Right from the Start

by Jeanie London

  “The worst part is that the kids generally suffer. It’s hard to be shuffled back and forth between parents, trying to have lives in both places. Start adding new spouses and step- and half-siblings and their family, which is the single most important thing to give them a secure start in life, disintegrates. Unless parents make a real effort to help their children cope after a divorce and that means creating a stable family for them.”

  “And I’ll bet that doesn’t happen often because parents are getting divorced, so there’s a problem between them already.”

  “Exactly,” she agreed. “Not always, thankfully. But far more often than not.”

  Everything about Kenzie was passion right now, and her passion was actually an interesting display of gentle firmness and calm-voiced intensity.

  Leaning back in the chair, Will twisted the cap on the bottle, on and off, considering her and what she said. “I have to admit that’s eye-opening. I never thought about the situation from that perspective.”

  “You’re in good company.”

  A very diplomatic way of saying that most people didn’t think of the impact of divorce on a child’s family life.

  Had Will? He’d been in this situation, only with more complications. At least he hadn’t jumped into another marriage to further destabilize Sam’s life.

  Kenzie turned her attention to the table, gathering up cutlery and napkins, collecting them on her plate for disposal. Then she sipped from her own water bottle, apparently waiting until he finished before clearing the table. Very traditional, he decided. A woman who appreciated a sit-down meal, probably grew up with her family gathering for a family dinner hour like on old-time television shows from the fifties.

  Was that why she was so passionate about family life? Made sense, since she wasn’t the child of divorced parents herself.

  “I think Sam’s going to like his new school a lot,” he finally said.

  She stacked the empty foam boxes and slanted an amused gaze his way. “My turn, hmm?”

  “Fair’s fair.” He stretched his legs out before him. “What’s not to like? More space and there will even be a big playground, which is Sam’s favorite part.”

  “Oh, really? Where’s that going to be?”

  “Where the maintenance room is now. It corners the building and has some square footage that abuts the easement. We’ve relocated the mechanical systems so we can free up that space. It’s good-sized and walled in. Perfect for a play area.”

  “Sounds like it. I have to admit I’m impressed.”

  “Me, too. Building’s turning out better than I could have hoped. So far. Still holding my breath.”

  “Well, that is good, but I was actually talking about the contractor who’s making this new building happen. Family Foundations is pretty ambitious, Will, and you have quite a private agenda. But it seems to me that you’re using your private agenda to serve a lot of people.”

  There was so much in that carefully phrased statement. The biggest implication was that his private agenda was his and his alone. He wondered why she’d think that. Her interactions with Melinda maybe? “Did you know about my connection to Angel House? Is that one of the reasons why you didn’t vote for me?”

  The question was out of his mouth even though he didn’t really want reality right now, just wanted to engage with a beautiful woman and hear her soft-spoken voice.

  “No, I didn’t know.”

  But she didn’t offer any other explanation, didn’t mention his divorce, so he left it there, appreciated the chance to backtrack after opening his big mouth. He didn’t want reality intruding further when she’d paid him a very nice compliment.

  “I’m glad I reassured you, then,” he said far more diplomatically, encouraged when she nodded, her smile reaching her sparkling eyes.

  “You have, Will. If you run for a second term, I will vote for you.”

  There was something so earnest in her words that he knew she would not have offered lightly. She was kind, but she didn’t sugarcoat the truth. He’d discovered that about her, which meant somewhere along the way he’d earned some respect and rose in her estimation regardless of what she’d heard about him from Melinda.

  He couldn’t remember the last time a woman had looked at him with admiration. But Kenzie’s soft expression bridged the distance in a way that reached inside him to all those places he was trying so hard to ignore.

  And finding impossible to ignore.

  He seized the opportunity for distraction by gathering the remains of his meal. He took Kenzie’s, too, and headed out the door to the break room to deposit everything in the trash, feeling as if he’d gotten too personal, too intimate with a woman he’d only wanted to watch talk.

  And that’s all he wanted, to talk with a beautiful woman, to feel like a man without a whole lot of responsibility weighing on him.

  He hadn’t wanted to turn Kenzie’s generalizations about divorce into a personal commentary about him. He may have failed at marriage twice, but he hadn’t jumped into his second marriage. And he definitely wouldn’t jump into a third.

  How could Will ever ask another woman to step into his life, a life driven by Sam’s needs?

  His own mother couldn’t handle those needs.

  Will wouldn’t do that—not to a woman he cared about and not to Sam. Even if he did have the time to find a special someone, which he didn’t, so this little break from reality was over. He’d leave the ceiling panels and windowsills until another day.

  But as Will ditched the trash and washed his hands, he couldn’t help thinking about his meeting with Deanne.

  “Closing doors and opening windows,” he’d told her.

  Maybe Will was the one who needed the reminder. Was Kenzie an opening window, a convenient encounter with a woman because the door had closed on any hope of a real relationship in his life?

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  “OH MY GOODNESS, what a perfect day,” Kenzie said aloud to no one in particular, leaning her head back on the swing in her parent’s backyard. Her hair flowed over the edge as she tipped her face to the sun for a dose of vitamin D.

  Everyone in her world was exactly where they should be today. No turmoil. No conflict. No worries about Will showing up or popping through the ceiling.

  The perfect day.

  Insects whirred in the distance, a chirpy trill that always seemed to accompany summer days like this one. She’d grown up in this yard, although the swing hadn’t been around then, but there had been a child-friendly wooden play yard her father had built himself. And a tree house. She’d had one of those, too.

  The French doors opened and Nathanial appeared, carrying two glasses of a Riesling he’d had on ice.

  “Budge up.” He handed her a glass. “Mom said to stay put. Geri’s running late. She’ll let you know when she needs help getting dinner on the table.”

  “Thanks.”

  Mom, of course, was her mom, not his. Mom Wright, as Kenzie always thought of Nathanial’s mother, couldn’t make dinner today because she’d spent the night in Charlotte with Sarah and Sean, and the new baby. So Mom Wright had sent Pop Wright along, pleased not to have to worry about his dinner. Pop Wright and Kenzie’s father were in the study, poring over the latest copy of North and South, the Civil War Society’s magazine.

  The Civil War had always been her father’s passion, and Pop Wright was the son of an army officer and had served in the armed forces himself. He loved anyt
hing and everything to do with the military, historical or otherwise.

  “Tell me what you think?” Nathanial said.

  “I think today’s entirely perfect.”

  He clinked his glass to hers. “The Riesling.”

  She’d known he had been asking about the wine and sipped with a smile. The white proved to be a little drier than she’d expected. “Not too sweet. I like it.”

  Nathanial saluted her again with the glass. “I thought you would.”

  “I like when you think of me.”

  “Of course, I think of you. And it’s not a red day, no matter how much you like them.”

  And she did. Malbecs were her favorite. A South American wine she’d discovered purely by accident at a hole-in-the-wall restaurant that made the best figs and cheese appetizer around. She’d discovered the place with Fiona and Jess on one of their girl days, an occasional day trip out of town where they drove aimlessly through the mountains looking for adventure.

  That day they’d found it in the form of a restaurant that looked like a total dive in a dilapidated strip plaza between an open-air farmer’s stand and a tattoo parlor. But the place had been packed with cars for a luncheon special of meat, rice, bread and cola for $3.99. They’d been starving, and if that meal wasn’t an adventure, Kenzie didn’t know what was.

  “Living life dangerously,” Nathanial had agreed when she’d shared the story.

  Nathanial, on the other hand, preferred white wines and was always trying to sell her under the premise she’d discover what she liked if she tried enough good ones.

  “You’re in an awfully pleasant mood for someone who hasn’t left her office much lately,” he said. “Doesn’t sound like you get home much more than I do.”

  “True, true,” she agreed. Her entire life had been revolving around work even more than usual since receiving a registered letter from City Hall.

  She squelched that thought fast.

  “That’s about to change, Nathanial. I want more perfectly perfect days like this one.” Now she clinked her glass with his. “Where everything is perfect and everyone is exactly where they should be. Mom and Dad are home and hosting Sunday dinners again. You and your dad are here, and Geri’s on her way. Would be better if Mom Wright was here, but she might be back in time for coffee. We’ll cross our fingers. I’ve got a glass of not-too-sweet Riesling in my hand and a cute guy sharing my sunbeam. Perfectly perfect.”

  He grinned that grin that had been charming her since kindergarten. “I take it the pitch went well this week.”

  “Everyone loved it. I did a Q & A afterward that raised a few questions I hadn’t considered, so I incorporated the answers for my next presentation. Soon as Geri gets here, I’ll get her spin on the things I came up with.” Kenzie took another sip. Not bad at all. “Now catch me up on the case. I’ve been sending good thoughts every morning before you head into court.”

  “I don’t know how you time it, but I literally get your texts as I’m turning off my phone to walk into the courtroom.”

  “A gift.” It was actually premeditated timing on her part, but she wouldn’t spoil the mystery.

  Stretching his legs, Nathanial let her control the swing. “I can’t decide if the partners are testing me to determine if I’m partner material by my performance on this case.”

  “What else would they be doing?”

  “Looking for an excuse to get rid of me.”

  Kenzie turned toward him, trying to determine whether or not he was serious. He didn’t sound as if he was joking. Didn’t look it, either, which made her feel guilty for going on about her own contentment.

  “You’ll be brilliant,” she said softly. “You always are.”

  “You’re partial.”

  She nodded, hoping to reassure him, and his expression relaxed. She slipped her hand over his. “Tell me.”

  “This is a tough case, Kenz,” he admitted. “I’m not going to lie. I’ve done nothing but prepare when I’m not in the courtroom. I’m driving my assistants insane, according to Chad.”

  Chad was Nathanial’s senior legal assistant, a third-year law student specializing in business litigation like Nathanial.

  “What’s making this so tough? Is it the case or the partners paying such close attention?”

  “They can pay attention all they want.” He scoffed. “I’m a performer. You know that.”

  She did know. Nathanial could walk into any room and take over. He’d always been that way, had walked into their kindergarten classroom, marched straight up to Mrs. Mars and introduced himself. He’d been on a first-name basis with most of the class before the bell rang.

  “They’re expecting me to pull a rabbit out of my hat. I’m beginning to think they threw this case at me only because no one else wanted to take the fall.”

  “You really don’t think you can win?”

  “It’s hard enough putting a face on a big corporation, but even getting the jury to empathize with my client... If I don’t make some connection with the jury, I’m going to cost the firm a big client and some serious money. I can forget all about becoming a partner anytime soon.”

  Kenzie knew better than to ask about the particulars of the case, but she also knew how these things worked from listening to him. “If this is such a big case, shouldn’t they have put together a defense team and not leave you scrambling around trying to do everything yourself?”

  “I have a team, for all the good it’s doing me.” He scoffed. “That part’s my own stupid fault. I smelled the setup but was arrogant enough to let them suck me in because I thought I could use this case as a springboard. And I could if I can turn it around and get a fair judgment.”

  “Sounds like quite a risk.”

  “It is, but I’m ready to be a full partner, Kenz. You know that. More than ready.”

  She was surprised, and not a little. Nathanial was ambitious, but not so much of a risk taker that he’d jeopardize years of hard work. “Any ideas about how to turn it around?”

  “That’s the only reason I’m here today. Otherwise I probably couldn’t have rationalized taking the time. But I needed to clear my head, so I can review with fresh eyes.”

  She wasn’t happy to hear that spending time together hadn’t been on his radar today, whether or not he’d thought about her with the Riesling. “Clearing your head sounds smart.”

  “Fingers crossed. I can’t seem to get away from the fact that I have to switch gears and take another approach entirely. If I can convince the jury my client is committed to settling the situation fairly, I might earn a little sympathy.”

  “Are they?”

  He gestured with an impatient hand. “Bingo. Precisely the problem. My client will settle and pay out, but only to end the litigation. They won’t own responsibility for the situation. Their brand will take too big a hit if they’re found culpable.”

  “Are they culpable?”

  He arched a quizzical eyebrow. “I’m a defense attorney,” he said, as if that explained everything.

  Of course, all his clients wouldn’t necessarily be innocent. But the fact he was in business litigation usually masked that obvious fact. Kenzie knew all this, so why did business litigation suddenly sound so unsavory?

  She put the thought right out of her head. Turmoil would not ruin her perfect day. “Anything I can do to help?”

  He smiled, but it still looked strained around the edges. “Your texts always help. Listening helps. Getting away h
elps. I opened my eyes this morning rehashing everything that happened in the courtroom last week.”

  The French doors opened, and Geri popped her head out. “I’m here. Finally.”

  “Hi, Geri,” Nathanial said.

  Kenzie chimed in with, “Glad you made it.”

  Geri glanced between them with a curious expression. Kenzie could just imagine what Geri was thinking right now, given their conversation about Will.

  “I never know if you two are together together,” she had said.

  “Just wanted you to know I was here. I’ll go help your mom in the kitchen.” Geri retreated as quickly as she’d appeared.

  Nathanial used the opportunity to put the brakes on the conversation. “Don’t worry about me, Kenz. I’ll figure it out. I knew it was a gamble when I accepted the case. I like challenges. You know that.”

  She did know. She also knew he was keeping her at arm’s length, and Kenzie considered that as they fell into silence. Nathanial likely considering his case or avoiding thinking about it by dodging this conversation. Kenzie wouldn’t know because he wasn’t sharing today.

  And she couldn’t help but remember all the questions that Fiona, Jess and Geri had raised during their recent heart-to-heart conversations, Kenzie had but to look at the situation.

  The best friend or the hero?

  Nathanial had always been both. Even as far back as when he’d been her gregarious friend who was a boy with blond bangs that flopped into his eyes. Her partner in primary school as they’d banded together to stand up to Wade Crucker the crayon-breaker, the much-bigger boy who had tried to push them around.