Chapter Twenty-three 11 page

“Why do I get the feeling you’ll be saying the same thing about me in a couple of years?”

“I’ve seen your foundation timbers, honey, so I seriously doubt it.”

“You’re just a sweet-talker.” Tully swiveled her chair to the side and stared out the window. Since the kids and Libby had spent the first part of their break mainly working in the office, the place was quiet now that they were playing real estate agents. “Happy hunting, darlin’. Call if you need anything.”

“Try and make it home by seven. The kids and I are cooking, so you don’t want to miss out.”

Ralph pulled Libby forward by the hand, since she hadn’t noticed the line moving.

“If you let Ralph or Bailey cook anything, I demand fair warning.”

“Smart-ass.” Libby pointed to what she wanted and Bailey ordered for her. “Just one more place to see, then your loyal staff will be reporting for duty. Oh, before I forget, the Land Rover dealership called and said your vehicle is finally in. He suggested the next time you just pick something on the lot.”

“I’m sure he’s thrilled that he won’t have to take anymore annoying phone calls from me demanding to know where the damn thing is. Swing by and pick it up for me if you don’t mind, and I’ll make arrangements for the rental.”

“After you painstakingly picked everything in it, you don’t want to drive it first?”

“You can tell me all about the new-car smell when you get back. Love you, baby, but Roxanne’s giving me the evil eye.”

“Love you too.” Libby snapped the phone closed, and as she bent down to find her wallet in her purse, both Bailey and Ralph moved closer in.

“Ralph? Bailey?” Jessica wore her lab coat and a pair of large sunglasses that hid most of her upper face. “What are you guys doing here?”

“It’s a coffee shop, we’re getting coffee,” Bailey said, not moving from Libby’s side.

“Try to be nice—just a little bit,” Libby said.

“Why?” Ralph asked.

“For your mom’s sake, to keep the peace, and because Jessica’s your mother.”

“I think I can handle my own battles, thank you,” Jessica said. She pointed to a table, clearly expecting the kids to follow her.

“Libby, we’re going to be late,” Ralph said. He moved—to pick up their drinks.

“Tully hired a sitter for the summer, how sweet.” Jessica crossed her arms over her chest and smirked. “If you spent more time with me, you wouldn’t have to suffer the humiliation, Bailey.”

Bailey said in a hopeful way, “Could I come over and watch television with you and your new girlfriend?”

Both Libby and Ralph stared at her like she’d lost her mind.

“I suppose, if you want.”

“Yeah, right. Like that bitch wants us around. I’d rather stay home with Mom and Libby. They’re not trying to ditch us every chance they get a better offer, like you do.”

“Who’s Libby?”

“That would be me.” Libby put her hand on Bailey’s shoulder in an effort to calm her down. Given all the time they’d spent together, she was familiar with the kids and their emotional triggers. “We’d love to stay and visit, but we have an appointment we need to get to.” She put some money on the counter and started to walk out.

Jessica was about to move aside for them to pass, but something made her stop midstep. Libby noticed that both kids had followed Jessica’s line of sight and ended up at her left ring finger.

“What exactly do you do for Tully and my children?”

“Don’t answer that,” Bailey said. She grabbed Libby’s hand and tried to force her toward the door.

“Can I remind you that I’m your mother, even if we don’t live together anymore.”

“I told her not to answer because it’s none of your business.” Bailey stopped, but she didn’t let go of Libby’s hand. Behind Jessica, Ralph had the tray in his hands and kept looking from Bailey to Jessica. “If you want to know something about us, have the guts to ask Mom.”

“You’re going to lower your voice and treat me with respect, young lady. If these are the kind of manners Tully’s teaching you, then perhaps it’s time to make other arrangements for you two, especially if she’s got some slut living with you.”

Noticing all of the patrons in the café avidly listening to the argument, Libby encouraged Bailey to leave when Jessica’s voice started to rise with her anger.

“I’d rather be sent to a boarding school in hell than to live with you,” Bailey screamed back, then started crying and ran out the door.

“Ralph,” was all Libby said to get him to put the tray down and go after his sister.

“Not so fast,” Jessica said, grabbing Libby’s bicep. “You’re not going anywhere with my kids.”

“If you have a problem, either call Tully or a lawyer. Now move.” When Libby made it outside, Bailey and Ralph were leaning against the car crying.

Jessica watched as Libby did something her children didn’t want from her anymore. She hugged them and they accepted her comfort before they all climbed into the Explorer and drove away.

Jessica was infuriated because, while her life was open to Tully’s scrutiny, her ex had carefully moved on under her radar, obviously with Bailey and Ralph’s blessing. Not once in all the time she’d spent with the kids had they mentioned anyone in Tully’s life, and Tully had probably ordered them to keep their mouths closed on the subject.

She forgot about ordering anything and gave in to the pent-up feelings that had been brewing since her breakup with Tully. She was determined to regain control of the areas of her life that had slipped away from her.

Tully leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes, though she still paid attention to the droning that had been going on for the last thirty minutes in the meeting she’d been dragged into.

“Why the hell did you take this case, Tully?” Dr. Nelson Kramer’s attorney slammed his hand on the conference table, but the only one who jumped in surprise was the stenographer. “This is a little lower than your holier-than-thou caliber.”

“I didn’t take this case. My associates, Hank and Sheila here, did.” She waved her hand to the two young associates sitting on either side of her. “I read the file and agreed that the case has merit.”

“Bullshit.” The attorney slammed the table again.

“Do that again and I’ll make the same noise with your head when I slam it into the table,” Tully said calmly. She opened the file, flipped through a few pages, and pulled something out. “My opening argument before the jury.” She glanced up at the lawyer and his poor excuse for a client. “And yes, there’ll be a trial and a jury. My opening argument will ask them to look at this.” She threw the picture to the middle of the table. “As a matter of fact, I think that’ll be my whole case.”

Dr. Kramer briefly gazed at the picture, then sat back in his chair and stared at the ceiling.

Tully had purposely picked the most gruesome photo taken of his patient the night she’d arrived at the emergency room. The close-up of her chest showed that her left nipple was missing and a light bloody discharge seeped from where it had been right before the patient had run her hand over her breast in the shower. After her breast-augmentation surgery the month before, her nipple had simply rotted off because the bag had ruptured after the doctor had placed it in her chest.

“Mrs. Mailer complained to you about the clear discharge leaking from the nipple a week before this picture was taken, and you ignored it, as you did the multitude of symptoms she complained of following the surgery. From the look of that picture, you can’t deny that she had a problem.” Tully slid the picture back across the polished oak surface and placed it in the file. “Open and shut, if you ask me.”

“Give me a minute to confer with my client.”

Tully slammed her hand down on the table and laughed. “I see why you like doing that—real attention-getter.”

When her hand hit the surface it finally had its desired effect, and both the doctor and lawyer jumped in their seats.

“We’ll be right outside, so take your time.”

“You bitch!” All heads turned toward the door as Jessica walked in and disrupted their meeting, with Roxanne right behind her trying to restrain her.

Before she could get out another word Tully grabbed her by the arm and practically carried her all the way to her office. “Do that again, and I will have your ass, you get me?”

“Get off that white horse of yours and stop fucking threatening me. I just ran into your slut with my children. She’s living with you, isn’t she?”

“If you’re talking about Libby, might I suggest you stop referring to her as a slut. On the day I come home and she’s sleeping with someone else in the bed we share together, you can call her a slut. But right now, there’s only one person in this room who can claim that little stunt—you.” Tully let her go as soon as the door was closed and kept walking until she reached her desk and her calendar. “You’re going to get your wish, though.”

“What wish?”

Tully was thankful there was a piece of furniture between them, because she’d never in her life wanted to choke the life out of someone as much as she did right now. Stabbing the air in Jessica’s direction, she said, “We’re going to court. I’m going to ask for full custody of the kids and supervised visits when you do get to see them.”

“In your dreams, lover.”

“I wouldn’t touch you now if my life depended on it, so refrain from the cute nicknames. When we started this, I promised you it could be easy or it could be hard. Today you definitely picked the hard road.” She flipped through the pages of the calendar, then pressed the intercom to Roxanne. “Get a court date for the last Friday of this month.”

“What case?”

“Badeaux versus Badeaux.”

“You got it, boss.”

“You don’t frighten me,” Jessica said. “I lived with you too long not to be able to tell when you’re bluffing.”

“Jessica, listen to me. I lived with you a long time as well, and it still amazes me how much I don’t know you. Whatever you choose for your life now is fine with me. I really could give a shit.” She sat down, put her hand behind her neck, and squeezed. “If you want to live your life with this woman you’ve found, then I say go for it, but you’re not going to take Bailey and Ralph down with you.”

“Why do you think Kara’s going to take me down?” Jessica’s pose didn’t change, as if she was waiting for an attack. “You moved on. Why not give me the same opportunity?”

“I’m telling you I don’t care what you do with your life. You do what you want, with whomever you like, and you leave me the hell out of it.” Her cell phone started ringing. It was Libby, so she answered the call.

“I know it’s important,” she said after Libby launched into a description of what had happened. “But let me get rid of something first.”

Jessica gave her an indignant look.

Tully shrugged and said, “We’re done, Jessica. I just want to start my life over and make Bailey and Ralph happy. One of my people will serve you with papers as soon as I draw them up.”

“Why do you keep running away from me?” Jessica asked when Tully moved past her.

“Because you give such compelling reasons. Like I said,” Tully opened the office door and waved out to the hall, “we’re done.”

“I figure you can guess who we ran into today?” Libby asked, sitting in the car dealership. The kids were already sitting in the new Land Rover pressing buttons.

“Maybe I should start with I’m sorry. You shouldn’t be stuck in the middle of this.”

“I’m not.” Libby balanced the phone while signing the papers the guy handed her. “I’m stuck on you, so I’m more front and center than I am in the middle. Hell, I’ve never been called a slut in front of total strangers before.”

“What?”

“Calm down, baby. I’ll tell you about it tonight, but I need to ask you a favor first.”

As she listened to Libby’s request, as well as what had happened and how the kids had reacted to it, Tully picked up her jacket and followed Roxanne to the elevator. Before the doors slid closed, Roxanne handed her a list of the meetings she’d rescheduled and the offer the guys in the conference room had tallied up. “This is a joke,” Tully said.

“What’s the multiplier?” Roxanne asked.

“Let’s start with six and we’ll go from there.”

When Tully was in the elevator alone, she sighed and, before she hung up, agreed to take the afternoon off and meet Libby and the kids.

Libby parked in front of Tully’s office building and climbed into the passenger seat. As much as Bailey and Ralph had complained they wanted to go home, they seemed relieved to see Tully heading for the driver’s side door.

“I want everyone to listen to me before you complain about anything that happened today.” Tully merged into traffic and took a right, headed for uptown New Orleans. When they passed Napoleon as they were driving down St. Charles Avenue, she knew they all probably thought they were going home, until she turned down State Street.

The house she stopped in front of stood on the corner, with crape myrtles full of white blooms planted between the street and the sidewalk. Ten steps led to a front porch with eight large rocking chairs and a swing hanging on the end. Black shutters contrasted well with the house’s white paint, and the six windows across the front opened from the floor so they could double as doors.

“When we went through all the changes during the last few months, I promised myself not to make any major decisions without you.” She twisted in her seat so she could see the kids. “I got an offer on our house today.”

“We haven’t found a place to live,” Ralph said.

“The lady who offered talked more about a trade, buddy, so we’d have a place to live, but only if you want.”

“What kind of trade?” Bailey asked.

Tully noticed that her eyes were still a bit red from recent crying, and the sight made her want to break the car in by running over Jessica at the first opportunity for using the kids to try to make the situation worse.

“Our house for that one.” She pointed to the house they were parked in front of and held up a key.

“This one looks bigger than ours,” Bailey said, sounding doubtful. “What’s the catch?”

“She gets our house and some money from a doctor I met with today. There’s nothing wrong with the place. She just has bad memories of the shower.”

“Did she see a snake or a ghost?” Ralph asked. Unlike Bailey, he looked thrilled with the prospect.

“Sorry, buddy. No slimies and no ghosts. She just had a little personal problem she’d like to forget.” Tully held up the key to the front door. “I know you three have been house hunting for days now, but I think this might be a good place for us.”

“I say we do it.” Ralph grabbed the keys and pushed Bailey out the door.

“What kind of personal problem?” Libby asked when they were alone.

“Her nipple fell off in the shower.”

Libby shuddered and raised her hand to her chest. “Honey, that’s disgusting.”

“I’m sure she wasn’t thrilled with it either, but don’t sweat it, darlin’. You’ve never going to have that problem.” She leaned over the center console and kissed Libby on the cheek.

“I’m not, huh?”

“Nope. If you want, I’ll personally take a shower with you every morning and keep my hands over your nipples the whole time to make sure nothing happens to them.”

“We’ll see about that, Counselor.” Libby peered out the window. “Come on, Bailey’s putting her finger in her mouth and gagging herself. We’re being too mushy again.”

“Just as long as you tell me how today really went later on.”

“I will, but I think everything considered, they did great.”

“Bailey and Ralph are important to me, baby, but so are you,” Tully said. “Our talk is going to be about that too.”

They joined the kids on the porch as Ralph unlocked the front door. Tully had always thought formal living rooms, like the first room they entered, were wasted space since they were seldom used, but this one opened to another large room through some pocket doors. In the back were a large kitchen and the master suite, both with an excellent view of the large yard. Bailey and Ralph headed up the stairs, talking about seeing what the rest of the bedrooms looked like, leaving Tully and Libby alone downstairs to explore.

From the way Libby was walking around seeming to study the space, Tully could tell she was already decorating it in her mind. When she had come alone to see it, the one picture she had in her head was waking up in this bedroom with Libby every morning.

“Can we get a new bed?” Libby asked.

“We can get whatever you like.”

“No, I want to shop for this place, but with you, especially when it comes to the bed.”

“Why?” Tully held out her hand to Libby. “With all the other stuff we have to worry about I’d be happy with whatever you pick.”

“Because it’s the one place in this house that will be strictly ours, and I want you to pick it out with me. Call it strange, but that’s what I want.”

“We’ll go this weekend.”

“You’ve made up your mind, haven’t you?” Libby asked. They stepped out of the bedroom and headed to the kitchen, then stood together at the windows looking out at the yard.

“I came and checked it out a few days ago after my client and I discussed it as a possibility. It’s not that I decided on this particular place, but you and the kids were right. We need a home that doesn’t have a lot of baggage associated with it, someplace we can make ours, with our own memories.” Tully rested her chin on Libby’s head and enjoyed having her close.

“You three have been doing a great job trying to find something, so our being here isn’t a reflection on the effort. To answer your question, I haven’t made up my mind. That’s why we’re here. It’s a family decision.”

“You want us here too, right?” Bailey asked.

Because Tully and Libby had been facing the wall of windows, they hadn’t seen Bailey and Ralph in the middle of the next room.

Tully raised her head at the question, but remained quiet when Libby squeezed her hands.

“Will you guys show me the upstairs?” Libby asked. “We started the process together, and this place shouldn’t change how we go about our plan.”

The room at the end of the hall on the right overlooked the blue-tiled pool, which was about the same size as theirs at home but ringed by more trees. There was no furniture left in the house, so after glancing out the window Libby sat on the floor and patted the space beside her.

“I think it’s time we had a talk.” When they joined her she reached for their hands. “Change is tough, I realize that, especially when it isn’t your idea.”

“It sucks,” Ralph said. “You’ve been great, but sometimes I don’t know for sure where we fit.”

“I know, buddy.” She called him by the same nickname Tully used without realizing it, and when she did he moved closer to her. “Before we make any other changes, even if they’re your idea this time, I wanted to make sure we’re clear about a few things.”

“Getting together with somebody with kids is a bummer too, huh?” Bailey asked.

“I love your mom very much. That’s the first thing I want you to know.” For the moment she ignored Bailey’s question. “In the years I’ve had her as a friend, I knew something about her even before I knew what she did for a living. From her stories of you guys I realized she was a parent to two wonderful people. Sometimes she felt lost as to how to reach you, but I could tell she loved you. You don’t worry so much about people you don’t love and care about.”

“We know you love her, but what’s it got to do with us?” Ralph asked.

“It has everything to do with you and Bailey. I wanted you to hear how I felt about your mother so you’ll understand how you fit here. I want us to be a family. I’m not here to replace Jessica, and I’m not telling you all this so you’ll like me. Blowing smoke so that it’ll earn me points with your mom isn’t what I’m about. After getting to know me I hope you realize that. You just need to remember that I love you, and I’m here for you.”

“Thanks. We want you to be happy, but Ralph and I didn’t want to get in the way of you and Mom getting together.”

“You’re stuck with me and your mom.” Libby opened her arms to both of them, and that’s how Tully found them a few minutes later, still in a tight embrace.

“So? What’s the verdict?” she asked.

“Can I paint my room black?” Bailey asked.

“We’ll start on that right after we get home from getting that forehead tattoo you’ve always wanted.”

“I’d take that as a no, honey,” Libby told Bailey.

“When do we move in?” Ralph asked.

“In a couple of weeks, once we finalize the paperwork. That gives you some time to go through your stuff and hide any girlie magazines you have stashed in your room. But we should be settled right after you start school.”

Tully took a seat across from Libby, glad she was able to make them laugh. She felt certain there’d be more bad days like this one for them until she was legally done with Jessica, but as long as she and Libby kept them talking and made them a part of every major decision, Ralph and Bailey would be fine.

“Your mother came by the office after she ran into you today.”

“She was, like, totally beezy,” Bailey said, and Ralph nodded at the assessment.

After spending more time with them Tully knew this was teenage speak for Jessica being a total bitch.

“And she called Libby a slut. Sorry,” Bailey said to Libby.

“I scheduled a court date for the end of this month, but I think we’ll push it back a few more weeks.”

“’Cause you’re busy?” Ralph asked.

“When it comes to you two, I’ll never be too busy again. I’m going to wait so we can put together a good case as to why you guys should live with Libby and me.” Tully took their free hands so they were all connected. “That’s what I want for us, but I want to make sure that’s what you want too. This isn’t about me trying to bend you into doing something you’d rather skip. But I want you to consider one thing. As much as I want us to start over, I want you to have a relationship with your mother.”

“You’re clueless sometimes, Mom, but I always felt like you were interested in what happened to us,” Bailey said. “Like all you want is for us to make good decisions.”

“I still want you to do that, Bailey Bean.”

“The difference is, Mama wants to make the decisions for us.”

“The court will make the ultimate decision unless your mother changes her mind and adheres to your wishes. No matter if we get everything we want, you’ll have to have a relationship with her.”

“I don’t hate her, but I’m still upset by what she did. I don’t know about Ralph, but I need more time.”

“Me too, Mom,” Ralph said.

“That’s good enough for me, then.”

“You’re really happy about all these changes too?” Bailey asked, waving her hands around the room.

“You can tell us if you’re not,” Ralph added.

“Just as long as I have the three of you in my life, I’ll be happy in a cardboard box on Canal Street.”

“Tully’s right,” Libby said. “It could be any house, anywhere. Just as long as we’re together it’s going to be fine.”

“Because if you weren’t here, with all the trees out there, who’d skim out the pool?” Tully’s joke broke the tension, and her children’s laughter was one more brick on the repaired road between them.

Chapter Twenty-two

“How can you have nothing?” Tully sat back in her chair at home later that day, facing Pasco. Jo and Frank had come over with him to work on the Hebert case, and she could hear them helping Libby and the kids fix dinner. “We’ve been digging for how long now?”

“She, or someone in her life back then, did a good job of covering her tracks, but we’ll keep at it. No matter how hard you try, you always leave a trail.”

“We need something before we can move forward. Neil smells only speculation on our part, and he’s moving for a quick trial. You know how those hospital administrators are, and Neil Davis always tries to protect his own.”

“You’re sure your attitude toward Kara isn’t blinding you on this?” Pasco raised his hands. “I know it’s probably not, but I had to ask.”

“When I was doing my residency, the head of emergency services warned me that losing a patient was inevitable, no matter how hard I tried, because death was something you couldn’t defeat. Outrun it at times, but never really beat it.” Tully dug through the bottom desk drawer and found an old photograph that was yellowing around the edges. “I started his rotation hoping to prove him wrong, even if I was being naïve.”

“Caring about people isn’t naïve.”

“The third week I was there, Billie LoGreco came into the ER two hours before my shift ended. The loser who dragged her in was kind enough to tell us her name and that she’d been popping pills and drinking peppermint schnapps all night and most of the morning. That was all he said about her.”

“He just left her there?” Pasco frowned.

“She was probably some street kid he’d picked up, or at least that’s what she looked like. I worked on her for about forty minutes before having to call it.” She stopped when Libby walked in and took a sip from the drink Libby handed her, then scooted back so Libby could sit in her lap. “Billie LoGreco was my first loss.” The autopsy photo showed a small, pale child of about sixteen.

Pasco shook his head. “Thanks for sharing that, but what’s it got to do with Kara Nicolas and this case?”

“That doctor was right. Death is inevitable. Sometimes people invite it in, like Billie did by foolishly taking drugs and drinking in either a desperate attempt to fit in or because she trusted someone she shouldn’t have. But other times, through no fault of our own, death is thrust upon us too early. If that’s what happened to Evangeline Hebert, I want the person accountable for it to stand up and take responsibility.”

Tully took the picture back from Pasco and carefully slid it back in the file folder. “Evangeline might have had only a few more days on this earth, or years, but whatever time she had was stolen from her and her parents.”

Pasco stood and left the room, and as soon as they were alone Libby initiated a passionate kiss.

“If he doesn’t find something she’s going to walk, isn’t she?” Libby asked when their lips parted.

“I can spin a good tale when I need to, but yeah, we need some reason for this to have happened. If not, the case’ll never make it past the medical review board.” Tully rested her head back and enjoyed the sight of Libby with a smudge of flour on her forehead. “How’s it going in there?” she asked as she reached up to rub it off.

“Jo and Frank were catching me up on the office gossip, and Ralph’s learning to peel things.”

“There’s office gossip?”

“The juiciest thing is that the boss is hooking up with the law-student intern.”

“Do they think I’m a letch who went for the young and beautiful intern?”

The door to the office was open, so Libby chose not to tease her too much. “Actually, Jo wanted to know my secret, since I scooped you up so easily.”

“I give up. What’s your secret?”

“I told her,” Libby bit down on Tully’s earlobe, “my secret is,” she traced Tully’s lips with her tongue, “my coffee.”

Bailey suddenly appeared in the doorway. “You guys ready to eat, or should I tell everybody you’re in here making out?”

“It’s called an appetizer, wise guy,” Libby said. She stood up and offered Tully a hand. “I’m sure it’s something you’ve thought about when your friend Chase calls over here about fifteen times an hour.”

“Libby,” Bailey said in a warning tone.

“Chase?” Tully asked. “Why haven’t I heard anything about her new friend Chase?”

“Libby,” Bailey repeated.

“Honey, she’s a great kid, and she’s taking Bailey to the movies tomorrow.”

Tully crossed her arms over her chest. “Home by ten, right?”

“Home by ten thirty.” Bailey mirrored her pose. When Tully didn’t back down she added, “Mom, the movie ends at ten. You want me to look like some hella dork when I have to leave early?”

“This kid coming here to pick you up?”

“Libby volunteered to take us and pick us up, since she didn’t think you’d have a problem with it.”

Libby didn’t remember saying the last part and figured the sweet smile Bailey shot her was a dare to contradict her.

“You do realize your mother is expecting to see you tomorrow,” Tully said. “It’s her Saturday, and after today you might want to reconsider turning her down.”

“Again, why are you being so nice to her?” Bailey put her hands out to her sides, appearing equally confused and disgusted. “You don’t have to anymore.”

“Honey.” Still holding hands, Tully and Libby moved closer and they each put an arm around Bailey. “I’m going to fight and keep fighting anyone who tries to take you away from me. I’m going to do that until the day you voluntarily walk out our front door and start a wonderful life on your own. Even then, I’ll be there to make sure nothing or no one harms you.”

Date: 2016-01-03; view: 492