“We have two other divorce cases to put to bed, so to speak. What is Mr. Nardo up to tonight?”
“Let me see his texts.” I read them and grimace, shaking my head in disgust. “Doesn’t this guy have any regard for his wife?”
Not long after, we’re parked in front of the same cheap hotel as the other night. One more set of pictures and we can put Mrs. Nardo’s case in the finished file.
Sam sighs as we sip our coffees, eyes the red neon vacancy sign. “I feel sorry for her.”
“Don’t be. She’s better off without him.” My hand slips to her knee and I squeeze.
“True, but it won’t be easy. They’ve been married for years.”
“And he’s probably cheated on her for all of them.”
At the bitterness in my voice, her brows crease as she cups a palm to my cheek. “I assume we’re not talking about our clients?”
I turn my face into her soft skin, kiss her hand, and then lower it to my thigh. Our eyes meet briefly before focusing on the job.
After a bit of silence, she asks, “Did you ever try to locate your mom?”
“No. She left, Sam. She didn’t want anything to do with me and my sister. As soon as Dad quit the service, we never heard from her again.”
“I know, tough guy, but maybe learning her side of the story might make it easier to swallow. I’m guessing she was about our age when it happened.”
“Younger. She had me at eighteen.”
“Yikes.”
I roll down the window, inhale cold fresh air, then use the distraction to stuff the pain back where it belongs, in the past. “Let’s talk about something else.”
“Okay, how about getting married?” She points. “Hold on, here he comes.”
Tonight, Mr. Loverboy has a younger woman on his arm. For an old guy, he’s quite the player. He puts his hand way too low on her back and leads her toward the door marked office.
Sam twists the zoom lens as the digital camera clicks away. “Got it.”
She shows me the screen and I nod. “Yeah. I saw her picture online. She works for him.”
“God, she’s half his age. How does he do it?”
“Job security, I’m guessing. The other one worked for him, too. He probably hires desperate women who’ll do almost anything for a steady paycheck.”
“What a douchebag.” She waits for them to go inside then sighs heavily.
“So, I was wondering… about the wedding.”
“I got an idea. Why don’t we elope?” In my humble opinion, huge affairs are a big waste of money. A couple could put a down payment on a house or any number of other important things. Besides, we don’t need a priest to say some mumbo-jumbo to prove to the world we love each other.
“Vegas? Really?” Her pretty lips purse to match the disappointment in her voice.
I’m a horse’s ass. Of course, she wants the whole enchilada. I picture her in a white dress, an angel walking down the aisle, and change my mind.
“I was kidding.”Goodbye Hawaiian honeymoon, hello ramen noodles.
Her tone brightens as she bounces up and down in her seat, counting on her fingers. “Well, we have a few things to do, before we can get married in the Catholic Church. First, we need to sign up for Pre- Cana classes. We could do a weekend retreat or-”
“Whoa… Pre-Cana?”
“I’ll take care of everything. You only need to show up.”
