Suddenly One Summer (FBI/US Attorney #6)(23)
And then she fought like hell to get the job done.
After returning from court, the rest of Victoria’s workday was spent bouncing between meetings with her associates, and on phone calls with either clients or opposing counsel. She left the office around six o’clock—early for her. But she’d been trying to shake a headache all afternoon and figured the best way to do that was to set the laptop and cell phone aside, pour herself a glass of wine, and have a long, relaxing bath.
Per usual, she avoided the subway, opting for a cab home instead. It began to pour about a mile from her building, but fortunately she had her umbrella as she darted from the cab into the small lobby. She grabbed her mail, flipping through it as she rode the elevator up to the fourth floor.
When she stepped out of the elevator, she saw someone at the end of the hallway—a woman leaning against the door to Ford’s condo. In her midtwenties, with shoulder-length, light brown hair, she wiped her eyes, obviously crying, as she pushed a baby stroller back and forth.
Oh, boy. What now?
Ever since her run-in with Ford at the coffee shop, a nagging voice in the back of Victoria’s head had been asking whether she had, perhaps, rushed to judgment about her new neighbor and whatever situations, frisky or non-frisky, he had going on with the women she’d seen coming and going from his condo. But now here they were, just two days later, and the guy had a crying woman with a baby on his doorstep.
At this rate, they were going to have to set up a damn number dispenser and a waiting area outside unit 4F.
The younger woman’s eyes were puffy and her cheeks blotched. She tucked a lock of hair behind one ear, appearing embarrassed by her obvious state of distress as Victoria approached.
“Sorry. I’m just waiting for my brother to get home.” She cleared her throat and peered down at the stroller, continuing to push back and forth.
Oh. She was Ford’s sister. Victoria had assumed . . . Well, whatever. She paused in front of her door, keys in hand, and watched as the younger woman brushed away more tears.
Just keep moving. It’s a family matter. She’d paid the price once for sticking her nose into Ford’s business, with that little press-and-crane routine of his. She wasn’t about to do it again.
She put her key into the lock, just as the other woman sniffed and did that shaky-inhale thing people did when trying to stop crying.
Aw, hell.
She stuffed the mail into her briefcase and walked over. “I’m Victoria. Ford’s neighbor. I don’t mean to intrude . . . but are you okay?”
The woman looked her over. “Are you Owen’s girlfriend?”
“No, Owen moved out. I’m renting his place for the summer.”
“Oh.” The woman cleared her throat. “I’m Nicole.” She gestured to Ford’s door, as if feeling a need to explain. “My brother’s on his way. He texted and said he got stuck in traffic. I guess he was on the south side, doing an interview for work.”
“Ah,” Victoria said, as if this information made sense. In truth, she had no clue what Ford did for a living. They hadn’t gotten that far in their brief, mostly insult-based exchanges.
She watched as Nicole continued pushing the baby stroller back and forth.
“If I stop moving, she wakes up,” Nicole explained. “The only time I can get her to nap is when she’s in the stroller.” She blinked back more tears, and tried to cover with a more lighthearted tone. “Sorry. I’m a little sleep-deprived.”
Victoria stepped around so she could peek inside the stroller. She was far from an expert on babies, but guessed this one to be somewhere around four months old. Wrapped in a pink and lime green blanket, and with a little bit of dark brown fuzz on her head, she slept with a pacifier in her mouth. “She’s adorable. What’s her name?”
“Zoe.”
“That’s pretty.” Victoria gestured to her front door, the words coming out of her mouth before she even thought about them. “You’re welcome to wait inside my place until your brother gets home.” She nearly thunked herself on the head—For Pete’s sake, Slade, what happened to minding your own business? Really, she didn’t need to be getting involved with whatever the problem was here.
“Oh, no,” Nicole said. “That’s nice of you to offer. But we’re okay out here. I wouldn’t want to impose.”
Back and forth with the stroller.
And more sniffles.
Victoria sighed to herself, thinking about the quiet evening she’d envisioned, the glass of wine and the hot, relaxing bath she’d had planned. “Are you sure you don’t want to come in and sit down?” She went for a joke. “Because I’m getting exhausted just watching you push that thing.”
Nicole hesitated. “Well, if you’re sure you don’t mind . . . actually, it would be nice to sit down for a few minutes.” She managed a slight smile in return. “Thank you.”
“Of course. It’s not a problem.” Victoria let them inside her condo, holding the door open so Nicole could get in with the stroller. She shut the door quietly, being mindful of the sleeping baby. “Make yourself comfortable. Can I get you something to drink? I have Diet Coke, water, iced tea . . .”
“A glass of water would be nice, thanks.”
Victoria headed into the kitchen, and set her umbrella and briefcase off to the side. Watching as Nicole took a seat on the living room couch, she cracked open a bottled water and poured it into a glass with ice.