“Which ironically translates to LOL,” he said, laughing, “which is what this whole mess makes me wanna do. It’s laughable. I can’t believe people are so easily entertained.”
“I can’t even believe this is happening,” Whitney said. “What am I going to do?” William looked tired, and Whitney knew she was the reason for his stress right now.
“All that will blow over, and Dad will get over it too. But, Whitney, Carina has never kept anything from me before.”
“I know. It wasn’t an intentional betrayal. It snowballed. Please don’t be mad at her.”
“I’m not mad. I’m worried.” William’s jaw pulsed. “You don’t think she’s unhappy in our marriage, do you?”
That had come out of the blue. “Absolutely not. She adores you, and Chloe, and this family. What is going on in that head of yours?”
“I don’t know. This. Her not telling me about it. Dinner with Marie and Brad the other night. She told me she couldn’t come and then she showed up. It was odd.”
“Weren’t you happy to see her?”
“I was. Until then, I wondered if maybe she was covering something up.”
“William, we work with divorces and unpleasant family situations every single day. You know how crazy your wife is about the statistics. I made a comment to her about not making time for the dinner that night. She realized she needed to make you the priority. I promise you. There is absolutely nothing wrong with your marriage.”
“You’d tell me?”
“Absolutely, but I’ll tell you the same thing I told her. You two are making huge adjustments to make time for Chloe, which is awesome, but you need to do the same for yourselves. For each other. I don’t want to see you become one of our statistics. It takes two people to make a marriage work.”
“That’s good advice.” He leaned forward. “Personally, I think what you’re doing for your clients is what you just did with me. You’re shooting straight, and advising and counseling a fair piece of advice. Don’t stop being who you are.”
“Thank you for that.”
“And while we’re doling out advice, Carina didn’t tell me about the videos, but she mentioned a certain handsome artist who might have caught your eye.”
“She did?”
He nodded. “I may or may not have poked around a little to see what I could find out about him.”
“Do I want to know what you found?” She braced herself.
“Nothing to worry about.” He sat back looking pleased. “Seriously. Not a thing. And I’m happy for you.”
“Well, then I guess I can keep my date with him this Saturday without feeling bad.”
He got up. “I love you, sis. Sorry Dad came down so hard on you. Missing a rubber chicken meal isn’t really all that much like punishment.”
“Yeah, don’t bring me home a doggy bag.”
William walked out of Whitney’s office, and she saw Carina headed that way. She watched them walk out of the building arm in arm.
She was squaring away the things on her desk when she saw a file folder with Olivia’s writing on it that hadn’t been there earlier.
Pressing the intercom button on her phone, she rang Olivia’s desk, not surprised that she’d already left for the day.
Whitney opened the envelope clipped to the folder.
Whitney,
I have no idea what this meeting with your father is all about, but we both know how those end of day meetings can turn bad. I want you to know that you are a wonderful attorney, and everything you do is within the law, but with thoughtful care for the people involved. That is special.
Just in case something crazy happens, I’m here no matter which way life turns us.
Your friend,
