Chapter 12
Twelve
It was Bill Winters’ birthday and a stretch limo sat out in front of the Barron, Winters Wall law offices on the evening of May 22nd. The driver, a tall man wearing a black suit and a chauffeur’s hat, stood next to the back door, waiting on them. Whitney hadn’t requested the special treatment, but the limo company had been clients of the firm for as long as they’d been in business and had surprised them by sending the fanciest car in the fleet.
Whitney walked over to catch up to Carina at the front door. “Are they coming?”
“Your father’s on a call.” Carina rolled her eyes. “Your mom is already complaining, and William is trying to herd them. I had to leave before I said something to make it worse.”
“I hope they don’t argue on the way down. It will be a miserable night if they aren’t speaking.”
“Especially because I had them put us in the Taxin Room so we wouldn’t have to deal with clients coming over to say hello all night long. If they’re cranky, we won’t have any other distractions.” Carina crossed her fingers.
Whitney should have been used to waiting on her parents by now. They always made a grand entrance everywhere they went, but it still drove her crazy.
Finally, the elevator at the end of the hall chimed, and her mother exited, looking stunning in a lovely lavender sheath dress. It was a good sign that after she stepped out, she waited for Dad and hugged his arm.
“Thank goodness,” Whitney whispered to Carina.
William beat them to the front doors. “Are we all set?” he asked.
“Waiting on you,” said Whitney, smiling at her parents.
“Where’s Roger? Do we need to wait?”
“Uh. No. We were never actually dating. Why would I invite him to this?” Whitney rolled her eyes. “Let’s go. We’re going to be late for our reservation as it is.”
They walked outside and the driver held the door as they all scooted inside onto the supple leather seats. A bottle of champagne was chilling in a silver ice bucket.
Carina did the honors, pouring and passing stemless flutes to everyone.
William raised his. “Happy seventieth birthday, Dad.”
They sipped champagne on the short ride to Bookbinder’s, Dad’s favorite spot for decades now. He liked to tease that the firm kept the restaurant in business when they first opened on Tobacco Row in the riverfront American Cigar Building, the building still clinging to its original architectural lines despite the extensive renovations in this part of the city.
The limousine pulled to a stop in front of the restaurant, and Whitney and Carina got out first.
They escorted the family straight to the Taxin Room, the smallest of the private party rooms, and they had a bevy of appetizers already lining the center of the table.
“This looks divine,” Mom said. “Bill, isn’t this great?”
“It is.” He reached out and slurped a fresh oyster from the shell. “Not even an R month, and it’s still perfect. I knew that R-month rule was an old southern wives’ tale—that oysters are only good in months that have an R in them.” He flirted playfully with Mom and held her chair, taking the one at the head of the table for himself.
“We are so pleased to be hosting you on your seventieth birthday, Mr. Winters. We’ve got a lovely selection of appetizers already here for you to enjoy.” He pulled the bottle of their favorite wine from the bucket and poured. “I’ll let you get settled. Enjoy the wine and appetizers, and then I’ll come back and go through the menu specials for tonight.”
“Very nice,” Dad said. “Thank you.” He raised his glass. “Champagne, wine, and I see my favorite cake over on the table there. Whatever gets sandwiched in between will pale, but we’ll do it up right!”
Conversation turned to Mom and Dad’s recent weekend at the beach, followed by the latest Chloe antics, and the new redecorating project Mom had planned for the office.
“I have something to share,” Dad announced. “I apologize for being long-winded on the phone earlier, but I received some wonderful news. The firm is a finalist for the the International Licensing Law Firm of Virginia award this year. Our work in patents and licensing is being recognized, and I couldn’t be more proud.”
“That’s fantastic,” Whitney said.
“Even more reason to celebrate,” William added.
“I forgive you for making me wait. That call was worth taking,” Mom cooed.
Dad leaned over and kissed her on the cheek.
“They announce the awards in Arlington on June third. I’ve already booked all the rooms. There’s a special party for the finalist firms that afternoon before the winners will be announced to the public at the evening festivities. Of course, I expect we’ll all be in attendance.”
“We wouldn’t miss it!” Heads nodded, because no one ever let Dad down on these command performances.
“We’ll head out that morning. I’ve got transportation arranged for the following day, coming home on the fourth. Block your calendars or reschedule things. This is too big not to enjoy as a family.”
The birthday dinner was perfect. Everyone ordered what they craved, and no one felt disappointed, not even Mom, who could be picky about such things.
Candles that ignited like sparklers glowed from the cake as they sang, and Dad had no problem blowing them out.
“Are you going to tell us your wish?” Whitney asked.
“You know it won’t come true if I do,” he said with a wink. They had the same conversation every year, since she could remember. Even these tiny tributes were a tradition that would never grow old.
Whitney’s phone dinged, and Dad gave her “the look.”
“Sorry.” She scrambled for her phone in her purse. “I could’ve sworn I turned this off.” As she turned the phone over to mute the sound, she saw a snippet of the message. “Things just got worse. Call me now.”
Whitney’s heart pounded. “Worse” was never a good thing to hear. She pushed the phone into her pocket, wondering how to make a graceful exit.
Dad was going on about something, and everyone else seemed to cling to the conversation, but she hadn’t heard a word. Her mind reeled. She sipped some water, pushing her wine glass away. No need to muddy her mind with libations.
“Whitney? Your father asked you a question.”
She sucked in a breath too quickly and choked. Reaching for her water, she recovered. “I’m sorry. I had this tickle, and I was trying not to cough. Which apparently backfired.”
Carina came to the rescue. “Your thoughts on the new artwork in the conference room.”
“Yes! I know. All the pieces are lovely. Huge, but really stunning.” Which was about all Whitney could say because she’d only seen the one. She hadn’t taken the time to seek them all out, although after seeing Matthew’s mural and having dinner with him the other night, she was curious to see them.
“You better love them,” her father said. “I spent your inheritance on them.”
Dad explained every big purchase as their inheritance, but they all knew there was no way he’d be able to squander his inheritance in his lifetime. According to Mom, he refused to touch a dime of what his father had left him, which was a tidy sum from his father’s father too.
Didn’t matter. Whitney wanted nothing from anyone. She could pay her own way and fully intended to.
She faked another cough. “I’m going to step out to the ladies’ room and see if I can’t chase this tickle away.” Not wasting a moment, she left the private room and race-walked down the hall and out into the lobby. She tucked away in a corner and pulled out her phone.
The message was from Olivia. She pressed the button to call her back. Olivia answered on the first ring.
“Whitney. I’m sorry, I know you’re doing birthday dinner with the family tonight, but I didn’t want you to get blindsided. You won’t believe it.”
Whitney plugged her finger in her other ear and turned to the wall. “What?”
“There was this little tease on the radio talking about people finding their soulmates after divorce.”
“Kally?”
“They didn’t say. It was a tease, and they didn’t mention you or the firm, but I’m worried. I didn’t catch when it’s supposed to air. It was an ad for their midday show.”
“Hopefully it doesn’t have near as many listeners as the morning and evening.”
“I’m sorry to drop it on you, but just in case your mom had heard it or it came up, I didn’t want you to have a heart attack.”
“I’m having one now! Can you imagine if they broadcast all that cupid and ‘Fixie Chicks’ stuff all over the place?” Whitney couldn’t think straight. “How are we going to stop this from blowing up? I need to tell Dad about it before someone else does. Which station was it on?”
“The one with the crazy morning show.”
“Okay. Yeah.”
“It could be someone else’s story altogether, but that would be a big coincidence.”
“Like two people meeting in a divorce attorney’s lobby? Coincidences are happening all around us.”
“I know. I have an awful feeling about this, but I didn’t want you to get caught off guard. It’ll be fine. I’m on it.”
Olivia’s attempt at calming the situation was appreciated, but not very effective. “I’ve got to get back. Thanks for the heads up.”
When Whitney walked back in the room, everyone had finished dessert. Carina gave her a side glance. She definitely knew something was up. “I’m going to take my cake home. I’m so full of that lobster I can hardly breathe.”
“You don’t think that little cough is a shellfish allergy, do you? I’ve heard people sometimes get new allergies late in their thirties,” Mom said.
“I’m not that late into my thirties,” Whitney said. “I think I’m fine. It’s probably just the air in here.”
“You are right under the vent,” Carina said.
“Maybe it’s time to call it a night and get you back, Whitney.” Dad put his napkin on the table. “Well, this has been a lovely evening. Thank you for a nice birthday. I’ll announce the firm being a finalist for the award at an all-hands meeting tomorrow. This will just continue to prove we are the best firm around.”
Whitney’s stomach sank. Something as silly as the trending videos on social media could cause a problem with the voting and be a real black eye to the firm. The stuffed shirts who headed the commercial clients would love any reason to shut the divorce and family division down. Dad had forced them to let Whitney and Carina give it a shot in the first place, but he couldn’t protect them if they did anything that might negatively affect the commercial side or the firm’s reputation.
Those videos did not fit the brand. Not by a long shot.
After the limo dropped them back off at the office, Mom and Dad left for home, and William was talking Carina into a nightcap at the corner pub before going home.
“Come on. You’re my favorite girl,” he said to Carina. “I’ll twirl you on the dance floor.”
“See you tomorrow, Whitney,” Carina called over her shoulder.
They walked arm and arm down the sidewalk. She felt like a real third wheel tonight, and she didn’t like that. She waved them off and walked back home.
Once nestled on her couch at home, she checked her emails and noticed Olivia had forwarded what she’d found online about the upcoming television segment.
Whitney went to work, pulling the names from their database. The couples had all been clients of theirs, but some were so far apart that it was unlikely they ever had any contact in their office.
“Oh my gosh. We have better odds than online dating apps. What is going on?”