by Naomi Niles
“Thank you, Sam,” she said immediately, giving me a bright smile. “Thank you for saving me yesterday. And, thank you for giving me a ride today.”
“Hey, it was truly my pleasure, little lady,” I told her. “You can give me a call anytime you need help.”
Renni’s smile got bigger. “Can I tell my friends that you said that?” she asked.
“Sure thing,” I nodded. “Go crazy.”
She looked delighted as Mia helped her out of the pick up and walked her into the school. I watched as Mia knelt down beside her daughter and spoke to her for a few moments. Then she gave her a kiss on the forehead and sent her off into the building. She seemed a little nervous as she got back into the truck and put on her seat belt.
“Where to?” I asked.
“City Hall,” she replied.
“You work in City Hall?” I asked, extremely impressed.
“Next to city hall, actually,” she replied. “But I’m in and out all the time. I might as well work from there.”
“You’re a lawyer?”
“I work for a project innocence firm,” she replied. “I’ve worked with them for three years now.”
“Wow, that’s impressive,” I said honestly. “Juggling parenthood and a full-time career can’t be easy.”
She smiled, but there was a sad edge to her smile. “I do the best I can, but I still don’t think it’s good enough.”
“Women are too hard on themselves,” I said. “You guys do ten times more than a man would, and you still feel as though you’re slacking somehow.”
That got a smile out of her. “You think so?”
“Course.”
Much too soon, I pulled up outside Mia’s building. She turned to me with those bright green eyes ,and I felt my heart falter a little. “I’d be happy to pick you up this evening,” I blurted out.
Her eyebrows rose a little. “That’s…not necessary,” she said. “Thank you, it’s a really sweet offer, but I’m renting a car today until mine is repaired.”
“Oh,” I said, a little disappointed. “Are you sure?”
“Positive,” she nodded.
“Mia?”
“Yes?”
“I’d like to take you out to dinner sometime…any time you’re free,” I said.
There was a shadow that passed over her eyes as I asked the question. She looked at me for a moment before giving me a small smile that gave me my answer before she had said a word.
“I’m sorry, Sam,” she said. “I appreciate you asking, but…this is not a good time for me. I hope you understand.”
“Oh…of course,” I said, in a gentlemanly manner, trying to cover up my disappointment.
“Thank you so much for all you’ve done,” Mia said. She gave me a parting smile and then stepped out of my pick up and disappeared into the building. Sighing, I headed over to Pete’s place, feeling the need for a distraction.
I noticed Madison’s vehicle was sitting outside the house. She must have set out for work already. I walked into the house to the smell of bacon and cheese and found Peter and Mom in the kitchen. By the looks of it, they had just sat down to their breakfast.
“Hi,” I greeted.
“What’s wrong?” Peter asked immediately.
“What makes you think something’s wrong?” I asked.
“Your face.”
I stuck my tongue out at him like a five year old and glossed over the moment with my juvenile sense of humor. I wasn’t interested in talking about Mia just yet, especially given that I wasn’t planning on giving up anytime soon. Her rejection had set a fire under me and I knew I wasn’t going to let up until she gave me a chance.
A part of me wondered why I was so adamant about going out with her. She was obviously not the right girl for me. She was older, mature, responsible, and had a child. Even if she was looking to meet someone, she probably wasn’t looking for something casual. And when it came to women, casual was my thing. Was it really wise to involve myself with a woman that I was only going to disappoint later? I wondered
“Sam?”
“Huh?”
“Where are you this morning?” Mom asked. “You seem a little distracted?”
“Oh, I’m just a little tired,” I replied. “I just came off a long shift.”
“I heard about the accident by the lake,” Peter said. “Nice job, little brother. I was proud to hear that you were the one who pulled out the driver.”
I shrugged. “It was nothing.”
“Nothing?” Mom repeated. “You saved that man’s life.”
“It’s my job.”
“And, it’s a job not many people could do,” she said, with intense pride in her tone. It actually made me uncomfortable, the way she was looking at me. It was as though I were a hero.
Peter laughed. “You’ll soon find, Mom, that Sam is vain when it comes to his looks, but modest when it comes to his profession. It should be the other way around, but there you have it.”
She laughed, and I punched Peter in the arm. “There’s nothing wrong with being honest with yourself,” I said. “And ,I happen to be a good-looking man.”
“All my boys are good looking men,” she said, breaking up our little fist war.
“Sure, sure,” I nodded. “Some just happen to be better looking than others.”
Peter rolled his eyes as I grabbed a piece of bacon from the center of the table. “Hey, Pete, I was thinking of dropping by Talen’s tomorrow. I haven’t really spoken to him in awhile. You want to join me?”
“I can’t tomorrow,” he replied. “I have to work.”
“Right,” I nodded.
“How is Talen?” Mom asked quietly.
I gave her a small smile. Talen had been the least forthcoming of her sons. He had taken the news that she was back in our lives reasonably well, but had shown no interest in actually spending any quality time with her – maybe it was built up resentment, maybe it was pure disinterest. Either way, I wasn’t quite sure. Talen had always been hard to read.
“I’ll find out tomorrow,” I told her gently.
“Tell him… Tell him that I said hello,” she said. “And, that I asked after him.”
“I will.”
“And, tell him that… I think about him all the time,” she continued. “Tell him I’d like to see him soon.”
I nodded. “I’ll do that, Mom.”
“Thank you, son,” she said with a distracted smile.
Peter and I exchanged a glance when we knew she wasn’t looking. I didn’t want to disappoint her, but I didn’t want to give her false hope, either. But Peter and I both knew that at some point, she might just have to accept that her absence had created a distance between herself and Talen that nothing would be able to fix.
Chapter Ten
Mia
I went into my office and looked out the window, trying to catch a glimpse of Sam’s truck. He would be gone by now, but I still wanted to check.
For a second, I regretted my decision to turn him down. He was a nice guy: good looking, funny, and he had just done me a favor that he didn’t have to do.
I sighed and turned to my desk that was piled high with paperwork, court documents, and subpoenas. I sat down and took a deep breath, putting Sam from my mind. I had a job to do and an innocent man to acquit.
I looked through the paperwork pertaining to Seth Danube. He had been a model citizen up until his arrest four months ago. He had kept his head down and worked hard.
He was a good man – and that ultimately had been his undoing. His trust had led him to help a few unsavory characters, and it was those very people that had landed him behind bars. I was looking over Seth’s history when Helen walked in.
“Hi,” she said. “Do you have the subpoena for Seth’s ex-wife?”
“It’s right here,” I said, handing over the document. “I would like her to be his third character witness.”
“For maximum impact?”
“I think her testimony will be the strongest,”
I nodded. “I spoke to her for awhile on the phone yesterday, and she provides a compelling argument in favor of Seth. I think she could really help him. The fact that she’s his ex-wife can only be an advantage.”
“How do you figure that?”
“Think about it,” I said. “What reason would an ex have to say anything nice about Seth, unless he was a genuinely great guy?”
“Good point,” she nodded. “But it might not be as clear cut as that.”
“Meaning?”
“The prosecution’s got a strong case together Mia,” Helen said despairingly. “We’re going to be going up against Andrew Dermott in court. The man’s a shark.”
“Well, I can be a shark, too,” I said, trying to sound confident and self-assured.
Helen smiled. “You’re a great lawyer Mia, but you’re young and inexperienced. Dermott’s got twenty years of experience on you. And, a stellar track record when it comes to convicting criminals.”
“But Seth’s not a criminal.”
“Not to you,” she said. “And, not to me. But in the eyes of the law… He’s got a black mark on his record.”
“What happened to ‘innocent until proven guilty?’”
“I’m afraid that’s the idealistic part of law,” she told me, with an ironic smile. “Reality doesn’t always work like that.”
“The prosecution may have been able to spin a couple of stories together,” I said firmly. “But that’s all they have: spun stories. We just need to unravel them for the truth to fall out and when we do, the jury will see that Seth Danube is an innocent man who was taken advantage of.”
She smiled. “I wish all of my attorneys were as passionate and dedicated as you are.”
“We’re going to win this case, Helen,” I said. “I can feel it.”
I could see the invigorated hope behind her eyes. “I’m starting to feel it, too.”
I spent the next few hours perfecting our defence with Helen. It was almost two o’clock when Molly, one of the younger lawyers in the department, walked in with a message for me.
“Mia, there’s someone here to see you.”
I raised my eyebrows, and for one irrationally wishful moment, I actually hoped it might be Sam. “I’m coming,” I said, without even asking who it might be.
When I walked outside the office, however, I saw Vanessa waiting by the elevators. “Oh… Vanessa,” I said.
“Well, don’t get too excited there. Geez.”
“Sorry,” I said, coloring a little.
“Expecting someone else?” she asked, good-naturedly.
“Of course not,” I replied a little too quickly.
“Sure,” she said, obviously not convinced. “I came to take you out to lunch, if you have the time.”
“I’m starving, actually,” I said, realizing that my stomach did feel empty. “Let’s go, it would be good to get a breather.”
I said goodbye to Helen and headed out with Vanessa to a little restaurant around the corner. We settled into a booth by the window and ordered our food quickly. We were sipping our drinks when Vanessa asked me about Sam.
“Did he call?” she asked curiously.
“Actually, he did,” I nodded.
“No way!” she gasped. “So soon?”
“He called this morning and asked if he could give me a lift since he knew that I didn’t have a working car.”
“Wow,” she said, clearly impressed. “So he’s the one who got you to work today?”
“Yup,” I nodded. “We dropped Renni off at school first.”
“Damn,” Vanessa said, running her fingers through her white-blonde hair. “The boy’s really interested.”
“He seems really young,” I said, biting my lip.
“If he’s over twenty-one, what the hell does it matter?” she demanded.
I sighed. “It’s not about age,” I said. “It’s about maturity.”
“You don’t think he’s mature?”
“He seems… He just has this vibe about him.”
“Vibe?”
“He seems like the player type.”
“Based on?”
“His face.”
Vanessa burst out laughing. “He’s good looking, so you just assume he must play the field?”
“It’s instinct,” I said, defending myself. “And, my instincts are pretty good.”
“Your instincts as a lawyer are pretty good,” she countered. “This is different.”
“Different how?”
“This is personal,” she told me reasonably. “Which means that you might not be seeing things clearly. Maybe your personal fears and insecurities are clouding your judgement a little.”
I sighed and looked down at my half-empty glass. “Man, I wish I could drink something harder.”
“You can….”
“I’m going back to work after this,” I reminded her. I took a deep breath and tried to collect my thoughts. “Sometimes I go back and forth so often that I actually confuse myself.”
“Give me an example.”
“Well… When Sam asked me out, I said no right away. But then I wished that I hadn’t turned him down. Then I kept thinking about how hard it is to meet a guy who’s okay with the fact that I have a daughter. But then I think about the reality of having him in Renni’s life. I don’t want her getting attached to him if he’s only going to leave.”
Vanessa listened carefully and nodded once when I was done. “Okay, first of all, you need to think about what you want. Are you interested in a real committed relationship? Or do you just want something fun and frivolous?”
“Umm… I don’t… At this point in my life, maybe fun and frivolous is the right way to go.”
Vanessa nodded. “Then you can be as casual as you want with your fire fighter, and Renni need never know.”
I smirked. “He’s Renni’s friend, or have you forgotten? She loves him.”
“All the better,” Vanessa said. “If he happens to be around, then that’s how you explain it. He’s your friend, just like he’s Renni’s friend.”
“Sounds…complicated.”
“Only if you want to make it complicated,” she said. “My advice is, don’t make it complicated.”
“Gee, thanks,” I said sarcastically.
Vanessa laughed. “Come on, Mia. He’s hot, he’s a fireman, and from what I saw, he got along great with Renni.”
“He did,” I sighed.
“You’ve hit the jackpot here,” she encouraged. “Don’t just kick it aside. I’m not saying you have to marry the guy. But let’s face it, honey: you need to get laid.”
“Vanessa!”
“What? It needed to be said.”
I shook my head at her.
“You can’t tell me you don’t miss having sex?”
I sighed. “I don’t have time to think about it.”
She smiled. “You know I’m available anytime to babysit, right?”
“I know,” I nodded. “And I love for that. Speaking of which…”
“You need me to pick up Renni this evening?”
“Please,” I nodded. “I think I’m going to be working late today.”
“No problem,” she said readily. “We can swing by and pick you up when you’re ready.”
“I can take a cab, Vanessa.”
“Don’t bother. I’m more than happy to pick you up.”
By the time the day was over, my body was aching from having to sit in an uncomfortable chair all day. Vanessa dropped Renni and me off at home and we walked into the house hand in hand.
“Did you have a good day, munchkin?” I asked.
“Uh-huh,” Renni nodded. “Aunt Vanessa took me to the park. We had hot chocolate before we came to pick you up.”
“Sounds like a productive day,” I smiled. “Now, why don’t you slip into your pjs, and I’ll read you a bedtime story. How does that sound?”
“I want to read Alice in Wonderland.”
“You got it,” I nodded.
We both changed into our pyjamas and curled into place on her bed. I was about to open Alice in Wonderland, when Renni looked up at me.
“Mommy?”
“Yes, angel?” I asked.
“Do you defend bad people?”
I wrinkled my brows and looked at her curiously. “Did someone tell you I did?”
“Martha,” Renni said immediately. “She said that her mother said that you let bad people go free. And, that wasn’t good.”
I gritted my teeth, but I kept my expression calm. Martha’s parents were both prosecutors. “I don’t defend bad people, sweetheart. I defend people who have had bad things happen to them.”
“Oh.”
I kissed the top of her head. “Sometimes people can’t always defend themselves. Sometimes everything is against them.”
“That doesn’t seem fair.”
“It’s not,” I nodded. “Which is why I help them. Because no one else will.”
Renni smiled as she looked up at me. “I knew you weren’t helping bad men. I told Martha so, too.”
“Oh?”
“She told me I didn’t know what I was talking about,” Renni said. “But I told her that her mommy didn’t know what she was talking about.”
“Did you now?” I asked, impressed despite myself.
“Now Martha’s not talking to me anymore,” she said. “But I don’t care. I know she’s wrong.”
“The problem is that most people don’t always know when they’re wrong. But we can’t let that get to us,” I told her. “We need to do what we feel is right and let them say whatever they want.”
Renni nodded thoughtfully. “I don’t want to play with Martha anymore.”
“Well, you might change your mind one day,” I said. “I would be fine with that.”
“I don’t think I will change my mind,” she said firmly.
I smiled. “That is completely up to you, sweetheart,” I said. “But whatever happens, I don’t want you to be rude or mean to anyone, okay?”
“Even if they’re jerks?”
“Renni!”
“Sorry,” she said, nuzzling into my side.
I tried to suppress my smile, but it was hard to do. “Yes,” I said momentarily. “Even if they’re being…not very nice. We must be the better men.”
“Or the better women.”
