Wild For Mr. Wrong (7 page)

Maybe she would stay home as planned, but she could at least take the gift to Tam herself.  Visit with her a bit in an effort to show her friend how much she cared.  She stood, reaching for the box when the low volume of her small TV in the corner of her office, which she kept on a local news channel for background noise, caught her attention.

 “…
.a fund for the baby girl has been started in an attempt to help her aunt, who already has five children, pay for her care.  Once again, Malia Blaker is eight months old.  Her mother, Tess Blaker, was brutally murdered last night.  We are told that the suspect, Kyle Winsor, was recently released from jail on commercial burglary charges.  We’ll be following up on…”

Her heart slammed against her chest in a distressed rhythm.  She took several deep breaths to calm herself down, then turned off the TV and stared at her reflection in the blank screen.  Regret and sympathy washed over her at the thought of the young woman who’d lost her life, as well as the baby who’d lost her mother so violently.  Foremost in her mind, however, was concern.  Concern for Daniel.  She reached for her phone to call him but then stopped short.  What would she say?  The last time they’d talked, she’d frozen him out.  Insulted him yet again.  Maybe she was making too much out of the news story, anyway.  Would Daniel be upset by the news?  She didn’t know for sure.  

They’d shared a few conversations.  One amazing kiss.  But beyond that, they hardly knew one another.  

Nevertheless, she picked up the phone and realized she didn’t even have Daniel’s phone number.  But Tam would have it.  Vance was Daniel’s best friend. . .

Realization coursed through her and she slowly put down the receiver.

What was she thinking?  Daniel didn’t need
her
.   

Vance and Tam were Daniel’s friends.  They would be there for support if he needed it.

Forcing herself away from the phone, Bryn sat down at her table and picked up a fax.  As far as Daniel was concerned, she was a hardened bitch.

She knew she wasn’t a very good friend.  Her heart twisted.

She glanced at the present she’d bought for Tam and decided to drop it off at the staff attorney’s office after all.  

The next day, Bryn couldn’t stop thinking of Daniel.  She needed to make sure he was okay.  So what if he had friends?  Those friends might never have felt the kind of guilt Daniel would be feeling.  The kind of guilt Bryn had felt before and still did.  

She could be a friend to him.  Just as she could be a better friend to Tam.  Starting right now.

The Logans lived in a cozy little neighborhood off of McKinley Park.  Gift in hand, she walked up the stairs to the bungalow’s front door and knocked.

Tam opened the door with a delighted squeal, obviously having verified Bryn’s identity through the front door’s peephole.  She wore a soft pink maternity shirt with flowers that managed to look chic and flatter her dusky complexion.  “What a great surprise!  Wow, I love your hair.”

“
Hi.”  Bryn touched her soft brunette waves, which she usually didn’t bother straightening on the weekends.  “I hope it’s not too early to drop by.  I…I’m sorry I couldn’t make the shower yesterday.  I was going to have one of the girls from work bring my gift but changed my mind at the last minute.  I wanted to drop off your gift in person.”

“
Thank you!”  Tam took the gift and grabbed her arm, pulling her inside.  She didn’t resist.

She looked around, laughing at evidence of the recent baby shower.  Baby clothes, gift bags, and boxes of various baby paraphernalia were stacked in the living room.  Tam chuckled.

“
I know.  The baby’s not even here yet, and she’s already taking over.”

“
She?  You know you’re having a girl?”  Bryn immediately pictured a cherubic baby with her mother’s red hair and her daddy’s brown eyes.

“
Not for sure.  Vance says he’s got a feeling though.  I have to admit, so do I.”  Tam rubbed her stomach and winced.  “She’s going to be a soccer player, that’s for sure.”

She started opening the small package in her hand, saying, “I want to open it while you’re here.  Thank you.  I really….”  She stopped talking and stared at what was in the box.

Bryn clenched her hands together.  “Um, is it…okay?”  She’d shopped at five different stores to find it, and finally special ordered it from the Internet.  Maybe she’d ordered the wrong one.  

Tam pulled out the miniature book titled, “People Who Love Me.”  She had casually mentioned one lunch how she’d seen it at a friend’s baby shower and thought it was the cutest idea.  Each page, including the cover, sported a place to insert a photo.  Bryn had snuck a photo of Tam and Vance from her desk one night and scanned it before returning it.  After reading somewhere that babies like primary colors, she’d colorized it in Photoshop to look like a brightly colored Andy Warhol picture and had slipped it in the front cover.  She thought it came out nice, but maybe….

Tam looked at her with tears in her eyes and Bryn’s heart sank.  “Oh no, I’m sorry if I did something—”  

“
Thank you so much.  It’s awesome!”  Tam put her arms around Bryn and gave her a big hug.  As big a hug as a pregnant woman about to deliver her baby could give, at least.  Bryn stiffened momentarily but then hugged Tam back, relishing the closeness almost as much as she had Daniel’s kiss.  When she felt something kick her in the stomach, she jumped back, startled.

Tam laughed again.  “See, what did I tell you? We’ll be spending a fortune on soccer uniforms.”  

She looked around.  “Is Vance home?”

Tam’s face turned serious. “No.  He actually spent the night away last night.”

Bryn raised her eyebrows.

“
I insisted.  Daniel needed him, and my friend Lucille stayed over with me.  She’d driven down for the shower anyway, and didn’t feel like driving all the way back to Folsom.  Did you hear about Winsor?”

She nodded, even though she felt a little weird talking about Daniel.  The last time they’d talked about him, she had voiced utter disdain for the man and had been incredibly angry with Tam for trying to set them up.  But now?  Imagining Daniel so distraught that he needed the comfort of Vance’s presence even at night?  It made her heart ache for him.  

“
Yes, I did.  I heard it on the news.  How is he?”

“
Not good.  Vance called last night, said Daniel was having a really hard time.  Blames himself.”

She said nothing.  

“
I know what you’re thinking, and it’s not true.”

Bryn shook her head.  “Of course it’s not.  He couldn’t have known what Winsor would do.  No one could have.”  

Still, he defends criminals, a voice whispered.  She ruthlessly shoved that thought away.  “Has he ever had something like this happen before?”

“
No, never.”  Tam paused, her voice softening.  “Have you?”

Bryn shook her head.

“
Do you feel guilty?”

The question surprised Bryn but not as much as the answer.  She didn’t feel guilty.  Why not?  Could she have prevented what had happened, if she’d argued the case a little differently?  Somehow she didn’t think so.

“
No, no I don’t.  Even if Winsor had been convicted, he would have served a few months in jail at most.  What’s to say he wouldn’t have done the same thing when he got out?  He obviously had everyone fooled.  Not just Daniel, but a jury of twelve citizens.  And even if he hadn’t fooled them, their job was to deal with real evidence.  And they did.”  

She thought about it.  It had been a close case.  Close enough to raise a reasonable doubt in the jury’s mind, and that’s what the legal system was designed to do.  Eliminate the conviction of anyone whose guilt wasn’t proven beyond a reasonable doubt.  It was an imperfect system, but Daniel had been doing his job, just like she had.  

“
I’m glad you see that.”  Tam sighed.  “I hope Daniel sees it eventually.  He’s taking it so hard.  I know anyone would, but Daniel—”  Tam glanced at her.  “He’s a great guy, Bryn.  He cares about people.  About his clients.  This is hurting him.  I’ve never seen him so torn up.”

Bryn felt the need rise up inside her.  Tried telling herself that Daniel didn’t need her when he had Vance.  But the feeling wouldn’t be quashed.

“
Tam, I need Daniel’s address.”

***

Ten minutes later she’d arrived on Daniel’s doorstep, but just stood there, unable to knock.  For the third time, she turned around, walked toward her car, and then walked back again.  She was crazy.  What in the world was she doing?  When she’d asked Tam for Daniel’s address, she knew she’d surprised her friend.  But the thought of Daniel blaming himself for Tess Blaker’s death was more than she could bear.

In her own messed up way, Bryn knew guilt was destroying her life.  She couldn’t erase almost ten years of damage, but the thought of Daniel dropping to the depths she had experienced didn’t bear thinking.

She couldn’t help remembering every conversation they’d had where she’d slammed him for his occupation.  Despite her prosecutor-oriented thoughts at Tam’s house, she
didn’t
blame Daniel for Winsor’s unexpected escalation of violence.  Daniel was a defense attorney, but he was an honorable one.  One who served an important function in society.

The justice system was based on advocacy.  On pitting one side against the other.  It wasn’t a perfect system, but it was needed in order to ensure the innocent weren’t unjustly imprisoned.  It was also needed to ensure the guilty weren’t punished for more than the actual crimes they committed.  Because of her own guilt with respect to her sister, she hadn’t wanted to like Daniel.  Hadn’t wanted to concede what he did for a living as important.  But she did like him.  She respected him and the work he did.  And she needed to make sure he knew that.   

Before she could stop herself again, Bryn knocked on the front door.  Daniel’s home was an older version of the Logans’ but in just as nice a neighborhood.  Oak trees lined the streets and McKinley Park was only a stone’s throw away.  She could readily imagine a group of young children chasing an ice cream truck down the wide street on a hot, sweltering day in the valley. Idyllic. Serene. Not what she’d expected.

Vance Logan opened the door and frowned at Bryn.  The tall man walked onto the porch and closed the door behind him.  With pitch-black hair and almost icy blue eyes, Bryn had always thought Vance to be extremely handsome, a perfect foil to Tam’s bubbly red-headed looks.  “What the hell are you doing here?  Come to gloat?”

Bryn was taken aback by Vance’s hostility.  She’d tried several cases against him but had only spoken with him once or twice on a personal level.  During those times, he’d been unfailingly polite to her.  But then again, that had been in front of Tam.  Apparently his true feelings about her were fair game now that his wife wasn’t around.

Bryn wasn’t as tired as she thought, however, because she immediately put on her game face.  Straightening her shoulders, she met his glaze levelly.  “I’m here to see Daniel.  Is he in?”

“
Not for you, he’s not.”

“
I didn’t ask for your permission, Vance.  If Daniel doesn’t want to see me, he can tell me that himself.”

“
Look, Bryn, you’ve caused him enough problems.  Do him a favor and leave.”

The idea that she had caused Daniel pain did not sit well with her.  Since she couldn’t steamroll her way past Vance’s body, Bryn nodded her head.  “Fine.”  She’d just come back later.

Bryn turned around and was about to walk away when she heard the front door opened again, and Daniel’s voice following her.  “Wait,” Daniel called. She turned around to see him face Vance and place a reassuring hand on his friend’s shoulder.  “It’s okay.  Really. I can take it from here. Why don’t you get on home to your wife and soon-to-be-born baby?”

Vance looked askance at Bryn.  “You’re sure?”

“
Definitely, man.  Thanks again.”  

Vance walked inside and came back out a few seconds later, his coat and keys in hand, then paused to give Daniel a hug and a warm pat on the back.  “Don’t worry about your schedule.  I’ll have one of the juniors take care of it.”  With a final glare at Bryn, Vance walked to his car, a black Mustang parked at the curb, started the engine, and drove away.

After several seconds of awkward silence, Bryn cleared her throat.  

“
Juniors?”  

“
Our new hires at the firm,” Daniel clarified.

He looked haggard.  His eyes were bloodshot, as if he’d gone on a drinking binge the night before.  Instinctively, her hand twitched to reach out and caress his cheek.  To smooth away the circles under his eyes and offer him some respite from his pain.   

“
What are you doing here, Bryn?  Is Vance right?  Did you come to gloat?”

Bryn took that insult on the chin.  She’d earned it, but she abhorred the idea of him thinking that.  “No!  Of course I didn’t.  I heard about what happened.  I wanted to make sure you were okay.”

“
Why?”

“
Well, I heard you were feeling badly…”

Daniel shook his head.  “No, I mean why would you care?”

Bryn didn’t respond. She didn’t know what to say.  She did care.  Cared enough to put aside her pride.  And overcome her own fears and hang-ups.  But how to convey those thoughts to an angry, hurting man?   

Daniel sighed.  “It’s okay, Bryn.  I don’t need you here.  I’m fine.”  He turned around, walked into the house, and shut the door.

She stared at the closed door for a few seconds.  Maybe she should just leave him alone, she thought.  But, no, Daniel was clearly hurting.  If her prior words were contributing to that, she needed to fix it.  

Bryn threw open the door.  “You’re being—”  Her words came to a crashing halt when she saw Daniel sitting on a brown leather couch, his face buried in his hands.  Bryn looked around, but saw no signs of alcohol.  Sheets covered the sofa, probably where Vance had slept the night before.