Page 4 of Echoes of a Southern Song

Chapter Two

Jack

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THE LAWYER’S OFFICE smells like coffee. Bitter coffee. Jinnie is staring at the wall. My knee bounces. This isn’t exactly an expensive lawyer, but I suppose you don’t really need some dude wearing a five-thousand-dollar suit to find a wayward husband.

Jinnie looks nervous. I’m supposed to be the calm one. Her rock. And I’m just as nervous.

“Miss Parker?”

“Showtime,” Jinnie mutters under her breath.

I stand and follow behind Jinnie and the young woman calling us back. We walk into an office that smells like...tacos? I shake it off and focus on the older man sitting behind the desk. He looks up when we walk in.

“Miss Parker,” he says.

“Mr. Langley,” Jinnie replies. “This is my friend, Jack. He’ll be joining us.”

He looks me over, nods, and then gestures for us to sit down.

I’ve never been in a lawyer’s office before. I don’t know if this guy is acting like lawyers do or if he really is as dismissive as I feel he is. I’ve only seen TV lawyers and this guy is a far cry from that. He says nothing as he flips through Jinnie’s file. It’s like he’s crash studying for a test he forgot about.

I’m not getting really good, confident vibes. But I sit and wait. Jinnie hired him. She must have liked him. She turns to me and offers a half-smile. I want to grab her hand, but I don’t. She’s a married woman. It’s fine when we’re at home, but she doesn’t need the rumors. Although, no one except this guy and me knows she’s married.

And her husband, of course. Sam. Sam, who’s out there somewhere refusing to give her the annulment she wants. The guy who ran out on her doesn’t want to finish the job and set her free.

Asshole.

“So here’s the situation,” Langley says, tapping a pen against his desk. “Your husband is contesting the annulment.”

“On what grounds?” Jinnie asks. “You said I had grounds for annulment. I don’t want to do a divorce, but if I have to I will.”

“That’s the interesting part.” Langley leans back. “He hasn’t specified yet. His new attorney contacted me with the notice but no details. Classic stall tactic.”

“Stalling for what?” Jinnie asks.

“I don’t know,” he replies. “But the good news is we don’t need to keep searching for him. Bad news is we’re likely looking at a hearing now. Judge will want to hear both sides.”

Jinnie’s breath hitches. “How long will that take?”

“Couple months, maybe? Depends on the court’s schedule.” He eyes us both. “You still need to leave the retainer. Contested cases mean more hours.”

I don’t hesitate. I pull out the cashier’s check I bought with the money Aggie and I made on our special tip night. “Is this enough?” I ask.

Langley takes the check, glancing at the amount before nodding. “It’ll do for now. I’ll let you know if we need more.” He slides it into a folder without ceremony, as if it’s just another piece of paper in the endless stack on his desk. As if I didn’t sing my heart out to earn that money.

“And what happens if he doesn’t show up to the hearing? If he’s just dragging this out to make it harder for me?”

“Then the judge will likely rule in your favor,” Langley says with a shrug. “But if he’s contesting, he’ll probably show. At least, his lawyer will. They wouldn’t file this without some kind of endgame.”

“An endgame like what?” I ask, unable to keep the frustration out of my voice. “What does he even want? He walked out on her and disappeared.”

Langley gives me a look that makes me feel like I’ve just asked the dumbest question in the world. “Money, usually. Or leverage. Sometimes it’s just about control. Hard to say without knowing him.”

Jinnie exhales sharply, her shoulders slumping. She looks defeated. It takes everything in me not to reach for her hand right there in front of this guy.

“Is there anything else we can do?” she asks quietly.