He thought about reaching out to Denny to check on her, but did one unanswered text warrant such a dramatic response?
He hoped she was okay and was disappointed that he hadn’t heard back from her.Maybe her kids had needed her, or she’d crashed early for the night.
Anything was possible.
And he needed to stop acting like a sixth grader in the throes of first love, watching his phone like it was the most important thing ever invented.
He put the phone on the charger and went to bed but tossed and turned as he wondered why she hadn’t read his text and replied.
It was probably because he’d taken her commentary about the music and turned it into something she didn’t want.
“For fuck’s sake,” he said to the dark room.“Stop acting like an idiot and go the hell to sleep so you can function tomorrow.”
The tossing and turning continued for most of the night, until his alarm provided a rude awakening.His first move was to check his phone.Nothing from Isla, but he had a text from Jackson.
Isla’s husband is in the hospital.His lawyer said it’s serious.He asked for Isla last night, and she went.He has a brain tumor that’s caused all the behavioral issues.His parents are back in the picture and taking him home on hospice.
“Oh my God,” he said as he reread Jackson’s message.
Julian wanted to go to her, to offer comfort and anything else she wanted or needed.The need to be there for her was so great, he had to actively talk himself out of going right to her house.The last thing she needed in light of this new catastrophe was him coming around looking like an opportunist in the midst of her tragedy.
But, oh, how he wanted to go to her.
He had another full day ahead of him, but none of that mattered as the biggest internal struggle he’d experienced in years raged inside him.
Go to her.Go to her.Go to her.
Do not go to her.Do not go to her.Do not go to her.
Go to her.Go to her.Go to her.
Julian had to force himself through the motions of getting ready for work—knot tie, don suit jacket, tie shoelaces, go downstairs, get keys, leave house, drive by Isla’s street without looking her way, stop for coffee, go to office.If he stayed focused on each task as it stood before him, he could resist the maddening desire that pounded through him like an extra heartbeat.Since he was starting to run late, he’d text Denny to check on her as soon as he got the chance.
At the office, Julian said, “Good morning,” to Hector and handed Mattie her latte like it was any other day, even as the storm continued to rage inside him.What Isla was going through had nothing at all to do with him, and he needed to stay the hell away from her.
Keep telling yourself that until you listen to your own advice.
Mattie brought her coffee with her when she came into his office to go over the schedule.“Everything all right?”
“Yes, let’s get to it.”
She gave him the rundown of client appointments, Smithson trial prep with Jackson, who’d be his second chair, and a late-day court appearance on behalf of Beverly Hills grandparents seeking visitation with their young grandson.
Just another day in family law paradise, dealing with people who’d once loved each other warring over money and possessions and children who were treated more like commodities than human beings.
Some days, like today, the entire business turned his stomach.
Mattie ran through his packed schedule for the day.“Julian, are you listening to me, honey?”
“Yes.”
“No, you’re not.You’re a million miles from Wilshire Boulevard.What’s the matter?”
“Nothing.I’m fine.”
“You can lie to some people, but never to Ms.Mattie.I know my boy.Something is weighing heavy on your heart.”
He made a face at her.“I wish I worked somewhere that no one knew me outside of work.”
