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He ran a hand through his hair, ruining his perfect blonde coif. “I’m interviewing nannies, and I had a cancellation. You wouldn’t be interested in being a live-in nanny to three kids, would you?” he asked off-handedly. I couldn’t tell if he was serious, but before I could answer, he said, “I’ll take your case, Mrs. Houston.”
“I’m sorry?”
“I’ll take your case.”
“Why?”
“Because there’s an angle I’m thinking of working, but you might not like it.”
“What is it?”
“We’ll admit that Mr. Houston did make a critical error; however, Vance Oil is still liable.”
I jumped to my feet. “Thank you very much for your time, Mr. Baker, but I think our time here is done,” I said, gathering Kiyah’s toys.
“Just hear me out, Mrs. Houston. Currently, we do not have evidence that Mr. Houston was following safety procedures or not. However, we know he was unqualified for the position, yet they hired him anyway.” I paused and considered what he said. “I looked at the job posting you sent me, and clear as day, they said two years’ experience was a must—two years he didn’t have. Yet, they hired him anyway. As long as Mr. Houston didn’t lie on his job application, then Vance Oil is negligent for hiring your husband.”
I draped Kiyah’s backpack on my shoulder and considered. “Can’t this still backfire on us by admitting that Rory was at fault?”
“Not if I work it right. If anything, they’ll try to settle out of court and offer you significantly more than $25,000.00.”
“In your experience, how much do you think they would offer me to not take it to court?”
“Conservatively, $500,000.00.”
I gulped.
That’s a lot of money…life-changing money. I can buy us a house and go to school. I can make a better life for Kiyah.
“Can I think about it?”
“Of course. Can I give you a little advice before you go?”
“Sure.”
“I know it may be difficult to consider going this route because you don’t want to besmirch Rory’s name, but you must ask yourself what Rory would want. From what you told me, he loved you and Kiyah very much, and he’d want the two of you taken care of no matter what.”
I nodded through my tears. “Um…do you have a business card?”
“Of course.” He grabbed a card from a cardholder on his desk and handed it to me. It reflected him—clean, crisp, straight to the point. “Take all the time you need to consider my offer. In the meantime, I’ll call the insurance company and insist they cut you a check in the next two to three business days…free of charge.”
“Oh, no. You don’t have to do that.”
“Please, Mrs. Houston. It’s just a courtesy phone call. It’s the least I can do.”
“That…that would help us out a lot. Thank you.”
“The pleasure is all mine,” he replied before grabbing Kiyah’s attention. “It was nice to meet you, Kiyah. I hope we can see each other again.”
“Bye-bye,” she offered before snatching a bag of cookies from the basket.
“Ki,” I hissed.
“It’s okay, Mrs. Houston, really. My kids are like raccoons when it comes to snacks. If it gets too quiet around the house, then I know they’re in the pantry. Let me walk you two out.”
I left Jonathan Baker’s office, realizing that not all lawyers were the same because, for the first time in several months, I had hope.
Rory, tell me what to do.
