Eyes of a Child (7 page)

Terri nodded. ‘I was co-counsel, yes.'

‘That must have been an incredible challenge.' He stopped, as if at another thought. ‘In the past year, what have been your normal hours of work?'

‘Nine to five-thirty.' There was no point in trying to fool him. ‘Sometimes later.'

‘Weekends?' he asked sympathetically.

‘Sometimes. Only when I was in trial, really.'

‘When you were in later, or in trial, who watched Elena?'

‘Her preschool, the Discovery School, has her until six. Sometimes on the weekend, I'll take her to my office.' She glanced at Richie. ‘As of twelve days ago, when we separated, I told the partner I work for that I really can't travel, that weekends are out, and that I have to leave promptly at five-thirty. So I'm ready to give Elena a predictable routine and to be with her pretty much anytime she's not in school.'

Keene raised an eyebrow. ‘And your boss understands?'

Richie turned to watch her. ‘He's a single father,' Terri answered simply.

Keene paused at that. ‘Okay,' he answered, and turned to Richie. ‘I believe when you called me, Mr Arias, you said that you work at home.'

‘I do.' Richie's face became alight with pleasure. ‘On a new computer program, called Lawsearch. I really think it'll revolutionize legal research.'

Looking for a weakness, Terri wondered if he would go too far, overplaying the great promoter until he seemed too preoccupied to parent Elena. As if reading her thoughts, Richie added, ‘It's been a good compromise.'

His tone suggested that his meaning was evident to Terri. But as Richie had intended, Keene asked, ‘Between what and what?'

‘Between work and parenting.' He leaned back, spreading his hands. For Terri, his gestures had the same quicksilver quality as his expressions, as if nothing about him was quite real. But the look he turned on Keene radiated conviction. ‘Terri and I have always hated this yuppie-parent syndrome – you know, the over achieving two-career couple who come home burned out around the kid's bedtime, grab a drink, and ask the nanny how her day went.' He gave Terri a confiding smile, as if warmed by the memory of their joint concern. ‘We tried having both of us work in offices for a while and decided it just wasn't right. So we agreed to put the emphasis on Terri's career and have me at home for Elena. It just makes sense that way – of the two of us, I'm the entrepreneurial one. It turns out I was also the lucky one. Watching Elena grow has been more rewarding than I ever dreamed.' He paused, seemingly touched by the thought, and softly said to Terri: ‘No matter what, Ter, I'm really proud of what we've done.'

It was a test, Terri realized: in the conspiracy that had been their marriage, it was Terri's role to cover for him, and he counted on that still. ‘I'm proud too,' she said to Richie. ‘Of some things. The only problem is that none of the things
you
just described ever happened.'

Richie's face was turned from Keene; only Terri could see his reflexive look of anger and surprise. But she kept on speaking to Richie. ‘So let's talk about what
did
happen,' she said. ‘When I got pregnant with Elena, before we were married, I told you that I wasn't sure we should be married at all. You answered that you wanted a family, that our child would be the center of it. So I asked if I could just stay at home with her. At least for a while.'

Richie's eyes shone with resentment; Terri felt the guilt of her betrayal, the habit of five years. She forced herself to look straight at Richie. ‘“Of course,” you answered. “I want you home for our baby too. That's part of why we should get married.”

‘So we did.' Tern's voice went flat. ‘And as soon as Elena was born, you quit your new job without telling me and decided to get an M.B.A. To help secure Elena's future, you said.'

‘That's not exactly how it happened –'

‘That's
exactly
how it happened.' Terri leaned toward him. ‘So I had to return to law school when Elena was six weeks old and then scrambled to find the first job I could, at the P.D.'s office, while you took out a loan and went to grad school. I'm still paying off the loan.

‘In the first year after you got out of grad school, you quit or got fired from two more firms. When your credit card charges got too high for me to carry, I left a job I'd gotten to quite like and took one with Chris's office,' Her voice grew quiet. ‘When I came home that night and told you what I'd be making, you said you were proud of me because now you could “work at home.” I started crying – I was so damned tired. You got angry and stormed out. But I couldn't even go after you to argue or plead. I had Elena to put to bed. As I do every night.' She turned to Keene. ‘Elena has one stable parent – me. I want custody of our daughter.'

Keene looked at them both, mouth half open. His quizzical smile seemed to have frozen in place.

With a look of deep sorrow, Richie shook his head. ‘Why are you saying this, Terri? We made those decisions together. Remember all those long dinners.
My God
 . . .' He seemed to choke on the words, looking to Keene for help. ‘They say divorce does this to people, but I just can't
believe
that it's done it to us.' He bowed his head, raising his hand to ask for time. ‘Sorry.'

It would not do, Terri saw, for her to interrupt. Richie sat straighter in his chair, as if fighting to recover his dignity, then spoke to Keene. ‘The simple fact is that for the last year and a half, I've been home with Elena. In the structure of our family, I'm the one she turns to. We can talk about anything Elena wants to talk about.' He stopped for a moment. ‘She's the center of my life, all right?'

‘How many times,' Terri asked, ‘have I left work to pick Elena because you were too busy? And when you do talk to her, it's about
your
problems. Elena's a
child
, not a little adult.' Terri caught herself; Richie's edge was that Keene could not know where reality lay, so that the truth might sound too harsh. ‘Parenting is more than hanging around the house. And in this case, it's not collecting child support, either. I need you to help support her.'

‘What is this, Ter? An attack on my entire life? Character smears?' Richie's voice rose with hurt and anger. ‘Under the circumstances, I think I've been damned restrained.'

‘All right,' Keene interjected. ‘I think I've got the flavor of your disagreements. Have you discussed solutions?'

‘I've tried,' Richie put in quickly, and then made his tone more soothing. ‘Look, I
know
Terri. She's a good mom. Elena loves her and she should see her. I just think that I should raise her, that's all.'

He turned to Terri, voice softer still. ‘I think
you
think so too, Ter. At some other time, when your thing with Chris has calmed down a little, I'm sure we can work this out in Elena's best interests. Just give me a three-month trial period, that's all.'

Keene removed his glasses, placed one stem beside his mouth. ‘I missed something,' he said to Richie. ‘This “thing with Chris” . . .'

‘It's hard for me to face – traumatic, actually.' Richie took a deep breath, gazing at the floor. ‘Terri's having an affair with her boss. Christopher Paget. Since it started, it seems I can't do anything right. He's good-looking and rich – everything Terri wishes
I
was. I simply can't compete.'

Keene watched him. ‘That's a little out of my realm,' he said gently.

Richie glanced up quickly. ‘Look, I know I need to seprate my feelings about
that
from my positive feelings about Terri as a mom.' His voice grew stronger. ‘The only thing is, I can't help but think it's affecting
her
judgment about Elena. The last thing that little girl needs is to be suddenly forced to rely on a distracted mother with a demanding job and a new boyfriend who isn't the dad that Elena's grown up loving.'

‘
That
,' Terri answered, ‘is not true. Chris and I are friends, and I
may
be seeing him. But I wasn't during our marriage –'

‘We
are
married,' Richie broke in. ‘Two weeks ago, we were living together. We've never even seen a marriage counselor. So don't tell me that Christopher Paget has nothing to do with the hell we're putting Elena through.'

‘All that Chris has to do with Elena,' Terri shot back, ‘is that he's given me shorter hours so that
I
can raise her. Which is far more help than you've
ever
given me.'

Richie flushed. In the silence, Keene looked glumly at them both. ‘Our time is up,' he said finally. ‘Unfortunately, absent some change, I'm going to have to make a recommendation to the court that someone won't like. Maybe both of you.'

That was it. A quick handshake, a neutral word of encouragement, and she and Richie were in the hall.

Terri felt suddenly empty; Elena's future, she thought in wonderment, might just have been decided.

Richie clutched her arm. ‘You said a lot of crap in there, Terri. Nothing but lies. But it won't get you a thing. Because you've got no idea of how to
reach
people.' His voice grew quiet with contempt. ‘Which is why you're going to lose her. Big time.'

She turned to face him. ‘You said I was attacking your whole life. There's just one thing I forgot to mention.' She moved close, staring up into his face. ‘You're a shitty lover, Richie. I mean really, really bad.'

He reddened and then mananged a faint, superior smile. ‘And there's something
I
forgot to mention – something I picked up from a lawyer I've been consulting.' He almost whispered now. ‘Alec Keene's wife just left him. For a lawyer. See you in court, Ter.'

Chapter
7

For security reasons – chiefly the potential for disappointed fathers to run amok with guns – the family court was housed in the Municipal Court building, a bleak and dingy building whose cramped entryway housed a guard and a metal detector. As an urban criminal lawyer, Terri was inured to such surroundings; passing through the metal detector with her lawyer – a pert, red-haired divorce specialist named Janet Flaherty, whom Terri had found through Chris – Terri the mother had felt a rising dread.

A cheery voice spoke out behind her. ‘“Abandon all hope,”' it quoted, ‘“ye who enter here.”'

Turning, Terri saw Richie's too bright smile. Part of him, she realized with amazement, enjoyed the attention he was about to receive. ‘Have you been lurking outside, reading
Bartlett's Quotations
?'

‘Such a cynic.' Still grinning, he extended his hand to Janet Flaherty. ‘Janet? I'm Richie Arias. We've spoken on the phone. Can we talk a moment' – his head twitched toward Terri – ‘without your client?'

Terri felt her face tighten: unerringly, Richie knew how hard it was for Terri to speak for Elena through someone else. Flaherty regarded him with a blank expression. ‘Can we talk for a moment,' she asked, ‘without
your
client?'

Richie laughed with great good humor. ‘I think only caterpillars can do that.' The smile flashed again. ‘Or worms.'

Flaherty's face did not change. ‘Exactly.'

They took the elevator to the third floor, stood in the green tile hall outside the courtroom. Ignoring Terri, Richie fixed Flaherty with a gaze of profound seriousness. ‘I just wanted to avoid any undue emotion. What I was hoping, Janet, is that you might help mediate between Terri and me. We don't seem to be talking too well.'

Richie with his party manners, Terri thought grimly. But Flaherty stayed level and unimpressed. ‘One reasonable step,' she said ‘would be for you to look for work. As we've requested the court to direct.'

Richie shook his head in disappointment. ‘At this critical time in our daughter's life, the last thing she needs is two absent parents. I
do
work. At home.'

Flaherty suppressed a grimace. ‘We've plowed this ground before. So what's the proposition now?'

‘A package deal. Nonmodifiable spousal support of a thousand a month for the next three years. Child support: fifteen hundred a month –'

‘That's half my take-home,' Terri put in. ‘Setting aside that
I
want custody.'

‘Let me finish. Please.' He turned to Terri with limpid eyes. ‘I've worked this out, Ter, in a way that's fair to both of us. For one year, I get weeks and you get weekends. At the end of that year, we sit down and see how it's working. If we can't agree, then we can come back to court for a permanent order.' His voice softened. ‘Look, this is the kind of mature solution the court will really respect. Besides, I'm taking a haircut on spousal – I'm sure the judge would give me more.'

Terri watched him. ‘I'll up your spousal,' she said. ‘But I want preponderant custody of Elena. Weekdays and every other weekend.'

‘You know that's a nonstarter, Ter.' He spoke slowly and seriously, as if rehearsing for the judge. ‘This isn't a matter of money. I'm willing to sacrifice my career if it means Elena's happiness. And it does.'

Frowning, Flaherty looked at her watch. ‘We're due inside,' she put in. ‘Terri and I should talk.'

They walked down the hallway, Terri glancing over her shoulder. Richie was walking in aimless circles.

‘He's nervous about spousal,' Terri murmured.

Flaherty nodded. ‘By making spousal support nonmodifiable, he avoids having to report to the court about looking for work and maybe getting cut if he's been sitting on his ass. He's not bad at this, really.' Flaherty gazed down the hallway. ‘Thinks he's good with women too.'