Chasing Forever (The Forever Series #1)(15)
“Um, yes.” Her mind scrambled to recall the details of the conversation. Blank. Shit. Her mind was completely and utterly blank. What could she say? She was daydreaming about his moods, how she loved when he played with her hair, how he used to ignore her. God no. She would rather be fired than admit she thought about him ever. “Actually, I was thinking about the deposition today.” She tapped her pen on her paper searching for anything intelligent to say. “Have you considered whether Michael Anderson and Peterson might have a social connection?”
Lucas stared at her, his face enigmatic and then he leaned back in his chair. “What do you mean?”
“Don’t you think it’s kind of strange that North Relief showed up out of the blue and made an offer on a mine they didn’t know anything about?”
“Other mines in the area have been reopened. I’m sure they realized that. It wasn’t a secret.”
“Sure, but maybe Peterson approached North Relief. In the deposition, Anderson emphatically stated the company didn’t initiate contact with Peterson prior to the dissolution of the partnership or contact Peterson in an official capacity.”
“Hmm.…” Lucas leaned forward, bracing his elbows on his desk. “So why would a social connection between Peterson and Anderson be relevant?”
Regan pushed her hair out of her face. “What if the conversation occurred in a social context, at a party or other event, and then Peterson initiated the dissolution of the partnership based on that conversation?”
“It’s possible. I’ll discuss it with Richard and Jack.” Lucas swiveled his chair toward his laptop. “I think you have enough to work on. Email me any questions.”
“Okay.” She started walking toward the door, then she remembered she had to work tonight. “Lucas?”
“Yeah,” he responded without looking at her.
“Do you mind if I leave at five tonight? Well, tonight and every Thursday night?”
“Why?” he asked, turning to look at her with narrowed eyes.
Regan fidgeted with the cuff of her white blouse, then hastily clasped her hands behind her back when she realized what she was doing. “I have this thing on Thursday nights. A job actually. I work at a restaurant too. I’d like to keep the job through the summer so I don’t have to find a new one when school starts in the fall. It’s just one shift.” She hated that her voice sounded as if she were pleading with him.
“As long as you finish your work, I don’t care what time you leave, but other people will watch your hours so keep that in mind. Like any other law firm in this city, the partners make a big deal out of face time.” Lucas started typing on his computer again, effectively dismissing her from his office.
***
That afternoon, Regan called her mom to talk. She felt bad when she’d left Texas in such a hurry after the Lucas debacle, but her mom understood. She knew Regan would continue to wither away if she stayed there. Still, she regretted deserting her mom after her parents’ marriage fell apart, and she made a point to call her at least twice a week and visit her whenever she had the time.
Her mom was the only person she had talked to about Lucas, and in a strange twist of fate, they bonded more than they had her entire childhood. Initially the conversation was uncomfortable because her dad’s actions with Olivia had hurt her and her mom, but in the end, they had each other and that helped both of them heal and move on.
“Hey, sweetie,” came her mom’s familiar voice.
“Hey, Mom. How is everything?”
“Good, John and I are going to dinner tonight so I don’t have much time to talk.”
“That’s great. I can’t wait for you to share all the details.” Her mom started dating a man from work a couple months ago, and although it made her uncomfortable, she liked that her mom had moved on and found someone else, even if it was temporary. She deserved some happiness.
Her mom laughed. “Not all the details.”
Eww. She didn’t ever want any of those details. “Definitely not.”
“How’s the new job?”
“Good,” she answered unenthusiastically. “I like it.” Her mom had begged her to go back to Texas for the summer. She even arranged a summer associate position for her at her best friend’s law firm. She missed her mom and she even considered it before Martin and Black offered her a position, but she didn’t want to live in Texas. It held too many bad memories. Too bad those memories caught up with her anyway. Maybe Texas was the better option.
“Regan, what’s wrong? Is it that bad?”
Regan put her head on her desk and groaned. Her mother had the uncanny ability of knowing whenever something was wrong with her. She couldn’t hide anything from her. “Mom,” she whispered, “Lucas works at Martin and Black.”
Her mom didn’t respond for a few prolonged seconds and Regan feared she’d have to repeat herself. She could only stomach saying it once.
“Lucas Evanston?” her mom questioned in a hushed tone as though saying his name would send her into a tailspin, and in the early days, it would have, but she was better than that now.
“Yes.” There had only been one Lucas in her life, only one Lucas who’d pushed her into a dark deep hole, only one Lucas who’d irreparably changed the course of her life.