Chapter 8
Hannah arrived at the law firm right on time. Her hair was tousled and going in every direction, as it was unusually windy. She could feel a gust of air rush by her when she opened the door. She’d debated what to wear and settled on a fluffy, bright pink sweater with dark gray pants, and she had a scarf tied around her neck. It had flowers in vibrant blues and purples. She felt like she stood out and not necessarily in a good way, as both Spencer and Natalie were dressed conservatively. But before she could say a word, the door opened again and a woman about her aunt’s age, who Hannah guessed was the firm’s owner, strode in. She was in a pink-and-gray tweed suit and stopped short when she saw Hannah.
“That sweater is gorgeous. I love the color.”
“Thank you.”
Spencer introduced Hannah to Natalie and Donna. “Donna, this is Hannah, the one I emailed you about. She’s going to shadow me this week until about noon or so.”
“You’re the romance writer?” Donna asked.
Hannah nodded somewhat shyly.
Donna grinned. “I read your book a few weeks ago and loved it. Natalie, have you read it yet?”
“No, not yet.”
“I’ll bring my copy in for you. Hannah, make yourself at home. If you have any questions that Spencer can’t answer for you, feel free to ask.”
“Thank you.” She glanced at Natalie. “I have some extra copies with me. I can bring one in for you tomorrow if you like?”
Natalie smiled and her whole face lit up. “That would be great!”
Hannah couldn’t believe that Spencer’s boss had already read her book. She wasn’t used to hearing that from people and it always took her by surprise and thrilled her at the same time.
“Hannah, if you want to follow me, you can use this desk,” Spencer said. “My client should be here any moment and we’ll go into the conference room then.”
Hannah followed him to the empty desk that sat right behind his. She had brought her laptop with her and pulled it out of her tote bag and set it on the desk. Natalie sat nearby and was on the phone talking with a client. Hannah noticed that Natalie’s and Spencer’s attire almost matched. They were both in crisp black pant suits and white button-down shirts. Natalie had a sleek blond bob that was stick straight and barely touched her shoulders. She was very put together and polished. Her lipstick and nail polish were both a soft pink.
Spencer looked equally sharp in his suit. He wore a green tie with preppy pink whales on it. A common look on the Cape. His hair was cut short and slicked over his ears, but it was wavy and stray curls popped up here and there. She was actually thinking it looked cute on him, until he spoke.
“Hannah, did you hear me? Let’s head into the conference room. My client just texted me that he’ll be here in a minute.”
“Sorry.” Hannah stood, grabbed her laptop, and followed Spencer. The conference room was spacious with chocolate-brown leather chairs and an oval dark pine table that was polished to a shine.
“Why don’t you sit along the side,” Spencer suggested. He opened the blinds, which sent a stream of sunlight into the room, warming it and giving it a more welcoming feel.
A moment later, Natalie tapped on the door. “Here’s Mr. Fontes to see you.”
“Thanks, Natalie. Ernesto, come on in. Meet my colleague, Hannah. She’s just going to be observing today. If that’s okay with you?”
Ernesto, who looked to be in his late twenties or maybe early thirties, glanced Hannah’s way and looked confused. “Sure. That’s okay.”
“Please, have a seat.”
They all sat. Hannah opened her laptop and just listened as Spencer asked a series of questions and took notes as Ernesto answered them.
Hannah was impressed by the way Spencer spoke to Ernesto, who was clearly nervous when he first entered the room. Spencer quickly put him at ease. He asked about his family and what he liked to do on his days off.
“I love the beach and fishing. If I catch anything, I invite friends over and cook the fish on the grill.”
“I love to fish, too, though I’m not very good at it,” Spencer admitted.
By the time the conversation finished, Ernesto had opened up and Hannah found him very likable. He was exactly thirty and he’d been in the country for five years on an H-1B visa. And now his employer was willing to sponsor him for a green card.
“The first step is we’ll apply for your EAD—your Employment Authorization Document. If that is granted, then we’ll wait for the green card to be processed.”
Spencer had Ernesto sign some paperwork and when he finished, they walked him to the door and Spencer said he’d be in touch as soon as he had an update, but that it might be a while.
For the rest of the morning, Hannah listened to both Spencer and Natalie as they spoke with their clients. After each call, Spencer explained what was going on with the client and what would happen next in the process. Their office was a general law firm, meaning they handled a variety of different things, from DUIs to criminal to family law and immigration.
“The case on Friday is a DUI, Gerry Easton. That should be an interesting one for you to observe,” Spencer said.
“Was he drinking?” Hannah asked.
Spencer nodded. “He had two drinks at dinner with friends. He’s a big guy, so that probably wouldn’t have registered, but you never know. He didn’t want to risk it as he needs to drive for his job, so he refused to take the Breathalyzer.”
“Why was he stopped? Was he driving erratically?”
“Broken taillight. He’d meant to get it fixed and hadn’t gotten around to it yet.” Spencer frowned. “That was asking for trouble. You should always fix car lights immediately. When the officer approached him, he smelled bourbon on Gerry’s breath.”
“So, how do you defend that?” Hannah was curious.
“It’s not enough to just smell alcohol. Gerry was driving fine and the officer will have to admit to that. He also has no priors and a clean driving record overall. That will help. There’s also the chance the officer might not show. That’s common when they don’t really have a case. That would be ideal as then it’s immediately dismissed. It’s not likely though.”
He looked contemplative for a moment and Hannah wondered what he was thinking. “Are you sure he’s telling you the truth? What if he actually had more than a few drinks? What if he’s guilty?”
“I don’t think he’s lying. I wasn’t keen to take the case at first. You know about my parents, right?”
Hannah nodded.
“It would have been harder if he’d actually been drunk or if something bad had happened. I’m not sure if I would have been the right lawyer in that case. But when I talked to him, I felt better about it and wanted to help him. It made me also realize that things aren’t always black and white.”
“No, they’re not,” Hannah agreed. She was glad that Spencer had opened up to her a little. It was nice to see his less prickly side.
The morning actually went by quickly and at noon, Hannah started packing up her tote bag. Natalie glanced over at them. “I’m going to go grab a sandwich. Do you guys want to join me?”
Spencer shook his head. “I’m good. I brought lunch in with me. Hannah, I’ll see you tomorrow?”
“I’ll be here.” She looked at Natalie. “I didn’t even think about lunch, so I’ll join you.”
Natalie led the way down Main Street to the Public Cafe.
“I am addicted to their turkey pesto panini. I get it at least once a week.”
That sounded good to Hannah, too. They ordered their sandwiches and it didn’t take long. While they ate, Natalie asked Hannah about living in Brooklyn.
“Do you love it there? I went to Manhattan once with friends and had a blast, but by the end of the weekend, I was glad to get back to the Cape. I think I’m just a small-town girl. But I love visiting the city. It seems so glamorous.”
Hannah smiled. “I love it. There’s a certain energy there, like anything is possible, and there’s always something going on. For someone like me, interested in books and publishing, there are always fun events to go to.”
“So many good restaurants, too,” Natalie added.
“Yes, although everything in the city is crazy expensive. We tend to have house parties more than nights out at restaurants because cocktails especially are so overpriced. We still go out, just not all the time.”
Hannah took another bite of her sandwich. The pesto on the toasted bread was so good. She could see why Natalie came here so often.
“So, are you dating anyone?” Natalie asked.
Hannah shook her head. “No. I actually ended a two-year relationship a few weeks ago. He wanted to get more serious and I didn’t, so it seemed the right thing to do. I probably should have ended it sooner,” she admitted.
“Oh, that’s too bad. Do you miss him?”
“No. I don’t actually.” Hannah hadn’t thought about Jeremy once since the last time she and Lucy discussed him, at the party. The realization surprised her.
“Well, there you go then. You made the right decision.”
Hannah laughed. “What about you? Are you dating anyone?”
“I am. I’ve been with my boyfriend, Adam, for three years now. We’re not engaged yet, but we’ve talked about it. Things are going well. He’s out of town for a few months now, which I’m not crazy about. We text and FaceTime but it’s not the same. He’s a security software consultant and is actually on a long project in Dubai of all places. It’s too far to come home until the project is over and the money is so good that he couldn’t pass it up.”
“I’ve never been to Dubai but I have a college friend who is there with her husband and they are both teaching at a university. They have free housing and are able to save a lot of money by doing it.”
“I bet it would be interesting to visit. But I don’t know about living that far from home. I’m one of those Cape natives that rarely crosses the bridge.” Natalie laughed. “Although I do go to Boston once or twice a year to see a show or have dinner in the North End.”
“I love to do that, too. Boston reminds me of New York, just a smaller version of it. I like that I can walk all over Boston. I walk a lot in New York, too, but it’s more spread out and sometimes I have to take an Uber or use the trains to get places.”
“So, Spencer is your neighbor’s grandson?” Natalie said.
“He is. We went to school together, but he was a year ahead of me. I didn’t really know him then, though.”
“We’re the same age then. I’m a year behind him, too. Though I didn’t grow up in Chatham. My family lives in West Yarmouth, so I went to D-Y.” That was Dennis-Yarmouth, the regional high school. “A few years after graduating from law school, I got the job with Donna and moved to Chatham.”
“Just like Spencer.”
“Right. Spencer is a great guy. He was dumped recently. Did you know that?”
Hannah shook her head. She knew very little about Spencer.
“We all thought he was about to propose. His girlfriend, Michelle, was one of those people who always looks perfect, never a hair out of place, and always dressed to impress. They looked like the perfect couple.” Natalie paused to take a bite of her sandwich.
“Michelle surprised us all by falling in love with a fisherman. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. It’s just that George is the total opposite of Spencer. He took it hard, at first. But I don’t think she was ever right for him. He needs someone that will loosen him up a little.”
Hannah smiled. “He does seem a little uptight at times.”
Natalie laughed. “That’s an understatement. He’s a real softie, though, once you get to know him. He’ll do anything for his family or good friends.”
Hannah glanced at her phone and noticed the time. It was almost one. Natalie finished her sandwich and stood. “I should get back to the office. I have a client coming in soon.”
Hannah walked back with her and stopped when she reached the coffee shop. “This is where I’m going to stay for a bit and try to get some writing done. I’ll see you in the morning.”