by Laina Turner
“You’re right, it happens. No one gets to be an adult without forgetting to pay a bill at some point. Listen, I’m not judging you.”
“Then why are you blackmailing me into working for you? That’s almost worse than judging me,” she said.
He didn’t think that telling her that he felt attracted to her and wanted to spend more time with her would be a good idea at that moment. He tried to think of a more practical reason to give her, one that would compel her to see that the arrangement would be mutually beneficial.
“Truth is, I need the help. Rhoda, my executive assistant, is getting up in years and says she’s going to work until she dies, but I feel she works too hard. I thought this would be a good excuse to get her some help and not make it seem like it was for her. She’d kill me if she ever found out I told you she needs the help.” He hoped that Rhoda would never learn that he had used her as his excuse. He certainly wouldn’t tell her, and he didn’t think that Kate would do so because she probably wouldn’t want to risk offending Rhoda. At least, he really hoped she wouldn’t spill the beans. Kate didn’t seem like the type who would say something that might hurt someone’s feelings if there were no reason to, so he was willing to take the chance. He knew that he was taking a lot of chances with Kate—the chance that she wouldn’t tell Rhoda, the chance that she wouldn’t call his bluff and never forgive him, and the chance that she might come to work for him.
Kate tilted her head and looked at him quizzically, like she didn’t completely believe him, but she didn’t shoot him down either. He took that as a positive sign.
“So, you want me to work for you for a month to help Rhoda out under the guise of me doing so in exchange for you not turning me in to the police for driving without insurance?” she said slowly, sounding skeptical.
“That about sums it up,” he replied, holding his breath as he waited anxiously for her decision. Of course, he wasn’t going to turn her in even if she said no. He wasn’t the kind of person who would do that in any case, and especially not after he realized who she was and what situation she was in. He found himself hoping that she’d say yes, and it bothered him a little that he felt so invested in her answer.
“What makes you so sure that I won’t turn you in for trying to blackmail me?”
He shrugged. “You seem practical. I’m hoping you’ll see this as a good solution for both of us.”
“Fine, I’ll do it. But only for a month,” she insisted, in such a way that it was clear to Zach that she didn’t like it. He hadn’t really expected her to like it at first anyway.
It took all of Zach’s willpower to suppress his grin and not shout out his excitement.
“Then the only other thing we need to agree on is pay. Obviously, this is an entry level position, and I’m sure that you’re way overqualified, but how does twenty dollars an hour sound?” It was way more than a position like this normally paid, but he felt that he owed it to her after coercing her into working for him. Knowing how government seizure worked, he wouldn’t be surprised if she had nothing left with which to support herself. He wanted to help her. His crazy plan wasn’t all about him.
Kate’s eyes widened in surprise at the offer, but her wary, defensive look quickly returned. “When do you want me to start?”
He heard a defeated tone in her voice that hit him in the gut. Part of him felt badly for tricking her into making this compromise, and he started to second guess himself. He considered whether he should take back the offer and tell her that he wouldn’t turn her in, but before he could say anything, she continued talking.
“And I don’t want to work on Fridays,” she said, with a lift to her chin that made him wonder if she’d just decided to say it in order to assert herself and take a bit of control of the situation. He liked that she was willing to push back.
“Sure, that’s fine. How about tomorrow? You can work Monday through Thursday from eight to noon.”
“For a month.”
“Yes, that puts us at the fifteenth.”
“Then I will see you tomorrow,” Kate said. She stood up and looked at him as if there were something else that she wanted to say, but instead, she turned and walked out, passing Rhoda, who had just walked in.
Rhoda glanced over her shoulder at Kate’s exit, then back at Zach. “What was she doing here?”
“I gave her a job,” he responded, leaning back in his chair and threading his hands behind his head. He was looking at Rhoda, but he was thinking about Kate.
Rhoda raised her eyebrows, and he knew that an interrogation was coming.
“Oh, really. Hmmm. When does she start?”
“Tomorrow, eight a.m. She’ll be helping you.” He smiled brightly.
“Don’t give me that grin of yours. It may have worked when you were younger, but it’s not so becoming now,” she grumbled, then turned back and went to her desk without asking any more questions. Rhoda didn’t like people in her business. But he had a feeling she’d like Kate.
Zach kept smiling. Maybe it wasn’t under perfect circumstances, but he was going to have the chance to get to know Kate better—at least for the next month.
16
Clothes were strewn all over the bed because Kate had tried to decide for the better part of an hour what to wear for her first day on the job. She was becoming increasingly annoyed with herself for caring about what she wore. She tried to tell herself that it was because she wanted to come across as professional, which was partly true, but if she were being honest with herself, she wanted to look attractive to Zach, too. She still felt animosity toward him, but there was a prideful part of her that wanted Zach to take notice of her looks.
She stood in front of the full-length mirror, looking at herself in the third outfit she’d tried on. It was something that she’d borrowed from Claire’s closet, since nothing she’d brought seemed suitable for working in a law office. Claire had assured her that the standard attire in Moonshire Bay was business casual at best, but everything Kate owned had still made her feel underdressed. Each time she’d seen Zach, he’d been wearing a dress shirt, and even though it had been paired with jeans, she felt that sporting a similar look herself would come across as too casual. She hated to admit that she cared what Zach thought, but it was the truth.
“Find anything that will work?” Kate heard Claire say, and she looked over her shoulder to see Claire standing in the doorway, leaning against the doorframe.
“Probably any of this stuff would work. I don’t know why I’m being so picky.”
“Maybe because you want to look good for Zach?” Claire mused with a smile, and Kate glared at her.
“Don’t start that again,” Kate warned. She was still a little annoyed from the previous day when she’d come home all fired up after having her conversation with Zach and agreeing to work for a month. Claire had reacted with less righteous indignation about the situation than Kate would have liked. She understood Claire’s perspective—it was the same reason why she’d given in to Zach and said yes, but it was still annoying to Kate that Claire didn’t seem to find the entire situation ridiculous.
However, when she’d woken up that morning, she’d vowed to have a new attitude. She knew that she needed to let her frustration go and at least attempt to make the best of the situation. She could have said no, but she’d known that it would be better for her if she didn’t, which just added more fuel to her fire. She felt backed into a corner. Basically, Zach was doing her a favor with his blackmail and she’d make some money while not ending up in trouble with the law. There wasn’t much of a downside to working there, and rationally she knew that.
“I think what you have on now is flattering and well-suited to the office. The fact that you look beautiful in that wrap dress is a bonus.”
Kate softened and smiled at her friend. “Well, this will have to do. If I don’t leave now, I’ll be late, and I can’t have that. Who knows what he’d blackmail me into then?” Kate said, rolling her eyes as she walked past Claire
and into the hall.
“I’ll be leaving soon, too. Why don’t you stop at the diner when you’re done? You can tell me all about your first day.”
“I’m sure it will be delightful,” Kate said dryly, but then shook her head as if to shake off her less-than-enthusiastic attitude. She had agreed to this and Claire was right, she could have said no. She had been the one to let her insurance lapse right before getting into an accident. That wasn’t what upset her. It was the fact that Zach was exploiting the situation, which she found despicable. He was a typical lawyer who had found a way to take advantage of someone.
When she pulled into the lot behind Zach’s office, Kate noticed his car parked a few spots down. She took a deep breath, grabbed her purse, and got out of the car.
When she pushed open the office door moments later, she saw a woman, who she assumed to be Rhoda, look up at her with a smile on her face.
“You must be Kate,” the woman said. She got up from her desk and walked over to give Kate a hug. It was not what Kate had expected, and she felt herself relax just a little at that warm welcome. Rhoda seemed to be about the same age as Kate’s mother, and Kate realized in that moment just how much she missed her mother. She had passed away a few years earlier. Thankfully before the mess with Todd had started. Her mother had loved Todd and would have been devastated by the whole affair.
“I am, and you must be Rhoda.”
“I am indeed. Can I get you some coffee?”
“No, thanks. I had some before I came so I’d be ready to get to work.”
“Well, then follow me.”
Kate followed Rhoda down a short hallway and into an empty office. Rhoda flipped on the lights and turned to Kate, explaining, “This is where you’ll work. Zach said you were going to help us out Monday through Thursday from eight to noon.”
Kate nodded, looking around. They stood in a small but tastefully decorated office. There was a white antique-looking desk, a light-blue velvet chair with mahogany legs and a matching side table, and prints of landscapes on the walls.
“Are those of Moonshire Bay?” Kate asked, and Rhoda nodded.
“Yes, painted by a local artist.”
“They’re beautiful.”
“They are, aren’t they? So, like I said, you’ll work in here. There’s a piece of paper on the desk under the computer keyboard that has a list of the programs we use and your passwords. I will mainly have you pulling records and searching for information. Research, mostly. As many years as I’ve worked here, I’ve never grown to love research, so I’m grateful to pass it off.”
“This office seems too fancy for someone who is only part-time help. Are you sure you want me in here? I could park myself out by you.”
“Heavens, no. This office hasn’t been used in years. It’s about time someone got some use out of it. Sign on to the computer and familiarize yourself with the e-mail program and research database. Let me know if you have any questions. I’ll be back soon with a couple of projects you can start on for me.”
“Okay. Thank you.”
Rhoda gave Kate another friendly smile, then went back to the reception area while Kate walked around her new desk and sat down, setting her purse on the floor underneath it.
She fired up the computer and started logging into the sites for which Rhoda had left her passwords. Everything seemed fairly straightforward. Soon, Rhoda was back and gave Kate a list of cases to pull up and print the records from the county website. Kate had gotten halfway through the list when she heard loud voices, belonging to Rhoda and another person, coming from up front. She jumped up to go investigate, worried that a disgruntled customer might be giving Rhoda a hard time, but as she got to the source of the noise, she saw that the other voice belonged to Zach. He and Rhoda were facing each other, and his face was flushed. He looked angry, and so did Rhoda.
“Is everything okay?” Kate asked, and Zach turned and glowered at her while Rhoda smiled. Whatever she’d just interrupted looked pretty heated.
“Everything is fine, dear. Just having a difference of opinion with Zach.”
“Oh, okay,” Kate said. “Let me know if you need anything. I’ll get back to my list.”
She walked back to her office thinking Zach had appeared even more upset than when she’d hit his car. She tried to focus on work but couldn’t help but wonder what would make him so mad.
17
“What do you mean she’s in that office?” Zach demanded hotly, staring at Rhoda, not able to believe that she had put Kate in there. He was sure Rhoda had to have known how it would make him feel.
Rhoda stared at him defiantly with her hands on her hips. “You made the decision to hire her. Where else would you have liked me to put her? Do we have other rooms not being used that I could put her in? Should I have given her your father’s office instead?”
“Couldn’t you have set her up at a makeshift table by you?”
“You thought I’d just set up a card table and a folding chair out here in the reception area? You’re being ridiculous, Zach.”
Zach just looked at Rhoda, not knowing what to say because he couldn’t really say anything. He knew that he was making a bigger deal of this than it needed to be, but it had come as quite a shock.
“You know, if Dad finds out that you’re letting someone use that office, he’ll have a fit,” Zach said, realizing he probably sounded much like the teen boy Rhoda used to chastise rather than the grown man he was. A part of him was embarrassed for acting this way, but he couldn’t help it—Rhoda had put Kate in his mother’s office.
Zach’s parents were both lawyers and had practiced together for twenty years. Since her death, her office hadn’t been used and was studiously avoided. Knowing that Kate was in there filled him with emotions he couldn’t quite understand.
Rhoda started laughing. “What do you think he’s going to have a bigger fit about, Zach, me letting someone use that office, or you hiring Kate Hamilton in the first place?” Rhoda challenged, putting an emphasis on Kate’s last name.
“So, you know who she is?” he said slowly.
“Of course I know. You really think you’ll be able to keep this from your father? She seems lovely, but you know your father won’t be so inclined to judge her on her own merits.”
Zach sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. “He’s never here anymore, and I know he has so many things lined up in Detroit for his political campaign that I wasn’t worried.”
“He’ll be back eventually.”
“Hopefully not for thirty days,” Zach said. “That’s all I need.”
Rhoda shook her head as if she thought his reasoning was crazy. Then, she put her hand on Zach’s arm. “I know it’s hard to see someone in that office, but let’s face it, it’s been over thirty years since that office was touched. You invited this woman into your life for a month, for absolutely no good reason except that you wanted to, so do you think that maybe this is finally the right time to move on?”
He knew Rhoda was right, but it was hard to accept. How ridiculous was it, he thought, that such an old hurt could so easily well up again, reminding him of how he’d felt all those years ago when his mom had died?
“Fine,” Zach acquiesced, then stalked off to his office, slamming the door behind him. He sat behind his desk and pounded his hands against it before lowering his head into them. As hard as it was to know that Kate was in his mom’s office, it was also nice to know that Kate was in his mom’s office. He wondered how the situation could make him feel two completely different emotions at once.
“You’re late,” Zach’s dad grunted as Zach walked in the study where his dad sat on his favorite chair, a scotch in his hand and a sullen expression on his face. Zach didn’t take the expression personally since that was how his dad always looked. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen his dad smile.
“Sorry about that. My last meeting ran later than I expected.” Zach tried to keep his voice as neutral as possible. While he unders
tood the importance of punctuality, he found it absurd that he was being harassed over arriving three minutes late. His dad was the only person who ever harped on that few minutes’ difference, but Zach had given up arguing the point long ago. To his dad, if you weren’t early, you were late.
“Time is money, son. I hope you charged for those extra few minutes.”
Zach pulled in a deep breath, determined to keep his dad from getting under his skin. He wasn’t sure why it even bothered him anymore. This had been a constant refrain that he’d heard from his dad. Although Zach had known that he’d be expected to charge by the hour when he chose to become a lawyer, he didn’t feel right about nickel-and-diming his clients to death. This was particularly true of his local clients, since the majority of them were not made of money. He’d gone into the profession to help people, not bankrupt them.
Since Zach’s dad, and his dad before him, had created such a stellar reputation for their small, community law practice—especially because his granddad had been a judge—their firm did pull in an unusually high number of big clients from the larger suburban areas. But Zach didn’t treat those larger clients any different than his smaller ones. As a businessman, he felt that he was doing the right thing, and that those few extra minutes he didn’t bill for would eventually come back to him. He believed in karma that way, and sadly, his father did not.
“Can I refresh your drink?” Zach asked to change the subject, walking over to the antique bar cart that was in a corner of the study.
“No, thank you, I’m good for now.”
Zach fixed his own drink, scotch neat, and took a seat in the chair opposite to where his dad was sitting.
“How did your meeting go?” Zach asked. Zach’s father had been in Detroit earlier in the day to meet with his campaign supporters and talk strategy for winning the a seat as a Supreme Court Justice. Even though his dad was considered a shoo-in, as both a legacy and an excellent legal mind in his own right, he hadn’t taken getting appointed for granted. He worked tirelessly on his campaign.
