you.”
I glance down at my bare wrist.
I didn’t realize that I left my watch at Dylan’s apartment until I was getting ready for court this morning. I’d ducked out of his place after he fell asleep.
“I did suggest that.” I can hear the smile in her voice. “He told me that he couldn’t do that. He wants to hand whatever it is directly to you.”
Dylan has always been aggravatingly persistent.
“If he calls again tell him that it’s not an urgent matter and I’ll see him in court next week.”
“You sound as if you know what he wants to give you.”
I know a lure when I hear one. Mrs. Burton is looking for some inside information. I’m not going to tell her that I left my watch in Dylan’s apartment after I had sex with him.
“Please relay the message to him,” I say as I wait to cross the street. “I’ll be back in the office tomorrow. I’ll see you then?”
“I’ll be here bright and early.”
Ending the call, I tap my shoe against the sidewalk as I wait for the light to change.
I expected New York to be an exciting break from my boring life in Buffalo. The city has already delivered that in spades.