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The man blinked, then blinked again.
“What’s your name?” he asked, gesturing for me to follow him.
I did, finding a baby on the floor on a blanket.
A very naked baby.
He—and yes, it was definitely a he—was cute. About six to eight months old at most, he had a beautiful smile and looked exactly like the man that was now looking at him with a stern expression on his face.
“You, Mr. Clancy Tolbert Junior, are a menace.”
So the man I was talking to was Clancy Tolbert the first?
Mr. Tolbert’s eyes turned to the couch.
“That’s gonna stain,” he said. “Did Jenny happen to mention where the cleaning supplies were before she rushed out of here?”
I left the room and came back moments later with the cleaning supplies that Jenny had shown me before she’d hightailed it out of the office.
Moments after I got back, I heard the bells on the door sound again, announcing someone’s arrival.
Before Mr. Tolbert could even make it to the door of his office, Jenny was back, looking a lot less frazzled.
“They canceled court today because the judge has the flu,” she said as she came in. “Goddamn, I need a nap.”
Her eyes came to me, and she smiled.
“This is…” Mr. Tolbert stopped, eyeing me.
“Rowen Roberts,” I said, holding out my hand to the woman.
She shook her head.
“I haven’t washed my hands yet,” she said.
I dropped mine back down to my side.
“I’ll be back,” she said.
She disappeared into the bathroom that was right off the office and came out about two minutes later in a pair of yoga pants, a white t-shirt, and socks.
“Sorry,” she said. “It’s just I can barely fit into those business suits anymore, and my life is a hundred times brighter when I can wear yoga pants.”
I grinned then.
“I know exactly what you mean,” I told her.
She smiled as if we were bonding over our love of yoga pants.
“What brings you here?” she asked, her eyes going to her husband that was now cleaning off the couch.
She dropped down onto her knees beside the kid that was on the floor and whipped a diaper out of nowhere and clothed the small boy.
Seconds later, she was standing back up and giving me her full attention.
“I’m here to inquire about a job,” I answered. “I’ve just moved back to Kilgore, and I’m looking to practice law here.” I paused. “I’m not looking to open my own practice or anything, so my next step is to inquire if there was any help y’all could use?”
Swear to God, right before my eyes, hers filled with tears.
“Oh, sweet Jesus,” she breathed. “Are you really?”
I blinked. “Am I really what?”
“A lawyer,” she whispered.
I nodded slowly.
“I want you.” She paused. “You’re not a felon or anything, are you?”
I was already shaking my head.
“Of course, you’re not,” she answered her own question. “You wouldn’t have gotten into law school if you were.”
I silently agreed.
“We’re family law,” she said. “And a few other types when the occasion arises. But mostly family. That’s something that you want to do?”
That was when she focused on my head.
I decided to tell her what happened to my hair before she started speculating that I liked my head shaved.
It was funny that she was just now noticing it after seeing me for at least ten minutes this morning.
“Well, that just sucks,” Clancy said. “My Jenny just worked a similar case of bullying,” he continued. “Did you hear about it?”
I turned to study Jenny.
“It was a favor for a friend,” she admitted. “Since we’re the only lawyers in town. The girl is a police officer’s daughter. You might know her. Avery Flynn?”
My mouth fell open.
“Something happened to Avery?” I all but screeched.
Jenny’s face softened.
“Yes,” she confirmed. “Something happened to Avery.”
“It wasn’t too bad at first,” Jenny admitted. “It was just standard bullying. But then it progressed and turned into some really screwy stuff that ended with quite a few of the cheerleaders and football players ganging up on her. Sending her threatening messages on Photochat. Turns out, it was one of her best friends who was mad all because she kept getting recognition and sympathy because both of her parents died. I filed a restraining order against the school, and the judge had to decide whether it was admissible or not. The girl was forced to transfer to another school district and stay at least five hundred feet away from her at all times.”
My gut churned.
That sounded so awful it wasn’t even funny.
And I’d never heard a thing from anybody.
Not even Avery.
Granted, I wasn’t super close with Avery, but my dad was the chief of police.
How had I not heard about this?
That was when I realized that my dad had probably kept it from me because he didn’t want me to worry when I should be worrying about my exams and passing the Bar exam.
