Chapter Seventeen
“Judge Latham, it’s so good to have you back here.” The bailiff greeted her with a cheery smile.
“Thank you, Gregory,” she responded and saw the spark of surprise before he caught himself.
Surprise at her almost human greeting. He probably had no idea that she knew his first name.
She stepped through into the office suite and met with her court clerk, Susan, and assistant GiGi.
Both had smiles and were standing as she entered.
“Hello, Susan, bet those papers are for me,” she said taking the stack from her instead of having her carry them to her desk.
“Good morning, GiGi. That coffee smells delicious. My hands are full, could you carry it inside?” And she led the way to her desk.
“Thank you, ladies,” Erin said, noting the way they were unsure and hovering in the doorway. “Give me an hour of quiet time to get settled and caught up with messages. Then I will have the week’s docket, et cetera.”
“Should we hold your calls, also?”
“Please.”
The door closed and she was alone. Erin sank into her leather chair with its high back and swivel seat.
She swiveled toward the window behind her.
And then she remembered the memo she had read from the marshal’s service in the folder that had outlined what and who had perpetrated the crime against the judges.
But the memo mentioned the upgraded safety issues underway, including a bulletproof window to replace the one behind her.
Times were changing and it made her sad again.
She spun back to her desk. The last thirty-six hours had been enough of tears and anger and hurt and just a swirling mix of emotions that exhausted her.
After a sleepless night, she had risen very early and prepared herself to re-enter the life it felt like she had left months ago and not just weeks.
If people found her changed in any way, then so be it.
And if she happened to run into a certain person in the hallways, then she would ignore him.
Which kept her on edge the first day, then the second and third day…
and she realized that he didn’t want to see her either.
Good. Rance Parker was out of sight and out of mind… or soon would be.
Two weeks passed. The routine was in place.
Life continued. Then Saturday came. And she had been asking around with various people, where she might find a good companionable dog.
Many had suggestions. From expensive purebreds to mutts, everyone had a different opinion.
She dressed in jeans and a pullover, swept her hair back in a ponytail, with comfy sneakers on her feet, she laid out a plan in her mind.
She had just finished breakfast when the doorbell sounded.
Nellie answered it. Erin finished up her coffee and sat the mug in the sink.
Then she heard her name called. She went in search of Nellie.
Nellie stood in the hallway, a leash in hand, and a ball of fur at her feet.
Bright puppy eyes gleamed at her, and the animal turned its head to the side to watch her approach, one ear standing straight and one ear flopped over.
Its bright pink tongue was hanging out of his mouth in a slight pant.
She could swear he was wearing a perpetual smile. She couldn’t help but respond.
“What in the world, Nellie? Where did this pup come from?”
“The doorbell rang and when I opened the door, he was sitting there pretty as you please. He had a leash tied around the pot next to the door and this note was tucked in his collar with your name on it,” the woman responded, handing over both the leash and the note.
“And I have got to get the laundry done. Have fun.” She grinned as she disappeared down the hall toward the back of the home.
Erin and the pup stood looking at each other. Then she remembered the note and unfolded it. It was typed.
Hello,
I heard you wanted a cute pup. I am applying for that position (I am adorable) and I need a good home.
I am housebroken (trying really hard) and I eat puppy food (unless I can catch a human crumb off the table?).
I need a name, and I’ve already had my shots.
As for a breed, I am a genuine Heinz 57.
But I promise to love you more than you love me, forever.
Is the verdict in my favor?
Erin looked down at the dog, sitting like a statue at her feet, the grin still on its face and eyes glued to hers. “That’s quite a plea to the court on your behalf. I am thinking the jury won’t be needed on this one.”
She knelt and the pup’s whole body began shaking as the tail began wagging in wild abandon.
Then puppy kisses began landing on her hands and cheeks as the jumping jacks started.
Before she could help it, the bundle of black, brown, and white fur was in her arms. She managed to wrap her arms around the pup, calming it a bit.
Her laughter bubbled up, and she did manage to speak.
“I guess the verdict is a big yes…your plea for a home is accepted. Now if you could just tell me who left you on my doorstep in such a manner, I would really like that.”
It wasn’t long before Jack, due to his mimic of a jack-in-the-box, had been renamed Jackee, due to being a female.
She rode as if she were a queen in the shopping cart a couple of hours later while Erin shopped the aisles for all sorts of things that Jackee needed…
beds for upstairs and downstairs, a crate for training and travel, monogrammed food and water bowls, an etched tag for the new collar, and treats for rewards and nutritional food for a growing baby.
Once back in the car, in her raised doggie seat that had safety features for the automobile, she settled down and fell asleep after such an eventful morning.
Erin’s smile moved into another wide grin.
She realized that for the first time, since Destiny’s River, her smile had appeared without conscious thought.
That was a good thing. Then a memory would appear of a certain marshal, and it would fade.
It would be nice to share news of the pup’s arrival if things had turned out differently.
But she put it out of her mind. No going back, just forward.
Jackee quickly decided that the doggie bed was not meant for the night, only naps.
Somehow, Erin’s thinking had been rearranged by the small pup and Jackee had steps to help get her short legs to move her on top of the covers at the foot of Erin’s bed.
Life settled into a routine, which now included Jackee.
On the following Saturday, the doorbell sounded again.
Once more Nellie answered it, and she returned to the kitchen, where Erin was finishing breakfast with a huge arrangement of pink roses and bright pink hydrangeas with white sprigs of lily of the valley scattered through it.
Erin was amazed and loved the beauty of it.
The small card was handed over. Nellie went back to filling the dishwasher.
Erin withdrew the card and saw that the note was typed.
Hope these favorites made you smile on your special day.
RP
It was her birthday. RP had to be Rance Parker. And she realized that Jillie had asked her when it was at lunch one day at Tillie’s. And Rance had been sitting there. He’d remembered.
Now what? How was she supposed to react?
Just when she hoped he was fading away to one day become a distant memory, it took one small card to bring him front and center in her brain again.
It was a happy birthday wish. Period. No personal sentiment.
What was expected? To thank him? That would open so much…
so many memories she had fought to keep at bay.
But if she ignored him, then she would be rude and hateful…
perhaps giving the wrong impression? Allowing him to think he meant more than he did?
Except that was the whole problem. Rance Parker had found his way into that space she thought was walled away from any chance of pain infiltrating.
She hadn’t seen the ego-rich, bossy tough-guy marshal as a threat, but he was.
And her heart had succumbed. Only to find she had trusted the wrong man again.
Now he was at the door again and she had to protect herself.
She sat at her desk at home, going back and forth on her decision. Finally, she took out a sheet of note stationery and began the first of many drafts.
*
Rance arrived at his desk late Friday. He had been on assignment transporting a witness to a trial in Oklahoma the previous four days.
He took a few minutes to go through his emails and letters that had grown in a pile on his desk.
There was no reason to hurry home. He would grab something on the way after he went through the mail quickly.
He had gone through most of the stack when his hand stopped as it reached for the envelope with a familiar return address, and the sender was The Honorable Erin Finley Latham.
His pulse started racing. Ridiculous to react to a name on an envelope.
He picked it up and then slit it open. The contents were a folded note on cream linen paper.
Thank you for the beautiful flowers and birthday wishes.
E. F. Latham