“I’m so grateful that you’re my aunt.” Tess blinked so the moisture didn’t overflow, and she smiled at Alice.
“Me too. Who else is going to entertain me in my old age?”
“What? Pickleball and bingo aren’t entertaining enough for you?”
“Not by a long shot. I’m always here for you, Tess. You’re an impressive woman, with or without that robe.”
Tess helped clear the table and hugged her aunt. Alice offered some final advice before Tess left.
“Just let life happen, my girl. Work harder at being yourself more often. Life might surprise you.”
Chapter Five
So far, it had been a long week since her return to work on Monday, but Tess was in no rush to race home. She headed to her chambers, shed her robe, and sat down to look at her calendar.
A tap on her office doorframe brought Tess out of her thoughts. “Come in.” She straightened her top and made certain that she was buttoned up high enough that no sign of her wound showed.
Marnie, the custodian who cleaned this end of the building each night, came in to empty her trash can, not that there was more than the wrapper Tess had removed from the protein bar she’d consumed for lunch. Marnie was a gregarious woman in her mid-thirties who was devoted to engaging Tess. She’d even considered that some of Marnie’s friendly efforts might be considered flirting, so as always, Tess was careful to remain cordial and only offered Marnie a hint of a polite courthouse smile.
Marnie plucked the lone wrapper out of the receptacle next to Tess’s desk and waved it at her. “I hope you’ve had more to eat today than this, Judge Fairchild.”
Tess shrugged. “Busy day, Marnie.”
“Never so busy you can’t eat properly.” Marnie shook her head. “Will you do me a favor?”
The question was delivered in a tone that made it hard for Tess to refuse, so she silently waited to hear what might be required of her. She hoped the request would be somethingsimple because she wasn’t in the mood to navigate an interpersonal encounter that tested her current reserves or put her on the spot.
“I brought a few extra enchiladas for Mel’s dinner tonight.” Mel was the other custodian who worked the night shift with Marnie. “Mel’s home with some bug, and someone needs to take that food home. Will you drop by the lounge on your way out and collect them for your dinner, so they don’t go to waste? All they need is a microwave. They’re in the fridge on the bottom shelf in a tub with a red lid.”
Tess’s stomach rumbled at the mention of Marnie’s enchiladas.
“There’s no arguing with your stomach.” Marnie didn’t even try to suppress her snort. “It saysyes.”
“Thanks, Marnie. I’ll do that.” The food did sound good, and Tess had no plans for dinner.
“Good. You finish up and head on out of here, then. Maybe your calendar will slow down a bit now that the new judge is here, the one who took Judge Flannigan’s spot. She seems nice, Judge O’Brian. Brianna O’Brian.”
“I haven’t met her yet. I’m glad the vacancy’s filled. That’s good to hear.”
“How are Thelma and Louise?” Marnie asked. “I hope the little feline namesakes aren’t doing anything that could land them in big trouble.”
Tess had mentioned her cats one evening when she was trying to reciprocate Marnie’s friendliness. They’d become a safe go-to topic.
“A little couch scratching and waking me up too early, but no feline felonies.”
Marnie chortled. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
She made her exit, and Tess left her office soon after and headed toward the lounge on her way out. She was bendingover with her head in the refrigerator looking for the red-lidded tub when she heard someone come into the lounge area behind her. Tess located the enchilada container, stood up, and turned around.
Bree had put in another almost ten hours today while she worked to become prepared for her new job and the criminal court cases assigned to her. As she finished up the most pressing preparations, her mind wandered. She missed Tahoe. The slow pace, the lack of stress…and especially Tess.
She knew that if she really wanted, she could find out more about Tess, but every time it crossed her mind to grill Rachelle about her, Bree reiterated why she wouldn’t. It wasn’t just because she’d made the agreement. A rebound relationship after her Cora disaster could damage her heart even worse after she’d so catastrophically fallen for the wrong person—it wasn’t what she wanted, and it wasn’t what she needed. Successfully settling into all the changes in her life was going to be challenge enough.
What she did need to do was to put Tess out of her mind. She just needed the distancing of time. Maybe she’d revisit things in six months if she was ready to start thinking about a relationship, but right now she knew there was no way she could forget the reason for her relocation. She’d come to Corazon Cove to move on with her life, and that’s exactly what she was going to do—keep her focus on the move and the new job because that was what was necessary.
She’d made a point to pick Hank’s brain about the courthouse because as a local journalist and an occasional court reporter, he was sure to know things she couldn’t learn through other sources. She’d googled the judges but he’d addedsome details. She’d already met five of her fellow judges and had mentally connected their faces with Hank’s summaries, but there was still one judge she needed to meet. Now as she sat here, she replayed her conversation with Hank.
“You’re the new seventh judge, replacing Gerald Flannigan, a member of the Judge Huffington Fan Club. Simon Huffington is the presiding judge. I doubt that all the other judges particularly like him, but he seems to take care of his supporters and nobody else seems to want the position,” Hank had told her.
