“No, they got the story through CiCi, of course. And in full disclosure, I need to tell you that I know Nina professionally. Excellent lawyer. I also happen to know Garner. We graduated from law school together.”
She sensed he was about to tell her something and waited for him to fill the void as her doubts began to nibble away at her resolve.
She knew in her gut that she’d gotten her seat on the bench in the first instance not due to merely her qualifications but her late husband’s connections. That knowledge still left a bad taste in her mouth.
Was she headed down a similar path, to be used by the Davenports in their own campaign of retribution?
“Never cared for Garner,” Jon said, interrupting her thoughts. “Very entitled, privileged. He went to some big Lexington law firm straight out of school, then moved to Frankfort to head up that firm’s local office even though he was only in his early thirties.”
“Sounds like he’s had a lot of advantages in life.”
“That would be an understatement. His family is wealthy in terms of money but also through connections. His great-grandfather was governor, and those political ties still live on. For example, for a project in a third-year clinic, we had to interview a lawyer and make a report to the seminar. You know who Garner interviewed?” She shrugged. “The then-current governor. He was like that—a show-off. Frankly, knowing Nina on both a personal and professional level, I don’t understand what she saw in the man. She’s about as down-to-earth as he is stuck-up.”
A ripple of laughter erupted fromf the group by the window.
“And now she’s pregnant!” Hannah exclaimed.
“Who’s pregnant?” Jon demanded to know.
“Miranda Chaplin!” Jorrie cried.
“I had a checkup yesterday,” Hannah said, “and Miranda told me her news. She’s due in January.” Hannah shook her head. “Gets back together with Prent, marries him, now this,” she said, wonder evident in her tone.
Cara let out a small noise of surprise. “Miranda Chaplin is married? And to Prent Oakes? I had no idea! When did that happen?”
“Prent and Miranda got married in April. Weren’t you at the tree planting?”
“Yes.”
“Prent introduced her as his wife. Don’t you remember?”
“I… um… I arrived late. Guess I missed that announcement.”
Cara felt the heat rise in her cheeks as she recalled the reason for her tardiness. She’d been in Drake’s Jeep thoroughly enjoying his company.
Hannah, Harriet, and Jorrie resumed their discussion, and Cara distinctly heard CiCi and Walker’s names rising from the cloud of chatter. She felt uneasy, like she was eavesdropping, and she was angry since the mentioning of the names revealed the motivation for the Davenports’ support.
Yet she was also ambitious and knew that open seats on an appellate court were as rare as hen’s teeth. Even rarer was the fact that she had people willing to support her—who had actively recruited her for the position.
Hannah moved toward the table and took a seat, Jorrie and Harriet following in her wake.
“Well, I suppose we all know why we’re here,” began Hannah. She then turned to address Cara directly. “We’re here because we want to see you on the Court of Appeals.”
“I have to say before we continue that I very much appreciate these efforts,” said Cara. “I didn’t expect this. Thank you all.”
“You were the first person I thought about when I heard O’Toole was retiring,” Hannah said. “I knew that if we wanted to get out ahead of this, we needed to form a committee and quickly.”
“So what about getting her that appointment?” asked Harriet. “My dad still has a few connections in Frankfort.”
“And I can contact some of Todd’s friends as well,” Cara said. “I haven’t forgotten how I got on the bench. I know who pulled those strings for me four years ago.”
“Don’t we need to look beyond the appointment?” Jorrie asked. “We need to think about a campaign committee in the sense of fund-raising, for example.”
“She’s right,” Jon said, nodding. “And I’ll put it to you, Cara: You do plan to run even if you don’t get the appointment, don’t you?”
“Yes, I do.”
“There’s some forms, paperwork we’ll need to complete. But I can easily attend to that,” Jon said.
“So who will be the treasurer?” Harriet asked.
“Let’s give that job to the person who didn’t show up today,” Hannah said. “Drake.”
The group laughed and agreed with Harriet’s suggestion, and Cara knew that she had the opening she needed to reveal her incipient relationship with Drake.
“I recused myself from all Drake’s cases by order entered earlier this week,” she said. “I thought it best because—”
The door to the room opened. All eyes fell upon Bo Davenport and the infant on his shoulder.
“Good morning. Sorry we’re late.”
With pale skin and flaming red hair, Ella Davenport simultaneously looked like an angel and a baby leprechaun. The child’s saucerlike blue eyes briefly fell upon the others in the room before she rooted her tiny face into her father’s chest, instinctively seeking the comforts of touch and food in light of suddenly seeing so many strangers.
“Now don’t be that way,” Bo chided. “Aunt Hannah’s here. See?”
Hannah waved to her niece, and Bo offered her the child to hold.
“Sorry, better not,” she said. “I have a cold.”
“So who had red hair?” Cara asked.
“Our mother, Emma,” Bo and Hannah said simultaneously.
Bo offered Cara the chance to hold the child, and she accepted. Cara sat the baby on her lap, bouncing and tickling her. Giggles and a little drool soon came forth from Ella’s tiny mouth, and she wildly clutched at Cara’s long strand of pearls. As a precaution, Cara grabbed the necklace and tucked it down the front of her blouse.
“Ella looks exactly like Lila but with red hair,” Harriet said, smiling.
“Not true,” Bo protested and moved to the table along the wall to get some coffee. “She has my nose.”
Hannah and Harriet exchanged a doubtful look, followed by a smile Bo could not see.
Jon wrapped up the meeting by announcing that he would talk with Cara about anyone else she had in mind for her campaign committee and that he’d send an e-mail setting any future meetings. The meeting started to break up, with Harriet and Jorrie rising from their seats, although Hannah kept her spot. Cara could tell she did not feel well.
With the baby starting to fuss, Bo put his coffee on the table and excused himself. Cara rose from the table along with Jon and again thanked everyone for their support and help.
“We want this to happen for you,” Harriet said as she put a hand on Cara’s shoulder and walked out of the conference room together with Jorrie and Jon trailing behind. “And it goes without saying that CiCi’s on board as well.”
Cara flashed an uneasy look toward Jon, but his attention had been diverted by Jorrie, who was asking him a question about access to the visitors’ center the night before and day of her wedding.
Walking across the lobby, Cara found herself lingering at the bourbon flavor wheel. She stopped and Jorrie walked right into her back. Cara profusely apologized.
“That happens all the time around here,” Harriet said, glancing at the wheel. “People are fascinated by this thing.”
Jon told Jorrie to e-mail him with the times she needed access to the visitors’ center and nodded toward the front doors. “Sorry, but I need to get back to the conference room,” Jon said. “Looks like our second meeting of the morning is about to start.”
At the front door, a group of four people walked into the lobby.
Drake was one of them.
Although Cara had seen him around the courthouse a few times since their Monday night adventures, they had not interacted outside their professional personas, and they had not made any for
mal announcement of their relationship. When her assistant had asked why she was recusing from all the cases, Cara had only told her to stay tuned.
Drake’s gaze stayed on her as he crossed the lobby and headed straight for her as though their bodies were magnetized. Cara was unable to move as he briefly said hello to Jorrie, who passed him and left through the front doors. When his group arrived in the center of the area, they stopped and were greeted by Jon.
“Glad you’re all here,” Jon said. He gestured to the conference room from behind them. “Go on in and I’ll be right there.”
Two men and one woman walked toward the room, but Drake stayed with Harriet and Cara on the wheel.
“I thought you couldn’t make our earlier meeting,” Harriet griped, “but here you are for this one?”
“Sorry,” Drake said, finally tearing his eyes away from Cara and focusing on Harriet. “I had a deposition this morning and couldn’t move it.”
“So what brings you here this morning?” Cara asked, wondering if Harriet sensed anything since she felt herself blushing furiously.
“We’re meeting about that kayaking and canoeing project I told you about,” he said. “Hannah is anxious to get it done.”
“Hannah’s anxious to get anything done if it means good publicity for Old Garnet,” said Harriet.
“Is Goose in there?” Drake asked pointing to the conference room door.
Harriet shook her head. “No. He’s in Louisville today meeting a food manufacturer along with Mack Blanton. They went up there to talk about putting the ice creams into mass production.”
“You mean I might be able to buy Cinnamon Garnet at Minnick’s someday?” Cara asked excitedly.
Harriet confirmed that was the plan and took her leave of them. When Drake didn’t move, Cara glanced at the door to the conference room.
“Shouldn’t you go in?” she asked.
“Why would I want to do that when I’ve got you alone?”
“We’re standing in the middle of the lobby at Old Garnet. Doesn’t feel like we’re alone.”
Drake looked around and took Cara’s hand.
“But we are.”
He was right. Even though they were in the middle of a very large space and she knew there were other people about, they were alone in the lobby. The only person she could see was a man working in the flower beds beyond the front doors.
Drake put one hand to her cheek.
“Missed you this week,” he said softly and kissed her.
Surprised by his move, she nonetheless welcomed the feel of his lips on hers. The memories of Monday night surrounded her as she drank in his touch and scent. Cara’s mouth widened and as she felt his tongue taste hers, the world around them faded away.
Then she heard a voice calling from nearby.
“Hey, Drake? Are you going to—oh, oh, sorry,” Jon spluttered.
Cara shuddered, embarrassed yet not regretful as she and Drake broke the kiss and stepped back from each other.
“I’ll… just… wait on you in the conference room,” Jon continued, backing away.
“Wait, Jon.” Cara gestured for him to join her and Drake.
Pink-faced and with lips tightly pressed together, Jon did as she requested.
“Didn’t mean to intrude. I had no idea that…,” he said, pointing between them.
“I tried to reveal this in the meeting, but we got interrupted by Bo and Ella. I was going to tell everyone that the main reason I entered that recusal order earlier this week on Drake’s cases was because well…”
“No need to explain. I’ll leave you two alone.” Jon smiled and began to take a few steps away from the center of the lobby.
“I’ll come with you,” Drake said, then turned to Cara. “Seven?”
She nodded and said she’d be waiting for him to pick her up at her house.
She watched the two men walking away but called Jon back as Drake entered the conference room.
“I feel like I need to apologize,” she said.
“No need,” he said, smiling. “Not the first time I’ve seen someone kissing in this lobby, and it won’t be the last.”
“But maybe it’s another first,” she added, grinning.
“How’s that?”
“I’d venture to say that this is probably the first time ever you’re in possession of a piece of tasty gossip of which Hannah Davenport is ignorant. Here’s your chance to get one up on her,” Cara said, her eyes darting to the conference room where she knew Hannah could be found.
He blinked, then let out a belly laugh. “Then it must be my lucky day!”
“I’d suggest you buy a lottery ticket, but you’ve sort of enjoyed that kind of luck,” she teased, referring to his wife’s lottery win a few years earlier.
“Yeah,” he said, smiling. “I married my best friend and the love of my life. That was better than winning the lottery any day.”
6
When Cara’s father had died in a car accident in her early teens, Vera Forrest had been left to raise her only child alone. While they were financially secure due to her dad having sufficient life insurance and having sold a business shortly before he died, the loss was nonetheless profound. His absence was felt in a myriad of ways, but also in one very particular manner.
Cara had always ached for her father’s presence was when dates had come to the house to pick her up. Instead of getting questioned by both parents, the interrogation of said date had fallen solely to Vera.
But now Cara was a grown woman. No date interrogations needed or welcome.
Yet Cara suspected history would repeat itself when Drake came to pick her up for their concert date that Friday night.
Rather than have her mother present at her house when Drake arrived, Cara had tried to talk her mother into taking Nate to her house a few houses down the street.
But Vera was having none of it.
“If you’re dating again, I want to see this man,” she declared.
When Cara had asked her mother to take Nate that Friday night, she explained that she had a date, revealed who it was, and further revealed that she had seen Drake on Monday night and that the Friday event had been born of that chance encounter. Vera peppered her with questions about how long she’d known Drake and “just what kind of man he was.”
When Cara reminded her that this was the same man who had helped her save Nate at the nature preserve, Vera’s incipient antipathy abated, but she then began to drop hints as to whether Cara had intended to meet up with Drake on that Monday and that she’d not been honest about simply needing a night off.
“If you think that I was trying to go off with him without telling you, think again,” Cara finally snapped as they waited for the appointed time. “I needed a little time off. We ran into each other at the park. That simple.”
“I believe you. It’s just not easy for me to take off my mom hat even though you’re grown. So when will you be back home?” She took a seat next to Nate at the kitchen table after picking up his sippy cup and replacing it on his tray.
“By midnight. The concert ends at eleven. I promise Cinderella will be home before the clock strikes the last note,” she joked, trying to hide her irritation.
When the doorbell rang, Cara hastened to the front so she could greet Drake instead of her mother.
“Hi there,” he said upon her opening the door. Drake’s eyes roved up and down her form quickly, and she did the same to him.
Wearing a white polo and navy-blue shorts with a belt and deck shoes, Drake was clean, polished, presentable. In a word, classy. The only flaw in his presentation was he still needed a haircut.
“Ready to meet my mother?” she asked.
“I’d better be.”
She showed Drake into the kitchen, where Vera still sat with Nate as the little boy ate vanilla wafers. Her eyes and Nate’s came up at the same time, and Nate’s face lit up as he saw Drake walking toward the table.
“He has a boat! A boat!” Nate cried, bou
ncing in his high chair.
“Seems you’ve made quite the favorable impression on my grandson,” Vera said, standing and extending her hand to Drake.
Cara formally introduced the two, and could tell that her mother was trying not to seem too friendly. Her mouth was tense, as though she were making an effort not to smile too broadly.
“You going on the boat?” Nate asked.
“Not tonight,” Drake said. “But maybe another time. Would you like to go with me?”
“Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah!” the child screamed, bouncing so hard his high chair hit the floor in thumps.
“Whoa, Nate,” Cara soothed. She moved around the table to put a steadying hand on the back of the high chair. “Take it easy.”
“Can we go ’morrow?”
Drake looked nervously at Cara.
“That would be up to your mommy. And I’m not sure you’re quite old enough to get in a kayak or canoe just yet.”
Nate let out a long whine.
“But Drake showed me another place you might like,” Cara said, trying to mollify the increasingly upset tot. “A creek in the middle of the park downtown. With frogs.”
“I thought you said you never wanted to take him there.”
“With enough help, it could be done,” Cara said.
“Are you asking me out for lunch in the park tomorrow?” he taunted.
“I—”
“Yeah yeah yeah!” wailed Nate. “Creek! Frog!”
“You are one smooth character,” Vera said, chuckling. “I bet you’re very good in court.” She looked to her daughter as if Cara would confirm or deny her assessment.
“Creek!” Nate yelled, then slammed a little fist down on a vanilla wafer on his tray, causing it to shatter into a thousand little pieces.
After saying good-bye to her mother and son, they were on the road to the distillery in the Jeep within minutes.
“Sorry if I put you on the spot back at the house,” Drake said.
“Are you? You invited yourself to another picnic!”
“Got a problem with that?”
“I think I should reserve any ruling until after I see what kind of picnic you can offer me tonight,” she said, looking out the window and refusing to meet his eyes.
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