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Her mother raised a hand, giving her a little wave as though she was unsure of her reception.
Jayna looked to Quaid’s mother, and one of her worries fell away. If Marian Havery could try, could get her mother to try, then she could, too. “I love your son.”
Marian’s lips turned up. “I’m glad to hear it. I hope you can come to love us all because he’s not the only one who needs you. I’m not going to be around forever. I would like to know my family is in good hands. Your hands are good, Jayna. They’re strong hands. They’re safe hands. Trust in them.”
She was not going to cry here in the courtroom. She wasn’t going to do it.
“Ms. Cardet, you are late,” a deep voice said.
“Andy Brewer, you be nice.” Marian pointed the judge’s way. “You were not raised to be rude to a lady.”
The judge sighed. “In this room she’s not a lady. She’s a lawyer, and I would like to get this over with. I’m tired. I got to fish more when there was only one lawyer in town.”
“Thanks, Mrs. Havery.” She had a job to do and then she needed to sit down and talk to Quaid. She rushed up the aisle as Marian joined Paul at the back of the courtroom. Jayna gave her mom a smile before placing her briefcase on the table and nodding her client’s way. “I’m sorry I was late, Your Honor. My plane from Dallas was slightly delayed, and there was traffic on my way out of New Orleans. I appreciate how patient the court has been during this trying time.”
It was trying because the judge really liked fishing.
“Are you ready to proceed?” the judge asked.
She finally looked over at the defense. Quaid was in his three-piece suit, looking devastatingly handsome. That man took her breath away. Was she a fool to even consider taking the job in Dallas? She’d left mere hours before, and Dallas seemed like it had happened weeks ago. Conversely, when she’d left Papillon for Dallas, all she’d been able to think about was being here again.
She moved toward Quaid. “Can we talk later?”
His lips turned up in a humorless smile. “We can talk about settling if you like. Does Abbot want to drop his suit? You should know Geraldine is thinking about filing a suit of her own.”
“What?” The judge frowned fiercely, and suddenly there was a hum going through the courthouse.
“Geraldine is thinking about suing Jimmy again, PawPaw,” Britney said.
“What?” Jimmy Abbot was on his feet. “Come on, Geraldine. This has gone far enough.”
Geraldine shrugged a slender shoulder. “I find it kind of fun.”
Jayna ignored the chaos around her. “Quaid, we need to talk.”
He leaned over, whispering in her ear. “If you still want to talk after I pull apart your every argument, we can certainly do it. But you should think about what I say. You should understand that I mean every word.”
She wasn’t sure why he was so serious about this, but she couldn’t ask him to explain because the judge pounded his gavel.
“Order in here. I’ll kick the lot of you out if you can’t keep it down,” the judge promised. “Ms. Cardet, would you please present your closing arguments? If we don’t get this done before lunch, the café is going to go under.”
“No, I’m not,” Dixie called out from the middle of the audience. “I have a new food truck ready. Well, it’s more of a cart, but I’m prepared to feed the entire courtroom.”
The judge sighed. “Just get this over with, Ms. Cardet.”
She stared at Quaid for a moment, who stared right back.
“Go along, Ms. Cardet,” he said, a bit of a taunt to his tone.
Had she lost him? Her stomach threatened to turn. Had she pushed him too far? Taken too long? He’d seemed so patient, but hadn’t she always known it would be this way? She’d always known he would get tired of her issues.
This was exactly why...
No. She wasn’t doing this to herself. “I’ll want to talk to you after, Quaid.” She wasn’t going to let her insecurities make the choices this time. She was going to believe that she was worth the love Quaid had offered her. That had been the problem all along. Not Quaid. Her. Her fears. Her pride. Her past.
She wasn’t going to let them rob her of a future.
She turned to the judge. “Your Honor, I believe I’veproven that Geraldine Oliver’s protest parties, while not technically illegal, certainly have cost this community.”
