“Like a fart in church?”
Ernie always made him laugh, even when he didn’t want to.“Something like that.”
Another thing he loved about Ernie was that he knew when Julian needed quiet to prepare for the day.Today, he was more interested in brooding than preparing, thanks to the scene with Stacey, which had upset him the way it always did when things went sideways with a woman.
Julian often suspected that eight of the nine Remington siblings had gone to law school just so they’d never again find themselves as helpless as they’d been as children.For ten long years, they’d been the knotted rope in a tug-of-war between their parents that seemed like it would never end.Their lawyer parents had been focused on winning at all costs, regardless of the consequences for their children.
When it finally ended, no one was a winner, least of all their kids.Julian and each of his siblings carried the trauma of that interminable, ugly, public nightmare with them as they helped others disentangle themselves from commitments they’d once expected to last forever.The fallout had been made worse, if that was possible, by the reality TV show their parents agreed to do featuring the spectacle of their divorce, claiming it’d be good for business.
While it had, in fact, been great for business, it’d been mortifying for their children, especially Julian and the siblings who’d been old enough to understand what was happening while they did what they could to protect the younger ones from the worst of it.
If there was one thing he and his siblings had learned the hard way, and had seen time and again in their practices, it was that nothing lasted forever, and it was far easier to be alone than to get involved in something you couldn’t walk away from when it no longer worked for you.
He couldn’t imagine what it would be like to bemarriedto Stacey, or any of the others who’d come before her, once he decided he didn’t want to be there anymore.No way would he ever let that happen.Being able to leave—any time he wanted, with his head held high and his conscience clear—was key to his survival in the screwed-up world in which he lived and worked.Every day, he witnessed what people who were once madly in love did to try to destroy each other—and the children they swore they loved more than life itself.He’d found that most didn’t love their kids nearly as much as they hated their ex.
Julian wanted nothing to do with that for himself, and neither did his siblings.While they enjoyed bickering with one another as if it were a blood sport, that was the one thing they all agreed on.
After seeing his one serious ex-girlfriend, Aimee Godfrey, recently at her parents’ fiftieth anniversary celebration, Julian had been deeply unsettled to realize the feelings he’d once had for her were still there.They’d resurfaced from the deepest, darkest corners of his soul to remind him of how helpless love could make you, especially when it didn’t work out.
Aimee was long married to a guy named Trent Morgan, who worked in finance and was some sort of whiz kid when it came to investing, or so he’d heard.They had three beautiful kids—a son and two daughters—and a happy life that seemed to suit her.
She’d gotten lucky.
Julian made a lucrative living off the fact that most people wereunhappy and not afraid to go all out to get free of the person they’d supposedly loved with all their heart once upon a time.
Being alone was better than taking a gamble that more than half the time ended in expensive failure.The Remington siblings had seen what that kind of failure looked like up close and personal, and they were all set, thank you very much.
Stacey would be okay.She’d find a nice guy who wanted a white picket fence in the burbs and a posse of kids.
That man was not, and would never be, Julian Remington.
An hour later,Julian was in Los Angeles County Superior Court, listening to Bryan McDavid and his attorney extol Bryan’s many virtues as an involved, caring, safety-conscious parent who should share in joint custody with his soon-to-be ex-wife and Julian’s client, Rachel McDavid.Because he had all the evidence he needed to bury Bryan, Julian let him and his windbag attorney, Thomas Driscoll, have the floor for the first thirty minutes of the hearing.
Rachel wanted sole custody due to Bryan’s angry outbursts that regularly frightened her and her children, among other concerns that Julian would bring to light when it was his turn to present their side of the argument.Bryan had been unwilling to engage in mediation and had demanded a trial when the matter could’ve been quietly settled out of court for much less than the trial would cost them, both financially and personally.Nothing about this proceeding would be quiet, if Julian had his way.
Driscoll went on and on about the character references he’d obtained for Bryan, who was by all accounts an upstanding member of the community, a dedicated father to his two young sons and a well-respected auditor, expected to make partner at his CPA firm within the year.
“Mr.Remington and his client would have you believe that Mr.McDavid is one step above a deadbeat, when there’s ample evidence to the contrary.He should have shared custody of his sons and a reasonable visitation schedule.Thank you, Your Honor.”
Judge Michael Fallows glanced at Julian to give him the floor.
He’d been looking forward to this moment as he stood to hand one set of copies to Driscoll and another set to the judge.“Your Honor, some new information has come to light in the last twenty-four hours.”
“Objection,” Driscoll said.“We’ve heard nothing about any new information.”
“We only found out about it yesterday,” Julian said.“And it’s highly relevant to the matter before the Court.”
“I’ll allow it,” the judge said.
Turning to face Bryan McDavid, he said, “Do you recognize these posts?”
On each page was a post made to an X profile called Ramblr26, accusing Rachel of being a neglectful mother and cheating wife.
“‘If you encounter Rachel McDavid,’” Julian read from his copy as he watched Bryan begin to shift in his seat the way people did when they knew what was coming, “‘you should be aware that she presents herself to be one thing, when she’s someone else entirely.She opens her legs to anyone who asks and doesn’t give a shit where her kids are when she’s doing it.’”
Fallows stared at Bryan, his expression stern.
Excellent.
