CHAPTER THREE #2
Haley just left a few minutes ago, and she still wouldn’t tell me who’s interested in the position I’ve had open for a while.
I’ve had plenty of applicants and even offered the position to a couple of people.
One, an established attorney named Leah has joined my practice, but she’s currently on maternity leave.
Even when she gets back, we really do need a third person to share the workload.
I have found an outstanding paralegal. Jamie is great and gets along with Haley.
The two of them work well as a team and keep Leah and me organized and prepared for each case.
I have a case starting in a couple of days, so, of course, my desk is covered with a mass of files.
Yes, there is a lot online, but you have to be able to access things quickly in the courtroom, so I like to have files on hand as well.
No one will ever be able to claim that I’m not prepared.
There’s a knock on my office door, and it opens.
Jamie’s head pokes in. “Your interview is here. Here’s the file that Haley wouldn’t give you.
” I grab the file from Jamie. I look inside, set it down immediately, and head to the front area.
I look around the doorway. “Colton?” I get a smile as he stands up and walks over to me.
I hold out my hand to shake his. He shakes my hand and speaks up.
“I heard you were still looking for someone, and I’m interested.
” This man is one of the most successful divorce attorneys in the county, so I’m gonna need to know why he’s willing to walk away from that.
“Well, come back to my office, and we can have a chat. You know I’m going to need more than that.” I turn to walk back to my office, and I hear Jamie call out, “I’m leaving for the day!”
I walk into my office, sit in my chair, lean back, and wait for Colton to start talking.
He takes a seat across from me and leans back in the chair.
He sighs and looks at me. “You know why I got into law.” I nod.
We’d swapped our reasons for going into law back in college.
We were in a few undergrad classes together, even though he was a couple of years ahead of me.
Colton clasps his hands together. “Well, as much as I have done well and have a thriving practice, I don’t feel like I’m helping people in the way I want.
I have more contentious divorces where whoever I’m representing just wants to get back at their soon-to-be ex because they’re mad at them, not because the other person treated them horribly or did something inexcusable.
Sure, I’ve got clients where the other person cheated, which is horrible, but that’s…
” I think I know what he’s getting at. “You aren’t helping people who were wrongly accused or who need a legitimate defense.
” He nods empathically. “I wanted to take on cases of women and men getting out of domestic violence or other shitty situations, but those aren’t usually money makers, because—”
I interrupt him, “Because they usually don’t have money for an attorney.”
Colton sighs again. “Exactly. I don’t think I realized just how true that was till I started working.
Fuck, if I’m honest, I think your uncle Erik is one of the few clients I’ve had that I feel even comes close to the type of client I thought I’d have when I was in law school.
I have plenty of work, but it’s not what I want to be doing.
Hell, it’s not why I went to law school.
” I look at him and ask the question that matters most. “And you think the cases our firm has are more in line with what you see yourself doing?” He nods again, but I continue with the part that has had so many potential hires leaving.
“It’s all well and good wanting to defend those who have been wrongly accused or helping with an appeal of a sentence, but do you think you can handle defending someone you know is guilty?
Even if they’re pleading not guilty? It doesn’t happen all the time, but it does happen.
Even if they’re fucking assholes—” Colton finishes my sentence, “Their family is paying good money, and every person deserves a fair trial.” He smirks and continues, “I took Professor Edward’s class too.
But to answer your question, yeah, I can do that.
My opinion on their guilt or innocence doesn’t affect whether they get a fair trial.
I believe in the justice system. Yeah, I know it’s flawed, and we’ve both seen our share of innocent people being found guilty.
But in my experience, the guilty, the ones who are the kind who really need to do some serious time, are often their own worst enemy.
They’re the clients who take the stand after you try to tell them, until you’re blue in the face, not to.
If they’re really bad, they fire you and represent themselves.
” I chuckle and nod. “Okay, well, when would you want to start? We’re small, but I have a list of people who’ve contacted me to look at their cases and assess their chances of appeal.
Some are futile, but there are some legitimate ones that neither Leah nor I have had time to go over.
Add to that our ever-growing current defense clients, and I’m pretty sure I could fill your calendar by your second or third day. ”
We discuss the pertinent details and agree for him to come in on Friday to iron out his transition plan. I’m running more than just fifteen minutes late, so I hurry to shut down my computer and grab my bag. Heading out to my truck, I send off a text to Christy.
Me: Took longer than I thought, but heading your way now.
Christy: I’ll have dinner almost ready when you get here. See you soon.
If I wasn’t so fucking late already, I would stop and get some wine or something, but I don’t like keeping Christy waiting. She deserves me keeping my word.
I pull up to her apartment complex and hurry up the stairs to the second-story apartment, thankful that someone talked some sense into the three girls about not getting a ground-level one.
We may live in a small town, but you still can’t be too careful.
I knock on the door and hear Christy call out from inside.
“Come on in!” I open the door and walk in, heading to the kitchen where the noise is coming from.
I move toward the kitchen, and the sight takes my breath away.
Christy’s not dressed up fancy or anything, wearing leggings and a sweater, with her long hair pulled up in a messy bun.
She’s plating dinner, and a timer is going off.
I’m hit by how much I’d love to watch this sight of her for the rest of my life.
Not just the special, fancy, or loud moments, but the little, everyday bits of living life together.
I’ve always known I want what Ma and Pa have, but I’ve never had a clear picture of what the woman was like.
That was until the night up on the mountain.
I know you’re asking why the hell I haven’t made a move in almost a year, but there’s a good answer for it.
No, and not because I’m a chicken shit, thank you very fucking much.
A year ago, she was just fresh from escaping a cult that was demanding she marry some fucker whom she didn’t choose.
She’d never lived on her own or had any sort of freedom.
I didn’t feel it was right to try to swoop in right away and claim her as mine.
She deserved that time to experience the day-to-day things that we all take for granted.
She needed to figure out who she is outside of that cult.
She needed to figure out what she liked and didn’t like.
I wasn’t gonna totally leave her alone, and to be honest, in this last year, she’s become one of my closest friends.
She’s smart, funny, and so caring about those who mean something to her.
I’ve loved helping her study, though I don’t think she needs it.
She could easily go on to college if she wanted to.
Christy gets me out of my head. “You gonna stand there all night or grab yourself a drink and have a seat since dinner’s just about ready?” I look at her, and my mouth works before I can think. “Why did you leave your door unlocked? That’s not safe with you gals living here alone?”
I’m pretty sure she rolls her eyes at me.
“I knew you were coming up, and I knew the timer was about to go off. Now get your drink, mister.” I walk over to the fridge and reach in, grabbing a soda pop.
“You want one?” She nods as she reaches into the oven and pulls out what looks like some amazing biscuits.
“Smells amazing. Should I go tell Mary dinner is ready? Is Kinsley gracing us with her presence?” Christy shakes her head.
“Nope. Kinsley is off doing Kinsley things, and Mary is over at Jane’s helping her out.
Jon, Juan, and the twins all have colds or something, and she’s helping with bedtime. It’s just you and me tonight.”
I can’t help but smile at the thought of it just being the two of us.
I take our drinks to the table and go back to the kitchen.
“Anything else I can bring out?” She points to the platter of biscuits.
“If you want to take these, I’ll bring in our plates, and we can eat.
” I take the plate of biscuits, and the smell has my mouth watering.
I set them down and have a seat. Christy sets a plate down in front of me.
“Everything looks delicious. Thank you for cooking.” Christy gives me that smile that makes me want to do things to her. Very naughty things.
“Dig in, you don’t want it getting cold.” I nod, words escaping me at the moment. Say something and get out of your fantasies, jackass. “So, you ever going to tell me where Kinsley is always at?” Christy shakes her head. “Nope. That’s her story to tell, not mine.”
Christy