“Yes.”
“So you know how courts work, but things run a little differently in a small town than they do in the city.”
“I bet, but I’m sure I’ll catch on.”
“I’m sure you will. You look like a fast learner.”
“Yeah,” I said quickly. I was ready to get out of his office. “Do you have anything in particular you need me to work on this morning?”
He went over to a filing cabinet and pulled out a Redweld folder. “Why don’t you start by familiarizing yourself with this case?”
“Okay, no problem.” I reached for the folder, but he didn’t immediately let go.
“If you have any questions, just let me know. Don’t worry about bothering me. I want this to be a good learning experience for you.” He reached out with his other hand as if he was going to touch my shoulder, but then he stopped himself.
“Great, thanks a lot.” I pulled at the folder again, and this time he let go.
“I think this is really going to work out,” he called as I walked out the door.
I took a deep breath once I was settled behind my desk. I tried to brush off our conversation, but it definitely left me uncomfortable. I wondered if it was all part of the small town friendliness thing.
I opened the file and pulled out the documents. It appeared to be a fairly straight forward slip and fall case. We were representing the defendant.
I spent some time reading through the materials, there were some massive deposition transcripts that took a while to get through, and then I went to see Matt.
I knocked, and once again he waved me in. “Done already?”
“Yes. Is there anything in particular you want me to do for this case?”
“There has to be something more about assumption of risk that works for us. Do some research on that, okay?”
“Sure.” I nodded and walked out.
I was still buried in case law when I felt two hands on my shoulders. I jumped, surprised by the contact.
“Sorry to surprise you, but I’m going to get some lunch. Want to join me?” Matt didn’t remove his hands.
I turned, thankfully forcing his hands away. “Oh, thanks for offering, but I think I’m going to go check on my car.” I was grateful I had an excuse. I needed to talk to Molly about whether things were always so touchy feely in her town. The thought of spending lunch trying to make conversation with my new boss unnerved me.
“You can do that later. Come on, I insist.”
Great. I couldn’t say no again. That would just make things worse. I was probably just blowing it out of proportion. “Okay.”
“Good girl, let’s go.”
Good girl? Did he really just say that? It took me a moment to process. It would have been one thing to hear that from a boss who was of a certain age, but coming from someone practically my age, so not cool.
I followed him out and waited as he locked up the office.
“Going to lunch?” Ronny rounded the corner.
Matt looked up at him. “Yeah, about to.”
“Great, we can all go together.” Ronny winked at me.
I could have kissed him.
“Sure, why not?” Matt sounded unenthusiastic.
We walked down the block and stopped at a diner.
“Has he been working you to the bone?” Ronny held open the door.
“Nope. It’s been pretty reasonable so far.”
“Good.” Ronny smiled as he slid into a booth next to me. Matt sat down across from us.
“Do you know what you want to order?” A young waitress set three waters down on the table.
I quickly ordered a chef salad, and both guys ordered double cheeseburgers with fries.
“So what brought you down here this summer?” Matt asked.
“A job.” I smiled.
“I’m sure someone with your qualifications could have had a job in Boston.”
“I was thrown when I wasn’t asked back to the DA’s office, and I had other things going on that prevented me from finding a job.” I really hoped he’d drop it.
“Other things?”
I took a sip from my water. “Yes, personal matters.”
“Like a bad breakup?”
Was he even serious? “No, not a bad breakup.”
“So, is there someone back home then?”
“Is this really relevant?” I asked.
“Relevant?” Matt smiled. “Yes, it’s relevant to learning more about you.”
“I just don’t see what my relationship status has to do with working as your law clerk.”
He laughed, and then Ronny leaned in to me. “Sorry about him. He has no manners.”
I decided to play the one card I had. “If I had someone back home, would I be going out for coffee with Ronny?”
Ronny grinned. “Good point.”
Matt stiffened. “Oh, I forgot about that.”
That shut him up. Thankfully our meals came right then, and they were both too busy eating to bother with me.
I ate my salad and excused myself as soon as it seemed appropriate. “If you don’t mind, I’m going to go check on my car.” I pulled out my wallet, ready to leave some cash.
“I’ve got it, don’t worry,” Ronny said quickly.
“No, she works for me, I’ve got it.”
“Let’s just make this easy.” I dropped a ten on the table and looked to Ronny to let him know I wanted out. He moved out swiftly.
I nodded to Matt. “I’ll see you back in the office. If it takes longer than expected, I’ll make up the time later on.”
“I’m sure you will,” he mumbled under his breath. I hoped he didn’t actually mean what he was implying.
The garage was closed when I got there. Evidently, it closed from 12-1 every day for lunch. It would have been nice of one of the guys to have told me that, but then again, I was glad to have the excuse to get away. Matt was totally weirding me out, and I hoped Ronny wasn’t expecting anything more than coffee. I don’t know why, but I kind of assumed these small town men would be less intense than the ones in the city. I was dead wrong. I felt in over my head. I took a short walk around the square and then reluctantly returned to the office.
I quietly walked past Matt’s office where he was on the phone. I buried myself in the research and finished typing up a memo of my findings around five thirty. I wasn’t really sure how long I was supposed to stay. I was being paid a set salary, so we hadn’t discussed working hours. At six, I decided I couldn’t stall any longer. I printed out the memo.
I knocked on Matt’s door for the third time that day. “Hey, I emailed you this too, but here’s a hard copy.”
“Great. Are you headed out then?”
“If that’s okay…”
He smiled. “It’s fine. But do you need a ride? You mentioned your car was at the garage.”
“I have Molly’s car, but thanks.”
“See you tomorrow.”
“Have a nice night, bye.” I grabbed my stuff and headed out. I wondered if I had been imagining everything. Matt was fairly normal at the end of the day. Either way, I was beyond excited to get home and relax.
Chapter Nine
Becca
Matt toned things down a little over the next few days, but he still had me on edge. I spent most of my time buried in legal research. I appreciated the job, but it definitely wasn’t the most thrilling I’d ever had. I wasn’t too excited when Ronny called to set up our coffee date for Thursday, but I’d said yes, so I needed to go.
Ronny wasn’t there yet when I walked into Marney’s Café. It was a cozy little place with a comfortable feel. I went right up to the counter to order something to drink. An older woman came to wait on me, and I knew it had to be Gail. Molly had told me all about her.
“Hi there, you must be Molly’s friend.” Gail smiled warmly. She wore her long, silvery gray hair pulled back in a low ponytail.
“Hi, Gail. It’s great to meet you. I’m Becca.”
; “How are you enjoying your stay so far?”
“It’s been interesting.”
“Care to talk about it?” Gail straightened a pile of flyers on the counter. I saw they were about some festival.
“I would, but I’m actually meeting someone here.” There was just something about the petite woman that made me want to spill out my life story.
“Who?”
“Ronny…” I realized I didn’t even know his last name.
“Oh. Be careful with that one. He’s a good boy, but he can be intense.”
“Thanks for the heads up.”
“Can I at least get you something?”
“Yes. A large coffee would be perfect.”
“Coming right up.”
I started to pull out my wallet when Ronny arrived at the counter. “I’ve got it.”
“Oh… okay, thanks.”
He ordered himself a coffee as well. Gail handed us our cups, and I added in some skim milk and Splenda. Ronny waited for me without adding anything to his cup. As soon as I finished, I followed him over to a table by a window.
“Hey, I’m glad you could make it. I was beginning to think this wasn’t going to happen.”
“Yeah, it’s just been a busy week—getting used to the new job and everything.” I wrapped my hands around my cup.
“I can imagine. You seemed pretty frazzled the other day at lunch.”
“Yeah, I just really want my car back.” I forced a laugh.
“Things are slow here.”
“I know. It just takes a little getting used to.”
“So tell me about yourself.”
“What do you want to know?” I took a sip of hot coffee.
“Everything,” he said flirtatiously.
“There isn’t too much to tell.”
“What does a beautiful law student in Boston do for fun?”
“Oh, well, if it’s baseball season, I’m usually watching, otherwise I swim and go to a lot of movies.” God, I sounded so boring.
“Do you go out a lot? Things have to be more exciting in the city.” He moved his leg under the table and it brushed against mine.
“Not so much anymore now that Molly moved.”
“Oh, okay. That’s cool.”
We sat awkwardly until I remembered to ask him what he was into. Sports, Nascar, and hanging out at the beach seemed to round him out. After forcing conversation for an hour, I was ready to leave.
“Would you maybe want to come hang out at my place for a bit? Have a drink or something?”
Was he serious? “Oh, thanks for the offer, but I’m going to head home. Thanks for the coffee though.”
“Oh okay, maybe next time.”
“Yeah…” I got up and tossed my empty cup in the garbage.
“Hey, I’ll walk you out.”
We stopped in front of Molly’s car, and I awkwardly waved before getting in. That had to be the worst date ever. I pulled my phone out before starting the car, and I had six text messages waiting for me.
***
Jake almost gave me a heart attack even though I knew he would be there. Stretched out on a lounge chair by the pool, he grinned when I jumped a mile high.
“Geez, kid, you scare easily.”
“You can’t call me ‘kid.’ I’m older than you.”
“By only a couple of months.”
I sat down on a chair next to him. “The same logic still applies. You can’t call me ‘kid.’”
“How about, geez you scare easily, old timer.”
I smiled. “Let’s stick with ‘kid.’”
“I thought you’d see things my way.”
“By the number of texts you sent me, I take it she wasn’t ‘Ms. Right?’” We’d planned on meeting up after our respective coffee dates to dish. Jake was really something else.
“If by ‘Ms. Right’ you mean a total bitch, then sure.”
“What’d she do?”
“She yelled at a mom because her baby was crying. The poor woman was just in line to buy something. It’s not like she was sitting there with a wailing baby.”
“That’s really sweet.”
“What? My psycho date yelling at her was sweet?”
“No! You caring about that is sweet.”
“If you say so. But I’m just getting started.”
“This I have to hear.” I leaned back in the chair, enjoying the slightly cooler air of the evening.
“So then, in the middle of a boring conversation about her friends, she starts dissing a couple sitting across from us—making fun of what they were wearing.”
“Wow, she really is a winner.”
“Needless to say, there won’t be a second date.”
“Haha, I wonder if she’ll be surprised when you don’t call.”
“She won’t be.”
“How do you know?” I turned to look at him.
“She asked if I wanted to come home with her, and I said no.”
“What? On the first date, the girl asked you that?”
“Some modern women take the initiative.”
“Just to be shot down.”
“I have standards.”
“That’s very un-male of you.”
“You really don’t have a high opinion of men do you?” He looked at me seriously for the first time.
I shrugged. “Not worse than most women.”
“If you say so… anyway, how was your date?”
“Better than yours.”
He chuckled. “Not that it would be hard.”
“Ronny’s nice obviously, but we ran out of things to talk about pretty quickly. That and he kept staring at my breasts.”
“Can you really blame the guy?”
“Jake!”
“Sorry, couldn’t resist. So how’d you let him down?”
“Oh, that’s where it gets interesting.”
“Is it?”
“I got propositioned tonight too.”
“Propositioned? I love the way you talk. So he asked you to go home with him?”
“Uh huh, but he went more with the ‘it’s been really fun, do you want to come over for a drink?’ method.”
“Ah, the classic drinks attempt.” He swiped a People magazine off the ground. I figured Mrs. Mathews must have left it out. After a quick glance at the cover, Jake replaced it back where he’d found it.
“Yeah, he looked crestfallen when it didn’t work. He said maybe next time.”
Jake got a mischievous look on his face. “Do you ever on the first date?”
“Do I ever what?” I played stupid.
“Have sex on the first date.”
“No.” Of course, I hadn’t actually had sex on any date.
“Would you ever make an exception?”
“I don’t know. Every situation is different, right?”
“Do you have a usual amount of dates, or do you just go with it?”
“Why are you asking?” I wished we could change the subject.
“Curiosity. I want a girl’s perspective.”
“I’m probably not the girl to ask.”
“Why not?”
I swallowed. “Because I don’t ever have sex.”
“What?” He sat up. “Are you serious? As in never?”
Lying there in the near darkness, I felt like telling him the truth. With Mom gone, now no one knew anymore, and somehow I wanted to get it off my chest. But I couldn’t. “Yeah, but now I just want to get it over with.”
“Meaning…?”
“I want to just have had sex already. It’s hard to reach twenty-four with no real experience. Guys expect it, and when you make it this far, you can’t exactly admit it.”
“Um, Becca? What guy wouldn’t want to be with a virgin?” He looked at me as if I had two heads.
“Lots. I mean, they’d think there was something wrong with me.”
“No, they’d think you were waiting for the right guy to give it to. They’d be sure they were the one.” He suddenly grinne
d. “Well if you’re that set on having sex, I’m always available.”
I laughed. “Your generosity astounds me sometimes.”
“I can sacrifice for the good of a friend.” His grin widened, and I had a feeling it was the look that usual got him girls. If he’d been even remotely my type, it might have worked on me.
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
“You do that.”
“Well, I’m sorry you had a bad date, but better luck next time,” I said, ready to change the subject.
“Yeah, the allusive ‘next time.’”
“I think I’m going to turn in.”
“You sure? We can watch a movie or something if you want.” He put his hands behind his head, making himself comfortable.
“Thanks, but no thanks. I’m pretty exhausted.”
“All right then, see ya.”
“Good night.” I waved before going inside.
Chapter Ten
Gavin
After a long week of working nights, I was ready for a weekend. I managed to get a few hours of sleep on Friday before I got up to eat some leftover pizza. By the time I rinsed off my dish, Max waited by the door with his leash in his mouth. It was about seven thirty, and the sun was just showing signs of setting. It was the perfect time for a walk on the beach.
I let Max off his leash so he could run around for a while. I usually ignored the leash rules at night when no one else was around. Max loved the freedom, and he usually didn’t stray far. Without warning, Max took off down the sand. When I caught up with him, I saw her.
I put Max back on his leash and watched Becca. She stared out at the ocean with her arms wrapped around her chest. She looked lonely, and I had the urge to fix it. I had a lot of urges when it came to Becca. I still couldn’t get the girl out of my head. Day and night, I found myself thinking about her and feeling like a complete jerk for treating her the way I did. Whether she reminded me of Dawn or not, she deserved better. I figured it was the best chance I was going to get to make amends. Plus, maybe if I actually talked to her in a civilized way, I’d stop thinking about her so damn much.
She couldn’t hear us approaching over the crash of the waves. The surf was wild that night. I called out, not wanting to startle her with my approach. “Hey.”
She turned toward me. “Oh, hi.” Her eyes widened in surprise. She took a step back.
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