Just Destiny (21 page)

Settling at the table, she spooned a small portion of sweet and sour chicken over pan-fried noodles. “Their loss is my gain.”

“What’re you working on?” Judith took a bite of her egg roll.

“I’m researching a new homeopathic cure for jet lag.”

Judith nodded, chewing. “How’s the case coming?”

She thought about reassuring Gabe’s ex-wife that everything was wonderful and she had everything under control—but it was a fleeting thought. Judith wasn’t stupid. “Horribly. For the life of me I can’t understand why George is putting me through this. It’s none of his business.”

Judith waved her fork. “That’s George. He’s probably OCD to some degree. Can’t stand for things to deviate from his routine or the expected. It’s not surprising that your unconventional choice of procreation sent him into a tailspin.”

“You seem to get along with him well enough.”

“Since I’m no longer married to Gabe.” She chewed and swallowed. “And he gives you that impression to needle you. He didn’t like me anymore than you. In fact, as soon as he found out I was pregnant with Ted, he tried to talk me into getting an abortion. When that didn’t work, he went on this obsessive campaign to get Gabe to have a vasectomy.”

“You’re kidding.” George had wanted Gabe to have a vasectomy? A man trying to convince another that he should have surgery on his testicles? That was
so
odd.

“Nope. Couldn’t stand the fact that Ted was an accident. He hated me so much he wanted to make sure I didn’t tie Gabe to me any tighter with more children.”

“That’s ridiculous.”

“That’s George. I think he was happier than I when we divorced.”

“How’d Gabe react?”

Judith shot her a quick look. “He didn’t do it—ever. In case you’re wondering if that’s why you didn’t get pregnant. Well, at least not that I know of,” she added.

Given that she’d lost their baby, Jenny was certain he hadn’t had a vasectomy, but she didn’t feel the need to share that with his ex-wife. Why would Judith think she wouldn’t have known something that personal about Gabe? Did she suspect that they hadn’t had complete honesty and disclosure in their marriage or was that just her overactive guilty conscience?

“It never occurred to me. I just remember how furious Gabe got when George tried to get me to sign a prenup. A vasectomy’s so much more personal.” Jenny smiled, imagining Gabe’s fury at George. “He must have been livid.”

“At first he laughed it off, but when George persisted year after year, even Gabe’s patience wore thin.” She shook her head. “Actually I kind of pity the guy. Must be an exhausting way to live.” Judith took a sip of her iced tea. “So. Find an attorney yet?”

“Nope.” Her chicken suddenly became a monumental effort to chew. She pushed the plate aside.

“Aren’t you running out of time?”

“Yup.” She loathed admitting it. “Nobody wants to touch my case.”

Judith moved the plate back in front of her. “Eat. Who’ve you tried?”

“More like who haven’t I tried.” Jenny picked up her fork and speared some noodles. Slowly, she spun them around her fork.

“It can’t be that bad.”

She reached over to the desk behind her for a yellow legal pad with two pages of names crossed out on it. Wordlessly she tossed it onto the table in front of Judith.

Judith’s gaze sharpened and she did a satisfying double take at the sheer volume of attorneys Jenny had approached.

“There’s nobody left in the area to contact,” Jenny said. “They act like they’d catch gonorrhea from taking my case.”

“Wow. Every lawyer I’ve ever heard of is on here. Even that jerk who sued me for malpractice a couple of years ago.” She put down her fork and pushed the plate away, frowning. “There’s got to be someone.”

“Monday I’m going to call and set up appointments at the law school clinics.”

Judith shook her head. “You need someone with experience.”

She arched her brows and sat back in her chair. “I don’t have a lot of choice here. I can’t represent myself.”

“What about your lawyer friend next door,” Judith tilted her head toward Steve’s house. “Won’t he help you? Alex said you guys used to be like the three musketeers.”

The three musketeers? Yeah, she guessed they had been. She, Gabe and Steve had spent a lot of time together. Steve and Gabe had raced each other through the Pointes early each morning. They’d boated together, played tennis, barbequed, celebrated the kids’ graduations and professional achievements, and they’d been in and out of each other’s houses as if related.

And Jenny couldn’t press him. Much as she hated to admit it, the afternoon of Annie’s tirade, she had been right about one thing. She relied on Steve too much. He helped with the condolence notes, he fixed the glitch with her computer, he kept her active, getting her out of the house to play tennis or check out a movie each week, he brought in her newspapers when she let them pile up at the end of the drive, and he called several times a week to be sure she was okay.

Jenny probably saw more of Steve than Annie did, and much as she appreciated it and as comfortable as it was, it really wasn’t right. It wasn’t fair to Steve—or Annie. Jenny returned her attention to her meal. “Steve turned me down.”

“Why?”

“Inexperience.” She chewed and swallowed. “And he wasn’t sure I was doing the right thing.”

“Bull. Why don’t you try him again? He’s had some time to get used to the idea. And what he lacks in experience and knowledge, he’d make up for with the passion his friendship would bring to your case. Try him again.”

“Maybe.” When associated with Steve, the words passion and friendship made her uncomfortable.

“Go ahead,” Judith pushed.

“I will.”

“Now.”

“Why now?”

“Why not?” Judith wiped her mouth on her napkin. “I’ll go with you.”

Maybe it wouldn’t be such an imposition, Jenny thought. She’d pay him—it wasn’t as if she’d ask Steve to do it pro bono. It had been several weeks since they last talked about it; maybe Steve had changed his mind. Or maybe Judith could change his mind. She could be very persuasive. “I don’t know.”

“What’ve you got to lose?”

“A friendship? Maybe this isn’t such a good idea. Sort of like you shouldn’t go into business with a friend.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. There are millions of successful businesses run by friends.”

“All right. But I’m warning you, it’ll be a waste.” She insisted on calling Steve and asking if they could come over, thinking it only fair to warn him before springing Judith on him. Although they’d met a couple of times before the funeral, Judith’s take-charge personality took some getting used to.

They crossed the yard, and Steve met them at the back door. He offered them a drink that both declined, then they sat around his coffee table in front of a small fire.

“So what’s up?”

Jenny handed him her list of lawyers. “I’ve been turned down by just about every family attorney in town. Can you think of anyone I’ve missed? Or maybe you know somebody out of state that might represent me?”

“It’s not likely an out-of-state attorney would take your case, Jenny. He’d need to be familiar with Michigan law.” Scanning her list, he shook his head and sat back in his chair. “Geez, I’m sorry, Jen. I can’t think of anybody. I have to admit I’m a little surprised. I didn’t think it’d be this tough to find someone.” He rubbed a thumb against his lip. “I don’t know what to tell you.”

“Why don’t you take it?” Judith suggested.

“It’s out of my league. I’d do more harm than good.”

“I disagree. Jenny’s got nothing to lose by going with you. Besides, you’re a good friend of the family who knew Gabe well. Who better to fight for her?”

“I explained to Jenny that I wouldn’t be the best advocate for her, because I’m still not convinced what she’s doing is right.”

“Why not?”

Steve hesitated, clearly not wanting to explain himself to Judith, but her set expression must’ve told him she wouldn’t leave without an answer. “She took his sperm without consent.”

Judith made a face. “Oh, come on. They’d been trying to have a baby when he died.”

Steve’s gaze snapped Jenny’s way. He knew she’d been pregnant when they went away for the weekend, but she’d never told him they’d been
trying
to have a baby—she’d never told him the baby was an accident either. He was probably wondering why she hadn’t told Judith about the miscarriage.

Ignoring the fact that the pregnancy had been an accident, Jenny perpetuated the lie with a curt nod. “Actually, I
was
pregnant. I lost the baby right after the accident.”

Judith looked at her sharply. “You were? Why didn’t you say anything?”

Jenny shrugged. “There was a lot going on. I…”
And I couldn’t bear another loss. I didn’t want to think about it
.

Steve had been the only other person to know about the baby, so why tell anybody about the miscarriage? Nobody else needed to know her shame—that they’d argued over a hypothetical pregnancy and her running off had gotten Gabe killed.

“Do you have proof?” Steve asked

Jenny blinked at Steve. “Proof?”

“That you were pregnant. Of the miscarriage.”

“I guess. I went to the ER hoping they could stop the bleeding. They ran tests confirming the miscarriage.”

Judith turned to Steve, triumphant. “There’s your proof.”

“That helps,” he admitted, “but it’s not conclusive proof that Gabe would want her to have a baby under these circumstances. Anything else? A visit to an obstetrician? Fill a prescription for prenatal vitamins? He didn’t tell me, but might Gabe have told anybody else that you were trying to get pregnant?”

She frowned and shook her head. No vitamins. No OB visit.

“Why?” Judith asked.

“If there was some kind of written proof that Gabe had purposefully gotten her pregnant, it seems she’d have a better chance of winning. Without clear, indisputable proof of his intent, I don’t see how this decision could be made except by witnesses testifying to what they
thought
Gabe would have wanted had he conceived of this scenario before his death.”

“So it’ll all come down to George’s word against mine?”

“It could,” Steve said. “Are you sure you want to do this? Think about the child. This trial’s going to attract nationwide attention, if not worldwide. You won’t be able to escape it. How do you think your child’s going to feel when kids make fun of her saying she was mixed up in a test tube from a dead man? They’ll label her a freak.”

Freak was a bit harsh, but kids could be mean. She frowned. There had to be a way to protect her child. “I’ll prepare her. I’ll tell her she’s a special gift from her daddy in heaven. She’ll be strong enough to ignore them.”

“Really? Bullying is a rising problem and by doing this, you’re making your kid an easy target. Aren’t you afraid she’ll resent you for making her a curiosity?”

“She’ll be
fine
,” Judith said. “Jenny can get counseling from child experts beforehand so she’ll be prepared.”

“What makes you think they’ll know how to handle it? This situation’s pretty rare.”

“This isn’t so different from test-tube babies. I’m sure they have a support group Jenny can join.” Judith dismissed his argument.

Jenny’s head whipped back and forth like a spectator at a tennis match. For every valid concern Steve lobbed, Judith smashed it down with a ready answer.

Steve turned to Judith. “What’s your stake in this? Why’re you helping her? You two weren’t bosom buddies before Gabe died.”

“No nefarious reason. Jenny needs the support. It’d make Gabe happy to know I’m looking out for her…and,” she smiled ruefully, “maybe I’m making up for past behavior.”

“Or maybe you’re keeping her close to keep an eye on your kids’ inheritance,” Steve suggested. “Nothing wrong with that. I’d expect it of a shrewd woman. What about Alex and Ted? How do you think this will affect them?”

What? She’d
never
even thought that. What was Steve doing?

A flush blotted Judith’s face, unbecomingly. “They’ve been expecting Jenny and Gabe to announce a pregnancy ever since they married.”

“But that was a natural conception with a baby being born into a family. A different thing altogether,” he pointed out. “You don’t think that they’ll be embarrassed, if not angry, that their half sibling was conceived in such a perverted, public way? I think you’re fooling yourselves.”

“You want to know what I think?” Judith paused, staring intently at Steve. Tension charged the room. “I think you’re afraid of losing. Losing such a high-profile case would make you look bad.” She arched her eyebrows, looking superior. “You pretend to be Jenny’s friend, but underneath, you’re just a jock afraid of losing.” She stood up. “Come on, Jenny, he’s not going to help.”

Jenny gasped. How could a simple debate have deteriorated into this angry insult-flinging argument? She just wanted to have her husband’s baby, not start a war. “Judith, that’s not fair.”

“He hasn’t denied it.”

Jenny looked at Steve. He sat, jaw locked, glaring at the fire. Her heart ached for him, knowing how much the accusation must have hurt.

“He shouldn’t have to defend himself—especially when we’re asking for a favor. Let’s go.” Jenny was reluctant to leave, but after Judith’s vituperative comment, she was anxious to get her away from him. Judith meant well, but she’d been unnecessarily cruel. She glanced at Judith’s retreating back and then touched Steve’s shoulder in passing. “I’m sorry.”

As soon as they closed the door at Jenny’s house, Judith sat in a chair looking thoughtful.

Jenny took the chair opposite her. “What was that? He didn’t deserve that. He was just playing the devil’s advocate.”

“You think so?”

"Of course. That’s what lawyers do. Steve's a friend; he’d help if he could.”

“I don’t know about that.” Judith stared at her as if puzzling out a curious problem. “He was a bit too dogmatic,” she mused, “too emphatic in his objections.” She put a finger to her lips, tapping. “He wasn’t objective enough…as if it was personal. Personal?” Her expression lightened. “It
is
personal. He’s jealous. He doesn’t want you to have Gabe’s baby. He must have feelings for you himself. Of course. Now it makes sense.”