“Don’t worry.” Rosie held up her hand. “I know what you mean, and there are levels of trust. We’ve met once, and we hardly know each other. I wasn’t expecting you to pour it out, but please tell me that youdohave someone to talk to. Someone whoisn’ta therapist. Hannah has her team, but who do you have?”
“I have friends,” Janie said, careful to control the speed with which she answered, so she didn’t sound defensive. “But thank you for asking.” Shedidn’thave friends, unless she counted Maria and Mirta. And her work colleague Austin? Did he qualify as a friend? She’d talked to Maria for hours yesterday, and she couldn’t remember the last time she’d had that kind of flowing, in-depth conversation. She and Hannahusedto talk like that all the time. Before the triplets. Beforeeverythingchanged. Butestablishedfriends, like Hannah had? She’d never had one, and her other lawyer colleagues would just as soon cross-examine her than cross the line into friendship; competition to make partner didn’t foster a supportive atmosphere.
There was a knock at the door, and the expression on Rosie’s face switched from pitying to poisonous. Janie frowned and turned around to see Katherine Hill standing in the opening, her expression equally scornful. She was a perfect example of the colleagues Janie was surrounded with, although only Katherine attempted to bed Janie when she’d first started work here. She hadn’t even attempted to hide the fact that she was married.
“I have this room booked for a client in ten minutes, and I need to prepare,” Katherine said when she finally looked at Janie.
Janie nodded. “We’ll be out of here shortly.”
Katherine gave an exaggerated sigh. “Two minutes.”
She shot another look at Rosie before attempting to slamthe door shut. Clearly, she’d forgotten it had a soft-close mechanism. Janie suppressed a smile, knowing the failure of her aggressive exit would irritate Katherine, who took any and every opportunity to express her power, such that it was. She was a wannabe alpha who was all swagger and no substance.
“I didn’t knowsheworked here,” Rosie said.
“I’m afraid so.” Janie turned back to her and raised her eyebrows. “How do you know her?”
Katherine was a real estate lawyer, and Janie couldn’t see how she might have crossed paths with Rosie. Unless she was one of Katherine’s conquests that had failed epically.
Rosie narrowed her eyes. “You really don’t know?” she asked, then shrugged. “I suppose her name might not have made it down the gang’s grapevine, especially since Lori’s only just started to use it again.”
Janie shook her head. “I really don’t.”
Rosie wrinkled her nose. “That’sLori’s ex-wife.”
“Lori was married?” she asked.And divorced. Wasn’t Lori only thirty-two? Janie chastised herself for being so judgmental. Being a lesbian didn’t automatically make someone better at marriage than heterosexuals.
Rosie nodded. “Lori found her—” She waved her hand, clearly stopping herself from oversharing or revealing her best friend’s personal business. “She cheated on Lori. At least once, though it was probably more.”
Janie schooled her expression, lest she stoke Rosie’s fiery hatred.It was definitely more. Katherine had slept her way through the firm’s whole paralegal team, as well as several other lawyers in the three years Janie had worked there. “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”
“Please tell me she isn’t one of your trusted friends,” Rosie said and narrowed her eyes.
“No, she isn’t.” If Janie ever were to have friends, she’d choose better than that. She tapped her fingernails on Rosie’s folder before picking it up and rising from her chair. “Anyway,you can leave this with me, and Amanda will get things moving.”
Rosie stood too. “Thank you for this,” she said. “I know things are awkward right now. I hope everything works out for you.”
Awkward was an understatement. She’d been forced to abandon her children and her wife because…Not now.She rubbed at her forehead and pushed the unspeakable reason away.
“If your head’s hurting, it’s probably due to the proximity of that Beetlejuice bitch,” Rosie said, inclining her head toward the meeting room door. She opened her purse, pulled something out, and pressed it into Janie’s hand. “Take these and put some distance between you and the devil woman.”
Janie looked at the single-dose pill packet and nodded. “Thank you.” It was easier to accept the Advil than explain that the unbearable ache in her head came from the fact she couldn’t be trusted to raise her own children. Lawyering was the one thing she was still confident shecoulddo, but if she didn’t concentrate fully, she’d lose that too. “Amanda will send you an email with a link for you to upload the evidence you gather to prove you didn’t take out the loan, okay?”
“I’ll watch for it,” Rosie said and headed for the door just as it opened.
An uncomfortable moment followed as Rosie and Katherine faced off, inches from each other, in the doorway. Thankfully, Katherine’s vaguely chivalrous sensibilities kicked in, and she stepped aside for Rosie to pass. Janie had a feeling that Rosie had no intention of kowtowing to Katherine and would’ve stood there for hours if necessary.
“Thanks for waiting,” Janie said as she followed Rosie out of the meeting room, unwilling to get caught in there with Katherine and the privacy glass still activated.
Katherine adjusted her tie and gave a little bow. “I’ll wait for you anytime.”
Janie shuddered at the return of Katherine’s usual schtick and hustled as fast as she dared in heels back to her office. Shecollapsed against her closed door and began to sink slowly to the floor but stopped herself. “Don’t you dare.” Her whole life had collapsed around her, but she had to keep working. If that stopped too…
She pushed away from the door, tossed Rosie’s file onto her desk, and called for Amanda. Burying herself in her latest case was the only way she had a hope in hell of surviving this.
CHAPTER 5
Solo satin the therapist’s waiting room, staring at the closed door and tapping the wooden edge of the seat repeatedly in a 1-2-3 rhythm. She ignored the pointed, and regular, glances from the receptionist who looked far too cool to be working in a therapist’s office.
