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She froze and stared at Richard, her eyes wild as she tried to discern if he was lying or not. “No, you didn’t. You’re not engaged.”
“I am,” he said coolly. “And now I have reason to move up the wedding date.”
She glared at him in disbelief. “Oh, this is ridiculous. You can’t be serious.” She turned to the lawyer. “He’s not engaged. Everyone knows he’s been a hermit since his ex-wife started boning the pool boy.”
“Don’t talk about her,” Richard warned. “Once again, you have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Where is she?” Rebecca hissed viciously. “Don’t you think that this is the kind of thing that a fiancée might be here for? Moral support and all that?” She turned to the lawyer. “She’s not here because he’s lying.”
“She’s not here because she’s not in the country right now,” he lied. “She’s visiting family.”
“If I may interject here,” said the lawyer. “Mr. Hollis, your father was very clear about this. An engagement means intent to marry and, therefore, we’ll have no choice than to hold off on the exchange of ownership of your father’s estate until your engagement has been confirmed.”
Richard got up from his chair, straightening his jacket and giving Rebecca a smug look. “No problem there. Let me talk to my fianceé and we can arrange a meeting when she gets back to the States.”
“Oh, stop it,” said Rebecca. “You are not engaged.” She turned to the lawyer. “He can’t get away with this.”
“I’m sorry, Mrs. Hollis, but Mr. Hollis’ wishes were clear. Nothing changes hands until his son’s marriage. At least with his engagement, nothing changes for either of you. You should be grateful for that much, Mrs. Hollis.”
Richard gave her a final smirk and left the room, happy for the opportunity to stick it to her again.
Once he was out of the room, however, the gravity of the situation weighed in on him. He wasn’t engaged. In fact, there hadn’t been a woman in his life at all since Eleanor. It wasn’t going to take long for the lawyers to figure it out.
As he turned to walk down the hall toward the door, he ran right into someone, nearly knocking him down. “Shit, watch where you’re--”
The man stood up and Richard recognized him immediately. Tall and lanky, with short dark hair and blue eyes. He smiled, revealing a missing bicuspid on his left side. Richard remembered the morning he came into work with the missing tooth. Apparently, he’d lost it sledding with his buddies at night.
“Hey, Rich,” he said with a ten-foot smile. They grasped hands and Stoney pulled Richard into a hug unexpectedly.
“Stoney,” Richard responded with a slight chuckle. “Hey, long time no see.”
“Yeah, it’s been a long time,” said Stoney. “How’re things at Palatine Mutual? I hear the old man finally retired.”
“He did. Right after you left, in fact.”
Stoney snapped his fingers. “Just my luck. How is the old guy, anyway?”
“Dead. Finally kicked last week. I just got out of the reading of his will.”
Stoney’s smile disappeared and he stared at him, his blue eyes large and glassy. “Oh, wow. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t apologize,” he said. “He was eighty-six. I’m only surprised he managed to hang on as long as he did.”
“So…reading of the will, huh?” said Stoney, changing the mood a little with a smirk. “I guess that means you’re about to get everything you worked for. Finally.”
Richard shrugged, still feeling a little pissed about what just happened in the mediation room. “You’d think so. The old man had one final trick left up his sleeve. I only get everything if I get married. The lawyers won’t even hold things up unless I’m engaged.”
“Damn,” said Stoney. “That’s rough. I guess you better start trolling the mail-order bride websites.”
Richard raised an eyebrow. He didn’t know if he was that desperate just yet, but he filed it away in the back of his mind just the same. “What are you doing here, anyway? I thought Criminal Court was on the second floor.”
“Haha,” Stoney said dryly. “Look at you growing a sense of humor.” Richard couldn’t help but smile at that. How many years had he spent trying to keep Stoney in line as his boss, only to look up one day and find that he’d gained a friend? He was always telling him to loosen up and crack a smile every once in a while.
“If you must know, though,” Stoney went on, “I’m waiting for my sister to get out of her hearing.”
Richard paused, trying to remember Stoney’s sister. He’d mentioned her casually before, but he was certain he’d never met her. Stoney and his sister were twins and Richard distinctly remembered trying to visualize what Stoney would look like in a dress. His mind couldn’t manufacture a pretty enough image to be real.
“Hearing?” he asked.
