Limiting Liabilities: Book Two - The Martinique Files

by Colette Alaine

  “Tomorrow at the end of the day.”

  “Thanks.” Tawny skirts out of his office to finish what she can today and prepare for tomorrow. Getting home early enough to do some laundry and to pack is her new goal.

  The drive to her parent’s farm takes a little more than four hours if she does not encounter traffic. Timing her departure for five o’clock, she is counting on at least five hours before she pulls up the long driveway to the massive home where she grew up.

  The next day drolls on since she is leaving at the end of it. Too bad Billy didn’t give her Wednesday off as well.

  “It’s three o’clock and if you leave now you can get home by seven.” Billy plops down in her reception chair.

  “You’ll let me go early?” Elated, she could hug him but she dare not.

  “Yes, but don’t tell anyone. I don’t need Linda or someone else crying favoritism.” Both of them remember what happened when Rebecca told her to leave and not take the time from what is allotted to her. Those things do not set well with the staff despite the fact that the attorneys work twice as hard as they do. The staff cannot say a word about the partners but they sure watch the associates’ vacation and personal time.

  “But I am your favorite, right?” She teases as she closes the open windows on her computer and starts to gather her work.

  “Most of the time. What are you doing?”

  “Getting the work together that I’m taking with me.”

  “No, you’re not. Leave it here. Vacation means not working.” Billy defines the term that so many do not seem to understand in the working world.

  “That would be nice but what if you need me for something and I don’t have the information?” Tawny does not want to let him down.

  “I’m not planning on contacting you. I’m actually going to take off some time myself. I’ve never spent so much time in the office as I have this year and I need a break from all this management stuff.”

  “You like it though, don’t you?”

  “Most of it. Not the employment crap but I’m sending it all to HR. Fortunately, I don’t have much of it. The secretaries all think I like one better than the other. Truth be told I don’t like any of them. I just fake it really well.” Billy grins and Tawny knows he is telling her the facts.

  “Your secret is safe with me. I don’t really like any of them except Jalisa. Two of the paralegals are fantastic and they take care of most of the stuff I need done by the secretaries.”

  “Trust me I know. That’s one of their biggest gripes: that the paralegals do their work, especially for you,” Billy chastises her.

  “I’ve been found out. Oh no.” Tawny obviously is not concerned. “So where are you going or shouldn’t I ask?”

  “You shouldn’t but I’ll tell you anyway. My brother Joe and his family rented a condo in Virginia Beach and want me to come down for a few days. They didn’t get to take a summer vacation so they’re doing the beach and the turn of the season all at the same time. I guess we’ll hang out on the sand during the heat of the day and then drive around and watch green leaves turn colors.”

  “Despite your description you sound kind of excited about it,” Tawny accuses him.

  “I haven’t spent much time with my family lately and my nieces and nephews miss me. I’m the fun uncle.” He smiles. “When you said you wanted to see your family I figured why not see mine. I called Joe and got a very expensive flight that leaves in two hours and that’s what I’m going to do. Hopefully, it’ll be worth the ticket price.”

  “That was a quick decision.” Now that he is letting her go early Tawny is itching to get out of the office.

  “Yes, and you’re my ride to the airport. That’s the main reason you’re getting to leave early.” Billy reveals his motive.

  “Well that should cover me for leaving early too. Are you ready to go now?” Tawny is practically pushing him out of her office as she stands up and reaches for her purse.

  “I know how you are. When you know you can do something you do it immediately. I thought it best to tell you when I was ready to leave. I have to move my bag into your car and we’ll do that when we get downstairs in the garage.”

  He leaves her office and returns two minutes later with his stuff. Motioning for her to join him, they exit the main area and walk to the other side of the floor. Snatching the next elevator ride, they reach the garage in a few minutes.

  Billy exits and walks toward his car, which is parked quite close to the elevator bank, pulls out a large suitcase and a duffle bag out of his trunk. They have to walk a ways down the parking garage to reach Tawny’s car and, once there, he places them in the back of her SUV. Tossing his briefcase in her back seat, he crawls into the passenger side.

  “You’ve got more stuff than I do and I’m a girl.”

  “I’m bringing gifts,” he lies and she knows it.

  “All in your size of clothes?” He smiles in response. “Are you bringing work along?” He does not answer. “You are! And you wouldn’t let me. What was it you were saying about vacation?”

  “I just have a few cases for the flight. Then I’m done. Really, I didn’t bring hardly anything. With all these people working for me I don’t have to do as much as I did before.” He looks so good sitting in her passenger seat.

  “I think you’re supposed to fill in all the extra time with those management duties you send to HR,” Tawny suggests.

  “Probably so. I’ll just have to bring in more cases. I have to say that I’ve got a good team. It took a little time to get acclimated to having new folks and so many of them at one time but now it’s running very smoothly. Even Rebecca is happy with me. She came to my office last week just to tell me how much she enjoys working for me.” He cannot help but smile brightly at that one. His arch enemy has now become a fan. Life is so good for Billy Solomon.

  “What did you say to her?” Tawny’s seen a huge difference in her former mentor and is happy for her.

  “The wrong thing, of course. I asked what she wanted from me. She very nicely said ‘nothing’ and so I said ‘thank you’. It was awkward but it felt good. I told her she was doing a good job and she seemed pleased.”

  “A little kindness goes a long way.”

  “I get that now but I’m not used to so much calm. I need some chaos in my life.” He is restless and she can see it, especially in the way his hands keep moving and his leg shakes up and down. She wants to rest her hand on his knee to calm him but that will get her in much more trouble than she wants or needs right now.

  “So you’re going to Virginia Beach to visit your married older brother and his teenage children?”

  “One’s in college. Probably won’t find any chaos there.” Billy is a little sarcastic.

  “Doubtful.” She plays along. “Look on the bright side. Maybe while you’re gone a few days Linda will start all kinds of rumors, Barbie will decide to sue you again and maybe a couple of the partners and associates will get into a fist fight. You can come back and clean it all up.” She gives him way too much to consider.

  “I certainly hope not! That’s not what I mean by chaos. I’m not dating anyone.” He is very honest and it is surprising to her. He never talks about his personal life with her. He really never has. He just dates whomever he sees works in his schedule.

  “That adds chaos to your life?” Tawny is not going to let the moment pass. She is very curious about his love life and if he is opening, she is listening. And prod a little bit too.

  “Usually.”

  “I’m not sure what to say. Can’t you find anyone you like?” She cannot imagine that is the reason but it is the first thing that comes to her mind and she wants to keep this conversation going.

  “I used to find too many. Then I met you and decided I wanted a smarter girl with the same great face and body that the dumber ones I dated had. I can’t find many out there,” Billy confesses and now Tawny is a little uneasy about where this conversation is going.

  “We�
��re a rare breed.”

  “Very true. What about you? Are you dating anyone?”

  “No. I hang out with Dave a lot and I think he wants more.”

  “He does.” Billy provides a detail she did not need to hear.

  “How do you know?” She quickly asks, hoping Dave has not had a discussion with Billy about taking her out.

  “I met the guy and it’s written all over his face. You’re the only one not reading it. That means you don’t want anything more with him than what you’ve got,” Billy states matter-of-factly.

  “I keep telling Jaclyn he only wants to be friends and she says the same thing you do. I guess I just don’t want him to want any more,” Tawny admits.

  “So you keep the poor guy hanging.” It is more of a statement than a question.

  “I do not. He’s got to know I don’t care about him like that.”

  “He can still hope. So what do you want?” He asks bluntly.

  “I don’t know.” It’s mostly the truth. She cannot hardly say she wants him. He is not interested in her.

  “Not at all?” He is baiting her. What if she admitted he is who she dreams about? It would only mess up their professional relationship and it is finally back on track.

  “I think Johnny Depp is available again. And if he isn’t, Leo DiCaprio doesn’t seem like he’s going to commit any time soon; even though they’re both kind of old for me.”

  “Sad thing for me is that you could probably get either one of them.”

  “I was kidding.”

  “I wasn’t.” Billy’s mood confuses Tawny. He was happy to be taking some time away half an hour ago but now he is downright melancholy.

  “You seem sad. You didn’t before.” Tawny is not sure she should approach the subject but steering him away from talking about her feels like the best move.

  “Sometimes being the fun uncle without the family isn’t really much fun at all.” Billy is not as enthused about his trip as he was earlier in the day.

  “Much to my mother’s dismay all of her children are still single and not seriously dating so I’m pretty much just like all of my siblings. But I can understand how you feel when all of yours are married with kids.” She tries to understand his dilemma.

  “Getting married used to be the worst thing I could imagine. Lately, it doesn’t seem so awful. I don’t think I’d be a very good dad though.” Where is this coming from? She wonders why he is pondering his life in her car on the way to the airport.

  “You never know. I’ve heard stories of men who’ve changed when their wives had children.”

  “Do you want kids?”

  “I never really think about it. I’m not really focused on it right now. I suppose if the right guy sweeps me off my feet and he either wants kids or already has them, I’d fall into the mother role. It’s just not something I have to have. I’ve never imagined myself pregnant or raising a child,” Tawny admits.

  “Me either. Sometimes I think that I’ll never be a dad but then when I date a woman with a child I don’t really become a great father figure. Most of the time I’m hoping the kid falls asleep or wants to spend time with his own dad or his grandparents. If the child was my own it might be different. Or if my wife and I adopted children I think I would like that but not so much some other guy’s kid that I have to share with him.” Billy has given this some thought. Tawny is a lot like him in this situation.

  “Well the wife would always have that bond with her ex and I think that would be hard. You have to have a big heart to do step-parenting right and if you don’t the child is going to feel jipped out of his childhood.” Tawny has some strong feelings about the matter.

  “I think that’s true. I’m on American.” They enter O’Hare International Airport and he directs her to his flight. As she pulls to the curb he jumps out and grabs his briefcase from the back seat. She presses the open hatch button for him to retrieve his two bags.

  “Drive safely and have fun. I’ll see you bright and early Monday morning,” he says as he closes the back door of her Ford Escape. Gathering his luggage he flashes a quick goodbye wave as he heads inside.

  Contemplating his words as she drives toward home she realizes that she too has made her career her life. Still young at twenty-six she has plenty of time for marriage and children. Finding the perfect guy has always been her hang up. Now that she cannot think of a better match for herself than Billy, she wonders if she will ever have children of her own. Billy did not sound too excited about being a father but then again he also sounded like he hasn’t been around any children with whom he connected, except for his nieces and nephews.

  Tawny’s family is small compared to some in the Indiana farm community where she grew up. Two brothers and a sister make for a nice even number of six in her family. Brad is the oldest with Tawny two years younger. Then comes Tom and Lydia is the baby. For Tawny, it is the perfect size.

  Her parents, Jeremy and Gloria, grew up next to each other and knew early in life that they were meant to be a couple. With cousins galore Tawny has never been alone and she wonders if that is the reason it is so important for her to leave the farm and make her own way. There is always someone to do whatever is needed and the females do not have to work too hard outside of the kitchen and the bedroom.

  She likes some of the security of strong men always being available but she wants to do her own thing too. Her mother pushes for her to find a local man to marry. Her choices are few and the one her mother has her eye on is Luke Simpson but Luke will never be the one. If there could be any one man who is the total opposite of Billy Solomon, it is Luke. While Tawny has not resolved her feelings toward her boss, Luke certainly is not the answer.

  Drawing closer to home Tawny considers the bigger picture of her life. Will practicing law always satisfy her or will she regret that she spent her baby-making years inside an office building? She does not want to have any regrets but she also does not know the answer. She loves what she is doing and except for Billy, she is not interested in any guys.

  Dismissing fears that she will be alone later in life, she steps on the gas pedal and speeds up to reach her destination a little sooner than planned. Her parents will be thrilled to see her and her brothers will just give her grief. She and Lydia are several years apart and they have a hard time connecting on any topic but she tries.

  Lydia is a typical farm girl with her mother’s aspirations of getting married and having a family. She is a cute girl but does not compare with the beauty of her older sister. Although Tawny has features of both her parents, she alone has the model looks that attract everyone’s attention. Her brothers are nice-looking but still she stands out wherever she goes.

  Finally reaching her destination and driving up the long driveway she stops outside the front door. Within minutes Brad comes outside and is ready to drag her suitcases upstairs. Maybe having a good old fashioned guy come to the rescue every now and then isn’t so bad, even if it is her brother.

  “You’re early,” Brad states the obvious.

  “Billy decided to take some time off too and booked a flight. I was his ride to the airport, which means I got to leave after I dropped him off,” she explains.

  “Not a bad deal even if it is Billy.” Her family does not like her boss one bit. They do not think he is right for her and when the two of them started dating, all of them were waiting for her to get hurt. That hurt came within a month when she caught him cheating on her. Her mother could have said ‘I told you so’ but for once, she restrained herself. Happy that the relationship is over, they wanted her to leave the firm and join a new one or come home. When she did not do either her family fears she is going to get hurt again and again as long as she stays near Billy.

  “Yeah, but it’s better with him now. We’re just two professionals working together.” Tawny would never tell Brad about her feelings.

  “No one believes that, Tawny, so don’t bother even saying it. Someday you’ll figure out he’s no good for you and fi
nd someone who fits you. You’ve just decided to take the hard way to get there.” There is no use protesting. Her family has their opinion and if they are right, she will find out soon enough. She only hopes they are so very wrong.

  “Tawny, I saved a plate for you. I hope you’re hungry.” Gloria kisses her oldest daughter on the cheek and pulls out the hot plate from the oven. “Sit down before it gets cold. Brad’ll take your bags upstairs.”

  “Hi Mom.” Tawny does as she’s told. The food tastes so incredibly good she almost inhales it. While she is stuffing her face her father comes in from the fields.

  “My baby is here.” Hugging her, he pulls back and says, “You look tired.” Jeremy understands her better than most but it is no secret he is hoping that she loses interest in the big city and returns home.

  “I’m fine, Daddy. I spend a lot of time in front of a computer screen and it’s making me look old.”

  “I never said you look old, just tired. Are you sleeping?” She is definitely her father’s little girl.

  “Yeah, I really am but it was way past time for me to come home. I missed all of you,” she admits.

  “I hope this visit in late October doesn’t mean you’re skipping Thanksgiving.” Her mother cautions her if she is thinking anything to the contrary.

  “Not at all. I didn’t get here for my birthday last month so I thought I’d come now. I really wanted to be here two weeks ago when it wasn’t as cold but work kept me in Chicago. I’ve already asked off Wednesday of Thanksgiving week so I’m planning to drive Tuesday night. It’ll be ten o’clock before I arrive but I’ll be here until midday Sunday.” Tawny relieves any fears of not being home for the holiday.

  “This year it’s only going to be us.”

  “No Luke Simpson?” Tawny wishes she had not said his name but it is too late now.

  “You’ve made it perfectly clear you’re never going to give him a chance so I’m giving up on him. We haven’t had a holiday dinner with just our family in a long time and I don’t want all our memories to include the neighborhood and all the relatives. We need some with only us.” Gloria’s announcement is music to her ears.