Another Chance (Lake Placid Series Book 7)

by Natalie Ann

“Neighbors I haven’t met. I could care less.”

  She nodded her head and he wasn’t sure what he said that would make her suddenly go quiet.

  Once her sandwich was gone, his too, she reached for the chips and put some on both of their plates. “Tell me about work.”

  “Why?” he asked.

  “Well, I planned on having more sex with you, but it’d be nice if we could have some conversation in between.”

  She was joking, he knew, but there was some truth to it too. “There isn’t much going on,” he said. “I’m still gathering information for the case with a patient that is suing her doctor because she didn’t lose the weight she wanted to. The firm is going to trial soon if they can’t get her to settle.”

  “Does she want to settle?”

  “I think she does. And the longer she holds out, her lawyers are acting like it’s a done deal for her to win so they keep upping her settlement amount.”

  “That’s just horrible. I hope Max never has to deal with that.”

  “It sucks. It’s part of the law. That’s what I love and hate about it. There is a way for the person in the right to lose, but it gives me hope that the next time they can win.”

  “Or that you can win it now and set a precedent for the future.”

  It was the look in her eyes. She got him when no one else ever did. “Yes. There’s that too.”

  “Then I hope you win for no other reason than that.”

  Waiting for Him

  The following week most of the snow from the roads and parking lots was cleared up, but the piles where it was dumped would most likely be there late into spring. Especially if they got more snow.

  So far this winter, Lake Placid had seen a record number of snowfalls, but with any luck the major ones were out of the way.

  It still amazed Dena that this was the winter that Matt ended up here...for a guy who always complained about it so much.

  But he’d been here for over six weeks and not once had it been brought up that he might be leaving or even going back to visit.

  She knew the time was coming though. He’d been putting in a lot of hours on that malpractice lawsuit and he’d want to see it through. She wouldn’t be surprised if he was requested to be there for the trial. Or even present for parts of it. He’d told her multiple times that he was holding firm he had enough to win it for them, but the question was would the lawyers trying the case present the way he would?

  She’d never expected they’d talk about their careers as much as they had, but if she was honest with herself, this was what she’d always expected her life would be with him. Those years she’d envisioned it, the way she’d pictured it was pretty darn close to what they were experiencing.

  The difference now was, she was still waiting for him to leave on her.

  Even the past few days they’d talked more about his injuries and his accident and she was left to wonder if he wasn’t as hurt as he said, which she doubted. She’d seen the scars.

  Or if he was healed more than she realized.

  That could easily be the case.

  Or her last thought was...he was keeping it from her. Keeping more details about things that he didn’t want her to know.

  He was stronger now than he was when she saw him the night of her birthday.

  She’d yet to see him limp.

  He’d gained some weight and a lot of muscle.

  She’d also asked when he had another checkup with a doctor, but he’d said no time soon. He’d have to go home for that too, she was guessing. Unless he found someone local and she didn’t see that happening when he could easily catch a quick flight and be back in a day.

  “What are you thinking about over there?”

  Dena turned to see Amber walk into their office. She’d finished up with her patients before Amber and Rene and came here to get her lunch and relax without being questioned. Guess that wasn’t going to happen. She loved her friends, but she didn’t have answers for them any more than she had them for herself.

  “Not much,” she said. “Just things.”

  “Matt?” Amber asked.

  “It’s all about Matt with you, isn’t it?’

  “Obviously it is,” Amber said. “And it should be with you too.”

  “No,” Dena said. “Not anymore. I did that once and it didn’t work out. I don’t plan on it again. We can appreciate each other. We can spend time together. We have some fabulous sex together. But I’m not letting my whole life revolve around him again.”

  “As you shouldn’t,” Amber said. “That isn’t what I meant. I just meant when you’re in a new relationship, normally it’s all about the man.”

  “It’s not really new, though, is it?”

  “Probably not. Though you keep reminding us that it’s different so I guess I figure it is in your mind. Maybe it’s not as different as you want everyone to believe?”

  “Maybe not,” Dena admitted.

  Amber walked over and ran her hand down Dena’s shoulder and arm. “Do what feels right and don’t be afraid to tell Rene and me to shut the hell up. We won’t be offended. Remember, this is your life, not ours.”

  That’s what she loved about Amber. “I know. Thanks for that.”

  “Rene is stuck with a patient and Max right now. I’m going to lunch with Zach. I’ll see you in a bit.”

  When Dena was alone, she went back to lunch and enjoyed the quiet, pulling up her computer and shopping around a little bit. There wasn’t anything she needed, but she still loved to search out sales on household things.

  To look at things she wished to have in a house of her own one day.

  Not a small apartment.

  Not a rented house.

  But a home that she could make her own.

  When the phone rang, she reached over and picked it up without even looking. Ava was out to lunch and the machine would answer and people could put in extensions if they knew them.

  “This is Dena.” There was silence on the other end so she said, “Hello, is anyone there?”

  “Dena?”

  “Yes. This is Dena. How can I help you?”

  She recognized the voice. Or so she thought. It was similar to the one that left her the message over a week ago. She’d tried calling that number, but it said it was disconnected and she figured the person gave the wrong number or she heard it incorrectly.

  “Don’t you know who this is?”

  “No. I’m sorry. Can I get your name please?” There was a laugh on the other end. One that made her freeze and then chill. It wasn’t a happy laugh, but a short one. An impatient one. One that she’d heard a lot as a kid. “Mom?”

  “I guess you remember me after all.”

  She wanted to just hang up the phone. Why bother to stay on? What good would it do? She’d always said she wouldn’t give her mother the time of day if she was asked it. Yet here she was wondering what the hell this call was about.

  “What do you want?” she asked.

  “I need your help.”

  “Maybe I needed a mother years ago.”

  There was more silence with that statement. Damn, that felt good. “I’m sick.”

  “I know all about your Lyme Disease. Dad told me.”

  Now she was glad that she’d found out before this call. Otherwise her softer side might have kicked in when she still really wanted to do was slam the phone down.

  “I know you’re a nurse.”

  Dena rolled her eyes. “I’m not a nurse.”

  She wasn’t about to explain her job to her mother. It didn’t matter and once she was done with this call, she didn’t plan on talking to her mother ever again.

  “I saw your picture on the site. It said you were one of the assistants. Do you just work in the office? You had scrubs on.”

  “What do you want? I’m not writing you a prescription for anything. I’m not giving you money. And I sure the hell have no desire to see you.”

  “You never used to be this cold.”

 
; “Maybe if you stuck around more in my life you’d know how I am. Or why I am the way I am.”

  “Your father turned you against me.”

  “No, he didn’t. You did that all on your own. I’m going to ask you one more time what you want before I hang up the phone.”

  “I just wanted to see you. I want to say I’m sorry. That I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

  That wasn’t what Dena expected to hear. Her memories of her mother were of someone who always wanted what she wanted and didn’t care about other people. She didn’t care who she hurt or what she said. She didn’t care that she left her husband to raise a ten-year-old daughter on his own.

  And she sure the hell didn’t care that Dena always wondered if it was something she’d done wrong as a kid to drive her mother away. If maybe Dena was too close to her father and her mother was jealous.

  The older Dena got, the more she realized those were ridiculous thoughts and pushed them away. But to an impressionable young girl whose mother abandoned her, she couldn’t help but wonder. She’d kept those thoughts to herself. Her father didn’t need that burden on top of everything else.

  Guess she couldn’t blame her father for sheltering her from her mother, because she’d kind of done the same thing in her own right so that her father didn’t have to deal with it.

  And then Matt came into her life and she thought she had it all.

  She didn’t and he’d left too. He’d sent her in a downhill crash of doubting if she’d ever be enough.

  If anyone would ever love her enough to stay.

  She had her father, she knew. He’d never leave her, because she was damn well never going to give him a reason to. She wasn’t going to leave him either. She wanted to prove to him she would stick.

  After all, he’d been abandoned too, so if anyone could understand it was her dad.

  “Well, you did hurt me. And I don’t need your apology. Some things in life are unforgivable. This just happens to be one of them.”

  “You don’t understand what was going on in my life then. How hard it was to live with your father. He wouldn’t listen to me. He didn’t care I wasn’t happy.”

  “I’m done with this conversation. Don’t you dare place the blame on him.”

  This time she gave into the urge and slammed the phone down, shaking now. She didn’t want what her mother said to mess with her head, but she knew it would.

  She knew it was going to bring up all those feelings of lesser self-worth she didn’t think she had.

  And she knew it was all going to be aimed at Matt because she was positive he was just biding his time before he left her again.

  Best in Person

  Matt was making progress and digging deeper into Dr. Levin’s case. The trial should start next week with any luck. It’d been pushed off twice now with the plaintiffs asking for extensions. He wasn’t sure of their reasons, but it was giving him time to go dig more and find out that Abby Mansion had some massive debt and that she liked to file frivolous lawsuits.

  Not just her, but many members of her family. They always won, because they always just settled out of court. It was like a job for her to do this.

  Well, he was going to do everything he could to get her fired from this career and hope she didn’t do it again.

  When his phone rang, he picked up and saw it was Dr. Levin calling him. They’d had a handful of calls over the past few weeks and plenty of email interaction.

  “Dr. Levin,” Matt said, “how can I help you?”

  “I need a favor. And please call me Gary.”

  “Gary,” Matt said. “What can I do for you?”

  “I’ve mentioned having you at the trial next week. I understand your situation. Tina has explained it to me, but I’d feel better if you could at least be there for the first few days. Just to get a feel of what was going on. Everyone is nice at the firm, but you’re the one I wish was trying this case.”

  Matt held back the snort. He’d love to be trying this case. If he were back home, he still wouldn’t have gotten it. He’d be doing the same work he had been while he was here.

  Sure, he would have been sitting in on meetings and most likely in the courtroom a time or two, but he’d never be given a case like this. This was a case that went to a partner once Matt assured them he felt he had enough to win it.

  Tina was Randall’s cousin. She was about ten years older than Matt and on more than one occasion had put out signs of wanting more than a working relationship.

  He’d said no and she’d let it drop. Older women weren’t his thing, nor was someone related to Randall. He wanted to make partner on his own, not by being in a relationship with one.

  Now he figured that wouldn’t have mattered anyway by the sounds of it. Blood was blood and he didn’t have the right kind in his system.

  “You’re in good hands with Tina and her team,” Matt said. He believed that. He’d been talking with Tina a lot too. She was good at what she did.

  “There’s no way I can get you here, even for a day?”

  Matt didn’t want to say yes or no. Not without talking to the rest of the team. “Why don’t you see how things are going and I’m sure if Tina feels she needs me, she’ll reach out and let me know.”

  “And if she does, you’ll get here?” Gary asked.

  “If I can I will.”

  “Thanks.”

  Matt disconnected the call and tossed it down, then went back to work. It wasn’t even thirty minutes and his phone was ringing again. This time Randall.

  “Hey, Randall,” he said, picking it up.

  “You’ve talked to Gary, I’ve heard.”

  Matt shouldn’t be surprised that Gary went to Randall with this. “I did. He’d like me there for the trial next week. Or at least the start of it. I assured him he was in great hands with Tina and her team.”

  “He is, but Tina and I just met and we both feel it might be a good idea to have you here. You’ve done all the legwork on this one. Maybe sit in and hear testimony. You know as well as I do it can trigger something else. Or some question you’d want Tina to ask. This is a big case. If we win this, it will be a big mark for the firm.”

  “When we win it,” Matt said, because he knew they should. And if he was there, they definitely would. He liked what Randall was saying. He agreed one hundred percent. As pissed off as he was over the whole situation with his career, he still loved the law and fighting for the underdog.

  What he didn’t like was that he’d get no credit for all the work that was being done “behind the scenes.”

  “See, that’s what we love about you so much. Always thinking positive.”

  The pep talk he didn’t need again. The one Randall gave to everyone so that they knew they were loved. It was just they were only loved so much.

  “Unless they’ve got some surprises up their sleeve or we get a shit jury, I can see Gary taking this one home. I think Abby’s callous attitude alone is going to turn people off.”

  “Probably right. But you can be here for jury selections then on Monday, right?”

  “Yeah. Let me make arrangements. I’ll see you in the office on Monday.”

  He hung up the phone, and for as much as he wanted to go back for this case, the bigger issue was how to deal with this with Dena.

  Would she worry he wouldn’t come back? That he’d get there and see everything he was missing and want to return to it?

  He wasn’t worried about that in the least. The last time he flew home to meet with Gary, he couldn’t wait to get back here to Lake Placid. To Dena.

  But how did he convince her of that? And how did he tell her?

  ***

  Several hours later, when he knew Dena was done working, he decided to call her. They didn’t have any plans tonight, but he wasn’t about to break this news over the phone. It was best in person.

  “Hey there,” she said, picking up on the first ring. Her voice just sent warm fingers of heat exploding in his body. What a fool he’d bee
n for so long.

  “Do you have plans tonight? Have you eaten yet?”

  “No plans. I was just looking in the fridge for some food right now. What about you?”

  “I’m in the mood for a burger, fries, and a beer. Care to join me?”

  “I’d love to,” she said. “Where do you want to meet?”

  He’d like to pick her up but told himself it wasn’t a big deal. Who knows, maybe she’d get mad and stalk out and she’d have her own ride that way.

  Way to stay positive, he told himself sarcastically.

  “Let’s meet at the Pub & Brewery on Main.”

  “I’ll see you there in ten minutes,” she said.

  They ended up pulling into the parking lot together, then walking in. The first floor was filled, so they were ushered to the second. That was fine with him; he wanted to be able to talk to her in a quieter setting.

  Once their orders were placed, she said, “What’s on your mind, Matt?”

  Figures she would have read between the lines. Here goes nothing. “That trial I told you about. The malpractice one.”

  “Yeah,” she said, then moved back when their beers were brought over.

  “The trial starts next week. The doctor called me, then called Randall, and he wants me there for it. Randall agreed.”

  She paused for a second, gathering her thoughts, he knew. “When do you have to leave?”

  “Jury selection is Monday. With any luck it will only be a few days. Either way, I only plan on staying a few days. I’ll help select the jurors, be there to see if any surprises surface or not, then I’ll come back here.”

  “Do you want to go back for the trial?” she asked.

  He was shocked that was what she wanted to know. “I’d love to be the one trying this case myself, but it’s big enough that it went to a partner. I’ve been working with Tina closely on this. That’s one of Randall’s cousins.”

  “Why not let you take the lead on this if they want you there? I don’t get that. I don’t understand how you get to do all the work and then have to sit back and watch. Not at this stage of the game.”

  He wasn’t sure how to address this with her. “It’s how things are done there. I’ve had my own cases obviously, but anything that could be a big win or a significant win has a partner assigned to it.”