34. Getting Used To It
GETTING USED TO IT
P hoebe left court a month later and was walking to her car when her phone buzzed.
She pulled it out to see the picture from her brother Ben of the Fierce Fifth Kid can and case upon case of beer behind it.
She squealed and then stopped herself and looked around to make sure no one saw her.
She replied with an excited emoji just as she saw someone waving at her and walking closer.
“Hi,” she said to the older woman.
“You’re the new attorney in the area, right?”
Almost four months didn’t seem too new to her anymore, but she wouldn’t argue about it.
“I’m Phoebe Kelly,” she said, “of Kelly Law.”
“Lori Riser,” the woman said, putting her hand out. “I was hoping you could help me. But I don’t want to talk here. Too many ears and eyes.”
“Of course,” she said. She pulled her card out. “Why don’t you give my office a call at your convenience or we can schedule a time for you to come in and talk to someone.”
“I’d prefer to talk on the phone first, but know that taking up your time costs money too.”
“A call is just a consultation to see if we can help you or not,” she said. “We might not be able to, but we’ll make that decision after some facts.”
“Thank you,” Lori said, putting her hand over Phoebe’s. “I appreciate that.”
She watched the woman walk away and rather than go back to the office, drove to the brewery since she had time.
She was so excited for Elias and knew if Ben was sending her that picture, then Elias had to have gotten it first. She’d seen the design of the can already but now that the product was finished, it seemed almost surreal.
When she got to the brewery, she saw the long line of cars and people as always. The to-go slots were all filled, and people were in line to go inside and have a drink or relax with some food from the trucks after a long drive.
They knew who she was now—most people did—but she still had to be buzzed in by security, then Elias paged since he was rarely in his office.
He came down five minutes later with a big smile on his face.
“You saw it, right?” he asked.
“I did,” she said. “I wanted to come to congratulate you in person.” She hugged him.
“Do you have time for some food? We can go out and get it and eat in my office?”
Her head went back and forth. “I’ve got about forty minutes and with the lines out there, I doubt it’s enough time to get it, eat, and to drive back before my call.”
“I get to butt in line,” he said, wiggling his eyebrows. “Let’s go.”
She wasn’t sure how she felt about that. “Mac and cheese,” she said of the first truck they came to.
“Nice and fast,” he said, pulling her to the side. She saw one of the workers inside move to the driver’s door on the other side of the truck and she and Elias went there.
“What can we get you, Elias?” the kid said.
“I’ll take a mac and cheese bowl with pulled pork,” he said.
“Make that two,” she said.
He pulled his wallet out and handed over his card for it to be processed. When the card was returned, the food was delivered just as quickly.
“Enjoy it,” the kid said.
She and Elias walked back to the building but went around another side where there weren’t people so he wasn’t stopped.
“You’re like a celebrity,” she said.
He snorted. “Only in Southern Pines and to a beer lover. It’s true that it’s nice to be able to walk around and not worry about someone always stopping and wanting to talk to you.”
“I’m getting used to it,” she said. “I got stopped before coming here. But it wasn’t about you this time.”
It still happened weekly. If not daily.
The longer she was here, the more people realized she was dating Elias.
If she got asked one more time if she liked his beer, she might scream.
Why was that the only thing people cared about when they talked to her or about Elias?
Or if it wasn’t about his beer it was that he was doing so much for the community.
Good things for sure, but still not too many people’s business either.
“I’m hurt,” he said. “I like it when people ask you about me.”
She elbowed him when they made their way to his office, then sat and ate.
“It’s annoying but not a big deal,” she said, smirking.
“I was asked about you a few days ago,” he said.
“You were?” she asked. “Someone stopped you on the street and asked about my practice?”
“Well,” he said. “Not that. More about you.”
She waved her hand. “Annoying. No one asks me about you. They ask about your business. But when they see you, they ask about me and not my business. What a double standard.”
He laughed. “You’ve got a point. I hadn’t thought of that. Give me some cards. I’ll hand them out.”
“Stop,” she said. “I can grow my business on my own. Just like when I was leaving the courthouse I was stopped and handed my card to someone. She didn’t want to talk to me outside. She said too many eyes. It made me feel good. She’s going to call.”
“Not everyone loves living here for those reasons and others that are nosy think it’s great.”
She was shoveling her food in because she had to get back to the office for another call and it was ten minutes away.
“How much longer is Talia going to be working for you?” she asked. She’d waved to Elias’s younger sister when they were walking to his office with their food.
“A few more weeks,” he said. “She’d been offered some other temp jobs and turned them down. I think she knows what she wants and is going to talk to West. She’s dragging her feet.”
“Does she think West is going to say no?”
“He won’t,” he said. “But he is going to want to have more conversations with her and get things set. It won’t happen overnight either. I think she’s afraid to commit. She keeps saying she’s too young to know what she wants right now.”
Phoebe understood that part about the fear of deciding.
“Will she move to New York if she ends up running some foundation for him?”
“Those are things they have to work out,” he said. “I don’t get in the middle.”
She finished her lunch, put the paper container in his trash, and gave him a kiss. “Can I walk out on my own or do you have to follow me?”
“I have to follow you,” he said. “Sorry. You won’t be able to get through the doors without my key card. Do you want a key card?”
“No,” she said. That might fall under the deciding part of her life she didn’t want to put pressure on.
Travis had installed the new cameras and it was working with Elias’s old system. The past month there didn’t seem to be any issues that she’d been told about.
Elias never even mentioned if staff were upset over the cameras either, but he had said they were very low-key about installing them and didn’t want it made public knowledge either.
He walked her out to the last door, kissed her and she moved briskly to her car and drove to her office.
“Visiting with Elias for lunch?” Kayla asked her when she walked by her paralegal’s office.
She stopped and walked back a step. “Yes,” she said. “You get information fast.”
Kayla shrugged. “Beth was my boss. She’s nice and all. I think she wishes I went back. I worked in the offices for a bit and then down in distribution. I didn’t mind filling orders or doing what they asked of me. She saw you.”
“And she has time to send a text?” she asked.
“Probably on lunch. There is a big buzz going around with the collaboration. I got a picture of the can and all. You’ve got to be so excited about it with your brother too.”
Phoebe nodded and walked back to her office.
No reason to respond to that and encourage more water cooler talk.
She checked her email before her call and then got to work.
An hour later, Sophie was buzzing her. “Lori Riser is on the phone for you. She said you are expecting her call.”
She rolled her eyes. It’s not how things went. Normally the information would go through Sophie and then filtered to her or a paralegal, but it was fine. She’d been pretty clear about using “we” and not “I” when talking with Lori. Like she did anyone else.
“I’ll take it. Hi, Lori. How can I help you?”
“I’m having an issue with my neighbor. I’m not sure what to do and the police aren’t helping. I think it’s because my neighbor is friends with an officer. I didn’t want anyone to see me talking to an attorney and have it get back to them.”
And this was where small towns got complicated.
“What kind of problem are you having?”
“My neighbor is always playing loud music during the day. Their kids are a nuisance on the street and my property. I’ve nicely asked more than once that they lower the music. It causes my windows to shake.”
“And you’ve called the police?” she asked.
“I have,” Lori said. “They come out and talk to them to lower the music some, but it will start up again a few days later. I want to put a fence up to keep their kids off my property. I had someone come out and survey my land and their shed is actually on my property. I asked them to move it, but they won’t.
I never realized my property line extended that far. ”
“Legally, we can send them a letter giving them thirty days to move it. We’d do that with a copy of the survey. They can choose to pay for a separate survey if they wish to counter your results.”
“They won’t,” Lori said.
“Then the first step is a letter for them to move it. If they refuse, you can file suit for it to be removed and seek damages on top of it. You have to decide if you want to go that route.”
There was silence on the other end.
“I don’t want to cause more problems. I just want a fence up but now can’t because of that shed.”
“I’m going to pass you to my paralegal to get some information if you’d like us to help. A letter will state that you reached out on that date and what the next steps are. Normally once someone gets a legal letter, they comply. But I understand it could be uncomfortable.”
“It can and will,” Lori said. “I thought of moving, but they’d have to move the shed for that too.”
“Then there is your answer. It needs to be done regardless,” she said.
“Thanks,” Lori said. “I appreciate it. Elias is a lucky guy to be with you.”
She rolled her eyes. “I’ll be sure to tell him that,” she said and laughed.
Why did it always have to come back to her relationship?
So much for thinking she got the business on her own.
It was probably someone else who just knew who she was dating.