Gray Mountain: A Novel(98)

She was holding her breath, fearing a clumsy proposal, hearing a bizarre suggestion, and when he paused she finally exhaled and said, “Oh boy.”

“You would work closely with Mattie and Annette, and I’ll always be around.”

It wasn’t a complete shock. At least twice Mattie had vaguely broached the idea of hiring a lawyer to wrap up Donovan’s cases. On both occasions, the words sort of hung in the air, but Samantha felt as though they were tossed at her.

She said, “I can think of at least ten reasons why that won’t work.”

“I can think of eleven why it will work,” he shot back with a grin. The cheese cart stopped at the table, its pungent aromas and odors engulfing them. Samantha selected three. Jeff preferred sharp cheddar from the dairy case, but quickly caught on and said he’d take the same ones as Samantha. When the cart rolled away, he said, “You go first. Give me your best reason, and I’ll match it.”

“I’m not qualified.”

“You’re smart as hell and you’re learning fast. With Mattie’s help, you can handle anything. Next.”

“I might be gone in a few months.”

“But you can leave when you want to. There’s no contract requiring you to return here in twelve months. You said yourself that the legal market is saturated and depressed and there are no jobs. Next.”

“I’m not a litigator. Donovan’s firm was all about litigation.”

“You’re twenty-nine years old and you can learn anything. Mattie told me you’re very quick on your feet and already better than most local yokels in the courtroom.”

“Did she really say that?”

“Would I lie?”

“Oh yes.”

“I’m not lying. Next reason.”

“I’ve never handled an appeal, much less an appeal with a big verdict.”

“The lamest one yet. Appeals are all research and paperwork. Piece of cake. Next.”

“I’m a city girl, Jeff. Look around you. This is my life. I can’t survive in Brady.”

“Okay, good point. But who says you have to stay there forever? Give it a go for two or three years, help us get his cases closed and the fees collected. There’s some money out there that I don’t want to lose. Next.”

“Some of his cases could drag on for years. I can’t make that commitment.”

“Then commit to the Tate appeal. That’s eighteen months max. It’ll fly by and we’ll figure out what to do next. Along the way, you can pick and choose other cases that look promising. I’ll help. I’m a pretty good ambulance chaser. Next.”

“I don’t want to deal with Donovan’s widow.”

“You won’t have to, I promise. Mattie and I will take care of Judy. Next.”

She smeared some Camembert on a crostini and took a bite. Chewing, she said, “I don’t want people following me. I don’t like guns.”

“You can practice law without a gun. Look at Mattie. They’re afraid of her. And, like I said, I’ll be close and I’ll protect you. Next.”

She swallowed and took a sip of port. “Okay, here’s one you can’t handle, and there’s no way to say it without being blunt. You and Donovan played by different rules. You stole documents in the Krull Mining case, and I’m sure you’ve cut corners in other cases. I get the feeling that some of the files in that office are, shall we say, contaminated. I want no part of them. The FBI has raided the place once. I’m not going to be there when they raid it again.” “It’s not going to happen, I swear. There’s nothing, other than Krull, to worry about. And I will not jeopardize you or the office. I promise.”

“I don’t completely trust you.”

“Thanks. I’ll earn your trust.”

Another bite of cheese, another sip of port. He was eating too, and waiting. He counted with his fingers and said, “That’s only nine reasons, all of which I have just brilliantly shot down.”

She said, “Okay, number ten, I’m not sure I would get much work done with you around.”

“Good point. You want me to keep my hands off.”

“I didn’t say that. Look at me, Jeff. I’m not in the market for romance, okay? Period. We can fool around all we want, but it’s just for fun. The moment things turn serious, then we’ll have problems.”

He smiled and chuckled and said, “So, let me get this straight. You want to engage in all manner of sexual behavior but without the slightest twinge of commitment. Gee. That’s a tough one. It’s a deal. You win. Look, Samantha, I’m a thirty-two-year-old bachelor and I love being single. You need to understand that Donovan and I were scarred when we were very young. Our parents were miserable and couldn’t stand the sight of each other. It was a war and we were the casualties. To us ‘marriage’ was a dirty word. There’s a reason Donovan and Judy split.”

“Annette said he was quite the tomcat.”

“She should know.”

“I suspected them. For a long time?”

“Who keeps records? And he didn’t tell me everything. Donovan was very private, as you know. Did he put the move on you?”

“No.”

“And if he had?”