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I turned the television over to a sports recap show and curled up so I could half-watch it as I dozed off.
Sighing, I drifted off to sleep and at one point, woke up enough to turn the television off. The sound of the light rain still coming down on the roof helped lull me into a deep sleep. Yet, even in my sleep, I couldn’t escape everything.
I dreamt of Carmela.
7
CARMELA
Working with families looking to adopt was one of the more rewarding things I could do in my position. While I handled all sorts of different family law matters, adoption was one of the ones I enjoyed the most, even if it was extremely challenging and not without its heartbreaks.
The system in Texas was set up to make it difficult for some families to adopt, and I had to do a lot of legwork to figure out a way to make it happen. I was passionate about it. I loved those kinds of clients, and they always made me feel happier. I was aware of most people’s view on lawyers and how they made their money, but I was very proud of what I did. Especially when I could help someone the way I intended to.
This family’s case was a particular smooth case, and I was excited that my work-around of having them foster the child first had helped. They were weeks away now from full adoption, and they couldn’t be happier. They’d even invited me to dinner in a few days at their place, just to thank me for my help.
It was gestures like that which trumped whatever payment I did receive. Knowing I made such a big difference in their lives was more than enough. The paycheck was just icing on the cake.
As I walked them out, another car was pulling into the parking lot of my tiny office building. We shared the lot with a dentist and a tax specialist, so I didn’t think much of it until I caught sight of Mark behind the wheel.
The family drove away, waving as Mark parked and got out. He watched them go and then turned to me, a smile on his face.
“Hey,” he said. “Clients of yours?”
“Yes,” I said. “Good people who got good news.”
“Nice to hear,” he said. “Hey, can I talk to you for a minute?”
“Sure,” I said. “Do you want to come into the office?”
“I would, yeah,” he said.
I led him inside my tiny office and headed toward the kitchenette to offer him a coffee and make one for myself. It had been a long morning, and I had been up very early. I was going to need the caffeine to power through the day. But before I could offer it, Mark was already talking.
“I wanted to pick your brain about something,” he said. “My aunt, who I haven’t seen since I was a kid and who I am pretty sure hadn’t talked to Dad in years, is suddenly contesting the will. Dad left the office and the business itself to me, and I picked up and moved my entire life back to Murdock to fulfill his dying wish that I keep it going, and now Aunt Judy is making it her mission to take part or all of it for herself.
“Get this, she claims that Dad forgot about her. Like he could just forget he had a sister. He didn’t forget about her. She ran off and got married and forfeited her part of the business. Dad ran it for forty years without her even so much as stepping foot inside the building, and now all of a sudden, she wants to be known as the owner? What kind of bullshit is that?”
He was ranting, pacing back and forth behind me at the coffee maker. I went ahead and made myself a pod of the extra-caffeinated stuff and one with decaf for him. He seemed like he had already hit the caffeine pretty hard that morning.
Turning around, I held out his mug, and he stopped long enough to take it and take a sip. I decided to use the opportunity to get a word in.
“Okay hang on,” I said. “Let’s start from the top.”
“Sorry,” he said. “Oh, that’s hot. Good, though. What kind of coffee is this?”
“Just some random stuff from the grocery store,” I said. “Come, let’s sit and you can tell me what’s going on.”
“I’m not keeping you from any appointments, am I?” he asked.
“No,” I said. “I was just going to be doing paperwork for the rest of the afternoon. It’s fine. Take a seat.”
I led him over to the waiting area where we had a few chairs and a loveseat that couples often sat in when they were talking with me.
He chose where to sit and I took a seat across from him.
