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For now, I would go home and shower, put on something cute, and make Tanner wish he’d noticed me when I was a preteen. No. Ick. That wasn’t right. But what really wasn’t right was that on the occasions when we’d seen one another over the past several years, he continued to treat me like I was a preteen in a training bra. Like I was still that braces-wearing little sister of Leah’s who tagged along and drooled after him. Though I’m not even sure he knew I had.
It was like I was invisible as a woman to him, specifically.
*
Tanner
“Are we boringyou, Mr. Carmichael?” Judge Keller’s booming baritone reverberated around the courtroom.
Tannerhadyawned. “No, Your Honor. I’m just trying to figure out how my client could have been in two places at once. We have time-stamped video showing the perpetrator committing the crime at the same moment my client was filling up with gas six miles away at the Shop-a-Lott out on Highway Six West. You know, the one that sells meat pies and boudin? I can’t imagine why the prosecutor saw fit to pursue this case. Can you?”
“Objection, Your Honor! I’m not aware of a time conflict.” The prosecutor’s face got as red as a burnt tomato while he tried to figure out where he’d gone wrong.
Judge Keller narrowed his eyes at Tanner. “Is this legitimate?”
“It’s in the record, so I’ll leave it to the esteemed prosecutor to sort out his error. Might want to check your dates.” Tanner couldn’t have written a movie script any better.
“We are adjourned for the afternoon until you sort this mess out. We’ll convene at ten in the morning, and you’d better hope you’ve not wasted the court’s time, Mr. Grabert.” The gavel came down extra hard and loud.
Judge Keller and Tannerweren’tfriends. The judge and his dad, Carson,were, on the other hand. Those two had been childhood cohorts, and even roommates back in law school. In fact, almost nobody here in Cypress Bayou could recuse themselves because of a previous relationship with one judge or another because everybody knew or was related to nearly everyone else in some way or another.
Tanner avoided going by the office on his way to the oyster house from the courtroom. Avoiding his father was something he did with near precision. Tanner had virtually overlaid Carson’s schedule onto his calendar. That way, Tanner could make certain they were almost never in the same place at the same time. Unless Carson intentionally sabotaged Tanner and forced a meeting.
Having a father whom one despised was difficult at best. It wasn’t that Carson was simply ornery or unpleasant. No, Carson was a narcissist. A true narcissist. The word was overused in the world today, in Tanner’s opinion, detracting from how truly damaging those who were the real deal could be. As a father to both his brother Jake and him, Carson had been dreadful.
On the exterior, and to the world, Carson had possibly appeared a decent parent. They’d had a nice house, their mother had driven a nice car, they’d all had nice clothes. But there was a savagery of spirit beneath Carson’s exterior that haunted their family. A nastiness. One misstep as kids and they’d been treated like worthless garbage by their own father.
Their mother, Judy Carmichael, had been a saint. She’d carefully maneuvered marriage to a man who could, at any moment, turn on her and her boys with a terrifying coldness. She’d pushed back when needed, but it was a learned response they now understood. She’d figured out the ways to handle Carson that manipulated his ego and his need to be seen by others as blameless and right.
Their mom had passed away just over six years ago from cancer. Carson had considered her cancer a weakness. Tanner and Jake, as adults, avoided their father as much as possible. But Tanner, unfortunately, was tied to him by profession, and trying like hell to get untied. He still worked at Carson’s law firm, per their financial agreement, because Carson had paid for Tanner’s education to keep him from accruing a mountain of student debt. Tanner’s deal with the devil hadn’t been worth it, he’d realized after the fact.
At the time, Tanner had accepted Carson’s help because he’d needed it, and he was young enough to believe that maybe his father was doing it because that’s what successful fathers did for their sons. But it was never about helping Tanner; it was about holding him hostage once he’d gotten out of law school.
But not much longer. That was one reason he was meeting with young Carly today.
Mother’s Oyster House was a fixture along the bayou. Several high-top tables sat outside, hugging the building, as the sidewalk was narrow. The air was warm and humid as summer rolled into the area. A May evening outdoors was not to be missed if one had the opportunity.
The doors of the small dive were flung open, allowing the smells and music to meet him as he arrived. “Hi there, Tanner. Would you like to sit outside? Party of two? Is Jake joining you?”
“Hi, Becky. Yes, there’s two of us. Jake won’t be with me tonight though.”
“Some lucky girl?”
The hostess, Becky, and he had gone through school together. And nobody around here had any intention of minding their business. Tanner laughed. “Just a friend, Becky.”
Tanner ordered an Abita and stared out over the water across the brick street. Cypress Bayou, the town, was a unique and special place. Maybe that’s why he was willing to fight his father to stay here.
“Hey there, Tanner.” Carly slipped her purse over the ladder-back wooden barstool and hiked herself up onto it. “Pretty evening.”
Carly had grown up nicely. He’d known her since she was a little girl in pigtails. He nodded and saluted her with his beer. “Beer?”
“You bet. Today was official moving day and I’ve had it up to here with my mother.” She motioned over her head.
Becky approached when she saw Carly. “Oh, hey there, Carly. I got excited for a minute when Tanner said he was meeting someone. You want a beer?” Tanner had been a bachelor in this town for so long that the locals were rooting for him to find someone.
“It’s only me, Becky. Nobody exciting. And yes, I’ll take an Abita.” She nodded toward Tanner’s beer.
“Y’all want me to get some oysters going? Got some in from the Gulf this morning. Special today is two dozen for twenty bucks.”
