The cat came out, jumped onto the porch couch, and he sat down. He scratched her between the ears. She tolerated it for a few seconds before nipping at him. He could respect a cat who let him know where the boundaries were.
Grace came out with a cup of tea and sat down beside him. She tucked her feet up under her on the cushion. Marshmallow gave him a final glare and crawled into Grace’s lap with the smug entitlement of a queen.
“I assume, since you’re sitting out here looking like your dog just died, you have something serious to tell me.”
“I do. But it’s not about me.”
“Ahh,” she said quietly. It’s about me. What’s going on?”
He told her about Curtis taking the back way out of his mother’s property, and about Cooper tailing Curtis to the bakery, Lily’s preschool, and the cottage last night.”
She didn’t cry. He’d known she wouldn’t, but he saw what it cost her, and he admired her for her strength.
“There’s something else,” he said soberly.
“Tell me.”
He told her about Tara Marchand hiring a law firm in Bozeman. Wheeler’s phone call to his fishing buddy who worked there. The off-the-record conversation reporting that Tara was planning to sue Grace for stealing customers.
“How? I’ve never even met the woman. I don’t know who her customers are to steal them.”
He said honestly, “The purpose of the suit won’t be to win on the merits of the case. It’s meant to harass you and embarrass you publicly. Ruin your reputation and wreck your business. If nothing else, she’s wealthy and expects to bury you in legal fees until you go out of business.”
“Does this mean she will stop sending her son over here to harass me? I’d rather have her sue me than have somebody hurt Lily.”
He hadn’t expected her to see it that way.
She asked quietly, “Any chance you’re willing to help me fight her lawsuit?”
“Absolutely.”
“If you don’t want to be a lawyer for me, I understand. But maybe you could advise me?”
He held her gaze. “Babe. This is exactly the kind of case I went to law school for. It’ll be my pleasure to represent you. To that end, I drafted filing documents this afternoon to countersue her for filing a frivolous lawsuit, libel, slander, harassment, stalking, and criminal mischief. Her lawyer isn’t going to know what hit him. I’m prepared to bury him in a blizzard of paperwork that’ll keep him hopping for weeks and make him seriously rethink both his case and representing his client.”
He didn’t recognize his own voice. It had gone cold and laser-focused, the way it used to.
Grace’s eyes widened a fraction. She reached out and let her hand rest very lightly on top of his. He turned his palm up under hers.
Their hands rested like that, palm to palm, as she said, quietly, “I’m glad you’re here.”
“It does seem like the universe put me into your life at the right time with the right skill set to look out for you.”
She nodded slowly, and her fingers tightened around his. Then she stood up, wished him sweet dreams, which earned her a wry smile because he did not have those and they both knew it, and she went inside.
He stayed on the porch, pondering what it meant that the accusing voice in his head had been silent all day.
In fact, the silence seemed to have stopped altogether, as opposed to the silence of a thing holding its breath, waiting to pounce on him.
He didn’t know what to make of it, but he felt strange, not carrying the burden of his guilt with him at all times. As if part of him was missing.
But honestly, it was a part of himself he would be happy to leave behind for good.
Now he just had to figure out how to do that.
16
Grace stood at the kitchen window and watched the lake go from pewter to silver as the eastern sky gradually won its argument with the dark. The coffee pot on the counter was hot and fresh, and she loved starting each day with this small kindness she hadn’t asked for.
