Chapter Five
The weather was so offensively perfect it felt like a setup.
Seventy degrees, sunshine like a cozy blanket, a breeze that flirted with her bare shoulders.
Spring had officially arrived in the vibrant college town where Isabela and her three best friends had survived law school. Now it felt like a postcard.
They’d all converged on Bloomington, Indiana from different corners of the country, booking rooms at the inn near campus where they used to meet for cheap mimosas and post-finals meltdowns.
This time, there were no exams. Just four women, a lot of drinks, and an agreement to pretend none of them were exhausted by real life.
Izzy sat at the patio table outside their favorite bar, nursing a second drink and reminding herself this was vacation. There was no logical reason for her brain to keep cycling back to the world’s most annoying client.
Sammie was leaning back in her chair, legs crossed, sipping something bright blue and dangerous.
Her fingers texted furiously with someone she refused to reveal.
Lianna, always effortlessly chic, wore a gauzy linen sundress and a no-nonsense expression as she flagged down their waiter for a refill.
Maisy was people-watching like it was her second job.
She was currently trying to overhear a pair of frat boys’ awkward pickup attempts at the table next to them.
“I swear if one more undergrad tries to impress a girl with his crypto portfolio,” Maisy muttered, “I’m going to fake an SEC badge and arrest someone.”
“You’re the only person I know who could pull that off,” Lianna grinned.
Isabela laughed, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes. The others noticed.
Lianna slid her sunglasses down her nose, giving Izzy a once-over. “Okay, spill. You’ve said maybe five words all day. That’s a personal low.”
“I’m fine,” Izzy replied.
“Liar,” Maisy quipped.
“I’m just tired.”
“Still lying,” Maisy taunted. “You didn’t even react when that guy inside offered to buy our next round. Iz, come on. He was hot and had a tattoo of a book. That means he can read ... probably.”
Izzy wanted to laugh, instead she sighed. “I’ve had a rough week at work, okay?”
All three women leaned in at once like sharks scenting blood.
“There it is,” Lianna said, victorious. “Tell us everything.”
“I can’t tell you everything,” Izzy exhaled. “But I’ll say this, I have never had a more difficult client in my life. He is miserable and infuriating and mean, and so exhausting to deal with.”
Maisy grinned. “Wait, how old is this client?
Izzy wrinkled her nose in distaste, “I don’t know.” She did know, he was thirty-eight. “Like forty or something.”
“Are you, like, into him?” Maisy’s smile reminded her of Kelly and Alexis’s evil cat. She’d never cat-sit again.
Then her eyes widened as the question sank. “No! God. Why would you think that when I just described him as miserable and mean?”
“Because if he was old and wrinkly, or young and entitled you wouldn’t care. You’ve dealt with plenty of miserable clients. But this guy has had your thoughts in the clouds all weekend.” Maisy pointed a finger at her.
Sammie nodded her head in agreement. “Let me guess, to get that reaction out of you, is he also tall and intense? Probably has tattoos, but not of books. He does that silent smolder thing where you’re not sure if he wants to fight you or...”
“Stop it,” Izzy groaned.
“That’s a yes,” Lianna whooped. “You’re doomed.”
“I’m not into him,” Izzy insisted. “I loathe him. He looks at me like I’m an inconvenience and talks to me like he’s doing me a favor.”
“Yet ... here we are. Talking about him, in detail, on your vacation,” Maisy teased. “What does he look like? Is he hot?”
Izzy flushed and downed the rest of her drink. “He’s a client. A very complicated one. That’s it.”
They let her sit with the lie. That was the thing about her friends, they didn’t push too hard, but they never let her hide completely.
After a minute, Lianna nudged her arm. “Seriously though, Iz ... don’t let someone else’s darkness dim your light. You work too hard, care too much, and your ass is too nice for that level of stress.”
Isabela finally cracked a genuine smile. “That’s ... weirdly moving. Thank you.”
She needed to get it together and stop sulking.
Lianna had been through a harrowing experience this past fall.
A neighbor stalked her for weeks, before stabbing the man she was now in a relationship with.
Her friend needed a shoulder to lean on, a bestie to laugh with, not a weight dragging her down.
Releasing a deep breath, Izzy willed calmness, then ordered another round.
****
After two days wandering their old college stomping grounds, the girls spent their final day and night of the trip in Chicago.
Sammie, who had recently started a new job in the city, insisted on showing off every inch of her apartment.
It was tiny, modern, and full of personality just like her.
They debated throw pillows and marveled at her impressive houseplant survival rate.
The group meandered through the Windy City with no real agenda, which turned out to be exactly what they needed.
They browsed through shops, navigated vintage markets, and laughed heartily when Lianna tried on a fedora that would probably give her lice.
Izzy knew it was time to leave when she nearly got talked into buying a purple pleather jacket.
The weather held up like a gift from the universe. The May sky was robin’s egg blue, with a breeze off Lake Michigan just strong enough to keep the heat from smothering them. As the sun climbed higher, though, Isabela used the collar of her t-shirt to wipe away sweat trickling down her neck.
Their final stop before heading back to the hotel to change for dinner was the Navy Pier. Lianna had never been, and Sammie took that personally. The sun had been deceptively gentle when they left the hotel, but the temperature was now ramping up.
The pier was jammed with weekend crowds and the heat started to rise off the pavement in waves.
“Li, do you have a hair tie?” Izzy asked, fanning her neck with one hand.
“Let me check,” Lianna said, already digging through her crossbody bag. “Ah, here you go,” she offered, holding out a purple tie-dye hair claw.
Izzy wrinkled her nose. “This is ... tiny.”
“It’s Annie’s. Take it or leave it,” Lianna shrugged.
“Taking it,” she said, doing her best to twist her thick hair into a bun. Sammie and Maisy had ducked inside a cafe to grab iced coffees for the walk back to the hotel.
“You mind if I call Gabe and the kids?” Lianna asked, already leaning against the railing and pulling out her phone.
“Of course not,” Izzy said, eyes drifting toward the lake.
It had been a busy weekend but now that the trip was winding down.
Isabela used the free time to text her brother Mateo, who was next in line after Nic.
She had messaged him last week to mention she would be in town and see if he could meet up for a drink.
He had requested that she message him once she was here since he never knew what work would throw at him.
It had been nearly a year since they’d seen each other.
He was a US Marshal for the Northern District of Illinois and, true to form, perpetually swamped.
After sending off that text, she glanced at her inbox. No new emails from Christopher Macklin. He still hadn’t returned his new client questionnaire. Annoyed, she sent a quick message to Kelly asking him to follow-up. Then promptly forced Mr. Macklin to the back of her mind.
“Caffeine incoming!” Maisy chirped, passing iced drinks around.
Izzy tucked her phone away and plastered on a smile. She wouldn’t let Macklin or his radio silence ruin this weekend.
The group drifted toward the far end of the pier, their plastic cups sweating in the heat. Street performers played guitar, the live music tumbling along with the shouts of kids chasing each other between the benches.
Izzy let herself fall a step behind, the lake stretching out in front of her, blue-green and endless. It would be so easy to stay in this moment, friends, laughter, the sun on her skin. She could pretend there wasn’t a mess waiting for her back in Seattle.
Maisy looped an arm through hers, steering her toward the exit. “C’mon, dinner reservations wait for no one.”
Izzy smiled, letting herself be pulled along.
But even as the skyline rose ahead, bright and busy, she felt the faint tug of her phone in her bag, as if Macklin’s silence was a weight she’d been carrying all day.
She straightened her shoulders. Tonight, she’d let it go. Tomorrow, she’d pick the fight back up.
****
Several hours later, the girls were tucked into a cozy corner booth at a stylish bar in Logan Square. The vibe was industrial chic, with music thumping and lighting so dim it made it impossible to read the menu without squinting.
“You can tell this place is for young people,” Lianna said, peering at the drink list. “I can’t see or hear a damn thing.”
A server approached, tablet in hand. “Hey ladies, I’m Smith, I’ll be your server. Do you have anyone else joining you tonight?”
“Yep, one more, but I’m not sure when he’ll be here, so we can go ahead and order drinks,” Izzy replied.
“Who?” Sammie asked.
“My brother. I thought I told you. I invited Mateo.”
“Oh right,” Sammie said, frowning. “I forgot.”
“He said he’d try. His schedule’s wild.” Izzy smiled proudly. “But he just became the youngest Marshal to head up the Great Lakes task force. That’s kind of a big deal,” she shrugged.
“Iz,” Lianna cut in, smirking. “We know.”
Then Izzy remembered something as her gaze drifted to Sammie. “Hey, remember when you were clerking in Chicago a few years ago? I gave you Mateo’s number in case you needed a contact. That was when he was in Judicial Security.”
“Oh yeah,” Sammie said quickly, sipping her water. “I must have lost it.”