River had albums full of photos thanks to her dad being such a shutterbug. “Fine with me. Whenever you need me, shout. And if I can help in any other way, you know where I am.”
Adriana waved and walked off, talking to her camera people about the next places they were going to visit and what shots she particularly wanted out of those interviews.
River took a long, deep breath and looked at Mrs. Crabtree, who was talking to another older woman, also using a cane. “Can I walk you home?” she asked.
“She’s coming with me,” the other woman said. “You probably don’t remember me. I’m Susan Martin. I moved out of South Shore before your parents passed, when you were away at college. But this will always be my home.”
“I’ll see you at your shop tomorrow,” Mrs. Crabtree said. “We’ll talk about our next plan of attack.” She looked over River’s shoulder and her eyes narrowed. “You keep your wits about you, young lady. Don’t get your head turned.” She linked arms with Susan, and they slowly strode off together.
Without turning, River knew exactly who Mrs. Crabtree had been referring to. She could feel Marina behind her. “Thought you’d be gone by now,” she said and straddled the picnic bench without looking at her.
Marina sat on the other side, and the woman with the baseball cap sat next to her. “This is Cari, my assistant.”
River reached across and shook her hand, and a burst of optimistic, kind energy ran through her. “Nice to meet you.”
Cari smiled back. “You were really compelling. If I wasn’t in a relationship, I’d ask you to dinner just to hear you talk some more.” At Marina’s glare, she shrugged. “It’s true. If that was a case you were arguing, you totally lost. I’m just glad the mob didn’t turn on you.”
River laughed. “All I did was speak from the heart. The truth will always out, right?”
“Where did you go to college?” Marina asked. “That woman said she left while you were gone. Are there courses on how to be a psychic?”
River decided it wasn’t worth letting Marina get under her skin. She was pissed at losing and probably wasn’t used to the feeling. “I have a BA in philosophy.”
Marina drummed her neatly painted long nails on the worn wood table. “That makes sense. Plenty of questions with no real answers or endgame.”
“I could use plenty of philosophical arguments there, but I’m going to refrain because I’m tired and feeling good after that rally.” She smiled at Cari when she giggled. “I also have an MA in history. And a teaching certification.”
Marina nodded, looking a little more impressed. “I can see how all that goes together. And you’re good with kids.”
River put her hand over her heart. “Did you just compliment me on something other than my incredible good looks?”
“Shut up or I’ll take it back.”
“Nope. We have a witness.” She winked at Cari, then looked at Marina seriously. “Really. Why did you come tonight? You had to know you’d be staring down the barrel.”
Marina finally stopped drumming her nails on the table and met River’s gaze. “Honestly, it really was curiosity. My client had other people here considering the media side of things. Iwanted to see you…I mean, how you’d handle it, and how the community was going to react.” She looked away. “I thought I could stay in the background, but I guess it isn’t my style, even subconsciously.”
That was probably an understatement, but River wasn’t about to throw gas on that flame. “Okay. So tell me what you heard? What did you see?”
Marina stared off into the darkness of the park as she appeared to consider the question.
“I saw a whole lot of people who want to be part of a cause.” Cari tilted her head, her gaze far off. “I mean, I don’t know how many were actually from here, and how many were just here to be part of whatever Adriana is doing. But that’s a whole lot of people who are behind her, for whatever reason. And she’s really persuasive.”
Marina was watching Cari as she spoke, and River took the moment to simply look at her. Dressed in a thick sweater with a leather jacket over it, she was cozy evenings by a fireside and long walks along the river while it snowed. Her dark eyes were her most expressive feature, and River wondered just how hard she’d worked to train herself to look so beige most of the time, when beneath that surface raged a cacophony of colorful emotions. River could practically feel them pushing against the walls she’d built to keep them at bay.
And then Marina sighed. “I saw a group of people who will lose.” She shook her head. “No matter how many anecdotes, no matter how many times you tell people it’s a community who needs its place, this crowd will get bored and disperse when it becomes about legal wrangling. Public dissent isn’t sustainable in the face of corporate money. Money always wins.”
River’s heart sank. “What a dismal view of the world. Of humanity.”
Marina gave her a sad smile. “I’ve been a lawyer for a long time. I’ve seen the reality time and time again, River. If you really want to help these people you say you care about, you should get them to do what Mrs. Crabtree did. Get real valuations and counter with real offers. Because eventually, they’ll be gone. Better they leave with more in their pockets than idealism.” She held up her hand. “But I’ll never admit to saying anything of the sort.”
She stood and tugged at Cari, who continued to stare at River dreamily. She startled and got up, and they walked away together.
“Marina,” River called out. She waited until Marina turned around. “You’re wrong. People can fight if it’s for something, or someone, they really care about. When they know they deserve more.”
Marina waved. “I told you once, River. I’m never wrong.”
River shook her head as they walked away, and if she had to guess, she’d say that Marina put just a little more sway into her hips, as she knew full well that River wouldn’t be able to keep from staring. And then they turned a corner and were out of sight, and River sat alone in the empty park.
