Treasured Past

by Linda Hill

  As I drew closer, it sounded like someone was lifting and moving heavy furniture. I imagined that Annie must be moving some new purchase in from the loading dock outside, and I wasn’t far off in my assumption.

  Her back was toward me and I watched her lifting one end of a mahogany dining room table. She was walking backward and pulling the table with her, the legs scraping on the oak floor. She set the table down, and I chose that moment to interrupt her.

  “Annie?” She jumped back and raised a hand to her chest when she saw me.

  “You scared the hell out of me.”

  “I’m sorry.” Seeing her only made me forget about what had transpired over the past week. I took a step forward, palms up, and my stomach dropped when she stepped back and away from me.

  “What are you doing here?” Her voice was hard, eyes accusing.

  “We have to talk, Annie.” I kept my voice calm and quiet.

  “So you just decided to let yourself in?”

  “I’ve been letting myself in every day for months.” I fought back sarcasm. “You haven’t returned any of my phone calls, and I had to talk to you before Tuesday.”

  “Talk to my lawyer,” she snapped, turning back to the task of moving the table.

  I could feel myself growing angry, and it took some effort to try to curb it.

  “Don’t be an ass, Annie. We have to talk.” In spite of my efforts, I could hear the frustration in my voice.

  “No, Kate.” Her voice exploded as she faced me square on. “Technically I shouldn’t be talking to you at all. You are representing my husband in a divorce case that could absolutely destroy me in more ways than one. Does your client know that you’re here?”

  “Of course not.”

  “And does he know that you’ve been fraternizing with the enemy for months now?” Her hands were planted on her hips. “Or was I right in assuming that he put you up to this from the very beginning.”

  I didn’t recognize her. This was nothing like the woman that I had known and spent so much time with these past months. She was angry and completely unreasonable.

  I sighed. “I’m honestly not sure exactly what the Golds know and don’t know,” I told her. “But I’ve never discussed you in any personal way with either of them.”

  Her eyes fluttered over me. “I don’t believe you.”

  My jaw dropped. “I didn’t even know that Donald Gold was your husband until three days ago!”

  “That’s what you say. But I don’t believe that either.”

  I wanted to scream. “Annie, you told me you were divorced. I didn’t even know you were married, remember?”

  She shrugged, her eyes closed. “That’s what you led me to believe, at least. But I find it all difficult to believe now.”

  “Believe what?”

  She had no patience. “I find it difficult to believe that you had no idea that I was married to your client. I cannot believe that you were representing him all that time and didn’t figure out that he and I were married. It just wouldn’t be that hard to figure out.”

  I shook my head. “I didn’t know, Annie.”

  “You certainly didn’t do much digging around,” she snorted. “Even your father knows about Donald.”

  He did? I began to chide myself. Had I really fallen asleep so badly on this case? Had I been so caught up in feeling manipulated by Gold that I hadn’t bothered to do my homework? I felt helpless.

  “Look, Annie. You can go ahead and think that I’m a shitty lawyer. The fact is that I didn’t know.”

  I could tell by the look on her face that I wasn’t reaching her. She was steadfast in her refusal to believe me.

  “Let me tell you what I think,” she replied, settling back against the table that she’d just been moving.

  “I think that Donald’s father put you up to everything. I think that he made it worth your while to ingratiate yourself with me and get me into your bed.”

  “You’re being irrational, Annie.”

  “Am I?” She raised one brow. “He knows you’re a lesbian, doesn’t he?”

  “We’ve never discussed it,” I replied.

  “But he knows,” she assured me. “He was absolutely ballistic when he found out that his son had caught me with a woman. It would just be too perfect for him to select you to represent his son.”

  I couldn’t disagree with her. Hadn’t I suspected the same thing?

  “I don’t care about them, Annie. I care about us.” I was beginning to plead with her.

  “Do you?” Her voice was so cold. “I think it was all part of the plan. Once I became involved with you I pretty much killed any chance I had with my settlement.”

  “You think I faked the whole thing?” I was incredulous.

  She nodded. “The evidence speaks for itself, Kate. The Golds have a lot of money and power. It’s not difficult for me to believe that you’ve been paid quite well to bring me down.”

  “Bring you down?” My laugh was harsh. “You’ve been watching too many movies.”

  “And you’re underestimating your employer,” she replied sharply. Then she paused as if rethinking her response. “Unless I’m underestimating you right now and you’re just playing me again.”

  She shook her head, her voice quieting.

  “I don’t know what I believe, Kate. But right now I can’t believe a word that you’re saying. We shouldn’t be talking at all.”

  “You really don’t believe me?”

  She shook her head. “I can’t, Kate. It would be foolish of me to do so.” She sighed heavily. “He’s going to take my home, Kate.”

  “Yeah,” I snapped. “A home you never even invited me to.” My anger was growing. “You went out of your way to keep your marriage and everything about your life a secret from me.”

  She studied me momentarily before shrugging. Her nonchalance infuriated me.

  “You told me that you were divorced,” I reminded her. “It was you who lied to me, Annie. Remember?”

  She studied me for several moments more before choosing her words carefully. “You can leave any time you like, Kate. You know where the door is.”

  “Dammit, Annie. I can’t believe you’re acting this way.” My emotions were somewhere between anger and tears.

  “And I can’t believe you would come here and try to convince me that our entire relationship wasn’t anything but a farce.” Her eyes were livid. “You can let your client know that he may very well end up with my parents’ home, but I’m not going to just roll over and let him have it.”

  I remembered what Melanie had told me, that Annie and her lawyer were planning to petition the court and accuse us of conspiracy and tampering and god-only-knows what else.

  “Annie, I have no idea whether the Golds have manipulated this situation. But you have to know that I’ve never lied to you. I haven’t conspired against you in any way.”

  “You’re just trying to save your butt,” she snapped.

  “No, Annie. That’s where you’re wrong.” I set my jaw firmly. “I’m trying to save us.”

  We stared at each other for the longest time while I wondered if there was any chance that I had gotten through to her. Something close to sadness seemed to drop over her features. But then she folded her arms across her chest, and her lips lifted in a condescending smile.

  “I think it’s time for you to go, Counselor. I’ll see you in court.”

  She scored a direct hit. The anger evaporated until only the helplessness remained. Without another word, I turned and retraced my steps to the front door.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  Sunday was perhaps the longest day of my life. I spent most of the day with Beth, crying on her shoulder. It had taken nearly an hour just to explain everything that had happened. It sounded so unbelievable that I had a hard time believing everything that had happened myself.

  Beth’s response went from disbelief to anger and, finally, to sadness. Somewhere along the line she’d tried to help me to see Annie’s
point of view. If she had really been under the Golds’ thumb for so long, then it made sense that she was now suspicious of me.

  “You have no idea what she’s been through, Kate,” Beth reasoned.

  “If I don’t, it’s because she didn’t tell me. She never told me anything about her past. And what little she did speak about was only after a lot of prompting on my part.”

  Beth’s face was grim.

  “I’m sorry, Kate. This is a nightmare.”

  I could only agree with her. It was a nightmare. Then my mind flashed forward to the morning. At some point I would have to meet with Donald Gold. What would I tell him?

  Ethically, I was bound to tell him everything. I was bound to tell him that I had just discovered that I had been in a relationship with his daughter-in-law for months. I mentioned this fact to Beth, and she tried without success at some humor.

  “Then your nightmare has just begun,” she informed me. As if I didn’t already know that. “Thanks for the encouragement,” I told her.

  “Do you have to tell them?” Beth asked.

  “I should.” I paused, thinking it over. “I have information that could impact my client’s case. Besides, they may already know about it.”

  “Do you honestly think that they would set you up like that?”

  I shrugged. “They might. In which case they’re either waiting for me to come forward or are planning to spring the information on me or the court at the last minute. I’m sure they would use the information to their greatest advantage.”

  “It doesn’t sound like you can possibly win this, Kate.”

  My laugh was full of irony. “Unfortunately, it looks like I could very well win the court case. Especially if Gold calls in his favors.” My thoughts drifted to Annie. I had felt badly for Donald Junior’s wife when I didn’t even know who she was. Now that I knew it was Annie, my heart was beyond heavy with regret.

  “But you’ll lose Annie,” Beth reminded me.

  “I probably already have,” I told her. “She was so angry, Beth. I didn’t even recognize her.”

  “She thinks you betrayed her, Kate.” Her words were doing little to soothe me.

  “I know, Beth. And I don’t think I stand a chance in hell of convincing her otherwise.”

  I don’t know if I slept at all that night. My mind was running on fast forward, jumping from one thought to another. Time after time, I replayed my conversation with Annie. Then my thoughts would skitter forward to my meeting with Donald Gold in the morning.

  No matter how the conversation played out in my mind, I always ended up feeling worse than I had from the previous scenario. I would either get fired, stripped of my license or, worse yet, Donald Gold would grin at me and pat me on the back. But no matter what Donald’s reaction, or how the judge would rule, one thing was certain. There was no way I could win this with Annie.

  I held the pillow that had cradled her head so many nights close to my chest, hugging it tightly. At some point during the night an important thought crossed my mind, one that I told myself to hang on to. When the alarm went off at six-thirty, I awoke with a nagging feeling. I was supposed to remember something. Something important that might just be the way out of this mess. Had I been dreaming?

  No, I didn’t think so. But it wasn’t until after I’d showered and dressed and was heading out the door that I remembered what it was. As I mulled over the idea, a small smile came to my lips. This might work, I told myself. This may just be the solution.

  The first thing I did when I arrived at the office was pick up the phone and dial Melanie’s number.

  “Have you heard anything?” I didn’t even bother to greet her.

  “I’m not exactly in the loop anymore, remember?” From the tone of her voice, I could tell that Melanie hadn’t gotten much sleep over the weekend either.

  “I know. I was just wondering whether or not you’ve spoken with Bob.” As tired as I was, both my mind and heart were racing.

  “I did. He was very reluctant,” Mel sighed.

  My heart sank. “So he’s not going to hold off filing the petition?”

  “He didn’t say that he wouldn’t.”

  I felt hope rise. If I just had enough time ... “But he didn’t say he would, either, did he?”

  “No.” Her voice picked up. “But you know how it is, Counselor. All that double-speak and spouting about attorney-client privilege and ethics. Then of course he mentioned how sometimes papers get filed but somehow get misplaced until it’s too late in the day to do anything about it.”

  I almost laughed. Bob would do everything he could to hold off filing the petition and give me a chance to make things right. I had bought a little time. I glanced at my watch. Eight hours to be exact.

  “Thanks for trying, Mel. I appreciate it.”

  “Whatever I can do, Kate. You know that.” She hesitated briefly. “So do you have a plan in mind?”

  I did, and I had something that I wanted to ask her. But paranoia began to grip me. I had to choose my words carefully.

  “I do, actually.” I told her. “And I have one question for you.”

  She didn’t respond, so I went ahead and asked, trying to be as vague as possible. “Is there any other information that your client gave you recently about her husband? Anything that might be of value?”

  “I’m afraid not. At least nothing more than what I’ve already shared with you.”

  My jaw began to work. It didn’t make sense, really. But just because Annie had decided against using the information, it didn’t mean that I had to do the same.

  “Thanks, Melanie.” I was hopeful again. “I’ll be in touch.”

  “Before the end of the day?”

  I laughed. “Maybe. We’ll see how things go. I imagine that we’ll chat sometime before nightfall.”

  Melanie sounded almost relieved. “Good luck, Kate. I’ll talk to you later.”

  I said good-bye and began scripting a conversation with Donald in my mind. It may have been foolish on my part, but a sick little part of me was actually looking forward to our conversation.

  I decided not to wait any longer. If everything went as I hoped, then time was absolutely crucial. Steadying my nerves, I left my office and headed down the hall. Better to catch him off guard and in his own office, I decided. The dynamics would at least give me the illusion of control, and I needed all the help I could get.

  I could hear him growling at someone from several offices away. Millicent was standing guard, and she held me at bay while he continued his tirade. He was on the phone, ripping into some poor fool.

  I explained to Millie that I needed to speak to him immediately. “It has to do with his son’s divorce case.” I dropped my voice down conspiratorially, and her interest seemed to pick right up.

  She lowered her voice as well, assuring me she would see what she could do before disappearing into Donald’s office. I could hear him pontificating at length before he finally paused and gave his attention to his secretary. Two sentences later, he was slamming down the phone and calling out to me to enter his office.

  Here we go. I took several deep breaths. No turning back now.

  He was all smiles when I entered the room, waving me inside and actually standing as I approached his desk.

  “Sit down, Kate.” His voice boomed. “Are we ready for the big day tomorrow?”

  “I believe we are, sir.” I spoke confidently.

  “Good, good. We’ll all be glad when the whole ordeal is over.”

  “Yes sir.” I held my tongue and watched him closely, looking for some sign that he knew more than he was telling me.

  He was watching me in return, eyes narrowing as he frowned.

  “Is there something else, then? Something else that you wanted to discuss?”

  I spoke cautiously, dropping my voice for his ears only. “There is something else, sir. Something that I’m not quite sure how to handle.”

  “What’s this about?”

  “You
r son’s case, sir.”

  He was frowning again. I recalled our last conversation about his son’s divorce and how he had belittled my concerns. No doubt he was gearing up for another tongue-lashing.

  He was barely containing his impatience. “Yes, Kate. What is it? Speak up.”

  I took another deep breath and let it out slowly. If Donald Gold had set me up the way Annie imagined he had, I would certainly know it shortly.

  “I was recently made aware of some information about your son, sir,” I paused, watching his reaction closely. “Since he is my client, I thought that I should speak to him directly. But given the nature of the information and my relationship with you and the firm, I thought it might be more appropriate to bring it, to you.”

  He was frowning again. I wasn’t quite sure how to interpret his slow reaction. But knowing what I did about Donald Junior, I imagined that this wasn’t the first time that someone had approached his father with information that wasn’t exactly flattering.

  “Does this information have any impact on the proceedings tomorrow?”

  “I’m afraid that it might,” I told him, carefully keeping my voice even.

  He finally sat down, pulling himself close to his desk as he leaned forward, hands folded loosely.

  When he didn’t speak, I decided to rephrase what I had said. “As I said, my first instinct was to discuss this directly with your son. But I wasn’t sure if I should come to you first.”

  He was nibbling on his bottom lip. “You mean you didn’t know whether or not you should cover your ass.” His voice was no longer friendly.

  I smiled briefly and nodded my head. “Something like that, sir.” Better to play the game his way.

  “Then you probably did the right thing in coming to me first. What is it then? What has my son done this time?”

  For a moment I almost felt sorry for him. From the tone of his voice, I imagined that he had spent a lifetime having conversations that began just like this one.

  I cleared my throat to steady myself and launched into the speech that I’d been scripting in my mind.